Inferno Helmet Discussion

[tipperaryred[CMD-DCA]]

Now that we have our first Del Specialist, I think it is important to have a discussion to clarify the features of the unique "Inferno" helmet, compared to the Rogue One or OT TIE helmets. As it is strictly a Level 2 requirement, it has not been an issue for builders or GMLs in the past, but now that we are getting specialist applications in I think we need to lock it down and be as specific as we can.

Dennis @Wingman, you are welcome to post up some of the media that you published in one of the Specialist threads earlier. These will help as a starting point comparing not just the canon references, but also the sculpts used by our real world vendors.

[Wingman[TX]]

Thank you 

Here's a comparison between the Inferno Helmet and the Rogue One Tie Pilot Helmet. 

You can see that the molds are totally different. The Inferno Helmet is also smaller as the Rogue One Helmet. The teeth sections are different and the Vocoder of the Rogue One Helmet is vacformed but for the Infernos it has to be a separate piece. The Trident and the sideburns looks different too. And on the back view you can see that the Mohawk Strip on the Inferno is not as wide as on the Rogue One Helmet. 

 

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

I ordered my L2 compliant helmet from Pilotbay from his new molds. It's very small, my eyelashes actually touch the lens materal, it rips my ears off taking the helmet off and coming from well over a hundred troops in Dan Laws TIE and ATAT helmets this is a big change for me. Laying my helmets side by side not only is the size different but the shape as well.  The game-design inspired helmets are different, skinnier, smaller, tighter and the vocoder is clearly different.  We had even discussed breifly making the requirement to have the vocoder made of seperate tubes, like using RC fuel tubing with wire inside, vs. using a seperate molded piece. That did not pan out, but in the end the vocoder is seprate from the faceplate. 

[tipperaryred[CMD-DCA]]

Thanks for the observations so far.  When I get a chance, I'd like to go back to basics and try and get a side by side comparison of the original reference images for both.  Apologies for being missing the past week, I've had a lot on.  I should be able to jump back into this, and Del's updates, later this week.

[tipperaryred[CMD-DCA]]

As a starting point, here is a useful thread by one of our JRS colleagues, explaining the difference between a Rogue One and an OT TIE helmet:

https://forum.jrs501st.com/topic/14160-r1-vs-ot-helmet/#comment-134307

This is pretty comprehensive, so there is no need for us to waste time re-doing work already carried out over in the JRS forums.  Suffice to say that the two helmets are sufficiently different that it is safe to separate the Inferno helmet from the OT TIE helmet completely.  Our CRL already rules out the use of OT TIE helmets for Inferno, so the only question is whether we add some of these details to help guide GMLs.  For those who don't have access to the JRS forums, the main text is below (credit to "RBJ", the DXO over at JRS):

So what are the differences between R1 Ties and OT? Short answer is everything is different. I’ll start with the R1 helmet.

-The face is symmetrical with much smaller eyes

-there is no visible assembly hardware

-cogs are idealized and white with no slit cut

-the way the helmet is trimmed leaves no gaps at the sideburn area

- the side “gas mask clip” area is trimmed in line with the bottom of the side burn

-the ears have the gas mask clips molded in

-the ears also have a small round raised area that appears on the APH helmets. Although hidden by ears on OT, it appears on that helmet as well but only on the wearers right.

The only thing I think it shares with OT would be mowhawk clips and pill box. I’m probably missing somethings but our resident R1 experts can chime in😁

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

On 6/24/2025 at 2:47 AM, tipperaryred said:

Thanks for the observations so far.  When I get a chance, I'd like to go back to basics and try and get a side by side comparison of the original reference images for both.  Apologies for being missing the past week, I've had a lot on.  I should be able to jump back into this, and Del's updates, later this week.

Same here ive been out a week plus. I have been blocked off of the JRS website for months , I know Tristan fixed the issue, but now Im blocked again . frustrating. 

Thanks for the breakdown, and not everyone has a JRS account.  My ear cutouts on the o2 bayonet are cut different than my Laws TIE helmet. This trims almost all the plastic off. My laws had big gaps, there are no gaps on the Del helmet.  

[Note: the round raised area on the back of the APH helmet is where the grommet was where the comm wire exited the helmet. The comm cord is on the pilots right in the aircraft so it routes down there, so when you yanked the big black and yellow handle over your head (this was a US Navy A6 Intruder pilot helmet, so the E handle was overhead on top of your helmet) the cord yanked directly off as you ejected.  Helicopters often cross, not the case here.]

[tipperaryred[CMD-DCA]]

Perfect and yes, the absence of gaps seems to be a huge difference.  As far as disallowing the OT TIE helmet goes then, rather than adding in loads of extra explanation to the CRL, can we simply add a single sentence along the lines of, "For further explanation of the differences in helmet styles, please see the Detachment forums"?

[Blackwatch[CMD-DCA]]

yeah, otherwise the differeces page would require a crl of its own.  I have seen that declaration in the past. 

Ill swing back to the helmet section, make that change, add that to the L2 remarks, and annotae the edit date line at the bottom remarking that this change was made.