Very few Judge costumes look complete without a helmet, and if you are cosplaying Judge Dredd himself, then you had better have a helmet, no matter what. While still maintaining the signature look of a Judge helmet, the 2012 movie helmets do have their own design tweaks that make them unique.
The costume designers for the movie narrowed down the design to about 6 different helmets, and then brought in Urban and the producers for their feedback on the designs. In the end, the production decided to go with the more simpler design , not the more high-tech looking helmets, just to keep the look from getting too "over-designed".
There are currently THREE known sizes of Judge helmets used in the movie. Two male and one female. The two male helmets are virtually identical, as one of them is a '2cm cut-down' version of the other. The female helmet is custom sculpted and much smaller than the Male counterparts. This is evident in the 4-Judges Promotional Photo showing Lex, Kaplan and Alvarez standing next to each other.
Here is a paraphrased quote from Robb Allsopp, Key Principal Costumer for the Dredd movie, about the paint colors used in making the helmets, "The helmet is gloss black, with gloss red trim. After painting, there was a lot of breakdown/weathering work. The exact color of red was a custom mix." (thanks to Jared Butler for acquiring that quote.)
Closest Red colors the fans have found in the stores:
The depth of the badge is sually thin. It does fluxuate in the movie though, as one set of helmets were made in the UK and another set made in South Africa.
A signature design of the DREDD movie helmet is the angled front corners. These sweep up from the bottom edge of the helmet at about a 15 degree incline and the edge is about 88 mm long.
The eye-protective lens of the Helmet is a dark black tint that varies in height from judge to Judge. It's thought to be epoxied in place in the movie, but a few fans opt to velcro the lens in place, that way they can easily replace it if it gets damaged/scratched.
The lens does not sit flush against the visor opening of the helmet. It is actually mounted so that the bottom corner of the lens rests about 5-10 mm inside the edge of the helmet, the top corner is flush to the helmet edge.
These images are good examples showing just how far the helmet 'floats' away from the lens.
Charles Shipley recommends using a "smoked safety face shield" and Todd Coss recommmends using a "motorcycle replacement visor". Both cost between $11-$25, depending on quality. Cut them to shape with a band saw or dremel tool (slowest speed setting).
The helmet is padded on the inside with TWO foam pads, covered with a soft cotton material. The cloth is similar to automotice headliner foam, so possibly there is a 1/4 inch foam padding covered with headliner foam.
In this image you can see that the first foam pad starts in the cheek area , wraps around to the back of the helmet and ends up in the opposite cheek area. One continous pice of foam for the sides and back of the helmet. This means that the second foam pad is an oval shape secured to the inside-top of the helmet. We confirmed this theory at the 2013 DragonCon Convention when Robb Allsopp showed Dredd Fans his production helmet.
Here are some paper templates that a mamber of the Facebook Dredd Costume Group came up with and allowed to be shared with the fans. Print the templates above and use these as guides in cutting out your foam and sizing your covering fabric.
The open gap in the front of the Male Helmet is approximately 125 mm wide. This is consistent between the three production-used helmet replicas being offered at this time (of writing).
The Judge helmet has a slightly raised ridge that runs from the top of the badge to the back of the helmet. This raised ridge "curves" into the collar ridge at the back. If you are hand sculpting or papercrafting your helmet, do not forget this detail.
For anyone making a pepakura helmet... here are some measurements based on cardstock thickness. You can layer up your 100 lbs cardstock to achieve the raised edges much faster than cuting the raised lip out in polygons and glueing it together.
.90 mm = 3 sheets of cardstock
1.20 mm = 4 sheets of cardstock
1.50 mm = 5 sheets of cardstock
Steve Noden, JB Replicas, and Jonathan Kapow all cast their Screen Used Helmets that they won in the 2013 PropStore of London Dredd Auctions, and have made them available to the fans. Currently Noden and JBR are consistently offering their helmets with about 6-12 week wait on delivery. Kapow has been slower to move on his offerings, but he does deliver. Kapow's helmet is probably the closest to accurate that is out there, as his helmet was not broken when he recieved it. Noden and JBR both purchased damaged helmets from the 2013 Propstore Auctions and had to fix their helmets (which they did amazing jobs on) before making casts.
There are no store bought helmets for the DREDD 2012 movie, yet. Sorry. :(