Let's compare whole helmets!


Battleguard

 

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I've wanted to make a screenshots thread for a while now, but I could never pick a decent theme for it, until today. I suddenly realised there was one part of character design (of a specific type of characters) that really deserves recognition as its own art form, and that is the art of making whole helmets. I thought it might be a fun idea to compare and contrast our different designs for whole helmets

What I mean by whole helmets is a helmet which covers the entire head and neck. It doesn't matter if you used Helmets, Half Helmets, Full Helmets, Hats, Hoods or even just a clever use of faces and face details. So long as you can't spot "skin" anywhere on the head or neck, it qualifies.

Here are mine, posted in a follow-up (ETA typing time) so as not to mess with the horizontal of my text post.

So, come one, come all, show up, show off and let's see if we can't trade some inspiration between us


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Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

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Bodyshop is a sentient mass of cancerous tissue drawing intelligence from the AI in that helmet.


Genersis is a robotic life form who wants to replace humans.


Jack is a tortured soul in the body of a demon who hides his face.


Tyler is a cyborg who believes organic life should be replaced by machines.


Majik is a scientist working on replicating magic with the technology inside his suit.


13 is a machine who gained sentience through personal experience.


Kim is an alien residing within a hazard suit.


The Steel Rook is a scientist and an inventor who uses power armour.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Mach Mechanica pilots a giant robot. Here is the robot's head:



Also, a shout-out to my friend's character Psi-Dome, who absolutely deserves a mention here.


,'&#
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?;!hgfauirebcew

 

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The first is my namesake, Battleguard. His concept is a vigilante with a sword, who chooses to boost his power with technology.

The latter is TAXI16, who is pretty obviously a taxi. I like how simple his helmet is.



Claiming the Isles (The Nemesis Strike Force), Arc 448371 - Rogueish action from the Prussian Prince of Automatons himself!

 

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Mech Mechanica is pretty cool. I've never been able to use that mouth detail in any presentable way before, but it looks pretty good here, and even adds a little detail to the back of the helmet. Nice touch!

Also, Battleguard is a really cool design in a completely different direction. The use of the Thug mask under a helmet is ingenious! What face are you using underneath to make the eye slit black?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
Mech Mechanica is pretty cool. I've never been able to use that mouth detail in any presentable way before, but it looks pretty good here, and even adds a little detail to the back of the helmet. Nice touch!

Also, Battleguard is a really cool design in a completely different direction. The use of the Thug mask under a helmet is ingenious! What face are you using underneath to make the eye slit black?
It's the Maverick Mask I believe. It's from the science pack if I recall correctly. Fills it in quite nicely.



Claiming the Isles (The Nemesis Strike Force), Arc 448371 - Rogueish action from the Prussian Prince of Automatons himself!

 

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Mmm.... terrible screenshots.


They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!

@Starflier

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Starflier View Post
Mmm.... terrible screenshots.
Actually, the screenshots are pretty good, but they're saved with a very aggressive jpeg compression.What programme are you using to save those? If it's MS Paint, that has a terrible image quality when you save. If you're using something like IrfanView (which I greatly recommend!), then you may have control over the final quality.

I really like the helmet on your Chernobyl (which I inferred from the screenshots file name), though. I love how well the PPD visor melds with the Martial Arts face mask as though they're parts of the same plate. What's that mask underneath, by the way? It looks like Technis, but I can't be sure. The whole thing kind of reminds me of the lead suits people in older science fiction wear to protect against radiation, though that's probably the colour and the bulk of the helmet talking more than anything else.

Just a quick question, though - isn't the red on the helmet detail 1 a little too bright in contrast with the darker visor and the upper torso in those shots? You seem to be using what looks like either a Vanguard or a Tech Sleek top, I can't tell, and both of those have primary plates that, because they are reflective, colour a darker hue for any given colour.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Also, from the Costume Redesign thread, I bring you a few alternate helmet designs for 13, even though I'm not actually using most of them. I figured as long as I had screenshots, I might as well

This one ended up too boxy for the rest of 13's costume design.


The hump on this one bothered me


This one seemed to freak people out


This is the one I ended up swapping to for its smooth lines.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
What programme are you using to save those?
I'm using IrfanView, although I've never bothered to fiddle with the settings.

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What's that mask underneath, by the way? It looks like Technis, but I can't be sure.
Logan.

