The Special Judicial Squad (SJS) is the Internal Affairs unit of the Justice Department in the Judge Dredd universe. They are the Judges that judge the Judges. SJS investigates allegations of corruption, unjudicial conduct and criminal activity within the ranks of the Mega-City Judges.
This is the SJS helmet from the Judge Dredd comics. A few members of the Judge Dredd costume group on Facebook wanted a Dredd (2012) movie-style helmet.
I sketched out a few options to try to bridge the basic design of the comic with the look they established in the film.
This was the final approved concept.
I built the helmet in 3D and then converted it to a paper model.
I slushed resin on the inside of the model to build up a solid interior wall.
After sanding off the exterior paper, I began the long smoothing process.
Side view. I knew from wearing the regular Judge helmet that the back of the collar hits the edge of the helmet. I raised the back of this design to address the issue.
Holding the helmet in strong light, I could see all the imperfections. I marked the low areas with a "-" and the high areas with a "+"
One of the clients had access to a super high-resolution 3D printer and sent me a copy of the skull emblem.
Test fit of its position.
I wanted the crest to merge with the curve of the skull.
I added spikes at the cheek bones to fit into the helmet.
Final helmet with emblem.
The skull fit to the helmet.
The first aluminum cold cast resin copy from the mold.
I also cold cast the skull.
The skull once it was polished.
The helmet got a base coat of flat black. I also cut a welding face shield for the visor.
The shield was riveted in place. The rivets were countersunk and the holes were later filled with putty.
The rest of the helmet got a gloss black finish.
The final helmet as modeled by Judge Rotzler.
Side view.
You can raise your head without the helmet shifting against your collar!
One of the clients with his custom leather uniform.
It's hard to out-fascist a Mega-City Judge's uniform but I think this does it!