DVH ESB paintup of DVH scratch build helmet casting

Tip for the cheeks to consider for next time:

When I did mine I left both the upper and lower cheeks exposed. I masked off the rest of the helmet (except the dome which i did at the same time) and then did the lower cheeks section to completion. Once the lower cheeks and dome were dry I masked off the lower cheeks and dome and then painted the upper cheeks, which are predominantly black. Under the black (and silver etc) of the upper cheeks is the main green. In this way I saved a lot of time on masking out a whole extra section. I hope that makes some sort of sense because reading it back it's pretty confusing.
 
Dom, Its my dumb ****** cell phone camera...my wifes still not back from vacation and she has both of the good cameras! So im stuck with the cell camera..color does look way off in the pics..looks more ROTJ green but im using all humbrols..its humbrol 78 on the dome. Using TF's color list to the tee.

Thanks Intwenothor, Yea im not thrilled with how its coming out, but its not bad and will likely be a usable helmet when done :) Yea i did like the fact that even though this wont be the most accuraste and perfect lookin helmet, i did in fact build it from the ground up...using WOF's templates of course. Yea what ya said makes sense...since this was my first go, im following TF's "wafer thin" thread, as i call it lol. So im using the same order and method he did...of course my results this time dont compare, but i'll take anyones suggestions into consideration for next time. Eventually i'll get a knack for it....i hope lol
 
It was just a time saving idea. I thinkyour paintup is looking good. I'm more or less at the same stage with just the red bits, as I call 'em, and a boat load of weathering to go. I've masked off the rest of the helmet and now need to start with the fluid again (sigh). At the moment most of my other parts were bought painted from Bobamaker but I feel much more of a connection to the helmet I'm painting. That feeling must be magnified if you've made your own lid!
 
It was just a time saving idea. I thinkyour paintup is looking good. I'm more or less at the same stage with just the red bits, as I call 'em, and a boat load of weathering to go. I've masked off the rest of the helmet and now need to start with the fluid again (sigh). At the moment most of my other parts were bought painted from Bobamaker but I feel much more of a connection to the helmet I'm painting. That feeling must be magnified if you've made your own lid!

Thanks man...i just wish the tiny details were there...but in due time with a teeny brush :)...heh i know that "sigh" feeling all to well already when it comes to the masking lol. TF is a masking machine!..he gets the details so nice with that stuff!

Yea i guess you could say the connection is definitely magnified doing the whole thing from start to finish...very rewarding. :)

Im gonna start on the upper cheeks now..stenciling and masking to commence shortly! lol
 
The toothpick s definitely allow for much finer masking than a brush. Sometimes for really fine details I wait until the fluid is dry and peel and pull it back with a needle or pin as well as touching up later with a brush. Now that is reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllly tedious.
 
The toothpick s definitely allow for much finer masking than a brush. Sometimes for really fine details I wait until the fluid is dry and peel and pull it back with a needle or pin as well as touching up later with a brush. Now that is reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllly tedious.

heh i bet!!... i think TF mentioned doing something similar to that as well. I have a helmet on order so when that arrives i may take on the painting myself and hopefully with the advice/suggestions ive gotten and through the experience of this paint up, i will hopefully do it justice! Thanks for all the tips and suggestions bud!
 
No worries brother. I'm still learning myself and have made loads of mistakes on mine. Although I generally pleased overall I am very much allowing myself that this is my first paintup and not getting too down at my mistakes although it is difficult not to compare yourself to some of the great painters on these boards, who may have done multiple paintups, and feel a little humble. One of the things I've had the most trouble with is paint application. Some colours go on like a dream but some are much tougher to get a nice even coat. Next time around I'll know which ones but it's a pain.

I've got another helmet to work on too but I reckon you'll be way ahead of me. You're tearing it up on this lid. I started mine a year ago.:)

And I think you're right in that the needle idea is in TF thread.
 
