Helmet 2.0 - Erica's creation

Final render:

Lighting:

Based on the color scheme of the show, what I had in mind was a pretty dark environment in which the model, whose materials are quite shiny, would really stand out. Bearing this in mind, I was looking for a simple and dark environment to let the helmet stand out in my render, therefore, as in the show Erica creates this gadget to go into a ventilation duct, I chose to place it in a similar one. Even though working with such a contrasting rim light was quite complicated, I think it was key to achieve the Stranger Things aesthetic I was going for.

Materials:

I took on the lighting and texturing process simultaneously. I used substance painter to create the normal maps I needed but besides that, every material is done in maya. I followed the original design, however as I said before, I changed the helmet a bit (omitted the blue stripes) for it to fit the color palette I was going for. 

Modeling:

I used maya for the entirety of the model. I began with all the hard surface modeling, which included both flashlights, the helmet and it's closing system. I worked on each of them separately, and once I had each object and it’s UVs, I joined them all together. 

Afterwards, I created the duct tape stripes and the band for the helmet and adjusted them to my model. I ended up using less tape than in the original model, as I think it stands out much more this way and details are much more noticeable.

References:

First off, based on the shots in the show I focused on choosing the correct references for each one of my objects. Given the show is set in the 80s I found plenty of these in online vintage marketplaces, so even though most of them aren’t the usual studio product shots, they were enough for me to come up with fairly accurate 3D models.

As for the flashlights, I was able to find their exact brand and model. However, regarding the helmet, I gave myself more creative freedom to make it fit in the color scheme I had in mind and what I thought would be more suitable for the final render, so the references I looked for were specifically about the materials and the overall structure of a helmet.

Main idea:

Since its release, Stranger Things has become one of the most streamed shows on Netflix, and as I see it, the key to its success is no other than the side characters. Their hilarious puns and quirky personalities ease the tension, making this show much more than a thriller. Therefore, for my entry I wanted to focus on one of these characters.

After doing a lot of thinking and rewatching, I chose to pay homage to Erica Sinclair, who has the best one-liners in the show. I don't have that much experience 3D modeling so I wanted a simple object that still was challenging for me, that's why I chose her iconic revamped helmet; which allowed me to work with so many different materials as well as doing more organic-like modeling for the duct tape.