Catacombs Model GallerySpacesuit Helmet
Catacombs Model GallerySee continuity guide
Helmet and collar. The helmet and bubble visor are fibreglass moulded from a Bell Star motorcycle helmet. Inside the helmet are straps, which can be adjusted to fit. The air hose socket is a car brake pipe connector.
The collar, made of moulded rubber. The "metal" ring is fibreglass, with spring-loaded bolts on either side to hold the helmet in place. When the suits were displayed in exhibitions, the bolts were replaced by screws, some punched through other places in the ring to hold the helmet in place permanently.
In Breakaway, we see a cloth collar, but this was replaced by the rubber collars, causing some continuity errors during that episode.
Inside the helmet and the rubber ring, showing the mesh material and Velcro. The label on the front of the ring is "N.Tate N.3". The Velcro patches sewn into the mesh fabric attach to velcro on the spacesuit (see below). There's also one or two metal poppers on the rear, which attaches to metal buttons on the back of the suit (some suits have one, others have two).
Another collar. The label here is "M.L. No 1".
There's a strip of Velcro inside the helmet collar, and smaller strips sewn around the neck of the suit to hold the collar in place.
Contents copyright Martin Willey. Thanks to Mark Shaw, Andrew Frampton, David Sisson, Jim Winch.