Make a Roman Helmet From a Floormat!

Remember those books where each page had a white background, and multiple images with a short explanation about each one? I loved those books as a kid. Especially the ones about "Historical Weaponry" or "Arms and Armor." I always wished I could do more than read about the armor in those pages. I wanted to wear it!

Well, apparently it's not that easy to make a real set of armor, or even a helmet for that matter. Which is why I designed a helmet that anyone could make from an EVA foam floor mat. I tried to make it as historically accurate as possible, though of course there are certain limitations inherently involved when you are trying to recreate something originally made from hard, shiny steel and brass ..... out of soft foam, hot glue and paint.

And, what better helmet to make but that of a Roman centurion... or legionary soldier... depending how you attach the plume... but more on that later.

This helmet is what the Roman army would have used around the time of Nero, or around 50 - 125 AD and is referred to as "Imperial Gallic type H"

O.K, history is super fun, but making things is even better. Let's go!

1. Pattern: You can find it on my website. When you print it, measure against the print guides to know the scale is correct. ** When printing, make sure scale is set to ACTUAL SIZE** Because I make my patterns to work on both A4 and U.S. letter paper, often Adobe Acrobat will try and shrink the pages a little bit.
2. Paint Pen or Gel Pen: Used for any markings on the foam. If you use a ballpoint pen or sharpie and then try to paint over it with a light colour, the pen ink will migrate through the paint and you will never be able to cover the lines!
3. Scissors
4. Ruler
5. Very Sharp Knife: If it is not really sharp you will have a terrible time when you are cutting the foam.I use a utility knife with a brand new blade. I also use a scalpel blade for some of the tight curves. Have extra blades as they will get dull as you go.
6. Cutting Surface: Somewhere to cut where you won’t be destroying anything.
7. Hot Glue Gun: I highly suggest a glue gun that has adjustable temperature. If you use a temperature just a little bit higher than the melting point of the glue, you will have fewer burnt fingers, and not have to hold pieces together as long while they cool.
8. Super Glue: Not entirely necessary, but it can be helpful for gluing down bits and pieces.
9. Contact Cement (optional): I used hot glue in the video, and I think this works great, however, if you are going to be wearing or storing your costume somewhere that will get quite hot, you might want to use contact cement instead.
10. 6-7 mm Thick Eva Foam Floor Mat: If you can find one that is smooth on both sides, great! I used a 4 x 8 foot roll that has texture on one side, but the price was right!
11. 2 mm Thick Eva Foam: You can often find rolls of this stuff at craft stores. A roll is handy because you can cut nice long strips from it. If you can find it in black, that’s the best- if a bit off paint gets rubbed off during use, there won’t be some random colour showing through.
12. Leather Punch: 6 mm diameter.
13. Black Paint: Artists acrylics work reasonable well, though they can crack over time. If you want a really durable, long lasting finish, I would suggest using a flexible paint, such as Plaid FX paints.
14. Metallic paint: I used DecoArt Americana Metallics “Silver” mixed with “Pewter” for the silver colour, and “Antique Brass” for the gold.
15. Rubber Gloves: To wear while applying the paint
16. Heat Gun or Blowdryer: Used for heating and forming the foam.
17. Flexible Straight Edge: This doesn’t need to be anything fancy, even a strip of cardstock will do.
18. Gluing Surface: A surface that you don’t mind getting glue on. A silicone baking sheet is great because hot glue doesn’t stick to it.

1. The fumes from contact cement are toxic, so, if you choose to use it, do so in a well ventilated space and wear lung protection such as a respirator.
2. Whenever you heat foam (with a heatgun or blowdryer) there is potential for the foam to release harmful gases, so use a respirator and do it somewhere with good ventilation.
3. Some EVA foam contains a chemical called formamide. There are some people that say there isn't enough formamide in EVA mats to be harmful, and others that say there is. Do your research and come to your own conclusions. At the least, I would say it is a good idea to open your foam mat up and let it sit in the sun for a day or two, as most of the chemical will off-gas from the foam. Or buy foam that is labelled formamide free.
4. Sharp knives and hot glue can cause injury. Be sure to use in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

Disclaimer: If you rely on the information portrayed in these instructions, you do so at your own risk and you assume the responsibility for the results. You hereby release Lost Wax Designs from any and all actions, claims, or demands that you, your heirs, distributees, guardians, next of kin, spouse or legal representatives now have, or may have in the future, for injury, death, property damage, or any other liability that may result related to the information provided in these instructions.

