Awesome Helmets

3D-printed plastic objects don’t get very shiny. HEN3DRIK shows us how he electroplated a 3D model of Iron Man’s helmet to make it look like the ones in the movies. The process involves preparing the plastic and applying conductive copper paint before electroplating it with copper, gold, and palladium. The red was added using transparent red acrylic paint.

Motocross legends-in-the-making can now dress for the job they want with an exact replica of the AGV helmet used by competitors in the Moto3 World Championship. The spirited graphics on Ian Guevara’s helmet made their first appearance in his first winning race on the Motegi circuit to reflect the Spanish champ’s motto: “Life is music.”

The clever Lumos squad really use their heads to design smart helmets that protect cyclist noggins. Lumos is now in pre-launch phase for its next two lightweight MIPS innovations — the sleek Ultra Fly and Fly Pro — which promise to boost visibility and protection with the use of attachable Firefly lights.

Ilya from That Works has made some impressive historical weapons, but this is the first time he’s built a samurai helmet. He created the headgear with inspiration from the character Takeda in the game Naraka Bladepoint. The steel helmet is made from five pieces, with a two-piece Mempo mask and layered neck armor.

Preserve your noggins, people. Thousand’s Chapter Mips Helmet provides extra protection for cyclists and skaters with its Mips safety system that lessens the rotational motion of impacts. It’s a good-looking multitasker, too, with a taillight that can magnetically attach to the helmet or bike with a multi-use adapter.

“It’s like my head is the Razor Crest.” Maker and Mythbuster Adam Savage shows off one of his more amusing builds – a head-mounted device that can fire dozens of foam darts in seconds. He started out with a pair of circular D-Dart Pro Blasters, modded them to be more powerful, and to be fired via a remote control.

Whether you’re a MotoGP champ or a well-heeled weekend biker, AGV protects you to the max with the limited-edition Pista GP RR Futuro MotoGP helmet. Matte, yet sleek AF, its extra density absorbs impact better thanks to a shell and spoiler made of forged carbon. Its Ultravision clear visor protects and offers 190º panoramic vision.

LEGO expands its series of Star Wars mini helmet models with the addition of Luke Skywalker’s Red Five helmet, The Mandalorian’s helmet, and a Dark Trooper helmet. Each helmet measures appx. 7″ tall, and they range from 584 to 693 bricks. The see-through orange goggles on Luke’s Rebel helmet are particularly clever.

Rémy Vicarini likes to make tiny helmets for his cat Cathode. His collection of 3D-printed headgear includes a bicycle helmet, an astronaut helmet, and a LEGO knight helmet. We also have no idea how Cathode sat still for the working Iron Man helmet. Good kitty.

Smashing Helmets is a unique tabletop game that asks players to build their own cardboard helmets, then battle by tearing apart their opponents’ armor. The game includes templates for crafting helmets, along with either plastic or aluminum hardware, and a set of game cards. For 2 to 6 players. BYO cardboard boxes.

This unusual helmet was gifted to King Henry VIII by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in 1514. The headgear has curly horns like a Kudu antelope, and a pair of spectacles. Atlas Obscura checked in with Henry Yallop from the Royal Armouries to learn about the theories surrounding this strange ceremonial garb.

This modern bike helmet not only protects your head, it dramatically improves your visibility with its LED lighting. It has front-mounted white lights, and rear lights that brighten when braking. Its left- and right-turn signals can be triggered from a handlebar remote or with Apple Watch gestures.

This extraordinary, limited-edition watch features a design inspired by a samurai’s kabuto helmet. For each timepiece, a skilled metalsmith hand-carves a dragon into its bezel. Its titanium case and band are cast with special dies that create the look of hand-hammered steel, while brown and blue finishes give it an aged look.

You would think lighting anything around your on fire would be a bad idea, but that didn’t stop The Hacksmith from doing just that. In this insanely cool build, they created a version of Ghost Rider’s fiery helmet that burns propane fuel. As a bonus, they threw in a flaming chain.

Using a thermal sensor module out of a FLIR One smartphone module and some Zeiss Cinemizer goggles, The Hacksmith and engineering intern Ben managed to create a Predator-inspired helmet that actually displays heat and infrared vision just like what the creepy movie creature saw when it gazed upon on the world.

This modern bicycle helmet has a rear-mounted grid of 77 color LEDs which can be used to indicate when you’re braking or turning, as well as to display animations. The LEDs can be activated via handlebar controls or an Apple Watch app. In addition, there’s a row of bright white LEDs in front which improve forward visibility.

DiesInEveryFilm Customs found a beat-up, rusty old helmet from the World War II era, and decided to restore it to its former glory. It took crazy amounts of sanding to get it smooth and clean, but the end result is quite impressive. Sandpaper ASMR ahead.

While the metal helmets worn by soldiers in ancient times weren’t exactly cushioned like today’s foam-filled models, they did save lots of heads. In this clip from metalsmith Andrey Yumanov, he takes us through the process of heating, forming, and finishing sheet metal to form one of those old-style military helmets.

This impressive Marvel Legends Gamerverse Punisher War Machine helmet is a 1:1 scale replica inspired by the Marvel Future Fight video game that envisions what would happen if Frank Castle got his hands on Stark Industries technology. It’s got LED eyes, sound effects, and a removable magnetic faceplate.

Like many other makers, SKM loves to build things from cardboard. This time, he used what appears to be an off-the-shelf template to create a model of Iron Man’s iconic helmet, though this one is guaranteed to offer absolutely no level of protection to its wearer.

Trek and Bontrager’s WaveCel bicycle helmets use a proprietary sheet of cells instead of the commonly used EPS foam. The cells act like crumple zones in vehicles, flexing, crumpling and gliding upon impact to redirect energy away from your head.

Odin Makes created a wearable replica of the badass mask and helmet from the fantastic Captain Marvel movie. As usual, he made most of it with craft foam. He put LEDs inside thin polyethylene sheets to make the glowing mohawk.

Livall’s bike helmet has a pair of Bluetooth speakers and a microphone for calling and listening to music and navigation from your phone. It also has brake and turn signal lights to improve visibility. It can even automatically call your emergency contact if you fall.