About ready to throw in the towel!

What can I say, after two failed attempts to start painting my CC FP helmet, I am feeling like I want to give up. Not sure what to do at this point. Nothing sticks to the silver paint, not even primer. So needless to say after a good couple hours utilizing wet sanding combined with Mineral Spirits I did manage to get the helmet down to the original cold cast metalized layer, even went thru to the resin in some areas, so I know any of the previous problems are gone and I am back to square one. SO...that being said, does anyone have any suggestions? I want to prime it first. Silver is NOT going to be my first color. Not going there again. I am going to prime it and lay down some base colors and go with topical detailing. What primer do you guys suggest? Maybe an automotive primer at this point? The stuff I used this last time was Krylon gray primer, so that's probably why it didn't want to cover the silver to begin with!! It literally would come off with just a fingernail flick. I saw some Rustoleum Clean Metal primer that says "superior adhesion to prevent chipping and cracking" Anyone think that might work? Here is the product

Rust-Oleum 7780830 Clean Metal Primer Spray Paint (6 Pack), White Clean Metal at PlumberSurplus.com

What I am looking for at this point is a solid, durable primer that someone has used and can recommend and is going to stick and cover this helmet to give me a new work surface. Thanks guys!
 
I'm pretty sure I used this Rustoleum auto primer on my armor. I didn't have any adhesion problems:
RustOleum.com

Have you been sticking with one brand for the primer and paint? I know if you mix brands it can give you problems.
 
It is that first layer! It was a cold cast helmet, so I polished it with the steel wool. It had some blemishes I wanted to fix, so I puttied them, sanded and gave it a coat of silver to even it out. The next top coat would not stick to the silver and I tried two different things. I have read lots of other threads where this happens, paint not sticking to the silver. So now it will be primer, base, topical silver, etc.

I was also looking at that one too, WTFett. Thanks for the advice. Anyone else got a primer they REALLY like?!
 
First off are you pollishing the CC to a shine , if so NOTHING wil stick to that 9nothing exept mabey a shelack bassed undercoat,
I dont kn ow if you have axcess to this product but look for it its called Zinser bulls eyes primer , it comes in either water based oil based and shellack based , comes in eitherbrush =on paint or spray can , you want spray can , and the shellack based , its an American product so it should be avalible over there , this stuff is made to stick to glass , over wax on crayon and grease it will hold on to any thing , zinsser.jpg even the water or oil based will work but if you can get the shelack
see if you can find that and use it as an undercoat , it is white but thats ok just use it as your primer
 
Why are you painting the CC silver? Im a little lost...get satin clear krylon and use that over the silver, if you dont want to keep trying I know a guy who will paint it for you at a discounted rate
 
Tried the satin clear, made the helmet look gray. I want the silver to LOOK silver. I painted the CC because there were some blemishes I wanted to fill in and even out, just my choice. And it looked silver. But nothing sticks to it as you know!

My painting it is not a problem. I have an art background. I know with the materials cooperating with me, I will be able to have a great looking helmet thanks to the resources here. Been painting my own stuff for years and I have no worries. But this silver **** just baffles the heck out of me. Like I said, now I have it down to the CC silver layer, even some gray resin is now showing thru. All my previous paint, clear coat, etc is gone. I want to start with a layer of primer that is gonna stick.
 
Which silver did u go with bud and what r u trying to put right over top of it brands and color wise? I know the silver thing can be a PITA, and I hear ya on the CC blemish thing as well...didnt know the back story on the silver paint over the CC...I may have some help for ya though. Im pretty sure anyways...
 
Also are you trying to replicate the silver on the ref pics or like a bright silver? Cause the actual helmet doesnt have Brilliant silver its all beat up and alot duller than new paint...maybe something to think about as far as the color of your silver ur using...I dont have to many issues with rusto painters touch silver....but the brilliant silvers from them give me hell
 
those dings and dents that you want to fill and even out, i just sand those down. because the upper layers of the cold cast will be "brighter" than the lower you just have to keep sanding with 220 until you get all the way to the darker under layer of CC. that will take care of the unsightly pitting and pock marks in the upper layer. then sand it with 400, and then 800. if you're having trouble with paint adhering, get some 90% rubbing alcohol and clean it with a cotton ball. then i tape it off, spray it with rustoleum filler primer, that helps me find all the little gashes and dings that i may have accidentally cut with the dremel while i was cutting out the visor. fill those with body filler, and run a line along the inside lip of the visor area and smooth it all down. then sand that down with 800 grit and re-prime with rustoleum automotive primer. once that's dry you should lightly sand that again with 1000 grit. now your surface is ready to accept the krylon ocean blue.

