First time painter...ESB Asok CC helmet in work

When I started this crazy odyssey the main thing that I was looking forward to tackling was the helmet. So I got a CC budget bucket from Asok and dove right in. It was much more daunting than I could have ever imagined and much more difficult than I thought. To say I was naïve about it would be an understatement.

I used the templates from the site and sized them as close as I could manage, but it was still just amazingly harsh. I am a first timer and this is done with spray paint, and I know they are nowhere near perfect… but I thought I would share anyway. So be gentle. :lol:

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It’s obviously not done yet and it's not really accurate, but I’m still happy with the results so far.


I still have to do small detail work, the mandibles, the ears, and weathering... not to mention adding the RF stalk and the visor.
 
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I think you have made a terrific start bud, particularly for your first go at a project of this magnitude! All the major damage looks to be well represented, and the colours look like they work really well together. A couple of things to look for, is with the dome and lower cheeks green being a little darker, you may need to use a slightly darker shade of grey on the grey damage, so it doesnt stand out too greatly. however, some weathering down the track can help this. Also rememberr, if there are some really fine details like scratches etc, sometimes it may be better to leave them out, then add them in later topically with a fine brush. Other than keeping that in mind, I think this is really looking nice, and the red mandibles/trim and those wonderful killstripes, will really bring it all together to produce a great first up lid! Peace :)
 
i agree with Jayvee..looks like your off to a good start to me! Im going to be doing one soon as well..im looking forward to it and frightened by it at the same time lol
 
Thanks guys. Yeah, I learned my lesson by trying to mask off the fine damage... I'm just going to come back with a brush. And Jayvee, you are 100% correct about the grey. I am going to do a dark wash over it to darken it,, it ended up looking way too light. When I get the major colors down, I will come back and try to add the scratches and see if I can clean some of the trouble areas up a bit.

But I really do appreciate the kind words, as a long time painter.... this was a challenge I wanted to face... but once I faced it I was just shocked at how hard it ended up being. I'm glad I didn't let it defeat me, and I am happy that it came out close to what I wanted, but this has challenged me waaaay beyond what I expected it to. The Fett helmet is a rough mistress. :lol:

I hope you have success Voorhees! It's scary, but worth it.
 
Looks like a great start. After waffling about starting a Fett build for years I finally put myself on the waiting list for the same bucket, so I will soon be in the same boat as yourself :D

Silly questions:
I've seen the wear templates, my main question is, what is the process to actually use them? They are the most intimidating PDFs I've ever laid eyes upon :p
Are you using a masking latex for the wear? (I imagine this ties in with my first question)
Did you use a base coat (some sort of silver/chrome) or just buff it with some 0000 steel wool as Asok showed in the main thread for the CCs?

Thanks for sharing your experience so far.
 
Great start... but why you didn't cut the visor before painting? ...cutting and sanding the edges of the visor could mess up some of what you have done so far?. Looking foward to see more of your progress. :)
 
Great start... but why you didn't cut the visor before painting? ...cutting and sanding the edges of the visor could mess up some of what you have done so far?. Looking foward to see more of your progress. :)

100% agree, cut it out before its to late....
 
I wasn't sure if I could get my visor in time, so I didn't cut it out yet. I didn't want to have any warping issues. I'm going to cut it out before I do the mandibles, as I just got my visor in yesterday.

And Architect, yes I used masking fluid. No basecoat, just wire wool buffed the helmet. And the templates are awesome, just size them as best you can for your helmet and you use transfer paper (placed underneath the template on your helmet) for each layer. You use a sharp pencil on the template as you trace the markings and you mask off the areas you don't want painted. The hard part is getting the design on without messing up the placement, and getting the size right. Not to mention getting the colors right. I can see now why the paint jobs cost so much with helmet painters. :lol:
 
Once you cut out the visor area, I tend to actually use a dummy visor for support while painting. I just use some plastic from a cheap laundry bucket, or even some cardboard with tape to reinforce it. You can definitely cut and fit your real visor, and it's recommended, to save you any hassle once the paintwork is done, but inserting a cheap reinforcement visor while painting, just takes out any chance of damaging or getting paint on the real visor during the painting process.

