My finished Antrock helmet...almost. Big pix.

Gentlemen (and Ladies) I present to you my finished helmet.

Just thought I'd get some feedback one last time before I give it a final flat clear coat and move on to one of the dozens of other Fett projects I am chomping at the bit to get at!

Things I don't like: The back color sucks and the dent is too big. Some of the mandbile detail looks a little too brushed on than something that would have happened naturally.

Things I do like: Pretty much I am 99% happy with how it turned out. I didn't know I had it in me! I've learned from my mistakes and think I'll be 100% happy with my mystery helmet.

Some of the diry and scratches don't show up. Oh well. Trust me. It looks dirty as hell.











Thanks for looking.

--------------



Updated: (6/14/03)

A fellow member asked me about the colours I used and asked if I could list them all. For his benefit and for anyone else who might be curious, I added them to the helmet section of my little solipsistic web page (just click the helmet link):

http://www.geocities.com/esbfett/

I say it there and I'll say it here: These are just the colours I used. I'm happy with them. But you use them at your own risk.

----------

Gettin' there, slowly; I still have a lot of detail work to do.

I added the kill bars (which look more orange IRL than here; I used a color called Equipment yellow which blends into a color called School Bus Yellow, which is an orangey yellow) and have done even more weathering.

The ears are just taped on for now. I did a quick and dirty visor in Photoshop 'cos it just plain looks better with a visor.

If I had it to do over I'd have made the dent smaller. But I'm not about to go back now, so it is what it is.

Any input and/or constructive criticism is welcome. Be as kind or cruel as you like -- I can take it.

Thanks for looking!


A big thank you goes to Rogue Studios for his research which led to the discovery of Panzer Oliver Green.


Again, this is just a practice helmet so I'm only trying for accuracy to a point. This is more about learning to paint so I do justice to my mystery helmet.

---------------------------

And here's the original post. I've come a long way in the past couple weeks.
---------------------------


I need help.

I spent much of the weekend working on painting the back of my helmet. The end result was disastrous. I was expecting it to look bad. But not this bad. Thank God for sandpaper and second chances.

Anyway, I've done searches which turned up nothing.

I spent an hour reading through old helmet posts looking for a painting tutorial. Nada.

There's many great tips, sure, but I just wondered if anyone has disseminated their methods into a tutorial with loads of pictures and explanations in excruciating detail for really paint challenged people such as myself.

I hope this is a case where some clever person comes along, tells me I haven't searched hard enough, and posts links to a dozen helmet painting tutorial threads.

Oh, and I've been to Obi-Wan's Boba Fett section. Their info on painting and weathering a helmet is useful, but it's not that helpful if you're going for screen accuracy. I want to know how to try to closely mimic the weathering on an ESB helmet, not a custom job.

Thanks in advance for anyone's help!

Cheers!
TJ

Once you get my paints (which should be soon!), I'll be able to let you know how I painted mine

Bobo

Are you in much of a hurry?

I'm working on a project right now with another member here that should hopefully revolutionize the way we paint our buckets. Imagine having a 99% screen accurate paint job in a weekend (and 95% of that time be just waiting for paint to dry).

But I'm probably going to be another 4 to 6 weeks before I'll have anything more concrete to post though.

In the meantime . . . all I can suggest is a steady hand and a small paintbrush, and some really clear colour printouts from the reference CD!

Jer

Ego wrote:

I'm working on a project right now with another member here that should hopefully revolutionize the way we paint our buckets. Imagine having a 99% screen accurate paint job in a weekend (and 95% of that time be just waiting for paint to dry).

Don't tell me, you've talked Vashdstampede into doing a decal that goes over the entire helmet with all the weathering already printed on it? The man's a maniac!

Si

That's an even better idea . . . . don't have to paint at all! hahaha

Thanks to both of you, especially Bobo for sourcing the paint for me. I've always said this place rocks, but that's only because everyone's so darned helpful.

I'm not in a hurry. I've been planning on doing Fett for a long while, but I've only been actively working on and buying parts for my Boba Fett for a month now.

