Helmet Decal Maker Chris Willis Article

[jayt1234]

Here is a pretty good article by the guy who makes almost all of the decals for NFL and NCAA forrtball helmets.

http://www.ssur.org/articles/items/20051020_ChrisWillis.htm

Jay

[aeneas01]

yeah, that's a fun and interesting article although a few years old i believe - i remember coming across it some time ago. i also remember finding it very interesting and surprising that all nfl decals didn't come from the same source given the league's tight control over appearance - that teams are actually allowed to source their own suppliers and will change from one guy to another. i wonder how many teams athletic decals inc. has gained or lost since the date of the artice.

actually i'm pretty sure athletic decal inc. does all of the decals for riddell's nfl proline helmets even though they don't do the decals for every nfl team. and, fwiw, good luck trying to get "replacement" decals for your pro line!

as i've mentioned in other threads, the "authentic" nfl decals available on ebay are just knock-offs. most are pretty close but usually don't hold up very well under close scrutiny and miss the mark even more when compared to the real deal side by side. especially when it comes to metallic/glitter decals. it's also virtually impossible to photo-match metallic/glittered decals as even the best hi-res photos on wire image, corbis, etc. don't pick up the subtlety or degree of the glitter. i'm a big rams' fan and have a couple of authentic game used rams' helmets with the gold horns and have yet to come across a photo that accurately captures the glitter.

from the article:

"And Michigan has a painted helmet: They take a Green Bay gold helmet and then mask it off and paint it navy. Those are the only two college programs I'm aware of."

this isn't quite accurate - russ hawkins, the gentleman who has hand-painted michigan's helmets for the last 40 years, first sprays a green bay gold impregnated shell with "maize" yellow paint (which is quite a different color than green bay gold), let's it dry, masks it off and then finishes it with michigan blue (which isn't quite navy).