Ridgevisor Hand Made Polished Steel Full Head Helmet with T Shaped Visor Slot | Rolled Bottom Rim | Padded Leather Liner | Cosplay and Display Gift | RK-1989

A full head helmet in polished steel with a domed skull, a T shaped slot cut through the front for the eyes and breath, and a rolled rim turned out along the bottom edge. Inside is a padded leather liner. The whole outer surface is worked to a bright finish and then knocked back very slightly, so it reads as a mirror at a distance and shows the tool history close up rather than looking like chrome plate.

The shape is deceptively hard to make. There are no flat panels anywhere on it, no welded seams running down the crown and no bolted plates, which means the skull has to be worked out of sheet by stretching the metal rather than by cutting and joining it. That single decision is what separates a raised helmet from a fabricated one, and it is the reason the highlight travels smoothly across the dome instead of breaking at a joint.

Made and finished in Memphis, Tennessee. It arrives with the skull raised and planished, the visor slot cut and dressed, the bottom rim rolled and the liner fitted and glued in.

Specifications

How a one piece skull is raised out of flat sheet

Start with a flat disc of steel. You need a deep dome. You cannot simply bend it, because a dome is curved in two directions at once and a flat sheet has no spare material to give.

The answer is to move the metal. Working from the outside of the disc inward, the sheet is hammered over a stake or into a hollow so that the edges are compressed and thickened while the centre is drawn up. Each pass round takes the dome a little deeper. It is slow, and it is why raising is a skill rather than a setting on a machine.

The complication is that steel work hardens. Every hammer blow makes the metal stiffer and more brittle in the spot it lands, and if you keep going the piece will split. So the work has to stop periodically and the helmet is annealed, heated up and allowed to cool so the grain structure relaxes and the metal becomes workable again. A deep skull may be annealed several times before it reaches shape.

The last stage is planishing. The dome comes off the raising stake covered in facets, and it is then worked over a smooth polished stake with a smooth faced hammer, thousands of light overlapping blows that flatten the facets into each other and leave a continuous surface. Planishing is also what makes the metal ring when you tap it. That faint fine texture you can see under the polish, catching the light in soft bands, is the record of that process, and a spun or pressed helmet does not have it.

The T slot and what it costs you in vision

Be clear eyed about the visor before you buy. The T shaped opening gives you a horizontal band across the eyes and a vertical slot down the centre for the nose and mouth, and that is all of it. It is a striking silhouette and it is very restrictive.

What you lose is peripheral vision, almost entirely. You can see straight ahead well and you can see downward through the vertical slot, but anything approaching from the side arrives without warning, so you turn your whole head rather than your eyes. Depth perception also suffers, because the narrow band cuts the visual overlap your two eyes normally use to judge distance. Steps and kerbs are the practical problem.

What this helmet is a replica of

Plainly stated: this is our own hand made replica of a Mandalorian style helmet, and it is an independent interpretation rather than a copy taken from any studio pattern or measurement. We build it in our own workshop in a shape people recognise, in raised and polished steel rather than in cast resin, and the proportions are ours.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this helmet the usual places are a short line along the brow above the visor, or the back of the skull where it is seen as you walk away. There is more detail on the engraving page.

Fit and sizing

Measure before you order. Take a soft tape around your head at the widest point, which is roughly a finger above your eyebrows and around the fullest part at the back, and keep the tape level. That number is your head circumference and it is the only measurement that matters here.

This helmet is built to take a head of approximately 22 to 24 inches, which is 56 to 61 centimetres, with the padded liner in place. If you are inside that band it will go on. If you are at the very top of it, tell us in the order notes and we will fit the liner thinner. If you are above it, tell us before you order rather than after, because a helmet that does not fit is not much use to anybody.

Remember that hair takes up room. A lot of hair, or hair worn up, can easily add an inch to the working measurement, so measure the way you intend to wear it. The liner will compress slightly with use and settle to your head over the first few wearings, the same way a good hat does.

Care

Polished steel rusts, and the enemy is not rain, it is the salt and moisture your hands leave on it. Wipe the outside down with a soft cloth after handling, and keep a lightly oiled rag for the job rather than a dry one.

If a spot of rust does appear, deal with it early. A little oil and a light rub with the finest grade of steel wool will take a bloom off before it pits. Leave it a year and it will have eaten into the polish. There is more on this on our steel care page.

The liner is leather and it absorbs sweat, so let the helmet dry fully with the opening upward after wearing rather than putting it straight in a box. Feed the leather with a proper conditioner once or twice a year. Do not soak it and do not dry it near a radiator, which will make it hard and cracked.

Made in Memphis

This helmet is made in our own workshop in Memphis, Tennessee. It is not drop shipped out of an importer catalogue with a label added. The skull is raised, annealed and planished, the slot is cut and dressed, the rim is rolled, the surface is polished and the liner is cut and fitted by the same small crew.

That is also why the lead time is honest. Processing runs one to two weeks before it leaves us, and longer if you have ordered engraving, because the layout is drawn and checked before anything is cut. Shipping inside the United States is free. Returns run for seven days. The lifetime warranty against defects in our work covers the raising, the seams of the liner, the rim and the finish, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This helmet is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. It is raised by hand from sheet, which means the planishing texture, the exact way the highlight runs across the dome, the depth of the polish and the small variations in the curve of the skull are different on every one. The liner leather varies in tone from hide to hide. The size, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not, and the marks of the hammer are the point rather than a flaw.

Frequently asked questions

Is this Mandalorian helmet replica an officially licensed product?

No. This is an independently made collector replica produced in our own workshop. It is not an official or licensed item and it is not connected to, endorsed by or affiliated with any film studio, publisher or rights holder. You are buying a hand raised steel helmet from a small forge, and we would rather say that plainly.

Can I wear it for motorcycling, sport or combat?

No. This is a display and costume piece. It is not protective equipment, it is not impact tested and it is not certified for motorcycling, cycling, any sport, reenactment or combat use of any kind. Do not wear it on a bike and do not wear it anywhere anything may be swung at your head.

What size head does it fit?

It is built for a head circumference of approximately 22 to 24 inches, which is 56 to 61 centimetres, measured with a soft tape around the widest part of the head and with the liner in place. Measure the way you will wear it, because hair adds more than people expect.

How much can you actually see out of it?

Forward vision through the horizontal band is good and you can see the ground through the vertical slot, but peripheral vision is largely gone and depth perception is reduced. You will turn your head rather than your eyes. Walk around indoors in it before wearing it somewhere busy.

Will it rust?

It can if it is neglected, because it is polished steel rather than stainless. Wiping it with a lightly oiled cloth after handling and storing it out of a sealed bag keeps it bright indefinitely. Skin salt left on bare polished steel is what starts the problem.

How long does it take to arrive?

Processing is one to two weeks in the workshop, a little longer if engraving is ordered. Shipping within the United States is free, and tracking goes out as soon as it is packed.

What is in the box

• One hand raised polished steel full head helmet with a T shaped visor slot
• Padded leather liner, fitted
• Elder Futhark rune engraving or your own design where ordered
• Care card for polished steel and for the leather liner
• Made and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the rest of the cosplay and movie replicas, the accessories and everything we cut to order in engraved and personalized. There is more background in the guides.