I have a long, loooooooooong road ahead of me.

I'm currently practicing painting on a recast fiberglass DP95. I've got a mystery helmet on its way, but I don't want to touch that until I'm confident that I can do it justice.

My only real time constraint is the season. It gets a little cold in my garage in the winter.

Anyway, I'm very curious about your project. Care to elaborate? Or are you just gonna stick with the teaser trailer for now?

I made a couple of photo quality color corrected digital prints of the helmet for reference. Part of me wishes I could just cut them up and glue them to the helmet.

Cheers!
TJ

Teaser trailer for now! Since it seems like it's all the rage to dangle a carrot then clam up! hehehe

But, until I'm 100% this will work (so far I'm at about 95%), and I've done all the initial leg work (which I'm only at about 20%) . . . I don't want to say too much.

But, it will be worth the wait!

Jer

Cool Ego, once you are ready to post this new method I will be returning back home and ready to start painting my helmet.
But I am not afraid of the airbrush if it dosent work.

Quote:

Don't tell me, you've talked Vashdstampede into doing a decal that goes over the entire helmet with all the weathering already printed on it? The man's a maniac!

Si

You know what would be cool, if we had some sort of pre-cut masking stickers that were accurate. You know, a set of pre-cut weathering stickers for silver weathering, another set for grey, etc, etc. You would paint your bucket silver 1st, then apply all the silver masking stickers, then paint grey, then apply all the grey masking stickers, then the primary colors. when done, you just remove all the stickers & end up w/ a really nice & accurate layered job. I've tried this w/ cutting my own masking, and the resuls are pretty good as far as layer quality, just can't ever get the shapes to look right. I would think someone like vash could produce some really accurate masking kits! Is that kinda what you guys were working on?

Han Hunter wrote:
Don't tell me, you've talked Vashdstampede into doing a decal that goes over the entire helmet with all the weathering already printed on it? The man's a maniac!

Si

ROFLMAO
How sweet and easy would that be!!

Defiler wrote:
But I am not afraid of the airbrush if it dosent work.

you will be...you will be...



If you are using spray paints i could tell you how I did my helmet.

Hey TJ!

Sorry I've been out of touch a bit, finally moved me out of solitary confinement, so my days of sitting on the comp all day are a thing of the past...

Did you take any pics of the helmet you painted? Some pics might help us see where you went wrong and maybe offer more precise advice on how to do it better.

Although I'm holding out for the full-size templates too

Phil

Pictures? Eek! Might be able to post some tomorrow. If you all promise not to laugh. :o

'Til then, here's what I did:

I used a few light coats of light grey primer. I sanded it lightly and then sprayed on a light coat of metallic spray paint.

I traced and cut out various weathering shapes in masking tape; I did the back last, and since this is my "training helmet" and I'd spent four hours cutting masking tape, it's not as detailed as the front and sides.

I then painted gold spray paint which I toned down with a mist of the grey primer.

There is gold on the back...isn't there? Or, if not gold, a kind of light mustardy yellow? I haven't seen the backs of enough people's helmets to say for sure, but it seems like a lot of people don't used any gold, but it looks like there is to me:



Anyway, when that dried I masked off some gold areas.

I then painted my greenish blue color on. What I most notably did wrong came down to what I have always done wrong any time I have painted: Impatience.

I started off with light coats, but after three I got bored and went too heavy. So it's too thick in some areas and on certain angles under the light you can clearly see streaks.

After my last coat I misted on some flat black spray paint.

When I removed the tape, I discovered that a lot of the greenish blue color bled under the tape.

I then tried to topically apply the greyish color, but it looks exactly like what it is: Someone painted blobs of grey on it; looks about as convincing as a CGI Hulk.

I'm considering buying this:

http://www.internethobbies.com/inter...modcarspr.html

It's cheap and might help with the streaking problem as well as bleeding under the tape; does anyone know if it works?

So, yeah. I totally suck at this. But I'm so determined to do a Fett that I refuse to be discouraged, not when I've got a support system like TDH.

Cheers!
TJ

1.Mabe liquid masking will turn out better than masking tape for the battle damage.

