My First Boba Fett Helmet Project (Sgt. Fang Bucket; PIC INTENSIVE)

Your helmet looks great so far! Seems like you were having quite a few unlucky troubles along the way, but kudos for not losing hope
I am a brand new member to these boards and will be starting my helmet soon hopefully, so all of these threads are great help to everyone, so thanks for doing them :P Regarding the scratches left by the sanding process, personally i'd leave them to add some character, but its your helmet so ultimately it's your decision; you could do either and it would look great im sure

good luck on the rest of the lid!

Great progress! I am very curious how your helmet turns out to look like. Keep us posted with pictures.

Very well done for a first lid so far.

As I was reading the bucket problems I was having heart pulpatations! Glad to see it came back. Looks great so far!

hey man looking good. I have the same lid and was concidering adding fiberglass
re-enforcement. what was it that warped your lid the fiber glass or the heat? so I can avoid that incodent. thanks

Looking good, looking good, keep up the hard work and it will all come together. I will be keeping my eye on this progress!!

Originally Posted by babyfett

hey man looking good. I have the same lid and was concidering adding fiberglass
re-enforcement. what was it that warped your lid the fiber glass or the heat? so I can avoid that incodent. thanks

What I would HIGHLY recommend doing is reinforcing your helmet BEFORE you cut out the visor-area resin. That way, the mandibles can't warp after they're done drying. What made the mandible warp was probably the heat, so take my advice...let it dry naturally, don't speed up the process. Its that time of the year where the weather is quite warm out so you shouldn't have any problems with the resin curing.

I'm glad to see so many positive replies. I really appreciate them. I'm still curious as to see who here thinks I should leave the small scratches done by the 80 grit paper as is, or if I should re-sand to give the entire helmet a smooth finish?

I think you should leave them. Looks like it's been through alot!

i say leave em. they add to look. unless you're goin for the brand new jango fett look.

Hiya Ponte.Good advise on cutting out visor after fiberglassing.Did it that way on my W.O.F. card build.It came out sweet. I can offer a tip on the interior for an awsome finish after your resin and cloth have dried and you sand down any cloth sticking out.Do another light coat of resin wait till its tacky and then do another resin coat over that. When it dries it'll be smooth as glass.keep at it bro lookin forward to seeing some color on that lid

as far as sanding goes, i personally start at 220 grit for the gnarliest parts. after that i go with 320 or 400 for the majority of the helmet, then finish off with 800. anything under 200 is going to give you fits. and a neat little trick for getting a more real looking metal finish is to go over the silver paint real gently with 1000 or 1200.

remember wetsanding is your friend. i do most sanding in my sink with the water gently running using hi-grit automotive sandpaper that's made to stand up to being soaked. it does a few things: first, it eliminates dust it just washes down the drain. second, along the same lines as the first, it eliminates extra grit from dust that might bite into your finish. third, the running water cleans the paper and keeps it from getting clogged so you can keep sanding with the same piece for much longer. the only downside to wetsanding i can think of is pruney fingers.

I think the marks left by the 80 grit paper looked good it really had that lived in look . I might give that a try when i start on mine .

looking good so far, I ran into the same problem with using too rough of a grit, left the same kind of scratches, lucky for me Im making a custom bucket so i just fixed it with bondo. cant wait to see more!

Well, the Chicago scew method DID NOT work for me at all this time around with the new visor. The biggest factor to that has to be that **** warped mandible...completely threw off how the visor sits in the helmet. On top of that, when I tried heating up the mandible to shift it a bit, it seems the heat also turned the JB weld I used to secure the screws became soft, and I was able to pull them out with my own fingers...no wonder people are saying JB Weld is bad.

So, after a good 2 hours, I decided to cave in and go the only viable option: Hot glue it in. Needless to say, it "works", but I can promise you it looks pretty rough:



As you can see, there's a little bit of space between the visor and helmet:


I'll need to trim down the visor to get it flush with the helmet.

The helmet didn't quite turn out what I expected it to, and its been extremely frustrating learning something completely new and utterly failing at installing a plastic visor . But, this IS my first bucket, and I have never truly worked on a detailed hobby project. Its been a great experience so far learning how to use drills, rotary tools, adhesives and epoxys, and sewing machines. I do plan on getting a super accurate helmet down the road (wavy brow and correct ear caps, etc.) and hopefully pull off a great job.

I plan on giving it my all for the paintjob using Terminal Fettler's layered method with my new airbrush. Overall, this will be a great project to practice on, and like I said, I'll be able to work on a better put together bucket once I'm done with the rest of the costume.

I'll be painting soon, so keep an eye on this thread. Comments, suggestions of what I have so far folks?

Well, I finally decided to star the airbrushing using terminal fett's Humbrol paint list. When I received the paints, they come in VERY tiny jars. I barely had enough for the base coat of light gray 147, and that's WITH mixing it with Humbrol thinner. Anyhoot, I shaved down the bottom of the visor to line up flush with the helmet and carefully masked the helmet with some maskin tape:




Next, using my airbrush and propel can (can't wait till I can get a good compressor) I put down a thin coat of the gray 147. It shows up a lot darker in the pics for some reason, but needless to say, all the paint was completely gone by the end of the spray session!



But of course, this being my first time using an airbrush, I HAD to run into some kind of snag. And that's where we get...this:


As you can see, this was some paint that decided to run, so I had to use a brush and patch it up and flatten it. It obviously looks like garbage, but hopefully when I layer the greens and such, it'll look a little more decent.

