Fett 4 Real
Sr Hunter
what color did you use on the dome? I looks pretty dark bud.
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!
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.
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.