The Dynamic Duo
Daft Punk was, until recently, an electric music group formed in 1993 by two French artists: Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. They produced and DJed some very popular techno music, including songs like “One More Time” and “Get Lucky”, winning many prestigious awards, including six Grammys. In February 2021, after not releasing a new song in five years, Daft Punk announced that they were splitting up and ending the duo.
While they may no longer produce music, they’ll surely be remembered by their millions of fans worldwide. Perhaps the most iconic aspect of Daft Punk, besides their music, was their identity-disguising helmets. As you might expect from a super popular band, the helmets also gained a lot of attention, and many people made their own.
In this article, we’ll be going over 10 great Daft Punk helmets and other related designs. For each design, we’ll go over what you need, who made it, where to find it, and more!
If you see something on the list that you like but don’t have the desire or set up to print it yourself, check out Craftcloud. With a wide range of materials and finishes, your print could cause you to be mistaken for one of the Daft Punk members!
Thomas with LEDs
This partially-illuminated helmet project from Adafruit is designed to be a replica of Thomas Bangalter’s helmet. Of the two, Thomas’s helmet is the more angular one.
This project uses batteries, LED ring lights, and an LED bar to allow you to draw in air by moving your helmet. Luckily, Adafruit has a build guide and a full list of the electrical components, mostly available on Adafruit’s website, required for this project.
Other features on the helmet include Bluetooth control from a smartphone to control the LEDs and a see-through visor (the LEDs don’t completely block your vision). Adafruit is pretty thorough in their instructions, but this project requires some DIY skills such as soldering, electrical knowledge, and more.
For the helmet itself, you’ll need to 3D print several parts. To print the helmet pieces, one recorded Maker suggests using an 85% infill density and no supports activated.
Who designed it? adafruit
How printable/popular is it? This Thomas Daft Punk helmet has 2 recorded Makes, 4 Remixes, as well as over 5,500 downloads.
Where to find it? Thingiverse, Adafruit
Guy-Manuel with LEDs
Next, this project is another partially-LED-illuminated helmet, but this time of Guy-Manuel’s. This helmet has a smooth, curved full-face visor with LEDs on the sides. The helmet’s frame is mostly 3D printed, but other components such as a see-through visor piece, LEDs, a battery, and more are also necessary for this project.
While there are no build instructions on the website, one enthusiast developed their own instructions and shared them on Instructables. The instructions go over what you need, assembly, and more. To print the helmet’s frame, one recorded Maker used a 0.3-mm layer height with a 15-25% infill density; they also used supports.
Who designed it? bendiger
How printable/popular is it? On Thingiverse, this LED Guy-Manuel helmet has 13 recorded Makes and almost 30,000 downloads. Because so many people have successfully printed this design, you can too!
Where to find it? Thingiverse, Instructables
Half of Each without LEDs
One of Daft Punk’s most popular albums was Random Access Memories, and this helmet is the one on the cover: half of each! There aren’t any electrical components on this helmet, making it great for people looking for a model where you don’t have to deal with soldering or other electrical skills.
The helmet design is split into six different parts to print, and you should be able to use glue to bind the pieces together. The creator lists that they printed the model with a 10% infill density and listed the print’s complexity as easy.
Who designed it? mautilio
How printable/popular is it? This mash-up helmet has almost 11,500 views with over 500 downloads.
Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Thomas with Disco LEDs
This helmet is similar to the first Thomas helmet on the list but has even more LEDs to make the helmet look even more luminous. Instead of the one LED strip, which allowed you to still see through the first helmet, this project uses four LED strips, which won’t make visibility easy. You will, however, be very visible! Like the other light-up ones on this list, this project uses many different components, both electrical and printable.
The designer made a purchasable kit of all the necessary electrical parts needed. Additionally, you can download and follow the free 48-page guide, which goes into detailed instructions on everything from printing the parts and adjusting the slicer settings to wiring the breadboard.
The helmet consists of 11 3D printed parts, which should be printed with different print settings for each. The designer printed the helmet in metallic silver PLA.