Before you start printing the PDF pattern, you need to figure out what size helmet will fit your head. Currently there are 5 sizes, from extra small to extra large. Using a flexible measuring tape, measure around your head at the spot where the band of a hat would typically sit. There is a chart in the instructions which will show you what size to make according to the measurement you just took.

Print the pattern pages for the size you want to make from the PDF. Make sure the scale is set to “actual size” or 100%. I make the patterns to work on both A4 and U.S. letter size paper, so that can confuse the computer and make it want to scale the pattern down. After printing, measure the print guides with a ruler to verify that they are the correct size.

The plume pattern is located after all the helmet sizes, because one size of plume is used for sizes Medium to Extra Large, and one is used for Extra Small and Small.

(If you need a program to print from, I find Adobe Acrobat Reader DC works well, and is free)

The helmet pattern pieces don't fit on a single piece of printer paper, so you will need to tape some of them together.

Line up the alignment marks by overlapping the sheets of paper- it is best if you can do this on a light table, window or glass table with a light below to help you see the marks through the paper.

Tape the sheets of paper together, making sure that you tape on the pattern pieces, so that when you cut out the pieces, they will still stay together. I know it seems obvious, but I have been caught more than once by this silly mistake.

Cut out the pattern pieces, cutting as close as possible to the black line, without cutting it away.

Trace pattern pieces 1-5 and 10 onto your 6-7mm thick foam. These are the pieces needed for the main helmet construction. If you’d like to cut the parts for the plume at this time as well, those are pieces 6-9.

Each pattern piece has instructions on it as to how many times it will need to be traced and whether you will need to flip the pattern piece over for the second tracing. Whenever you trace a flipped pattern piece, it is helpful if you label it with a “B” so that you know which is which. It is also helpful to transfer the alignment marks to the back side of the pattern pieces by tracing them on a window or light box.

The neck protector (piece 4) and the plume top (piece 9) can be traced, flipped along their centre line, and traced again, combining the two halves into one large piece.

When you remove the paper pattern, extend the alignment marks to the inside of the traced pattern,and write the letters beside them for reference.

For tracing, use either a light coloured gel pen or a paint pen. The reason for this is that standard sharpies or ball point pens seep through whatever paint goes over top of them, which isn’t bad if you are painting a dark colour, but if you are going to make your helmet silver, you can be sure it will show through. Trust me, it’s almost impossible to cover over!

Before you start, make sure you have a really sharp knife- trust me it will make your life soooo much easier! If you have the skills to do it, you can keep your blade sharp with a good quality sharpening stone, otherwise have a few new blades around for your utility knife.

When you cut, cut directly on the lines you traced.

Cut all the pieces, keeping your knife at right angles to the foam for most of the cuts except for the following exceptions: (as marked of the pattern pieces)

1. Piece 6 (plume base): Cut the two feet of the plume base with your knife angled inwards to create an undercut
2. Piece 4 (neck protector): Cut the concave curve section with your knife angled inwards to create an undercut
3. Pieces 10 (cheek guards) Cut the straight edge with your knife angled inwards to create an undercut

The neck protector gets cut at about a 45 degree angle and the other two get maybe half that amount. The cheek guards angle is the most critical, as it determines the how they will sit on the helmet, so I would recommend waiting to make that cut until you have the helmet made and can visualize the angle you want to have.

**Remember to watch where your fingers are at all times and make sure you don’t cut them!

I use hot glue for my projects now, as I am a bit leery of breathing the fumes that go along with contact cement. It takes a little more practice, but you can still get very good results. The choice really is up to you. If you use quality contact cement, you will end up with a slightly more durable costume, particularly if it will be in hot places where hot glue could melt.

One thing that can really make life easier is to use an adjustable temperature hot glue gun. That way you can turn the temperature down so it is just above the melting point of the glue. You don’t need to hold things together as long, there are less fumes, and you don’t get burned as easily!

I like to glue a section about 5 cm long and hold it together until the glue cools. This time can vary depending on how hot your glue gun is, but for me it is about 30 seconds. The number one reason people have problems with hot glue is that they are just not holding the parts together long enough, so, if in doubt, hold the parts a little longer.

