| Well thanks to Neill, Lisa and
Paul at Millennium FX I was able to carry out the following photo comparison
between an original screen-used Cyberman Helmet, and the new replicas made
from Millennium FX. Now the reality is that the MFX "Replicas" are almost
exactly the same as the originals since theyre made from the same mould, by
the same people, using the same materials, etc. etc. I could go on but you
get the point.
However, since pictures speak louder than words........
In all of these pics, the REPLICA is LEFT, the ORIGINAL is RIGHT. |
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| As you can see from these photos,
there is no "physical" difference between the original and replica and tbh I
wasn't expecting to see any since the moulds are the same, but its still great to see an exact
1:1 structural match. |
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| Colour and finish wise there is a
slight difference, although we need to remember that we are dealing with an
original screen-used helmet that's been used in both Cyberman stories in
series 2. Specifically this helmet was the "crying" helmet where you see an
oil tear dripping from the left eye of the cyber Yvonne Hartman. - more of
this later. |
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| The composition of the resin the
helmet is manufactured from is exactly the same, the same quantity of
Aluminium powder to resin, the same physical mould etc. However as detailed
elsewhere the originals were polished with "Zeebo" black fireplace grate
cleaner, which replaces the blue hue with a more silver look - although bear
in mind the black comes off on the hands etc. |
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| I think I'm going to give this "Zeebo"
a go since I like the look of it. Otherwise, apart from a bit of
wear-and-tear from on-set use they're the same |
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| As with the originals all the parts
are cold cast Aluminium, apart from the pipes which are off the shelf
aluminium piping (the corners though were made by Millennium) |
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| Above a birds eye view. |
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| Next a black and white close up of
the eyes which reinforces the fact that these helmets are essentially the
same, although the replica isn't wearable "off the shelf" and required a
little work - more of this later. |
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| Next up a couple of shots of the
original helmet |
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| ...and specifically the left eye.
If you look close at the tear itself you can see the tear duct which
connects to a tube on the inside allowing a tiny dribble of oil to be pumped
through. |
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| So away from the outside, the clear
differences between the originals and Replicas is that the originals were
made to be worn (duh!). The replicas were not as this was due to a number of
issues, including licensing. However there's nothing from the construction
of the replicas that stops people from making it into a fully wearable
costuming piece |
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| Looking at the inside of the
original, apart from the addition of foam pads to make them a little more
comfortable to wear, the only real difference is the tabs that make the
front and back sections lock together - along with the upturned "L" shaped
clip in the back part that clips into the top of the front section. I'll
deal with "what you need to do to make the replica wearable" in another
section of the site..
Finally a pic of Neill and his creation |
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Back to the Dr Who section
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