As part of the marketing of the Lucasfilm Rogue One, Nissan developed its 2017 Nissan Rogue: Rogue One Star Wars Limited Edition car. Included with this car is a limited edition 3D printed Death Trooper replica helmet, produced by 3D Systems Gentle Giant Studios in Burbank, CA.

Lucasfilm approached frequent partner Gentle Giant Studios with the task of creating 5,400 detailed, high-quality helmet replicas in 3 months.

With photographs of the official Star Wars costume and digital scan data as the guide, the design team sculpted the helmet in 3D from the ground up. Once fully modeled as a single unit, it was analyzed to determine where the helmet could be divided into separate pieces for manufacturing. The artists and on demand manufacturing experts understood the manufacturing constraints of mass production, and brought their insights to bear on this project to deliver a seamless final piece.

Once complete, the helmet files were sent to the Stereolithography (SLA) printer to create a first article helmet in the final dimensions (15 in. H x 11.5 in. D x 10 in. W).

3D printing accelerates the design verification process, which was critical to keeping production on schedule. Once approved, the SLA prototypes (helmet components and base) were used to create the master fiberglass production molds. Using these molds, the team executed a low volume production run with high-quality finishing to meet Nissan’s quota and deadline.

The exclusive Gentle Giant Studios created Death Trooper replica helmet is available only to owners of the Nissan Rogue Limited Edition (starting at $28,950). According to Nissan, only 5,400 will be sold, but “unlike the Death Star, when these are gone, [they] won’t be building them again.”

3D Systems
3Dsystems.com