Jacob's Helm

as usual, click on the images to enlarge. This helm is the second one I made for Jacob. He liked the look of the grilled face helm, but there was just no way he could fit his noggin into it, and STILL have the required full inch of padding all around. Since he is relatively new at this fighting game, he expects to get hit a lot, and he wanted the best protection he could get!
The skull is a 10 gauge steel spinning, cut and stretched like a stretch limosine with a 10 gauge strip up the sides. This adds a full inch front and back. The steel rivets are standard 3/16 dome headed rivets, and the little copper rivets hold the chin strap in place.
The face plate is 12 gauge, with welded 5/16 bars, and the little "smiley" chin piece is measely 14 gauge. That will be strong enough to attach chain mail, or perhaps another little bit of steel to prevent anything from sliding up underneath the helm. Those 5/16 bars are so heavy that they don't need support up the centre, but because some Marshals are (ahem) a little paranoid about distortions they have observed in the usual 1/4 inch bars, they may demand that Jacob insert a welded centre bar, and weld the nasal. We will cross that bridge when we come to it, same as the possibility that it doesn't come down far enough in front. Both fixes (assuming they are needed) are really easy, and I will wait to see what the Marshal says before I add even more weight to this already quite heavy item.
This tank turret is rather heavy as far as helms go, but on the other hand, that is not necessarily bad...if Jacob gets hit in the head, the weight will soak up the impact, and slow it down, reducing concussion. It is nice and roomy, so it won't give him claustrophobia, and the visibility is absolutely stunning! It comes around the front enough to allow some cheek padding, and a second chin strap can easily be mounted. The human neck is surprisingly strong in compression (people carry huge weights on their heads, and you can even stand on your head) but it doesn't take kindly to twists and knocks, so heavy is good.