Brought onboard to work with costume designer Tricia Biggar and costume assistant Michael Mooney, FBFX were not only tasked to create pieces for 60 Naboo soldiers and a variety of Tatooine characters and creatures in The Phantom Menace, but also the iconic helmet Anakin Skywalker wears during the Boonta Eve podrace. Working from a sketch drawn by George Lucas, they brought together a number of elements to bring together one of the most recognisable designs in the entire movie. The co-founders of FBFX Grant Pearmain and Andrew Dow look back 25 years to the production of the movie.
“And then we got a request; could you make this, too? We were handed a sketch hand-drawn by George Lucas. That sketch turned out to be of Anakin Skywalker’s Podracer helmet, one of the best-known costume pieces we’ve ever worked on.
More detailed drawings followed and we were given a couple of weeks to figure out the best way to make it. We started by creating a vacuum-formed outer skin and ear covers, layering them over an EPS liner taken from a bike helmet to ensure a good fit for Jake (Lloyd, who played Anakin). The goggles were modified welding goggles with a metal bar resting flush to the helmet – we also added a spring-loaded sliding mechanism so Anakin could flip them down before the race.
With the paint scheme, we wanted something in keeping with the distinctive Star Wars palette, colourful but muted, and inspiration came from the chipped dark red and green of Boba Fett’s starship. We applied a layer of wax before the top coat of paint, then scratched back in the wax to give the appearance of paint chips. We still use that method now, this was one of the first times we’d tried it and still think of it as a Star Wars-inspired technique.