2.As for the gold on the back of the helmet... I have never heard of it. Gold is only used on the right ear piece.

3.Maybe you used a bad quality tape for covering the areas of your helmet and that is why the paint bled into other areas but that is not supposed to happend unless there was excesive paint.

4.Remember to let the paint dry before giving it another coat of paint. It is impossible to finish painting a helmet in just a day.

Remember take your time.

Thanks for the input Defiler -- it's much appreciated.

1. Masking tape allowed me to cut the shapes I wanted more precisely. If that airbrush thing I posted works as I hope it does, paint bleed shouldn't be an issue. If it is an issue then it's on to plan B: liquid masking.

2. If it's not gold, then what is the shiny yellowish color in this picture:



It's more pronounced in this shot than in some others, I'll admit, but there's some kind of yellowy color there...isn't there?

3. I tried a couple types of masking tape and used the one with the most stick to it. I'm positive it was due to excessive paint.

4. I'm not sure if it's that I don't have patience, or if it's just that I love working on Star Wars costumes so much that my addiction prevents me from walking away when I should.

Cheers!
TJ

Defiler:

The color on the right earpiece is in fact the same color, or extremely similar to the color that's on the lower-back portion of the helmet. It's a very diffused off-gold color.

motorfish wrote:
Defiler:

The color on the right earpiece is in fact the same color, or extremely similar to the color that's on the lower-back portion of the helmet. It's a very diffused off-gold color.

That's what I thought:



Cheers!
TJ

Brace yourselves -- this is gonna be a rough one!

Before you look at my personal disater, bear in mind that I know it's **** and that this helmet is more about learning to paint than in getting it screen accurate the first time. :o

Also it will be sanded this weekend and all memory of it forgotten about and/or denied.

[pix edited out -- see above]

Advice is appreciated. Laughter and public humliation...not so much.

Cheers!
TJ

Jeezy, I hate to burst your bubble, but, it doesn't look THAT bad. Maybe it's worse in real life, or I'm just a "glass half full" kind of guy, but, it doesn't look that bad.

It looks like your masking went over pretty well, but probably just applied the paint on a little thick is all. But the shapes and placement of the weathering look good. The hours you spent doing that definitely paid off.

I think the only advice I can give is lighter coats of paint. Applying with an airbrush might help out with that a bit too.

Don't beat yourself up too much man. That looks a helluva lot better than my first two painting attempts did!

Jer

A Fett helmet can not come out bad. You almost want it to look bad, the more beat the better. you want it to look like its been beat to hell. The paint job on mine is a mix between ESB and ROTJ. I couldn't decide which one to go after, They're both great. Thats my 2 cents. peace -Delofett

Before you scrap the whole thing, Why not try & use a scotchbrite pad to take down the paint ridges? It's worth a shot since you put a lot of work into getting to that stage already. And if I'm not mistaken, there was a pic posted here somewhere of one of the original prop builders using a scotchbrite pad on a helmet.

*** that helmet is so.........



not as bad as you said it was... LOL

I dont see whats wrong with it. I think it looks good. And it is true, fett helmet are supposed to be busted. I think the only way a fett helmet can look bad is if there are brush streaks or paint from the certain areas ran into other areas. Your helmet doesnt have either!!!

I think you need patience. May I recommend doing what I did when i painted my helmet. Turn on a movie. I spent more time letting my helmet dry than i did actually painting. I had it set up in the storage side of my basement, i would go in every five minute and add another coating onto the helmet. Then go back and watch some TV. I ended up with about 15 layers for each color. I did one color a day as well...it just lets the layers dry better.

Yeah, I guess I pretty much agree w/ what everyone else said, it really looks pretty decent from what I can tell! Your green especially looks kinda thick & seems like it collected in pools around your masking. Just curious, what was the tempreture when you painted? I know I alwas have trouble w/ my paint going on too thick if I'm painting in a cool area. But yeah, don't be so hard on yourself bud! You're doin good!
Damian

ditto man, helmet doesn't look bad at all

I'll take a closer look a little later, but it's certainly nothing to laugh at

Phil

Wow, thanks too all who took the time to reply. You all rock!