If there is a long piece to glue, it is best to glue both ends so they line up properly first, then glue the rest of the seam in the centre. This reduces any errors due to the stretchable nature of the foam. Hot glue sticks well to EVA foam, however foam that has a heat sealed texture is too smooth for the glue to grip, so, if you are using foam with a texture on one side, every time you want to glue to that textured surface, you will need to sand the foam with a coarse sandpaper- around 50 or 80 grit.

If you have problems getting clean seams with hot glue, one thing you can do is wait until the seam is cool and them rub along the seam with a piece of scrap foam. This softens the glue and allows you to rub away the excess.

You will also see me sometimes wipe the hot glue off the foam seam before it completely cools. I am able to do this without burning my fingers because my glue gun is set to a low temperature and I have a fair bit of experience knowing how long to wait. I think it produces the best results, but do so atyour own risk!

** If you do use hot glue to make your armour, be careful not to leave it in a hot car because

the glue will melt, leaving you with a hot mess! **

Glue closed the 3 “V” cuts on pieces 3a and 3b.

Glue closed the “V” cut on piece 2a and 2b.

Glue Pieces 3a and 3b together along the centreline, lining up alignment marks A to G. Start at the front and work your way to the back, gluing 5cm at a time.

Glue piece 2a to piece 3a starting at the front and working your way back, lining up alignment marks as you go. Repeat for piece 2b and 3b.

** Sometimes you may need to stretch or compress the foam in order to get the alignment marks to line up. Just do the best you can, it doesn’t have to be perfect though!!**

I find that as I am gluing, it works best to build the helmet inside out up to this point. Once you have the previous 4 pieces glued together, carefully flip the foam right side out.

Glue a small section at the centre of the forehead strip (piece1) to the centre of the helmet at the front.

Glue the ends of the forehead strip to the straight edges of piece 2a and 2b.

Glue a small section of the forehead strip to the helmet at alignment point “I”

Glue the remaining gaps closed.

*** When gluing on a curved surface like this helmet, I find that by pressing inwards on the foam on either side of the seam I am gluing, that action forces the seam closed, giving a good, clean result. Use this technique when gluing the forehead strip in place.

At this point, you have taken a few flat sheets of foam and made a pretty nice three dimensional object, however the foam is still wanting to go back to its old life of flatitude. It’s time to convince it that the curvy life is where it’s at.

The forehead strip needs a bit of extra forming, so start by stretching it about 1 cm below the seam where it attaches to the rest of the helmet. Use your fingers to press up against that area from the inside of the helmet. Then use your hands to curve or curl the bottom edge of the forehead strip inwards. You may need to repeat these actions a few times to convince the foam to stay that way.

There is also an area on piece 3 that could use a little stretching, and that is just about a couple of centimetres above the seam between pieces 2 and three and following that line from front to back. This stretching helps round out the helmet shape on the top when you are looking at it from the front.

Before attaching the visor, now is a great time to clean up any glue seams that aren’t quite perfect. If there are any little gaps, you can squeeze a bit of glue in there and then press the seam inward to force the gap closed while the glue cools. For any excess glue around the seams, you can take a piece of scrap foam and rub it vigorously over the seam, removing the excess glue. If you get too vigorous, you may start to heat the foam and melt the glue in the seam, but that’s okay, just hold the seam shut until it cools again.

The visor needs to run in a straight line across the front of the helmet and we also want it placed so that it covers up the seam between the forehead strip and the rest of the helmet.

Make a small mark 3mm above the top edge of the forehead strip, at each end of it.

Get a flexible straight edge and start by taping it at the centre of the helmet so that its top edge is directly on the seam between the forehead strip and the rest of the helmet. Bend the straight edge around the curve of the helmet and line it up with the marks you just made. Tape it in place and then draw a line along the curved straight edge.

Glue the visor in place, starting in the centre and working across, lining up the top edge of the visor with the line you just drew.

Glue the neck protector (piece 4) to the bottom, back of the helmet. The undercut edge of the neck protector should contact the outside surface of the helmet. The undercut edge helps to give the neck protector a bit of a downwards angle from the helmet.

Start by gluing the centre, then the outside edges and finally everything in between.

Use your hands to curve the neck protector down a bit.

Congratulations, you’ve already made the most helmety part of the helmet!! Now is a good time to give yourself a high five as well as to check and make sure the helmet fits how you like it before going and cutting the rest of the foam parts.

