If you plan on wearing your helmet you’ll want to make it comfortable, especially if you’ll be wearing it for hours at an event. Here are a few items to consider installing in your helmet. These aren’t necessary but they are nice helmet upgrades. If your helmet will just be a shelf display piece, you can skip these add-ons.
Helmet Padding or Suspension Liner
You may have painted the inside of your helmet black to cut down on light issues. Now consider adding soft padding for comfort and to keep it snug on your head. You don’t want to be walking bobblehead.
There are two options, you can add soft padding or you can use a suspension liner.
You can purchase helmet padding, like airsoft or military foam with velcro pads, or you can cut your own foam padding or use a mixture of both. Upholstery foam or weatherstripping foam can be attached with velcro if you want it removable for washing. Or you can attach it with double-sided sticky tape. A hard hat suspension liner can also be installed with velcro at the attachment points.
Use what’s most comfortable for you or works best to fit the extra space in your helmet. If you have a lot of space to fill, 1-inch thick foam might work better than the thinner pads. It might take some trial and error to figure out the best layout of padding for your head and to fit around items you may have installed. Below you can see foam placement for a common sports helmet and the foam placement in one Mando helmet.
You can also make your own custom liner with soft foam from exercise mats. These can be used to hide some of the wiring or electronics in the helmet if you like. Cut out a circle about 10 inches wide and cut wedges around the edges. For the area below the brow ridge, make a paper template to figure out the width, length, and cheek angle.
Helmet Mic & Voice Amp
If you plan on going to large events like ComicCon. I recommend you get a voice amp with a Bluetooth mic, especially if you have a quieter voice. Before I installed a mic in my helmet, I actually lost my voice for a few days from shouting so much at one event. By including a voice amp and helmet microphone, you won’t have to shout to be heard from inside the helmet. And Bluetooth voice amps that make it easy to install without worrying about wires. The mic can be taped or velcroed inside the helmet, and the voice amp speaker can be worn in a pouch on your belt. A 10W amp is loud enough for Mandos.
You want a voice amp, not a voice changer, these are two different things. The voice amp or amplifier will increase your voice volume. A voice changer disguises your voice. You don’t want people having a hard time understanding you under the helmet.
Helmet Lights
If your helmet has any holes or slots in the earpieces, think about including some internal lighting. If you don’t have electronic skills, bicycle lights are a great alternative for beginners. Look for a light that is slim enough to fit in the spot want and gives you access to the on/off button once installed. You may want to choose rechargeable lights also. You can install it easily inside the helmet with hot glue, duct tape, or velcro. This bike light model works well. It’s bright, the USB slot and power button are easy to access, and is rechargeable.
Helmet Fans
If you live in a hot climate you might want to add helmet fans (computer fans). These are usually powered by a small power bank also installed in the helmet. You might need to try different placements of your fans to find what works best. If using only one fan, you might want to place it above the visor to blow air down to prevent fogging. Or if your back key slot vents are open, place a fan there to push in fresh air, or to push out warm air. Fyi that fans do make a bit of noise, so it’s best to avoid placing them near your ears. Luckily Mando helmets have a wide opening on the bottom for air so you might not even need fans. Wear your helmet a few times and then decide.
Other Mandalorian Gear Accessories
You’ll want to protect your helmet when going to events. This is especially important in hot areas and especially with some 3D prints that are prone to warping. Never leave your helmet in a hot car, or exposed encouraging theft.
For transporting your helmet, most people either use a motorcycle helmet bag or a large rolling tool bin. If using a soft motorcycle bag, you might want to add some plastic or cardboard to the bottom and wrap your helmet in bubble wrap or a soft towel.
If your helmet will just be a display piece, you might want to consider getting a helmet display stand. Some less sturdy or quality helmets have the potential to warp at the bottom cheek mandible area.
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Best series of instructibles I have seen online yet!!!! Thank you!
okay can I just say that you saved me about 2 weeks of headache for another project Im working on by providing this, so thank you very much!
These are fantastic tutorials. I am putting together my kit and am so grateful I found this page.