It's frustrating to aspire to the same level as many of the other fantastic helmets I have seen on TDH when 99% of my total painting experience involves Liquid Paper. The other one percent involves nail polish, but the less said about that the better.


One thing: Has anyone tried one of these?





Ego: This is a pretty fair representation of what it looks like in real life, though you can see the streakiness of the green more as it moves through the light.


retrovertigo10: Bad is good. Gotcha!


bigkidbiggertoys: A scotbright pad you say? Not a bad idea. Maybe I can salvage this after all, but I'm not 100% thrilled with how my custom mixed green dried -- too light and too green -- so a redo would fix that too. The reason I did the back first was because I figured it'd be easier to sand if I screwed it up.

Also, maybe when the whole helmet is done I won't be obsessing over just one area. I did this with my scout trooper costume too. It always seemed like the most recent component I worked on had some niggling little minor imperfection that I obsessed over. I'd proceed to work on the next piece and soon forget -- and stop noticing -- what bothered me so much before.

Anyone else get like that?


msquared: LOL! Thanks. Yeah, I guess in Boba Fett's line of work patience is a must. Who knows how long he waited in Bespin for the Falcon to arrive with no lightspeed.

I also need to set up a better work area in my garage I think. Crouching over a cardboard box sucks and I just want to get the hell out of there.


JK: I painted in my garage and it was a nice, sunny day. It was about 24 degrees Centigrade...not sure what that works out to in Fahrenheit.


JPM: Thanks man. I supposed it could have been worse; I could have painted my first helmet blue.


In summary: Slow down. Light coats. Watch a movie. Take my time. You guys rock! Got it!

Cheers!
TJ

I'm jumping in on this a bit late, but I echo the comments above. From what you said, I saw the pics, then looked around a bit for the bad helmet that I clearly wasn't seeing.

It looks good. I won't even say for a first attempt, it simply looks good, period.

One thing I notice you say is you're disappointed with the colour. Too light and too green. you will probably find that once you've misted it a couple of times, that'll dull down a treat. I suspect everyone has read Lee's (Rogue Studio's) thread on the 1943 Panzer Olive Green (the found colour for ESB dome and cheeks). He cautions in there that it looks way too bright when you first apply. Weathering, misting and lighting conditions will greatly affect the look of it.

I agree with BKBT. Try to salvage it. It doesn't look anywhere near a lost cause, and you've put a lot of time in so far - and it's paying off.

Keep it up and let us know what you decide.

Si

Thanks HH!

I'm still not all that happy with it, but I really appreciate all the encouragement. You guys are the best!

Cheers!
TJ

Am I the only one who uses the "mustard method" for masking? I have used it on a bunch of the things that I have done and really liked the way it comes out.

mustard method? tell me more!

hi TJ

for your first atemp matey it looks good just stick with it and youl find it will be worth while in the end

once i get some $$ ill be doing a second helmet this time more accurate with a tutorail, same format as my blaster that i emailed you

so keep going it will be worth it in the end trust me
cheers

neil
uk-scout
www.uk-scout.co.uk
ukbikerscout@hotmail.com

Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon? Sorry. Yeah tells about that! You can actually use mustard for making???

looks pretty good to me! want to see the front!

For the mustard method you just lay down what ever base color you have. Then you put regular yellow mustard down as your masking. Let it dry. Then paint over it. When the paint drys you can just scrape the mustard off and boom real chipping paint. It is a lot cheaper than that liquid mask stuff. It works really well too. You can put it on thin and have kind of a sparatic pattern or put it on thick and it will give a more even mask. It take about 1/2 the time as cutting out masking tape and what not. And there is a good chance you have some in the house. Saves tons of $.

Huh? guess I never would have thought of using mustard! Maybe I'll have to try that! I've had pretty decent luck w/ rubber cement, but since it goes on kinda clear, I have difficulty getting really accurate weathering. sometimes its hard to tell exactly where you masked & if you are getting good coverage or leaving holes. Thanks alot predator! sounds like a good idea!

