Conference oass::racers

To start things off I finally decided to paint my helmet.  Basically I've been
using the standard silver or while colors without any modification, except for
a few stickers.  I've been thinking it would be nice to have a design but
never could come up with one that meant anything to me.  While I was working
on my Ferrari 312B over the weekend (1/12th scale that is...) I came upon
the design I would use.  Actually I've been aware of this design for more than
10 years, I just never thought of using it.

My helmet will be painted like Gilles Villeneuve's.  I don't know is copying
another driver's helmet design is taboo or anything, but Gilles was my
favorite F1 driver and I look at it more as a tribute than anything.

Working from two photos and a 1/24th scale decal set I've managed to get the 
design pretty close.  I had to cover most of the helmet in masking tape and
then draw the design in pencil on that.  I had to draw a few 'parallel' lines
around the helmet and found a compass works pretty well.  Once you have one line
drawn, make little arcs with the compass around the helmet and you'll end up
with a smooth and even line.  A nice sharp razor blade along the lines and
off came the tape so I could put the red paint on.

I put on about 3 coats of red yesterday and will let it dry for a day or so
before masking off that and spraying the blue on.  The design calls for some
thin red strips on the blue but I'll cheat and have neighbor who pinstripes
cars do that.

I'm due for a new helmet next year so I'll have to do this all over again, but
it should be easier then.  I'll also have this helmet to hang up somewhere, like
next to my 20"x30" picture of Gilles at the '80 Watkins Glen GP.

Dave

    Dave,
    	Don't you think copying someone else's helmet is a bit uncreative?
    There are an infinite number of possible designs and effects. Between
    color choice, geometric shapes, patterns, and special effects (like web
    patterns, spray dots, fades, etc), there is no reason for having to
    copy a helmet design. 
    	To me, this would be like painting your race car in the distinctive
    colors/style of a top team like group 44, Sharp, etc. 
    	Heck, you don't even have to be a good painter: some colored tape
    and contact paper can give you a great 50-50 (seen from 50' at 50 mph)
    effect.  Be creative!  - Chris

    Judging by F1 drivers' helmets over the years, the amount of decoration
    increased as the amount of driver that was visible decreased. When they
    just wore crash hats in the fifties, decorations were pretty minimal,
    but there was no problem recognising the drivers' faces. In the
    sixties, open face helmets appeared, drivers started to get a little
    harder to recognise as they disappeared deeper into the cars and then
    started wearing cloth masks, and simple patterns started to appear -
    often just a single band. Then in the seventies when the modern,
    fully-enclosed helmets appeared and the drivers totally disappeared,
    the brighter designs started to appear.
    
    Talking of reviving designs, Damon Hill has picked up the main feature
    of his father's helmet design, although the overall design is a bit
    different. Graham's helmet used the colours of the London Rowing Club,
    which he belonged to before his racing career started. This was a ring
    at the widest point of the helmet of about eight three inch vertical
    white stripes evenly spaced round the helmet. The background was dark
    blue. Damon's is pretty well the same with one or two extra sponsorship
    decals on there, and a little bit different shape to the top of the
    vertical stripes. When you see him going past there's no mistaking the
    design, especially when, like me, you saw his father racing.
    
    Have any of the CART offspring picked up their Dads' designs? With the
    number of dynasties going there I guess it could end up like family
    coats-of-arms of days gone by.
    
    Talking of interesting origins of designs, it's trivia time - does
    anyone know where Enzo Ferrari got his prancing horse design from?

    re: CART helmets
    
    Yes, Michael Andretti's helment is a copy of his father's, inlcuding
    the stylized Andretti signature.  In fact (aside from the number,
    natch) the only way to tell the cars apart is the reverse color scheme
    (white over black vs. black over white) of the cars.

Ferrari, two stories, either from a trophy he won racing or from the logo off
a WWI fighter pilot's plane.

As for my design, I will continue with the plan to paint my current helmet,
but will work on my own design for next year's helmet.  I just need to
come up with something that means something, not just a fancy design with
bright colors.  That was my reason for using Gilles' design, it means something
to me.

Dave

    Yes, it was a German WWI ace from Stuttgart(German for stud farm,
    famous in early years for breeding horses).
    
    Ironically Dr. Porsche selected a prancing horse for his logo from the
    City of Stuttgart coat-of-arms. His main factory resides in
    Zuffenhausen, a Stuttgart surburb. This was sometime later, in the
    early fifties, however. Max Hoffman, the first US Porsche distributor,
    convinced the Dr. he needed a logo to be successful in the US market.
    
