GP4: 2023 Helmets 'Christmas' Update

Happy Christmas to your all

This is the final update of my 2023 helmet set. The set is so fresh, the paint is still drying and I haven't got any previews for you. 

I'm really grateful that timtoffee has helped me finish the set. He created three helmets to go in this set, with a few light edits from me. 

2023 Sainz US GP helmet

2023 Leclerc US GP helmet

2023 Norris US GP helmet

For the US GP (at COTA), we have Leclerc's American Football field inspired helmet, Norris' 100th GP helmet with stickers representing each of his 99 GPs, and Carlos Sainz's Texan flag inspired lid. 

2023 Bottas Mexican GP helmet

2023 Perez Mexican GP helmet

Two new helmets from the Mexican GP, the first, by timtoffee is the Bottas 'Bottaco' helmet, another colourful and clipart filled design by Tiffany, and Perez's lid, which was submitted by a fan and completed by MDM Designs - a really nice design. 

2023 Albon Las Vegas GP helmet

For Las Vegas, we have Albon's helmet which I hand drew and added sketching effects. This helmet took me quite a few days, and a lot of effort to make the seams ... well seamless... and it was my final complete contribution to this season's set and among my favourites for the year.

2023 Alonso Las Vegas GP helmet

Alonso had a busy casino inspired design, another one that looks simple, but has so many different elements that wasn't easy to reproduce.

2023 Bottas Las Vegas GP helmet

Bottas had a rocket/spaceman theme for Vegas, and timtoffee did an excellent job on this helmet with a little input from me.

2023 Leclerc Las Vegas GP helmet

timtoffee and I also colloborated to create Leclerc's helmet, which was designed by Adrien Paviot.

2023 Perez Las Vegas GP helmet

Perez also had a casino inspired helmet for Las Vegas, with a skyline running along the bottom of his helmet, another hand drawn effort from me.

2023 Sainz Las Vegas GP helmet

 
And finally for this race, Carlos Sainz has a number of classic Vegas style images but personalised with either his name or his race number. Again, each element was faithfully recreated on this one. 

2023 Leclerc Abu Dhabi GP helmet

And finally for the Abu Dhabi GP, we have Leclerc's helmet which features the name of most of his colleagues at Ferrari. If you watch his video, you'll see he immediately spots some missing names, which he writes on in pen, a touching tribute to his teammates. 

I hope you've enjoyed this helmet set as I've been adding to it over the course of the season. There's 122 helmets in this set and I didn't do it alone. 

I couldn't have done it without Jvinu's helmet shapes and templates. 
Thanks to Nick who created all the render previews and also converted the base set to rFactor 2 and his support.
Thanks to rracunis for his contribution to the McLaren helmets and Tweaker visors. 
Thanks to timtoffee for helping me complete the set with some nice additions. 
And thanks for Philippe for the support and motivation to do as many helmets as I have done in the past couple of seasons.

And thanks to you for your helping to keep GP4 alive, and to those who have converted these helmets to be used in other games, it all helps me keep producing these things for you. 

Happy holidays and keep racing, GP4 fans. 

Download the 2023 Helmet Set

GP4: 2023 Williams FW45 v1.1 released - Gulf livery

I'm pleased to announce that the my 2023 Williams FW45 for Grand Prix 4 now includes the Gulf livery. 

Williams held a competition, initially inviting fans to submit their livery suggestions, narrowing it down to four final entries, and having a fan vote the final livery. This livery was designated 'bolder than bold', which blends the classic livery style with the current Williams geometric shapes. 

The livery made its debut at the Singapore GP, which was a night race held under flood lights, and will continue to be used at the Japanese GP, which looked great in the daylight, and the upcoming Qatar GP, which will be another night race. 

It took me quite a while to get the livery right on this one, but I'm pleased with the result and it really stands out on a full grid. The drivers' race suits have also been modified to Gulf colours and branding, all of which are included in this updated pack. 

For all the 2023 content for GP4, I've tried to compile a list of links here: link

GP4: 2023 Williams FW45 by fongu download

It feels like 2021 again, working on the Aston Martin and now releasing the Williams. I'm glad to be able to share this beauty with you, with a refined geometric blue livery, with the Williams light blue and slight red accents. But surely the best bit of the livery is the integration of the Duracell livery on the rollover bar, pioneered at a few races back in 2022. 

Another sponsor added to the car is Gulf, and at Singapore they will race a fan voted special livery. But I will wait until the race happens before releasing that one. 

But they did run one other special livery and that was at the British GP where the team celebrated their 800th GP. Fittingly, it was at their home race. As well has having 800 placed on the car, they also put on a partial blue Union flag on the engine cover. 

Williams have banked their hopes on their giant killing performances by creating a low drag car with great traction out of slow corners. It's allowed Alex Albon in particular to qualify well at low downforce tracks and hold off the rest of the pack by looking after his tyres. Going down this niche route is not new, but it has elevated them to 7th in the Constructors' Championship to date. 

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this car in GP4, here's a few in-game screenshots and below that, the download link. 

