SOLDIER Helm

UPDATE: As it turns out, my printer was distorting the pieces all throughout the design process, so even though the pieces all fit together perfectly, I'm pretty sure the entire helmet is slightly warped in comparison to the model in the game. As is customary, I've redone most of the work, this time including the shoulder armor and the belts. This version is easier to build because the parts are labeled, but I still recommend the newer version for the really hardcore fans. You can see the pictures of it finished HERE, and download the file to make it yourself HERE.

MORE PREVIEW PICS
* Crisis Core cutscene for handy reference

This project has undergone many, many title changes.....

"SOLDIER Helm Papercraft"
"Great Big Pain Where the Sun Don't Shine"
"Bloody Fricken Nightmare"
"SOLDIER Helmet for the Desperately Nerdy"

And so on....

I mean, seriously, do you REALLY want to know what I went through to make this stupid pattern? (See: [link])

I hadda make the model FIVE TIMES in order to get the scale right, because for the first three test-builds my printer kept stretching the images even though I told it not to in at least three different ways, so none of the edges matched up. Once I got that cleared up, I tried scaling a whole body image of the SOLDIER guy to my own height---like I do to scale my keyblades----but since Final Fantasy 7 characters have unnaturally long legs, the helmet came out too small. Finally---believe it----I measured between the bottom of my nose and point of my chin in order to scale the helmet in terms of an actual human face. It worked pretty well in my opinion, though I'm still not sure if it's a teeny weeny tad too large... Even so, in cosplay, 'imperceptibly-too-large' is actually best, because it helps one look more cartoonish. "Lager than life" is no lie. There's no such thing as 'imperceptibly-too-small'----the prop will always appear too small if it is too small.

*faints dramatically off of soapbox*

Enjoy! This pattern was intended for cosplay use, specifically as a base for papermache. Please do link me a photo if you use it, weather for cosplay, or just as a display.

Which reminds me... In order to actually get it on your head, you WILL need to trim it around the inside at the base of the neck. I left the original geometry there in case someone just wanted a model.

NO TEXTURE! As a matter of fact I DID rip the polygones from the Crisis Core ISO, but as a Pepakura-Designer newbie, I just printed it, traced it, and added all the tabs myself by hand.

Related projects by other people: Standard SOLDIER Sword, ShinRa Army Helmet, and ShinRa Identification Card