What are people using for helmet covers besides the SA ones MAA made? I know more options are in the pipeline, but are there alternatives in use right now, sort of like how Polish Desert camo is being used for BDU's?

My steel helmet has a cloth cover, but it is very green and in a standard U.S. pattern. the inside is in shades of brown instead of green. I've been trying to fade the color with bleach but so far no luck.

I'd love to hear what others are using, or see examples!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

If your helmet cover is "very green" on the outside, and has a brown pattern on the inside, then it is a collectible "Mitchell Leaf pattern" helmet cover as used in the Vietnam war. Please don't bleach it.

http://www.kamouflage.net/camouflage/00279.php

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BANNED USER

Here's mine. It was my dad's, I never really thought about it being worth anything though!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Okay, my first experiment is going to be with this kids shirt I got at Old Navy for a few bucks. The pattern isn't too far off and it will be pretty easy to convert, I'm just hoping I can fade the color a bit:

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

I think you'll need the material to be similar to the cover to get a decent representaion of the effect, different materials hold colour differently.

But saying that, using the t-shirt should get you used to the process so you don't muck up the cover

In interested in how this turns out as I have a Mitchell cover too

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AKA: Simon

Yep, that's a Mitchell cover! Getting hard to get now, so as Aaron said, please dont bleach it!!! Maybe try fading and dying some multicam or Polish camo to make your own

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M/SGT Rich Hyatt-Dowling (Retd)

UKCM Black ops

Well, my first attempt at fading the color didn't work at all. The shirt is 60% cotton so I thought it would fade easily. I swear I'm not using "color safe" bleach, I checked twice.
If I can't get the shirt to fade I have a backup: they were selling an "urban camo" version at Old Navy as well that was the same pattern just in black white and gray. I might have more luck RIT dying that to get the right level of pale green.

Simon: you may be right about the material being too different, but there are ways of stiffening up fabric that might work. And in the end there are going to be SA helmet covers available within the year, so I'm not going to get too worked up about it. Mostly I just don't want to paint my helmet I guess...

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

So here is what I ended up with:



This is the "urban camo" version of the shirt from Old Navy. I dyed it using a guide from Spat's page, and then cut it to fit the helmet. Once it was in place I distressed the edges around the front plate, dusted the whole thing with talcum powder to fade the colors, and then began personalizing it. I'm trying a few different techniques for adding some white "frogs" to the camo pattern as this is one of the most distinctive aspects of the Colonial Marine BDUs. You can see a failed first attempt in the bottom photo (the paint didn't work out as planned).

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Damn, that looks pretty good!

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BANNED USER

Thanks Aaron, that means a lot! You know what I mean by white "frogs", right? The camo pattern is a frog and leaf style, and those white splotches don't look like leaves to me...

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Yeah, I spent a long time drawing up that camo pattern in CAD. I get what you're saying.

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BANNED USER

Retrogarde the finished cover looks amazing and fits like a glove. love it!!