As for scaling templates, I use Microsoft publisher, but any photo editing software you are comfortable using will work. Adjust the templates looking at the reference pictures, and use certain landmarks e.g. the dent and killstripes to gauge the size things should be for your particular helmet. For example - look at how far away the killstripes are from the dent - look where they start in relation to the two little arrows on the front of the helmet, and look at how far they extend around to the back. That will give you an indication of the total size of them. Every helmet is different in size, so these things need to be adjusted accordingly..

With transferring stencils, some blue painters tape for delicate surfaces, graphite paper and a mechanical pencil will be your best friends here. Mechanical pencils where you click and push up the refillable leads will offer a hard and consistent lead with no sharpening, and is imperative for fine, clean lines. Once stenciled, masking fluid is the go - lots of brands, I can't go past humbrol maskol, and many like Windsor and Newton, so whatever works best for you. I apply this in the fine areas with toothpicks, as they provide the fineness needed, and can be easily discarded. Most importantly, take your time - the Stenciling and masking sessions are the most time consuming and tedious, but ultimately are the difference in results. Hopefully that wasn't a thread hijack, just saw some queries I thought I may be able to help with. Once again, really liking the lid so far! Peace :)
 
Yes, many thanks sir!

darkartist, what size did you scale your templates to? since I'm getting the same version of helmet, your data could be a good starting point for mine (famous last words eh?). Is it fairly smooth sailing once you finally get the templates sized, placed and taped down? As you mentioned using spray paints, what brand colors and sheens are you using for this? The colors are looking pretty accurate at this point.
 
Great tips Jayvee, and no worries man... not a highjack at all. I was wary to post my helmet because I knew I would make mistakes and have made them... But then I thought it would be a nice tool for new guys to get more information about the process and to learn from my mistakes. So it's great that you posted that. It's great information that I honestly wish I would have known to do beforehand.

As for my template sizes Architect, I honestly just printed them as is (because they were supposedly scaled to the Asok helmet. But then I also printed them actual size and it turned out that the "as is" version was pretty close... so I went with it.

As for the visor, I am going to make the cut right now. I finished the first work on the killstripes (pre-weathering), and will post pics later.
 
Got done drilling out the visor area, and man was it a scary thing to do. Trying to dremel inside of the helmet is a pain in the neck. I cut my visor a bit to fit it, dremeled out inside to help it fit flush, and will still probably heat it to get the thing to fit nicely.

I didn’t have any major mishaps though, so that’s good. I am looking forward to getting some padding (any help there would be awesome!) inside and attaching the visor once I get the mandibles painted. It’s starting to actually look like Fett, so I am happy.

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Beautiful work mate! Good to see you didnt have ay major dilemmas with cutting out the visor. Dont forget to re-mask around those killstripes at some point to add a light orange fade to the last few - If you arent too sure what I mean, check out the AOSW images for the best idea. Otherwise chugging along awesome bud! :)
 
Thanks guys! and don't worry Jayvee, definitely will do. I did a slight fade with orange, but after taking it inside and taking photos, I realized it isn't as strong as I would like. So I think I might come back to that before this is all said and done. It's there but just too light.

Doing all of this taping and painting took me back to my Navy days, when I used to do the paint work on the F-14. But this is MUCH more complicated. :lol:

I'm lucky that I have been using the dremel for as many years as I have, or I might have freaked out a good bit more about the visor cut. It was very tricky and I thought I might lose control of it a few times there. But it ended up great, with no major issues. But it was touch and go for a second when the cutting disc started to jump around a bit on me.
 
Great progress. In your next batch of photos could you include a shot showing the inside of the helmet where the visor is? What kind of adhesive/fastener are you using to attach the visor (as well as the ear bits when that's ready)?

For the padding, I've been thinking about using MICH/ACH helmet padding sets (like this). The pads attack by velcro (I've had good experiences with the industrial-strength 2" Veclro) so its nothing permanent. I suppose the biggest likely issue would be the the thickness of the top pad and making sure it allows the visor to sit at the correct height.
 
not to hijack the thread, but those are similar to the pads I use in my helmet (mine are just an older version) and I am very pleased with them. As far as the top pad, I don't use it....the outer ring of pads hold the helmet in place.
 
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