Evolution Props Helmet REBUILD

This is my First time using Bondo
I'm realizing how high one can become working with Bondo...
-Evolution Props Helmet- (A piece of garbage)
-I'm going to experiment With re-shaping and air brushing on this as practice before I do the final legit work on ASOKS Cold Cast.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So, Scrapped the gauntlets. I've made contact with a very reputable armor fabricator... When I receive the set, I'll disclose my choice! [FETTPRIDE ordered 1/17]
In the mean time I'm still going to practice my hand at painting an ROTJ bucket...

Soda Blasted the majority of the paint off of it and exposed the shoddy craftsmanship which is why it's so warped.
It's made of about 5 different pieces of sheet plastic lined with fiberglass and resin.

Smo5tsT.jpg

H7937DF.jpg

RImNwdT.jpg


Sanded and washed the dust off of this... Then bondo.
I wanted a more defined ridge/mandible area. I also had to round out the warped rear and make some crisp edges for the key holes.
Wk3dvXi.jpg

89HVaAY.jpg

CZERLVU.jpg

zpqTJVj.jpg


The fixer upper will continue tomorrow when this really cures...
Next up is sanding, and probably one more small patch up with Bondo... Then Priming.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok- decided to shmear the final Bondo layer after sanding... I cut this Bondo mix with a drop of acetone to loosen it up to fill the small crevices
Tomorrow I'll sand and prime.
cTVdSqS.jpg
oz3luI3.jpg
XjA5dQm.jpg
1u1MP5u.jpg

You can see the crimson ridge line/brow starting to show more definition... Once it's sanded, I'll dremel/scrape/gouge some battle damage into it keeping a loose likeness to the ROTJ Stencils I've seen here on TDH.
(Won't be Screen accurate, but it'll be a good practice)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sanded again. Trying to reshape the "Dent" to make it look like dented metal and not clay whopped with a ball peen hammer.
The gray masonry Bondo is much harder (Or I put too much hardening epoxy in)
There's still small imperfections that weren't sanded flat. A coat or two of primer may fill in some of these, although, I don't mind if they're apparent since this is such a ghetto-beta practice helmet I'll just use these as battle Damage marring.
Qi81J1I.jpg


Also- How do I change the name of this thread!? It's now a "Fixer-Upper/Practice Paint up of an Evolution Props Helmet" Now...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
All right- First Layer Down... Sanded, Dremeled Some deep battle damage, Washed, dried, Primed (Rustoleum) and a Layer of Rustoleum "Metallic Aluminum"... The Helmet is starting to look like a Helmet now... Looks like I'll be masking out a lot of marring damage, with imp;lied masking fluid, to the rear!
e01ZATP.jpg

14QkRIE.jpg
1remWby.jpg
C1y8Jx0.jpg

And a Bit of my Finger...
4AHB1wP.jpg


The conspicuous Bondo slop really gives this helmet the second hand stench!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Using a Paasche 1/5hp Airbrush. These things are very easy to use. Mine was about $175. I originally purchased it to MultiCam Paint My Airsoft rifles...

As for masking Fluid... I had a vague memory of utilizing Masking Fluid the last Fett I made 3 or so years ago. While I was using it this time around, my memory was refreshed- I remember I Hate it. A drops of blue food dye, taking pictures of the masked areas and doing 3 coats seems to be the trick to appreciate this bottle of foamy ****.

On the Airbrush Table... I'm going to do the majority-color of the paint scheme first. The Olive Drab Color (Top/Lower Mandi's). Using Testors Flat Green Mixed With Some Flat beret Green (EYE BALLING IT) and probably doing a 1:1 thinner:enamel mix. I See some random presence of a lighter foliage green and some of the upper mandi color bleeding onto the lower. There's also presence of a gray in there. What a nightmare. We'll see what happens. I'm going to need some of that grey and some foliage green.
g6cuZnY.jpg
TTVq1C2.jpg
5Qh31HA.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
OK- Went back out to (AC Moore). Hardest part of painting: Matching colors. That's my opinion- And I'm willing to bet I have a few chaps on my side that agree. I'm in the states. I'm a yank, So, I use Testors- I may send some Hombrol My way via Amazon Prime for the Armor <I'll be making an Order from Fett Pride Tomorrow- (Excited to paint his highly recommended and spoken about work). Testors Flat Green Testors Flat white and Testors Flat Grey Will be assisting me in cutting the right concoction for these sporadic lower mandible colors.
Very important Details to ADDRESS**
I will be using a small syringe to notate the mixture I chose. After all this is a practice bucket for when I receive ASOK's Cold Cast. Also, since there is upper mandible "bleed" the small amount of upper blue mandi color will also be used for when I fully paint the upper Mandi's.
tuV7WOv.jpg

Also, that's unintentional. I'm a *u<king nerd. I'm playing ESB in the background.
PS These Stencils were a sticky on this site.
PPS (Anyone Adobe Photoshop savvy) >>>I've used Adobe Photoshop to create a rough color palette via the eye drop method
 
Testors Sea Blue Matches the upper mandible color PERFECT. As for that lighter "Green" in the lower mandibles... That is a lot of grey, Blue and few drops of white. Mostly 1 part Flat Green, 5 parts Grey, and about 2 Parts Blue. Enamels are a pain in the A$$ to work with.
So Damm oily! I'm using Everclear to rinse the nozzles and my hands. The measuring method went out the window!

