sdg1871

Picked up a Stilo ST5 GT Zero 8860-2018 helmet and am seriously considering using JMD in Germany for the design and painting of it. Does anyone have any prior experiences with them?

They are the most expensive of the helmet designers/painters I contacted but have a sterling/legendary reputation and have done all of Michael Schumacher’s, Vettel’s and Max Verstappen’s helmets as well as many more drivers (Ricciardo/Hulkenberg/etc).

My only concern is I am just a regular customer - not anyone famous. Will I get great service/product? Your prior experiences are most welcome.

bwright888

Why JMD? Because you like their style, or you like that they have done lots of famous drivers?

With regards to will you get the service/product - Yes, but you will pay a lot of money and you might have to wait a long time. Usually painters have multiple packages to choose from and for the famous painters, it can be incredibly expensive if you want anything beyond a basic design. Secondly, because they are famous, everyone wants to have their helmet done and therefore the waitlists are insanely long.

So really becomes if you don't care about budget or wait times, go for it. If you care about those things I would look elsewhere. There is a decent list here: https://blog.motorsportreg.com/amazi...s#.ZgHbE-zMIeZ

I went with Oktane https://www.instagram.com/oktanevisual/ - Love his designs, easy to work with, good pricing compared to others

jmartpr

I have used CenSport and Tyler does an amazing job...if you have no idea what to do just give him some basic colors you want. He will come back to you with ideas and direction for the project.
One tip for him and for most of the helmet painter is not to commission a job on the offseason or close to start of the season....they are all busy and takes longer.

sdg1871

Great list. Oktane does great work. Always been a fan of JMD’s work since Schumacher days. Some of Ricciardo’s helmets for them like his Vegas one are just absolutely brilliant. I ended up going with them. They’re not cheap but they’re not ridiculously so much more than so on this list and the timing worked out fine for me.

sdg1871

I found with Jens at JMD he really does want to execute your vision so it is a very collaborative process and he wants you to give your input into the design that you want as his starting point - not just the colors. He likes to collaborate. Fascinating person.

dan212

what is the typical turn around?

sdg1871

Right now, regular turn around time would be mid August. This can be accelerated if there is a good reason and if you are willing to pay an expediting charge. Their services are in huge demand and this is peak season. Some of the top US shops have said regular turn around can be 4 months.

I ended up buying the helmet in the EU (from Atomic Shop in Nurburgring, Germany) because Stilo USA insisted on shipping the helmet to me or a US store in the USA and would not shop the helmet from the factory directly to JMD in Germany. Which would add unnecessary delays and extra shopping costs and risk. The less times I need to ship a $5600 helmet the better. This way the helmet can be shipped directly to JMD from the factory.