The Sandman's Helm

Continuing with the Sandman project, the main sigil/totem of Morpheus is the Dream Helm, which is described as follows:

"The Helmet of Dream is a mask of pure dream stuff and is one of his three symbols of office; the other two being his sand pouch and the Dreamstone. Dream crafted the helmet himself ages ago, sculpted from the bones of a dead god."

Thankfully, there is a tonne of concept art in the Absolute Sandman Volume 1, and the one I shall be following most is this:

Though I also really like the profiles on these ones too, they have an almost Cthulian quality (well, it is an Old God), which I hope to capture:

 

I had to start by thinking a lot on how, when and where it will finally be worn. Firstly, I wanted it to be tight fitting to my head, yeah, I've got an L-sized noggin, and this bad-boy is probably going to make it look ridiculous, so keeping it trim to the head will be a priority. With that in mind, I also might want some cooling in it. It's quite a tall helm, so that could be fitted in the rear back. Another issue might be the weight and comfort, as well as being able to drink if possible!

I had the idea of starting with an old army surplus gas mask, as they usually come with attached drinking spouts, and the position of the gas filter on the front is almost exactly aligned with the 'spine' coming out of the front of the dream helm. So, I bought a gas mask and started cutting it up in the general shape of the face section of the helm.

I'm going to sculpt the rest of the helm around this in the hope that at the end of the project, I'll be able to slide it on and strap it in, allowing full, non-shaky movement, AND utilize the drinking pipe so that I don't have to take it off. Which led to the next key issue, the 'spine' at the front. In a lot of pictures, it looks like a set of simply ribbed pipes, but I've never really liked that as a concept if this was 'fashioned from the skull of an old god', so I decided to go literal, and buy a medical spine, which I plan to cut into the right pieces (removing the top and hip parts, leaving just a spine section) and attaching it securely to the front of the mask and blending it in.

It doesn't weigh all that much right now, but then again, it isn't currently attached to my face. Another good reason to strap in the helm to my head, but I'm still concerned it might be heavy, so we shall see about maybe hollowing parts out later if need be, perhaps fit the drinking pipe in there later?

More on it soon!