I'm having trouble getting the thinner to fully mix with the enamel!? W T F? Anyone know anything about that? Winsor and Newton Artisan Thinner
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ok. First Green layer down. Trying the mask over mask over mask method. We'll see how it turns out... Lot of little annoying details I may just paint in next time instead of masking out.
tc7zrht.jpg
Bi6XukO.jpg
j7FqFMf.jpg
y2OhC4L.jpg
4gfccUl.jpg

I'll see how I like this green mix once I take all the masking fluid off...
 
While unmasking the Metallic base coat I've realized It's very harsh... It's unrealistically Shiny. So, next time around I'll lay a super light misting of diluted matte black and some diluted gray in there. As for the back, there is a lot of gray under that green... This was an experiment to see how silvers/grays blended with multi masked layers.
aefIgoI.jpg
zsk2z03.jpg

(ASOK's Cold Cast is en route to my place- Hopefully I can finish this practice piece before it arrives)
PS. I haven't been using 0000 wire wool on the layers... For future airbrushing I will be.
Are two coats of EACH color necessary?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Are two coats of EACH color necessary?

Can you see thru the layer or does the coat cover? That's really the question that needs to be answered....
 
Naaaa... You can't see through the layers. It's pretty **** opaque. How about The matte clear coat? Layer, wire wool, then last layer?

Are two coats of EACH color necessary?

Can you see thru the layer or does the coat cover? That's really the question that needs to be answered....
 
You'd typically steel wool between each color later, than after all layers are complete remove remaining masking fluid. Add any needed topical coloration. Add any real scratches, like with a tip of a steak knife or compass. Then most use pastels to "earthen" down the brightness of certain colors. Once completely happy with it, lick all the goodness in with a matte clear coat.
 
I've been reading over weathering posts... I'm going to do all that weathering effect stuff at the end like you've suggested (that's when the piece comes to life!). I understand Steel wool after every coat would dull up the layer and provide a more cohesive surface for the following layer. Is the steel wool of any use for the next one if you're sealing them all in at the end?

You'd typically steel wool between each color later, than after all layers are complete remove remaining masking fluid. Add any needed topical coloration. Add any real scratches, like with a tip of a steak knife or compass. Then most use pastels to "earthen" down the brightness of certain colors. Once completely happy with it, lick all the goodness in with a matte clear coat.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For what youre doing now, no need. But when you get the Asok lid underway, yes. It helps to knock off the edge between the layers, as well as clean up the surface for the next coat to adhere to. Also want to make sure you remove the dust created from using the steel wool. Low power compressed (clean) air should do it. Getting the colors right is obviously a challenge, but the hardest part of the entire project is the prep. The prep work makes it, or breaks it.
Of that, the masking fluid is the most difficult. you want to size up/down rafalfett's templates to use, area by area. Then think light, like toothpick with regards to the amount of fluid to put down.
 
As always, the input is appreciated! After all, it's a forum for constructive criticism and shared enthusiasm!
Majority green (Top/Mandis) Came out too **** Mint... I'll see what I can do by washing it out with diluted matte black and a splash of green. (I doubt it'll do much without completely maiming the paint job) I like the color of the back. I have a good idea how I'm going to mist the gray on the lid, and especially where it's apparent in the rear panel. I took some pictures in various lighting- First is lower light on the airbrush table
zEBTIEY.jpg
Second Medium Light
bHpN9rY.jpg
High Lighting
bzIOyZF.jpg
oaW3YrG.jpg
The sea blue Upper Mandibles may need a spot of gray or black... The blue seems very potent. Also, another problem that could be solved with a weathering wash.
Going to mask out upper mandi's next.

As for ASOK's lid, I'm definitely going to clean it up nice to rinse it of releasing agents. I'll Give it a nice sand job for the paint to stick to. The visor, secure the manidbles together so it doesn't warp, yadda yadda- I'll Cross that bridge in the next forum Thread!
 
Ok. I'm back. I had a couple of parts I had to put on my AR (Hand guard and PWS FSC556) ...which I obviously did a quick Custom-faded-Khaki MultiCam job to match the Flat dark Earth VTAC ALPHA Rail...
ivRKZKu.jpg
(Acrylics and Water to thin for the airbrush)...

I couldn't have mixed a better red If I had a gun to my head... Model Master Insignia Red And Model Master Hull Red. I Pretty Much Dumped the Whole Insignia into the Airbrush Jar and added about 12 drips of Hull red. (~1:1 Enamel:Thinner) It went on nice and thick with a smooth flow.
UQBNdSH.jpg

This is the one color I've laid down and fully loved the results. I'll un-bag this tomorrow when it's fully dried and I can see what it looks like in the day light.
 
One more red coat... The Red really held down the masking fluid. Some masking fluid removed, and all masking fluid removed... (Warning Spoiler Alert... Some Post Work on and ASOK Cold Cast is in there...)
VBk8v59.jpg
KVXtBn7.jpg


I'll start the weathering today after I edit some GoPro videos I have laying around my computer... (Too many hobbies...)

PS That magnetic dart drinking game doesn't work so well
 
This thread is more than 10 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top