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Just a quick question, though - isn't the red on the helmet detail 1 a little too bright in contrast with the darker visor and the upper torso in those shots? You seem to be using what looks like either a Vanguard or a Tech Sleek top, I can't tell, and both of those have primary plates that, because they are reflective, colour a darker hue for any given colour.
It is. Tech Sleek.

This was the finished costume, with some colour changes, although I've long since deleted the character.


They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!

@Starflier

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Starflier View Post
I'm using IrfanView, although I've never bothered to fiddle with the settings.
When you choose to save a file as a jpg, IrfanView will give you a "Quality" slider that goes from 0 to 100. I suggest setting the Quality for any reasonably-sized pic to 100. I typically post things around 800x600 and they are never larger than about 300KB, which is well within the capacity of most image-hosting sites. You'll get a large file if you screenshot an entire 1920x1200 monitor, of course (I have), but anything of a reasonable size really doesn't deserve being lower than maximum quality. It's what all of my shots are saved at.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

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My helmet covers most of the head. Is that close enough?


 

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I have a bunch of full-helmet characters and helmeted versions of second costumes. Here are some of my favorites.

Power Hawk is one of my all-time faves. Not the least reason being you can no longer get that mandible in the costume creator, which I discovered when I tried to re-color his powers.


Flygirl and Jet Boy were conceived as siblings. She a Mutant, he a Tech wiz.


A cyborg, a powersuit and an android.


I was very excited when I realized the Valkyrie faceplate could be colored to match one of the stripe patterns.


Flygirl again just because it's a cool shot.


The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction

 

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Here's a few of my helmeted characters.

This is a manga inspired suit of powered armour.



Euro Fighter wore a suit of armour based on a fighter jet.



The Pyrofire Bug wears a fire beetle based armoured suit.



Formula One's costume is based around the Grand Prix.



Blades of Ra wears an ancient golden mask from Egypt.



and last but not least, my main character, Robot H3NRi base model and upgraded stealth model. Although technically, not a helmet as he's a robot



My Mini-Comic
AE arc id: 464928

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironik View Post

Jet boy looks great, can we see his full costume?



My Mini-Comic
AE arc id: 464928

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironik View Post
I was very excited when I realized the Valkyrie faceplate could be colored to match one of the stripe patterns.
OK, this one I REALLY like! I love how the goggles match the Valkyrie face plate almost exactly. The round eyes in round slits give this one a sort of otherworldly, inhuman aspect as they express no emotion whatsoever, unlike some of the other helmets with a little more... Attitude

Thanks, this gives me an idea


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
OK, this one I REALLY like! I love how the goggles match the Valkyrie face plate almost exactly. The round eyes in round slits give this one a sort of otherworldly, inhuman aspect as they express no emotion whatsoever, unlike some of the other helmets with a little more... Attitude

Thanks, this gives me an idea
I had to monkey with the sliders a little bit, as I recall.


The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction

 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Henri View Post
Blades of Ra wears an ancient golden mask from Egypt.


Wow, this is awesome! And so original! I love it


Scarf_Girl�s Official Kid Brother!

 

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Great thread! I combed through my entire roster to find all my guys with helmets. But, looking at them and the ones in this thread, I realize I need to step-up my game in the helmet department.

JAK-RBT 7 - not really a helmet, as he is a robot:


Pyro-Fly


Aquila Praetoria


Codename: Spectrum


Silverheart


Argonaut Alpha


Eldarion Ulthanwei


Dog O'War


 

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Quote:
Originally Posted by wei yau View Post
Aquila Praetoria
I think I just found the first use of the elongated Half Helmet in this game that I've ever actually liked Normally, it makes the head look like an egg, and goofy, but you've matched the elongation with the other details very nicely. The Martial Arts plate stretches it forward, the large face shield stretches quite a bit backwards and the "tech ears" match the curve of the helmet. Usually, elongated helmets look like someone took a regular helmet and put a lump on the back of the head, but this one really works. I'll try using it when I get the chance to design more helmets


Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcanaville View Post
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

 

Posted

Eldarion also uses the Cone helmet, but since he's Eldar, it's supposed to look like that.

Here's another helmet from a recently rolled character of mine, Chell-OS


 

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Like Sam's Kim, my AR/Devices blaster on Triumph, Ela'Raaya vas Jeywhu, is also an alien in a hazard suit - as any Mass Effect fan can see:



I figure as long as I never mention the word "Quarian" in her bio, she should be fine.


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{}... .-
01234
"*_
?;!hgfauirebcew

 

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Quarians live in Quarries? I bet they like Rock music.

Be Well!
Fireheart