If you are happy with your helmet so far, now is the time to cut out all the detail pieces from a sheet of 2mm thick craft foam.

Cut two each of pieces 11 and 12, one flipped.

Cut two each of pieces 13 and 16

Cut 13 of piece 15

The eyebrow (piece 14) can be traced, flipped along its centre line, and traced again, combining the two halves into one large piece. Maybe wait to cut this piece, as you might what to indent all around it before cutting.

Take the candy cane (piece 11) and glue it around the ear cutout on the helmet. Start from the tip of the candy cane and work your way down the stem. Before you finish gluing the bottom of the candy cane, make a mark where it overlaps onto the neck protector and cut it off so it can butt up flush against it. Then finish gluing it down.

Glue the ear flap (piece 12) against the cut edge of the ear cutout on the helmet. Start from the front and work your way around and down. You want to keep the edge of the ear flap lined up with the inside edge of the ear cutout. When you reach the bottom, cut off any excess flush with the edge of the neck protector.

Cut a strip of foam according to the measurements in the pattern:

Size XS- 260mm x 18mm

Size S- 270mm x 19mm

Size M- 295mm x 20mm

Size L- 310mm x 21mm

Size XL- 320mm x 22mm

Mark a horizontal line across the centre of the strip

Create an indentation along that centre line. There are a few things you can use to do this- in the video I use my homemade hair straightener device (check out the build video here) but you can also use the the back of a spoon handle or any other smooth, slightly rounded metal object. A good width is somewhere around 1.5mm thick.

Cut a slight concave curve into one end of the strip so that it will fit flush against the candy cane.

Glue the front strip to the front of the helmet along the bottom edge of the forehead strip.

When your gluing gets close to the other candy cane, mark and cut the other end so it will fit flush, and then finish gluing.

The eyebrow ornament is actually a real thing on Roman helmets. It is a little unclear what the purpose was, but it was a common element in some form or another. Very interesting.

The eyebrows (piece 14, traced, flipped and traced again) on this helmet get a groove right down the middle of them, so in order to do that, first use a dark pencil to trace over the centre line. Now when you flip the paper over you can trace that line again from the back to transfer some of the pencil line onto the foam. Flip and repeat for the other side.

Using whatever tool you used for indenting the front strip, do the same thing to the centre line.

I also indented the line all the way around the eyebrow piece. It makes the edges a little thinner when it is cut from the foam, coming closer to mimicking the look of an historical helmet where the eyebrow ornament is generally made by embossing the metal outwards rather than adding another piece on top.

Glue the eyebrows piece to the helmet, positioning the point just a couple millimetres above the visor. Try to position the “wings” of the eyebrow so they cover as much of the side seam as possible.

Okay the first thing we need to talk about is the angle that gets cut along the straight edge at the top of the cheek guard. On an actual Roman helmet, the guards would be attached by a hinge where they meet the rest of the helmet. This means they could move back and forth. In order to keep the guards tight to the cheek (and the helmet on), there were ties at the bottom of the cheek guards that laced under the chin. In our case, we are going to make the helmet without ties, but we still want the guards to angle in a bit towards the chin instead of hanging straight down and flopping awkwardly around.

They will be hinged on the inside by a strip of thin foam, so they can move towards the face, however, if you try to push them away from the face, they will only be able to go so far, depending on the angle you cut into that straight edge. Take some time to determine what angle you most prefer (cut a bit of scrap foam and hold it up to the edge of the helmet) before committing the cut to the cheek guard.

The cheek guards need to be formed a bit so they curve around your face properly.

Heat the cheek guards with a heat gun or even a blowdryer on the hottest setting.

Form the foam with your hands to dome the cheek guards a bit. Let the foam cool so it keeps its shape.

Cut two 4mm wide strips of craft foam. For size xsmall-35cm long, small-37cm, medium- 41cm, large- 42cm, xlarge- 44cm.

If you have a 12” x 17” sheet of 2mm Eva foam, you can cut it diagonally to get a long enough strip, otherwise you might need to use two shorter strips for each cheek guard.

Glue the strips around the curved outside edge of the cheek guards, but not across the top straight section.

When you are gluing the strips, if you set them on the glue with the inside edge of the strip contacting the surface of the cheek guard first and then applying pressure towards the outside edge, any excess glue will be forced out to the outside edge, making clean up of the strip much easier than if you ended up with a bunch of excess glue globs against the inside edge of the strip.