    Bob

    If you're gonna copy another driver's design, Gilles' would be the
    one.  Or Jim Clark's.
    
    Question: Why is it called the Snell Fondation?  Was it a famous
    driver by that name who suffered a head injury?
    
    ESPN did a long piece on MotorWeek this year reviewing the rapid
    advances in helmet technologies.  Apparently Senna contracted to have
    the lightest helmet ever designed.  Seems that pulling those insane
    G-forces was wearing on his neck, not that he couldn't take it, but
    being the competitor he is he felt that if he had a lighter helmet 
    he'd have a competitive advantage on the track (and he may be right).
    
    They also were showing (on Berger's helmet, I think) the use of louvres
    and mini-wings and so forth integral to the helmet's design as a way of
    minimizing drag and maximizing head stability!  It won't be long before
    we'll be reading about helmet Cx ratings in the open wheel formulas!
    
    I'm waiting for Benetton to do a helmet.  I luv their F1 cars, and
    their clothes, ftm.
    
    MrT

    	Pete Snell was killed in a crash in California, I believe, when he
    rolled his Jag 120/140? and suffered head injuries. A doctor friend
    (Snively? sp?) started looking at helmet effectiveness shortly
    thereafter (about 1955 or 56).  The Bell-Toptex helmet was about the
    only one with a crushable liner that absorbed energy and was the first
    certified by the Snell Foundation.
    	Of interest is that the Snell standard is a moving target. They
    keep upgrading the standard as improvements in helmet effectiveness are
    made.  I've owned about 7 Bell helmets, all Snell approved. - Chris

    I've also been thinking about painting my helmet, mainly to cover chips
    in the original paint.  But I've been holding out since the little card
    that came with the thing was full of cautions not to use anything but
    warm soapy water on the surface, lest it weaken the fiberglass.  Is this
    a virtually meaningless liability-avoidance move, or is there something
    to it?  Is there a particular kind of paint that is known to be friendly
    to the surface?

    Carl

I don't really know but I've been using your basic spray on plastic model 
paint and exterior type paint for metal and such ($.99 for a large can).  I
plan to spray a clear coat over it or maybe just wax it.

Dave

My old helmet (3 or 4 years old) an open face Arai had a bunch of
cautions. It said NOT to paint it, that painting could damage the
shell. For the formula car I bought a new full face Bell helmet. The 
Bell helmet said that it was safe to paint unlike some helmets from
other manufacturers. 

Knowing what solvents can do to different types of plastics, it would 
scare me to do anything that the manufacturer warns against.

Not on helmet designs but there is a saying about how much you should spend
on a helmet that goes something like -

	If you have a $10 head buy a $10 helmet...

    	The cheaper helmets with a molded plastic (especially Lexan) outer
    shell can be harmed by many paints. Those that use a lay-up process
    with fiberglass, kevlar, or carbon fiber usually use an epoxy resin
    that will take paint with no problems. Many non-autoracing helmets,
    like bicycle helmets use the molded plastic outer shell (when they do
    have a shell) so painting them is usually risky. The Bell and Simpson
    Snell helmets are often paintable, though. 
    	Do follow the mfg'rs recommendations.  - Chris

    My helmet is layered fiberglass (Snell M85), and it came with the
    warnings about using paint or solvents on it.  Maybe Snell SA helmets
    would be built differently?

    Carl

    I race using a bell M2. The stuff that comes with it says that it is ok
    to paint it . My helmet design is abit of a cross between Derek Bell
    and Nigel Mansell. It has the red,white and blue lines around the
    helmet , different to Derek who's in blue white and read and the colours
    are not the same shade. The Nigel mansell bit is the union jack across
    the chin. I must admit that the paining bit was a doddle. I found all
    the lines dead easy because I used plastic tape , as they do with most
    motor cycle helmets, but to finish it off it had more coats than I can
    remember of clear laquer to give it a real nice high shine and keep all
    the decoration straight.
    
    My normal Road Helmet is a driver fibreglass and kevlar layered mix.
    That too has been decorated. Again very simple but this time I changed
    the base colour to black. I used flat black cellulose paint to get a
    really nice finish , then put some 1/4 inch gold lines on using car pin
    stripping and again loads of laquer. I would also point out that I
    stripped the insides out of the helmet and at the same time changed the
    lining to terry toweling, simular to my bell race helmet. 
    
    As far as the warnings go ,I think someone has aready mentioned it but
    the non painting nornally is for the cheaper thermoplastic or injection
    moulded helmets. I think in general that its safe for most fibre glass
    helmets but don't quote me.
    
    
    	Happy painting
    
    
    	Garry