I tried paint brush, no success. The tooth pick works okay but you tend to go through alot because the latex absorbs into the wood & builds up and you end up throwing it away. Something I found that worked pretty well was using a piece of bell wire the insulation pulled back and even use the insulation with no wire. The wire can be rounded so there aren't any sharp edges to scratch & it doesn't lose its shape or break down. Plus easy to clean. But a lot of the fine work you still have to finish topically. I recently completed my first scratch built ROTJ helmet. We are our own worst critics. There are many things that I wasn't happy with on mine. But I have the satisfaction of making it all myself. Keep at it you are doing a great job.

The order that I painted mine was 1)back panels, 2)key slot area, 3)lower cheeks, 4)upper cheeks, 5)mandibles & rim around the base of the dome, 6)dome, 7)ears. The biggest pain was masking the cheeks. To me the hard part of the whole paint process is masking & that is an art in itself. Painting is the easy part.

There are a couple of products out there for fine detail work one is a called a "Fine Applicator" which is suppose to give you fine .5 mm lines. It uses a sealed bottle with a needle with a ball similar to a ball point pen. Another brand is "Masquepen" & "Masquepen Super Nib". I haven't used either but have research them and am looking at buying one of these to try in the future.
 
No worries brother. I'm still learning myself and have made loads of mistakes on mine. Although I generally pleased overall I am very much allowing myself that this is my first paintup and not getting too down at my mistakes although it is difficult not to compare yourself to some of the great painters on these boards, who may have done multiple paintups, and feel a little humble. One of the things I've had the most trouble with is paint application. Some colours go on like a dream but some are much tougher to get a nice even coat. Next time around I'll know which ones but it's a pain.

I've got another helmet to work on too but I reckon you'll be way ahead of me. You're tearing it up on this lid. I started mine a year ago.:)

And I think you're right in that the needle idea is in TF thread.

Yea we learn alot for each go at it im sure!

Haha the only reason im going so quickly is my wife is on vacation on a cruise with her family lol....so i come home from work and work on it as much as possible and then do it again the next day. Plus i have the weekends, so thats helping lol Been doing 1 or 2 colors a day...well excerpt the back panels.
..did 1 color a day there.

Yea it was a compass point he mentioned!


I tried paint brush, no success. The tooth pick works okay but you tend to go through alot because the latex absorbs into the wood & builds up and you end up throwing it away. Something I found that worked pretty well was using a piece of bell wire the insulation pulled back and even use the insulation with no wire. The wire can be rounded so there aren't any sharp edges to scratch & it doesn't lose its shape or break down. Plus easy to clean. But a lot of the fine work you still have to finish topically. I recently completed my first scratch built ROTJ helmet. We are our own worst critics. There are many things that I wasn't happy with on mine. But I have the satisfaction of making it all myself. Keep at it you are doing a great job.

The order that I painted mine was 1)back panels, 2)key slot area, 3)lower cheeks, 4)upper cheeks, 5)mandibles & rim around the base of the dome, 6)dome, 7)ears. The biggest pain was masking the cheeks. To me the hard part of the whole paint process is masking & that is an art in itself. Painting is the easy part.

There are a couple of products out there for fine detail work one is a called a "Fine Applicator" which is suppose to give you fine .5 mm lines. It uses a sealed bottle with a needle with a ball similar to a ball point pen. Another brand is "Masquepen" & "Masquepen Super Nib". I haven't used either but have research them and am looking at buying one of these to try in the future.

huh those things do sound interesting and possibly useful!

heh you aren't kidding about being our own worst critics...ive been an artist of some sort (drawing model building painting etc) all my life, and i am ALWAYS my worst critic...im a perfectionist so when its not to the level im expecting im hard on myself...but i think that's what pushes me harder to be better at my craft.

i agree for me, at this point, its definitely the stenciling and masking that is the hardest part!
 
Im just using watercolor brushes i got from work..synthetic. I can clean em pretty easy with turp, but the issue is the build up on em while im using em. i think i have an old compass somewhere..i was thinking if i dull the point with a dremel and some sandpaper, it may work like a toothpick but i can wipe it clean frequently as im using it.

Ah yes..we used to sell those at the store i work in...but now we only have these huge ones..like 2-3" wide flat types. But that is something else id like to try! Thanks man! :cheers
 
No problem bro I use this on all the paint ups I do and you don't have to worry about it clogging up all you need to do is wipe it off on a wet paper towel each time you apply a bit of the masking fluid to the lid. Then of course super fine lines you can use a sewing needle or tooth pick for or add the damage in physically.
 