*edit*

don't put silver paint over the cold cast. get rub'n'buff from your local arts and crafts store, watch this video: YouTube - ‪How to make armor with Sintra, Rub & Buff, and weathering‬‏ then spot touch-up where you need it.
 
The silvers I had were the Rustoleum Metallic Aluminum which stuck fairly well. After hearing the advice of someone in one of my other threads (can't remember who at the moment) I used Krylon Brilliant Silver. Both took to the helmet well. After a few days of curing I went over it with some 0000 steel wool to smooth it out, which worked nicely. The first top coat I tried was the one I mentioned to you F4R, the Rusto Fossil color. It was on the back panels and is a perfect concrete substitute. But I noticed that if masking tape even touched it, the paint was lifting. So that was removed and recoated with the silver base. After about a week of thinking about it, my plan was to get a good base of primer, spray the Lark Gray then hand paint the silver details. I have no worries that I can make it look a lot better by hand painting rather than trying to mask those intricate details. Then I was going to mask the silver and gray and spray the rest of my colors, then hand detail the remaining. So really all I need is to get the primer to stick at this point. It is really unfortunate that the Krylon Primer doesn't want to stick. It is almost the same color as Lark Dark gray and it is flat!
 
Also are you trying to replicate the silver on the ref pics or like a bright silver? Cause the actual helmet doesnt have Brilliant silver its all beat up and alot duller than new paint...maybe something to think about as far as the color of your silver ur using...I dont have to many issues with rusto painters touch silver....but the brilliant silvers from them give me hell

You know, you may have hit on something here! When I prepped the helmet first with the Rusto Aluminum, I was expecting it to be more shiny. I guess I was wanting it to look like the CC again. Someone recommended the Krylon Brilliant Silver and I went over the Rusto with that, with no issues. So the paint I was trying to stick my topcoats to was in fact the Krylon Brilliant and not the Rusto Painter's Touch Aluminum. I might've had the luck just sticking with the Rusto Aluminum. But at this point rather than do that all over again, I still think getting it primed and laying a good base of dark gray will be the ticket. Then I can hand paint the silver with a floquil chrome or something. Then when I dull coat it, it will tame it down a little.

One last thought: I know that paint brands usually work well together. IF (BIG if) I were to start with a silver base again with the Rusto Aluminum and use the Rusto gray, you think that might work?
 
Hey buddy- Go w/ BG's clear coat advice...I used it my very first try (http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/fett-pride-cc-wip-41993/) and had absolutley no issues. And, remember from what ive seen and advice given by more experienced guys on here, the cc isnt supposed to be extremely shiney (kind of dull IMO), not brilliant as the jango. Although it does look grey when you apply the clear coat, when all the layers are layed it pops very nicely! Hope this helps man.
B
 
Hey BG - All the spray cans I see online are marked as Oil Based Primer.

dynamic1 - I remember watching the thread on your ROTJ helmet because it helped me cut and reduce the thickness of the visor. You used all spray cans right? What brands did you use? Did you use that Zinsser primer after masking the initial silver areas? BG is referring to a white primer, but I wasn't sure you used it looking at your thread.
 
Hey DT- Once I got a nice shine on the cold cast I hand sketched all the weathering. Once I completed this I hit it w/ the "clear Flat" by Krylon. Just a light coat to help the paint stick should do the trick. Once you do this you should have no problem at all.
B
 
A few things jump out...

It's pretty unusual to try to paint a cold cast helmet silver, since the whole point of CC is to NOT have to do that. Very little silver shows through in the end, and what does is dull, pitted and scratched.

If your silver layer is super bright and shiny, nothing's going to stick to it. I usually put the silver on somewhat misty so that it comes out a dull finish with some texture to it.

3128193335_fb64f7c460_z.jpg


Next, once the silver is done, I wipe it with a towel. I find that silver tends to leave fine particles that aren't really stuck to the helmet. The same goes for when you sand it. After you sand/steel wool it, rub it down with a soft cloth to get any dust off. Sometimes I even go so far as to rinse it in the sink.

Then, what sort of masking tape are you using? I use 3M delicate surfaces tape:
3M US: Scotch-Blue

Not just the blue tape, but the blue tape specifically designed to be low tack.

I also remove the tape as soon as possible after I paint. As soon as the paint is dry to the touch I take the tape off. Remember that the glue gets stronger the longer the tape is on.
 
Mike its a Boba helmet lmao
my bad! i saw the name "asok" and my mind went right to the jango helmet. in that case, you can ignore most everything i said, but do try cleaning the helmet with rubbinng alcohol. that's what i get for just looking over the "new posts" instead of going through each section.
 
Actually saint_nasty, that is one of the things I used last night after I used mineral spirits and sanding to get the paint off. I washed it over and over ad even did a couple of passes with 91% Isopropyl alcohol.
 
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