When you have gone around the cheek guard, cut off any excess strip.

Plumes were a visible way of denoting rank in the Roman army. It is thought that centurions wore their plume from side to side across their helmets to make them more visible in battle. Plumes could also be found on legionary helmets but those were worn from front to back, although whether the legionary soldiers wore them more for ceremonial purposes or actually used them in battle is up for debate. Likely, however most soldiers had no plume at all, just a helmet. The plume pattern I have made can be attached to the helmet either way, so it is up to you what you want your helmet to look like.

Typically plumes were made out of horsehair or feathers, but as I am trying to make this build as accessible as possible, I am going to show you how to make a fake plume from the same foam you are using for the rest of the helmet.

There are only two sizes of plumes in this pattern, the larger one, which is to be used with helmet sizes medium to extra large, and the smaller one to be used with sizes small and extra small.

Make sure that you have cut the “feet” of the plume base at an inward angle when cutting out the foam pieces.

Take the two plume base pieces and glue them together, matching two of the flat sides together.

Fold the plume bases at both centre marks “Q” and then glue the other two flat sides together. The reason for doing it this way is so that the seam will be on the side where it is easy to cover up with a bit of decoration.

If you are using a foam mat that has a texture on one side, it is a good idea to roughen up any textured areas where you will be gluing, so use some coarse sandpaper to roughen up the foam on the inside of the plume base, all around the edges.

Glue the plume base bottom strip (piece7) into the underside of the plume base. Start by gluing just the front rounded section, lining up alignment marks “Q” Then work your way back, following the edge. When you get to the pointy bit on the plume base foot, just keep it lined up and extend the strip past the end. Repeat for the other side. It is really important that you keep the two sides equal while you are gluing in those strips, so keep checking that the feet are staying lined up with each other as you go, otherwise your plume might end up being lopsided and not look proper on the helmet at the end.

Trim off the extra bit of the base bottom strip that is extending past the feet. Keep the knife parallel with the bottom of the foot and also cut a slight concave arc as you go. This is so that the arc will match the curve of the helmet when you assemble it.

Glue the two plume pieces together (piece 8) along two of the the straight edges. This will give you one big foam rainbow.

While the plume is still flat, it’s a good idea to add whatever texture you would like. I used my high tech heat forming machine made from a hair straightener (H.T.H.F.M.M.F.A.H.S) to add radiating lines designed to mimic the brush like plumes that would originally have been made from horse hair. If you don’t have a H.T.H.F.M.M.F.A.H.S you can use any kind of flat metal such as the back of a scissors blade or similar to achieve a reasonable result. Just use significant pressure and rub back and forth to create permanent indentations in the foam.

I find it is easier to get my lines in the correct orientation if I first divide the arc up into sections, imagining the lines radiating from where the centre point would be if you continued the arc and made it into a circle. Then I fill in the lines between each section.

**Note: it is easy to lose the centre lines you have marked on the plume pieces when you are texturing, so keep an eye on that and re-mark if necessary.

With all the lines etched, fold the plume on the two centre marks and glue along the remaining two straight edges.

Check to make sure the plume is able to fit into the plume base but don’t glue it in yet.

Sand around the top of the plume on the inside if you are using foam that is textured on one side.

Grab the plume top (piece 9) apply glue to the rounded section at one end. Line up the horizontal centre line of the plume top with the centre line of the plume, and glue the rounded section in place, keeping it flush with the top of the plume. Repeat for the other end of the plume top.

Line up the glue seam on the plume with the vertical centre line on the plume top and glue a small section there on each side.

Now glue the rest of the plume top to the plume, keeping it flush with the top of the plume.

In a real helmet, if you looked at the top of the plume, you would see all the tips of the horsehair or feathers, so we want to add some texture to the top. You could take something like a skewer and spend hours poking it into the top to create the texture, but I did figure out a much quicker technique.

If you are the type of person who likes taking things apart, you likely have a bunch of random gears you thought would be perfect for some amazing project, but that have never been used. Now is their time to shine! Grab a large, coarse gear and use it to roll across the plume top, creating lots of indentations very quickly. I found a stick to push through the centre of my gear to make it easy to roll across the surface. Also, hold the gear at about a 45 degree angle so that the corners of the teeth are what is contacting the foam, leading to better impressions.

Glue the odd looking hourglass (piece 16) over the seam on each side of the plume base.