The drive to for perfection can drive you crazy at times because you can't leave things alone. But makes us all better.

I was using synthetic brush with the same results they just load up.

Thanks deadland, I will give those a try, have used them before when painting acrylic & some oils. Would be very easy clean up.
 
So..heres where im at...again remember this is taken with my cell phone, and its now dark out so the lighting is different

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...and i realized that im missing some of the colors for the mandibles...ugh!...so i just ordered them.
 
Blimey. You are a machine. Looking sweet and really starting to look like fett. Your hard work has shamed me and I'm going to get of my jacksy and do some work on mine this weekend. Good work dude.
 
LOL! Thanks!...but its ONLY because the wife is away and im home alone with really nothing to do but work on this and some other commission stuff :) Also i think the temperature and humidity level is with me today cuz the paint has been drying pretty quickly. The website said matte enamels dry in 45minutes and it seems they are completely dry in a couple of hours..depending on the color..its odd, but im not complaining lol.

i think it takes people so long to do these because they have alot of real life to contend to. I dont really do much but this stuff lol. I rarely go out and dont have many freinds near by. Basically, I go to work, i come home, have dinner, check mail and forums do some minor commission work, hang with the wife for a couple hours and go to bed. Thats almost every day lol. Weekends i get up early and start doing this stuff while the wife is still sleeping lol....then i keep on keepin on while the wife does her website work. lol

Trooping is my social time for the most part :D
 
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Excellent bud. With what method you use for masking, it is entirely up to you - and as I say, everyone has their preferred methods. I just find for the sake of a couple of dollars, you get a boatload of toothpicks, so no need to bother wiping them dry - just throw it out and grab another. They are also good to use to peel back tiny sections, if they have bled out of the stencil lines.

The other thing I always highly recommend - which I'm not sure if common knowledge or not - is the type of pencil to use for stencilling with your graphite paper. Instead of a standard lead pencil, I use a mechanical pencil with the refillable leads (in Australia, we have brands like Pacer, Faber Castell etc..). I use one with a firmer lead like an HB, and a 0.5 thickness, that you just click up from the bottom once the lead wears down or breaks. This allows for quality, and consistently sharp lines, and allows the finer details to be more pronounced, so when the masking fluid is applied, it doesn't come out looking 'blobby', and far sharper. As the stencilling and masking is probably the most important process of a layered ESB, I think the importance of all of this, is often overlooked.. :)
 
Thanks! Yea i still wanna try the ol disposable toothpicks :) Can you believe i went to 3 stores today and none of them had freakin toothpicks? sheesh!

Funny you'd say that JayVee, i actually used a mechanical pencil, its a .07 though..the.05 is probably better..i need to find that one..i know i have one somewhere lol.

I think the brush was my main issue with this one. The stencils looked great but it was really hard to maintain what i layed down with the stencil with the brush getting globby every 45 seconds :/

so..i will try toothpicks, compass point to pull bac the masking in some spots, and that colour shaper silicone brush next time. I also discovered that spray gluing the stencil printout to the back of the transfer paper helps heaps

The next one will likely take longer too as the wife will be back and i may actually be able to obtain better detail with the better supplies :)

Thanks to all the painters that chimed in, you all helped me greatly for this one and for the next one..when that helmet comes in...i think im ready for it!
 
For me, the masking fluid kind of likes to pool rather than stay where I put it unless I rub the base layer down with steel wool beforehand. The slightly rougher texture keeps the fluid from pooling back together or running and helps me capture more detail.

For my tool, I use cotton swabs. I cut off the ends at a 45 degree angle and just use the cardboard stick's angled tip. The cardboard also soaks up a bit of the masking fluid in somewhat of a "reservoir" so you don't have to dip it as often. Then when it starts to dry, toss it for a new one. I also used one of those masque-pens and I really liked it when it worked but I constantly had fluid drying in the applicator that I couldn't clear. Eventually it just became useless.
 
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