Yo TJ,

It really looks good. I know your totally anal bout things but this time I think your going the right way. Keep it up and hopefully Ill get some advice from you, or youll have a kickass tutorial, when I get mine in.

bh-7603 wrote:
looks pretty good to me! want to see the front!

There's not much to see ATM. But if you're really interested click my banner and click on the helmet link.

You can see how the back looks with flash photography as well as how this fiberglass DP95 recast looks compared to a mystery helmet.

Cheers!
TJ

I went ahead and bought one of these Testors airbrush thingies for $14.50 US at Wal-Mart.



I just tried it out tonight and I have to say it pretty much met my expectations 100%.

The Panzer Olive Grun jars fit the spray lid, so I just screwed that on the paint jar and painted.

I used a hairdryer to dry it between coats -- there's about eight coats but they were pretty thin.

Took about 20 minutes total and the end result, in my opinion, looks great:

[edit: see above.]

Not a single brush line. Not a single bit of paint build up. And I'm fairly confident that it won't bleed behind the tape. If there's any inconsistencies in this picture they're probably from the masking tape underneath.

I recommend it to anyone.

Thanks again to Bobo for getting these paints to me. You rock dude! The Floquil Tuscan looks amazing; if it turns out not to be the exact color used I'd be surprised!

Cheers!
TJ

Disclaimer: No condiments were harmed in the painting of this helmet.

Hahaha I'm glad I could help dude!
I take it that my wrapping job worked since the paints all came in one piece?

I really hope you like the Tuscan as I do!
Keep the pics comin, and you're welcome!

Bobo

That helmet looks really good, keep up the good work.


Robert

jeezycreezy wrote:

One thing: Has anyone tried one of these?

I have used it for painting models, it is less expensive than some airbrushes that sell between $75-$100 and dose the same job only way cheaper. One thing, dont loose the tube that gose inside the mixing bottle. By the way, it worked great on your helmet. Just dont loose the tube thingy.

Defiler wrote:
One thing, dont loose the tube that gose inside the mixing bottle. By the way, it worked great on your helmet. Just dont loose the tube thingy.

The little tube fell in the sink when I was cleaning up.

Right by the drain.

I nearly had a freakin' heart attack.

Thanks for the comments. I think it looks good. The POG dried darker than I was expecting, but hopefully Lee's right that adding dings and scratches will make it more pepto looking.

Cheers!
TJ

Trust me TJ, the paint looks dead on...just keep painting and you'll be satisfied

Bobo

TJ

looking good if i must say so far

cheers

neil
uk-scout
www.uk-scout.co.uk
ukbikerscout@hotmail.com

Yeah, the Tuscan is dead on if you ask me. It doesn't necessarily look it until you paint in the weathering and then it looks amazing!

Edit: Pictures and post moved to top.

Looking good so far man.

Question: where did you get your
ESB funky flamethrower pictured
with the earpieces...and does that
source have any more available?

Thanks!

Thank you; it's turning out better than I expected.

Answer: The flame thrower came with my gauntlets; it's resin, and just about the best looking resin piece I've ever seen. I bought them second-hand from a fellow board member who chose a motorcycle over Fett -- I know! I don't get some people either!

I don't know if they're readily available. Sorry!

Cheers!
TJ

Hey, it's looking really good TJ!! Gotta try one of those cheapo airbrushes, they sure do seem like the way to go...

Gotta love that mustard method!! Never heard that one before!

Too darn cool...

looking awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a practise helmet eh?? HHmmmmm ... pretty **** nice job for a practise.
Can't wait to see when you get serious
Nice work dude!!

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with it for a first attempt. I laid some of the dark red down tonight (not pictured) and it's really coming together. I think.

By dark red I mean what a lot of people call purple. But it doesn't look purple to me at all. More deep red so I mixed a little black in with my Tuscan red and it acheived the effect I was after.

Now, if anyone could help me with the yellow bars. What I can't quite figure out how to do is to get the gradation from yellow to yellowy orange.

How did anyone else achieve this effect?

