Custom Fireman's Helmet by Rachel Whetzel

Hello, out there in Creativeland!! It's Rachel Whetzel, again! Earlier this year, I was contacted by a woman to make her husband a very unique gift. She wanted a vintage, steam punk style fireman's helmet made as a gift for his birthday. I have been working on the two part piece, and am FINALLY able to share it with you!!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED to make your own Helmet:

• An old fireman's helmet as a base
• Some rug hooking canvas, or other fibrous material
• Creative Paperclay®
• Sandpaper
• Paints. I use Folk Art acrylic craft paints and Krylon Spray paints
• Stain. I used Valspar antiquing stain
• Paint brushes

I wanted to be sure my Creative Paperclay® stuck to the plastic surface of the helmet I was using, so I glued down some rug hooking canvas to the piece. The fabric of the canvas, and it's large holes were the perfect combination. They allow the clay to fill in nooks and crannies, and get a nice grip on the surface I was working with.

Once the glue was dry, I started layering Creative Paperclay® onto the piece.

I used the metal part that stuck off the top, as the base for an eagle that my client wanted on her helmet.

Once the eagle base had dried, I started layering in feathers, and creating a faux stitched leather look along the ridges of the plastic helmet.

After those layers of Creative Paperclay® had dried well, I started building up the edges of the helmet too.

Once ALL of my layers of  were dry, I sanded... and sanded... and sanded... and FINALLY, a few arm cramps and some raw fingers later, I spray painted the whole piece with a black base. 

Then, I painted the eagle with a few layers of gold paint, put red paint into my faux stitching spots, and used some stain to draw out the detail on my eagle.

When all that was finished, I put my client's custom made leather name plate on the front of the helmet to finish it off!! You can see the second part to this piece on the Amazing Mold Putty blog today! When my customer has given her surprise gift, I'll share the set on my Facebook page!

Thank you for reading! Want to see more of what I'm up to?

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 ~ rachel