Glue the plume base to the helmet. Make sure to line it up so that it is sitting centered on the seam running down the middle of the helmet from front to back. How far you slide it forwards or back is personal preference, but for reference, I lined up the back point of the odd hourglass with the glue seam from the centre “V” cut across the top of the helmet.

Note: Piece 17 on the plume pattern page isn’t one I have used in this helmet build. I added it in case you want to add a decorative strip around the plume base. It gives the correct curve and length so that you can make your own decorative element.

If you like cutting circles out of foam, you are going to love this next step. For all the rest of you….I really am sorry…

I am one who doesn’t like cutting circles from foam with my scalpel, so I used a Cricut Maker to do all my circle cutting. It’s a bit like cheating, but when you’re making 5 helmets of all different sizes I think that's allowed:)

Cut 13 rivet circles (piece15) from 2mm craft foam.

Use the back of a butter knife or other straight edge to create indentations in the foam disc, dividing it into 8 equal sections- like a pizza! Put lots of pressure on the knife while rubbing back and forth on the lines so that you get the impressions nice and deep.

Glue these foam pizzas in place on the helmet as shown in the video:

3 on each cheek guard

3 on the neck protector

2 on each side of the forehead strip

Use your 6mm leather punch to punch 25 foam discs from 2mm foam.

Glue a 6mm disc in the centre of each foam pizza to make a fancy decorative rivet! I like to use super glue for this step- just put a tiny little bit in the centre of the circle and apply the disc with a pair of tweezers.

Glue four 6mm discs around each candy cane piece, spaced as shown in video.

Glue two 6mm discs onto both piece odd hourglasses at each end.

Many roman helmets had scallops embossed in the back of the helmet above the neck protector to strengthen the helmet. It’s an extra step that you may (or may not) want to do.

Mark out two strips of 2mm craft foam corresponding to these lengths: Size small-18.7cm, small-20cm, medium-21.5cm, large-22cm, xlarge- 23cm. Use the neck wrinkles template to mark the width of those two strips.

The width of the strip 1 will be the distance from the top of the neck wrinkles template to the dotted line.

The width of the strip 2 will be the distance from the top to the bottom of the template but make sure you also mark the dotted line on the strip as well.

Cut out the two strips.

Both of the strips will be folded in half and glued so the top edge of the strip lines up with the dotted line from the template. This means that for strip 1, both cut edges will be lined up with each other, but for strip 2, the folded edge will line up with the dotted line you marked, not the cut edge.

Apply a line of glue just above the dotted line (which is the edge) on strip 1 and glue the strip so it is folded in half, however leave a few centimetres (1 inch) unglued on each end.

Repeat for strip 2, remembering that the top edge folds down and meets the dotted line mark, not the bottom edge.

Wrap strip 1 around the helmet, just above the neck protector and between the outside edges of the candy cane. Cut both strips to this length.

**It might be a good idea to cut a bit off both ends to arrive at the correct length, that way you don’t cut off all the unglued section on one side and none on the other.

With the backside of the strips facing up on the table, use scissors to make an angled cut that ends almost at the top fold of the strip, cutting off a triangular piece of foam. The reason for this is to make the very end of the strip thinner so that when it butts up against the candy cane, it will be the same thickness as the candy cane. This is the why you left the ends unglued, so you can get your scissors in there to make the cut.

Now that the cut is made, you can finish gluing the edge down if it still needs it.

Lay the two completed strips on the table, right side up, with piece 1 overlapping the bottom edge of piece two. It should overlap about the distance from the bottom line to the dotted line on the neck wrinkles template or slightly further. You just want them to look like they are similar widths once overlapped. Mark a line where they overlap, to make it easy to put back in place when gluing.

Glue piece 1 onto piece 2.

The photos for this step are shown using red foam, because I didn't have clear pictures of the process with the original orange foam. It'll magically be orange again in the next step!

You now have a strip with two folds on it. Hold it up the the helmet to make sure it is the right length. You may need to stretch the foam a little so that it will reach all the way between the candy canes, as you have made it thicker by gluing the two strips together.

Start at one side and glue that end beside the candy cane, trying to get the end of the strip as flat as possible to match the thickness of the candy cane. The bottom edge of strip 1 should butt against the neck guard as well.

Glue the rest of the strip down-I found it sufficient to just run a bead of glue near the bottom of the strip as well as near the top of the strip.

