Building Rocky’s Aviator Helmet

This took three mockups to get right. That was after I’d tried scaling up a commercial pattern (TOO BIG) and starting from a fabric beachball pattern (dimensions did not match description, and it was the wrong shape anyway).
The problem basically is that Rocky’s head is basically a squashed basketball shape (not the vertical ovoid of a human being) and his aviator cap is always drawn as more of a suggestion.

So here are albums of the development progress; I will add more captions to the individual pictures as I have time

Draft #1

This was my first pass, based on the Etsy pattern. It turned out way too far away from the eyelines of Rocky’s face.

Draft #2

Updated based on Draft #1, and then I tacked with bright red thread to adjust the fit towards draft #3

Draft #3

Third times the charm! Did a mockup of the third draft in blue chambray again before cutting into my hide

The REAL DEAL!

OK, then, now to build one for real, including facings on the chin strap, out of the sky blue lambskin I bought