Who designed it? Electromaker-Kits
How printable/popular is it? This LED disco Thomas helmet has about 3,000 views and 300 downloads.
Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Guy-Manuel with Optional LEDs
Next is this non-see-through Guy-Manuel helmet that you can put LEDs in, but it’s totally optional. Like the first design, this project was made by Adafruit but it’s much simpler because it doesn’t require a visor or any electrical components.
If you want to have lights, LEDs can go on the inside of the helmet and shine outwards. However, you can really only see them when the helmet is printed in a somewhat translucent material. The model isn’t split into different parts, so you’ll have to split the design on your own if your printer doesn’t have a large enough print volume for the helmet to be in one piece.
Who designed it? Adafruit
How printable/popular is it? This no-LED-necessary Guy-Manuel helmet has over 8,100 views and 400 downloads.
Where to find it? Cults
Thomas without LEDs
The final proper helmet for our list, this non-see-through Daft Punk Thomas model is completely electronics-free and sized to fit an average person’s head. The design is split into 16 printable pieces to work on a variety of different printers, even ones with a small build space. To assemble the different pieces, the designer states that they used a soldering iron and glue.
The designer listed that their helmet print consumed around 650 grams of material and took around 102 hours in total to print. This model’s creator also stated that they used a brim to provide adequate bed adhesion for the parts. Additionally, the designer mentioned that they used a 0.12-mm layer height for the ears and visor pieces and a 0.2-mm layer height for the head parts.
Who designed it? jordyminten728992
How printable/popular is it? This helmet design has over 6,500 views and 1,085 downloads!
Where to find it? MyMiniFactory
Miniatures
These designs aren’t wearable items but rather 3D printed miniatures of the musical duo, including their iconic helmets. The designs were a collaboration of two makers on PrusaPrinters, and the models were created after Daft Punk released their Around the World album.
The designer didn’t provide any printing tips but did include multiple designs so you can print the parts individually (ideally in different colors) or in one piece using a multi-material extrusion system.
Who designed it? Prusa Research
How printable/popular is it? This design has over 2,100 views on PrusaPrinters and 12 comments, with 6 makers sharing images of successful prints.
Where to find it? PrusaPrinters
Gear Shift Knob
Need a gear shifting knob or want to add some style to your car? This design is a mini Thomas helmet and a Remix from another helmet model.
On the project page, the designer mentioned that the model is meant for a Chevy Aveo 2005 car, with the knob having a diameter of about 50 mm. The creator of this design also linked to the design’s Tinkercad project page, so you can scale the model if necessary.
Who designed it? MrPlastic
How printable/popular is it? This design has 755 downloads.
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Lamp
Next, this project is a lamp in the shape of the Thomas helmet and is a Remix of the first Adafruit design. This project’s printable parts are split up into three components and you’ll also need some LEDs, buttons, and a basic circuit board for the full effect.
In their description of the project, the designer mentions that the assembly was easy, and they sanded the design and painted the lamp (printed in PLA) before installing the electrical components.
Who designed it? DrInvader
How printable/popular is it? This lamp design has about 160 downloads.
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Gloves
Lastly, if you want to further look the part of the Daft Punk music duo, you can print these gloves, inspired by the group’s handwear from concerts. To be clear, the design isn’t the gloves themselves but the studded pads that can be attached to a pair of gloves.
In total, there are seven different designs, and you need to print two sets of each finger covering and one of each palm pad. This project’s maker describes the assembly process, mentioning that you would sand, paint, and glue the parts. While the designer didn’t provide printing advice, one recorded Maker listed that they used a 0.1-mm layer height, no supports, no raft, and a 20% infill density to print the parts in PLA.
Who designed it? KingHelps
How printable/popular is it? These daft punk gloves have 4 recorded Makes and over 4,100 downloads, so printing these glove accessories is definitely possible.
Where to find it? Thingiverse
Lead image source: MrPrinty via Thingiverse
License: The text of "Daft Punk Helmet: 3D Print Your Own for Good Fun!" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.