For all the 2023 content for GP4, I've tried to compile a list of links here: link

GP4: 2022 Helmets pack complete!

Here it is, the final update to the 2022 pack. 

As is now customary, over half of the grid raced with special helmet designs in Abu Dhabi, especially those who are not returning to the grid next season. I've created 13 more helmets. For one last time this season, let's get into it.

Alex Albon  2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Alex Albon has replaced the white regions of his standard helmet with a chrome effect. The helmet itself is a simplified version of his standard helmet. In most pictures, there was a slight red tinge to the chromed reflections, so I've added a bit of red hint to some areas. The helmet also features Latifi's name, in honour of his last race. 

Fernando Alonso 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

It was a bit of a surprise that old rival Fernando Alonso was so sentinmental at Vettel's last race. He decided against fighting him in the first few laps of the race whilst also running this tribute helmet. He will replace the German at Aston Martin next year. The helmet is still largely title sponsor BWT influenced, but the German flag strip across the front is simple and iconic. 

Pierre Gasly  2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Pierre Gasly is not only ending his time with Alpha Tauri but also the Red Bull family, and so this helmet is half his old Red Bull helmet and this season's Alpha Tauri helmet. There are messages of thanks in various languages. 

Lewis Hamilton 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Lewis Hamilton ran another variation of his helmet with the rainbow flag at the Abu Dhabi GP. 

Nicholas Latifi 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

It's not really a new helmet for Latifi, but with a message to Seb, and the new Williams visor since Interlagos made this a quick job. 

Charles Leclerc 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Charles Leclerc has also gone chrome, with silver and red chrome. But this helmet is a tribute to all those working at Gestione Sportiva and trackside, with all their names printed on the Italian flag across the front, top and rear of his helmet. There were some angles where the names weren't clear in the pictures and blueprints I had, so there may be some alternative names on there. 

Kevin Magnussen  2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Kevin Magnussen has a lightly altered helmet from the one that he ran since the Monaco GP, but for the Abu Dhabi GP, he's also gone with a full on chrome effect, and the K on the side of his helmet is now white instead of red. 

Lando Norris 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Lando also ran a new lid with a glittery green/purplish tones. Not much was made of the helmet online that I could see, but it looks nice anyway. 

Daniel Ricciardo 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Daniel Ricciardo was another driver who would not have a full time drive on the 2023 grid. His final helmet with McLaren is given to sponsor OKX and has been cyberpunked. The livery is based on his standard livery by Ornamental Conifer, and MDM Designs has done a lovely job putting all that together in this shiny number. 

Carlos Sainz 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

As last year, Carlos ran a glittery version of his standard helmet at the Yas Marina circuit. 

Mick Schumacher 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Mick Schumacher doesn't currently have another F1 drive lined up for 2023, but instead of running his own helmet design, he dedicate his final helmet to Seb's design, which Seb stole off Mick's dad to be fair. Mick's regular design is embossed into the helmet, similar to his Japanese helmet. He'll be missed.

Sebastian Vettel  2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Seb Vettel went from pantomine villian at Red Bull, to a bit of an embarressing flop at Ferrari towards the end, to being the most likeable, kind and mature driver on the grid in his Aston Martin days. Everyone was overflowing with their tributes to his last drive and his helmet was about giving back. Dubbed 'the Final Lap', he let fans buy places on his helmet, with the proceeds going to environmental projects. A great driver leaves the grid. 

Zhou Guanyu 2022 Abu Dhabi GP helmet

Whilst it was probably fitting to leave Seb's helmet last, I've decided to mostly stick to alphabetical order for this post, so that leaves Zhou's helmet, which is actually the final helmet I painted for the 2022 season and so it's fitting it belongs here. Inspired by vintage Chinese ornamental floral patterns, the patterns already exist on his standard helmet at the top and around the bottom, but this helmet extends that design all the way around the helmet. Very nice design from KV Designs. The pattern was painted from scratch, so it took a bit of time, but I like the result.

GP4: 2022 Mexican and Sao Paulo helmets

Hey there race fans. Today I present to you various helmets from the last two races in Mexico and Sao Paulo (I still can't stop calling it the Brazilian GP). There are 10 new designs to show you and one variant added to the 2022 helmet pack. 

Sebastian Vettel - Mexican GP

Sebastian Vettel 2022 Mexican GP helmet

It was a real loss to that the world now that we are without Dietrich Mateschitz. He has done so much good without flaunting it or seeking business wealth, and that is no more evident than his contributions to F1. He did it for the love of it, and for sure F1 would be in much more dire circumstances without him. Seb dedicated this whole helmet to his memory, and based the design on his first helmet when he was signed as a Red Bull junior back in 1998, complete with Red Bull logos and the text replaced with 'Danke Didi'. As most juniors had essentially the same design back in the day, this helmet in a green Aston did bring back memories of Klien in a green Jaguar. 

Max Verstappen - Mexican & Sao Paulo GP

Max Verstappen 2022 World Champion helmet

Having clinched his second Championship early, Max has decided to wear a gold based helmet for the rest of the season. In Mexico, the helmet was gold-plated, whilst in Brazil it was chrome gold. Basically the Brazilian version was super shiny and both versions of the helmet are included in this pack, with the differences in the alpha channel.The Mexico edition features real 22-karat gold leaf, the real one not mine! 

