I don't think you're crazy at all, I'm seeing it plain as day now :O
Bungie is really good at sneaking details from past material into new designs. Have you ever listened to the Halo 1 soundtrack all the way through? All the music from halo 2 and 3 are already conceptualized and actually play in certain places of H1. **Geeks out**
That second helm looks much better. There is a way to adjust the length of the tabs in Pepakura Designer, take a look for it. Really helps cut down those ridiculous everest like tabs