When you near the other end, make sure it will reach to butt up against the candy cane on that side and glue it down as flush to the candy cane as possible.

Sand the inside top of the cheek guards and the inside of the helmet in front of the ear cutouts if you are using textured foam.

Check to make sure you are happy with the angle you have cut at the top straight edge of the cheek guards. You can just hold them in place with that cut sitting flat against the helmet edge and see what it looks like. That angle is what holds the cheek guards angling in against your face rather than straight down or flopping around.

Glue the cheek guard hinge to the inside of the cheek guard, along the top edge so that half of the hinge is overhanging the edge.

Before gluing the cheek guards in place, it is best if you try on the helmet and figure out the placement of the cheek guards. The back edge of the guard doesn’t necessarily line up with the front edge of the ear cutout.

Glue the other half of the hinge to the inside of the helmet, making sure that you are pulling the hinge upward while the glue cools so that the cheek guard edge is held tightly against the helmet edge. Just watch that you don’t get glue in between the actual edges if you still want some movability of the cheek guards.

All that’s left to do is paint the helmet and plume separately and then glue them together!

There are many different ways to paint. The technique that follows is one I have found gives good results for an antiqued metallic finish. I will warn you, it can be quite time consuming, so if you don’t have a lot of time you might want to try something different.

If I am going to be applying a metallic finish, I always give a dark base coat first. In this case I will use black artists acrylic paints. I find artists acrylics to be more flexible than some other water based paints (like house paint), yet they are not so expensive as some high tech paints that are made to be flexible. Of course, if you want the longest lasting costume and have the budget, go for the better paints! Some brands to look for would be Hexflex, Flexbond and Plaid FX.

I don’t use any primer on my foam, but I do encourage putting at least 3 good coats of paint to seal all the pores. Another important reason for the 3 coats is that it builds up a slight texture, which makes it easier when you apply the metallic paint- as your finger comes in to contact with the surface, metallic paint is rubbed onto the higher surfaces of the texture, but doesn’t completely go into the slightly lower parts. Without that, it is hard to apply the metallics without getting “finger marks” everywhere that your finger first comes in to contact with the surface after dipping your finger in the metallic paint. And, no, you really don’t need to prime your foam.

My favourite metallic paints tend to change over time, but right now I am liking DecoArt Americana Decor Metallics Vintage Brass for the gold colour, and a 50/50 mixture of DecoArt Americana Decor Metallics Pewter and Silver for the silver colour.

My technique for creating an antique metal look is as follows:

Put on a tight fitting rubber glove. This keeps your hands clean as well as preventing fingerprint smears in your metallic coating.

Put a small blob of metallic paint onto a piece of scrap cardboard.

Dip your fingertip lightly into the paint and then rub it onto a clean section of cardboard. Rub in a circular motion until almost all the paint is off your finger. It is especially important to watch the tip of your finger because paint can build up there, so you want to rub off any accumulation that occurs.

Rub your finger on the foam that you want to paint. Slowly build up the metallic colour, repeatedly going back and getting more paint on your finger.

If there are places your finger can’t reach, you can use a small, dry paintbrush. Dip the brush in the paint and then dab most of it off on the cardboard. Then use a vertical dabbing motion to apply the paint, again building it up slowly. It is good to stay away from inside edges as the antique look requires sections that would get less wear to look darker.

You will end up getting metallic paint on places that you want to have a different colour. That’s fine, just go back over them with some black paint before using the next colour.

I painted all the silver color first because it is the majority of the helmet, then I repainted black over anywhere that I accidentally got silver on. Next was the gold color on all the rivets, the ear guards, the front decorative strip, the eyebrows, and the strip that covers the seam on the plume base.

For the plume I used the exact same technique as above, only instead of using the metallic paint, I used red paint to slowly build up the colour. Because the red paint is not as thick, I needed multiple coats before it really started to look good and red.

Don't paint the Botton 1cm or so of the plume so that when you are gluing it into the plume base, the glue is sticking to raw foam rather than a layer of paint.

The very last step is to glue the painted plume into the plume base.

Apply the glue inside the plume base and then set the plume in place.

Congratulations, you have just made yourself a perfect replica of an ancient Roman helmet! Well, maybe not a perfect replica, but perhaps a more comfortable one:) Well done!

If you have access to a 3d printer I have also designed a much more fantastical version of this helmet which you might also want to explore....

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