Lando Norris - Mexican GP

Lando Norris 2022 Mexican GP helmet

Norris basically got someone to vandalise his helmet with spray paint. That person was artist Jimmy Pierce.

Sergio Perez - Mexican GP

Sergio Perez 2022 Mexican GP helmet

Checo says this is the most Mexican helmet he's ever done with this luchador-style helmet with el Día de los Muertos inspired skull at the front, and various Papel Picado designs. A lovely livery from MDM Designs. 

GP4: 2022 Japanese GP helmets (part 2)

Today, the 2022 season helmet pack has been brough up to date with three new helmets from the Japanese GP. After all the various helmets, I don't think I want to see another Sakura blossom for a long time! Anyway, I'm pleased to present you these three beauties, each with its own charm. It's a good opportunity to talk a little about how I create my helmets, as I use three main techniques. Let's get into it. 

Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher 2022 Japanese GP helmet

Agnieszka Wienand is no stranger to hand painting helmets, having done a couple of Vettel specials for the Japanese GP in the past, but it's Mick's turn to have this Sakura blossom themed masterpiece. The helmet was first embossed with Mick's design from this season on top of which the tree and flowers were painted. I hope to have managed to capture both elements in this recreation. Creating the right blue/grey gradient wasn't easy, especially if the gradient has to go over various seams. Then it was a case of drawing the tree trunk and branches, and then I managed to take a few samples of the sakuras painted by Agnieszka and carefully placed them around the helmet. 

Alex Albon

Alex Albon 2022 Japanese GP helmet

Alex has gone pink with this design, this one designed by MDM Designs. The helmet design is essentially the same as his other helmets worn this year, so the contours are already in place. The sakuras were largely taken from the blueprints, but they needed a lot of correction which I have managed to complete seamlessly onto this helmet texture. Having good source material does help reduce the amount of time to produce the helmets, but it takes a bit more care than simply copy and pasting it on. 

Valterri Bottas

Valterri Bottas 2022 Japanese GP helmet

This is another Tiffany Cromwell design, and I really like it. It's inspired by neon lights and signs in front of a blue brick wall. The wall blends in and out of a black base and actually that helped with the seams, it would have been difficult to match the brick definition if it did cross the seams. Then it was creating a neon light effect for the lights, which was fun to do with various stroke and glow effects. Then it was a case of finding the source vector files, and with a bit of searching, they weren't took hard to find. The most difficult was the Japanese writing on the right side of the helmet, which I eventually found to say 'Thank You' and again a stock image was available. Adding a bit of glow behind the neon signs and the helmet is complete. 

These helmets are painted on Jvinu's templates and shapes, and are ACSPRH compatible as usual. 

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If you want to see most of the previews of the 100+ helmets I've done for the 2022 season, you can see them here: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/p/gp4-2022-helmets.html

I see some US helmet specials have already been posted, so I'll be back soon with some more updates.

GP4: 2022 Singapore GP helmets part 1

After a couple of prolonged breaks, the Grand Prix are coming thick and fast and I'm trying to keep up with the various helmet designs. I'm releasing a batch of helmets now, knowing I have a few to go, but I hope you enjoy these ones. 

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso 2022 Singapore GP helmet

I like Fernando's simple but effective helmets. This one has a relatively simple design, but the curves are not too easy to replicate with where the seams are on the mapping. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the result of this, the helmet combining some of the traditional colours of Nando's helmets along with the BWT branding. 

Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc 2022 Singapore GP helmet

A return to Punk Paradise, having run a similar design at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, though it was glittery red then. Thankfully I could recycle some of that helmet on this year's gold edition. A reasonably strong weekend for Charles in this lid. 

George Russell

George Russell 2022 Singapore GP helmet

As we no longer have a Malaysian GP, Singapore is now the closest to Petronas HQ. George ran a Petronas coloured version of his helmet, as they announced an extension of the Petronas and Mercedes partnership. Sadly, it was a bit of a forgetful weekend for the young Brit.

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel 2022 Singapore GP helmet

Vettel ran this helmet, the black is meant to absorb 99% of light, making the rainbow stand out even more. The helmet is a blended gradient which could have been an issue on the seams, but thankfully I got it to match pretty well. 

Alex Albon

Alex Albon 2022 Singapore GP helmet

Last, but not least, we have Albon's helmet designed by kids from a Thai orphanage. I believe this helmet will get auctioned after the race to raise money. The helmet features various cartoons of the kids from the orphange at the top, the Buddist elephant on the sides, and a huge smile at the front. Albon is pictured at the back, with the boy on the left sporting a Liverpool FC top, my home town. It was remarkable that Albon made it back to the cockpit for this race, sadly it wasn't his best showing, although it was still miles better than Goatifi. I enjoyed recreating this one. 

These are made to fit Jvinu's helmets, utilising his templates for which I'm am ever grateful, and of course these helmets are compatible whereever ACSPRH helmets have been made. 

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