Cheers!
TJ

Looking good!!! I may just have to do an ESB helmet.....

Lynn

Hey, we're pretty much at the same point of helmet completion. I should be done with mine within the next few days. Very nice, well-done paint job. However, I do think the back should be a bit more blue, that's my 2 cents.

hansoloway wrote:
Hey, we're pretty much at the same point of helmet completion. I should be done with mine within the next few days. Very nice, well-done paint job. However, I do think the back should be a bit more blue, that's my 2 cents.

You're 100% right. If you read back through the posts there you'll see I wasn't that happy with the back color and thought it should be darker and more blue. My next one will be.

Thanks for the input!

Cheers!
TJ

Man, your helmet looks sweet!

I'm thinking of getting one of those Testors paint sprayers, it turned out great on yours.

My input - as mentioned, the back colour should be darker and bluer, and I also think it needs a light black misting to make it a bit dirtier.

Magnificent helmet man!

Lookin' good dude!!

I think it looks great, congratulations.

good show ol' bean
very nice job

helmet looks killer man, I don't know what the fuss was all about. Looks maybe a bit too, uh, cookie-cutter? Very crisp, clean and bright. It doesn't have that real-world grunge feel. But I know you'll do it justice in the end. Just beat the hell out of it with misting, dusting and small scratches

Looking better than my latest attempt,

Phil

I was having one of those What-The-HELL-Have-I-Gotten-Myself-In-To??? moments yesterday.

You know, the kind of day where the stark realization that you've only scratched the surface of your costume sinks in. That you have a long road ahead of you. That what you've accomplished so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

The kind of day that you look back on with a lot of cliches.

So thanks to all who've taken the time to post here and have put me back on track. You all rock!

Phil, all the fuss was eliminated when I found the cheap paint sprayer. Also, this helmet is forgiving and that helps. I've screwed a few things up here and there and the helmet looks so beat up that any blemishes you have from a fixed up accident look intentional.

Now, if anyone can give me dusting and misting tips I'd sure appreciate it. I've experimented with a few things (on containers and things, not on the actual helmet) that end up looking like I sprayed paint on them which isn't the effect I'm trying to achieve.

Cheers!
TJ

You can mist a mix of black and grey from a distance for weathering. I also use pastel powder for weathering all my scale models and it will work for the helmet too but remember to use a flat clear coat at the end so that the powder stays.
Hope this helps.

P.S. You can practice doing all this first to be sure of what you are doing before doing it on the actual helmet.

Cool, thanks! That helps a lot.

Can you recommend a particular flat clear coat? I used one -- I don't remember what it was called -- when I converted a Kenner E11 blaster and it looked kind of spotty. No biggie for a blaster, but not cool for a Boba Fett helmet.

Cheers!
TJ

I love it so far! Great job!

Robert

Testor's has a dull clear coat, but I have not used it.

Great paintjob, man Keep up the great work!
-Mikael

micke wrote:
Great paintjob, man Keep up the great work!
-Mikael

Oh wow, thanks!

While I appreciate positive feedback from anyone, it's always great to get such comments from someone who's done such an amazing job himself.

So thanks!

Cheers!
TJ

Great looking helmet!

jeezycreezy wrote:
Now, if anyone can give me dusting and misting tips I'd sure appreciate it. I've experimented with a few things (on containers and things, not on the actual helmet) that end up looking like I sprayed paint on them which isn't the effect I'm trying to achieve.
Cheers!
TJ

Still a great looking helmet!!

When you "mist" your objective is to "just" tint the main color(s) to lighten or darken them.

I use flat black and spray it about 8-12" or more, to just darken things up a bit. If you look at the helmet and the armor especially, you can tell it was misted black to darken things up a bit.
Lynn

Two words.....Bad-F%#king-***.....errr...make that 3 words

Bobo

[edit] apparently the "@" symbol made the sentence into a mailto: link [/edit]

Nice...I have one of Antrock's helmets too and they are the finest DP 95 based helmets I've ever seen.

After seeing yours I can't wait to get mine to start painting, excellent work there...