MS3 Progress thread :)

UPDATE: August 8th

Well, no pictures today, cuz all I did was prime the ear pieces. It actually did reveal some imperfections with some of the edges of the parts. I'll do some sanding and fill one decent sized bubble, and re-prime them tomorrow.

When I'm ready to paint the RF side ear, I'll also paint the portion that's already "built in" on the helmet. That way, I don't have to break out the airbrush twice! Yeah, I'm lazy like that. ;)
 
UPDATE: August 9th

*Sigh*. . . delays, delays. :(
Well, while sanding the lower right ear piece, one edge of the wedge shape at the bottom kind of crumbled away. There must have been some bubbles just under the surface.
I didn't take a "before" pic, but here's the area in question.

IMG_0005a.jpg


So, I did some expedient battle damage repair. :) I took some .010" styrene sheet, and cut out some pieces to reshape that sharp edge. A flat rectangle for the bottom face, and 2 smaller triangles to cover the top wedges. I sanded them as close as I could to the resin, then filled the edges and corners with some automotive putty. Now I'll have to wait another day to sand and reprime.

IMG_0002b.jpg


But that section of the ear will have a nice smooth edge again. (y)
 
Oh man, Im sorry. Like I said yesterday, its my fault. I didnt even look at the ears. Just very light sanding then I didnt give them any more attention.
Im gonna send you a pm in a bit.
 
Todd,
It's no problem really. It may look like an involved solution, but it didn't take very long. I was just hoping to maybe get a base coat of silver on the RF ear parts today. Just being impatient. ;)

MS,
No worries! Once it's painted up, it'll look fine. (y)
 
Hi Melvin Fett,
Just take a look at the very first "sticky" topic in the helmet forums. All the answers to color questions are in there! :)
All hail Lee!! The mighty wizard of Rogue Studios! (y)
 
UPDATE: August 11th

Yay! My ear repair came out looking good, and I got them painted. :)
For the RF ear parts, I used Floquil Earth over a base coat of silver. This is what Lee recommended in his legendary color thread, and it turns out great this way. (y)
After they were dry, I masked them, and sprayed some Testors Metalizer Stainless Steel on the "exposed" metal areas. This will dry overnight, then tomorrow I'll buff it with a soft cloth.
The left ear was painted with Testors Acryl RLM 83. This is where I go off the Rogue Studios trail just a touch. I think with his last update, he said to use POG, just like the dome and lower cheeks, but after poring over the reference pics, I really feel that this is a slightly different green. I've used the RLM 83 on all the helmets I've painted so far, and I think this color looks really good.
Here's how the ears look.

IMG_0002c.jpg


Also in the pic are the vinyl decals I'll use. They're a mixture of what Marrow Sun supplied with the helmet, and some leftovers I got on one of VashDStampede's last helmet decal runs. Vash did this latest batch with the small white arch "pre-damaged" which makes painting that area soooooooo much easier! ;) I have cut out the black and white arches really close to the vinyl, but this isn't necessary at all. It just helps me to place them on the ear pieces.
I'll also be using some small dry transfers in place of some of the tiny black decals.
Not shown is the arch that's built into the right side of the helmet. I masked that off and sprayed it with Earth over a silver base, too.
More to come!
 
UPDATE: August 12th

Boba can hear now!! :lol:
Got the ears done. This concludes all major painting on the helmet! (y)
Here's a couple of shots. First the RF ear.

IMG_0001a.jpg


Here's a closer view of the upper part. The decals still look really shiny. After the dull coat, they'll be nice and flat. The nine stripes on the silver area were done with dry transfer letters. Those are a lot easier to chip up than the vinyl stripes.

IMG_0002d.jpg


The left ear.

IMG_0003a.jpg


And the bottom wedge.

IMG_0004c.jpg


The only paint that will touch the bucket now is some acrylic flat white for the two thumbprints in the killstripe area. That will be done after the next phase: pastel weathering and clear coat. The pastels will "unevenize" the colors, and the flat clear coat will protect everything.
Getting close now. . . so close! ;)
 
Thanks, all!! This has been a really rewarding project. I honestly appreciate the opportunity to work on members' helmets and armor. It really helps to keep my skills sharp!
There's absolutely no way I could have built my Boba costume without all the outstanding artisans and craftsmen here on TDH, and I like to think I'm helping a few folks reach their costuming goals by spending some time with paints and brushes. Which leads me to. . .

THE FINAL UPDATE: August 14th

Done! (y) I had told Laan a few days ago I expected to be done by Wednesday the 15th, and I finished 1 day ahead of my (very flexible) schedule!
Here are some shots of the completed helmet. (Once again, I want to say I'm working with my older digicam, which does some odd things to the color balance.)

First, an overall "You talkin' to me??" shot. :)

IMG_0001b.jpg


Here's the right cheek, showing the Borden connector in place. On Marrow's v.3, it came as a seperate piece, which was really great for painting purposes! (y) I've always had trouble figuring exactly what color this thing is. Nothing in the reference pics has ever leapt out at me color-wise, but I think what I came up with looks pretty OK.

IMG_0004d.jpg


In the above pic you can also see some of the pastel weathering that I applied. Over most of the helmet, it's a random mix of black and charcoal gray, but in certain areas, I used a brown tone. Like at the bottom of the left ear here:

IMG_0006.jpg


And in the upper right corner of the back panel here:

IMG_0009.jpg


In the killstripe area are the famous "thumbprints." I used Tamiya acrylic white and kind of dabbed it on with a fairly small brush, letting the color build up slowly. Then I took a brush with very stiff bristels, and streaked the paint toward the back. (I guess you could say I was streaking while I worked on this helmet! :lol:)

IMG_0007.jpg


Finally, here's a really close shot of the forehead area. It shows the tan spatter I applied all over the front half of the helmet. I thinned some Tamiya Khaki till it was pretty watery, then flicked it on with an old toothbrush. Depending on how close or far from the helmet you get, you can actually get pretty good control this way. It's a really subtle effect, but it adds to the overall appearance.

IMG_0010.jpg


So there you have it! I began this helmet on July 24th, and finished tonight, August 14th, making this a 22 day job! :eek:

Todd, I really hope you'll like the helmet once it gets back in your hands. Thanks for letting me work on it for ya! :cheers

Snoogins!
 
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