That's all for now folks. Later tonight, I'll be working on the L/H ear cap, so stay tuned!

Hang in there bro! The first bucket can be a real challenge. I almost tossed mine in the imperial trash compacter twice along the way. If something doesn't work, start over. Sand it off, fill it with bondo, etc. If it bothers you, fix it. If you are like me it will nag at you everytime you look at it. I HATED how the cat scratch turned out on my bucket. I finally went back and masked part of the dome off and re-did it. I am much happier. I had trouble with my visor too. I ended up heating it in the oven at 200 degrees until it got flexable and was able to get a closer fit. I glued it in using 3M window ribbon sealer. (Black gasket that holds in your windshield)

The main thing is have fun. You are wise to practice on a less expensive helmet too. Although the Sarge helmet is pretty nice. Keep posting pics and other will chime in with help as well.

Originally Posted by Ponte

... gray 147. It shows up a lot darker in the pics for some reason, but needless to say, all the paint was completely gone by the end of the spray session!
As you can see, this was some paint that decided to run, so I had to use a brush and patch it up and flatten it. It obviously looks like garbage, but hopefully when I layer the greens and such, it'll look a little more decent.

Ponte, if the color runs, it means that you used too much color at once. Maybe you just sprayed too much at the time. That´s the reason why the tins are completely empty ... (when airbrushing, one of those tins is enough for the complete helmet)

I normally use several thin layers. First a thin layer, then let it dry ... then the next layer ... all with gray 147 ... until the helmet has a nice and smooth color.

It´s just what most of us experience while painting the helmet:
Patience is a virtue. :thumbup

Take your time to get the color on in several steps and you´ll see, the results will get better and better.

Cheers bro!

Originally Posted by mmgraphics

Ponte, if the color runs, it means that you used too much color at once. Maybe you just sprayed too much at the time. That´s the reason why the tins are completely empty ... (when airbrushing, one of those tins is enough for the complete helmet)

I normally use several thin layers. First a thin layer, then let it dry ... then the next layer ... all with gray 147 ... until the helmet has a nice and smooth color.

It´s just what most of us experience while painting the helmet:
Patience is a virtue. :thumbup

Take your time to get the color on in several steps and you´ll see, the results will get better and better.

Cheers bro!

Thanks for the tip. I have a question though. I was using the 1:1 ratio of paint to thinner that Humbrol suggests, is that what you used? And as for the runny paint on the back, it wasn't because there was too much being splattered on one spot (I know what you mean by that), but no matter what distance and no matter how very little I let out of the brush it was coming up as really thin and washy, almost as if it was mostly the thinner and not any paint. Maybe the ratio should be 2:1?

Here's a rather large update. I think I found the "secret" to airbrushing with Humbrol paints...(I think). 2 parts thinner/1 part paint ratio. Not only do I not have to worry about too much paint coming out, but the color has a nice even tone to it and I'm using much less paint as before. Anywho, lets get started with today's update:

First of all, remember: SAFETY FIRST. This 30 dollar respirator from Home Depot is something everyone airbrushing/sanding should invest in. Not only does it block out the harmful particles that come out of your airbrush, but it keeps out the HORRIBLE fumes from the thinners/cleaners you'll use. Your neighbors will look at you like you're the next Hannibal Lecter, but they're not the ones breathing in the junk, so carry on:


Here we have the light gray areas masked off. I'm using Count Dookie's awesome ESB helmet stencils, and the Humbrol Maskol is going to make the precise layering SO much easier:




The next day I sprayed on a coat of metallic silver 11. I went over it a few times to make sure I had a shiny, solid base:



After letting the metallic layer dry for a few hours, I peeled off the maskol to reveal the light gray layer. Any little details that I needed to etch back was used with the tip of a mechanial pencil. This isn't THE most detailed stencil work, but this is my first time, and practice makes perfect:


You'll notice that the printed stencil is taped to a cutting board with tracing paper over it. By tracing the outlines, I can flip the paper over and retrace the lines on the other side. *Make sure you go over them a few times so there's enough graphite residue to transfer to the helmet*. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to spend all that time tracing only for it NOT to show up on the helmet:


Just a bit ago I applied the maskol to those areas:


Tomorrow when I pick up a Badger Cyclone compressor (woot woot) I'll be able to add on the gray 79. Stay tuned!

stick with it bro..

itll come together, im dreading my first venture!

If you don't mind me asking, but where would I be able to buy a helmet like that? I would appreciate any input. Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Thellmann

If you don't mind me asking, but where would I be able to buy a helmet like that? I would appreciate any input. Thanks in advance.

Thellmann, it´s a sgt. Fang helmet. He´s a member here on this forum so just PM him and you´ll get a nice helmet.

Wow, sorry for the long wait fellas!

Here we have the masking of the silver areas that will be followed up with a gray coat



Here we have the silver/light gray after the masking fluid has been peeled off. Now we're starting to see some damage!


Time to mask it all up to get ready to spray the beige layer. (Note: First comes a gray 28 color, which is a tannish gray, then the beige 103 is misted over it).


Here we go with the beige layer. After its fully dry (24 hours) buff it back a bit with some 0000 wool to get rid of the "brightness". Be careful, don't go overboard!


Masking fluid pulled off. One more step to go folks!


Masking fluid applied to all of the damage including stenciled beige areas. Now its ready for the final layer:


And here we have it folks. The final layer misted with a 1:1 ratio of Humbrol 76 and 96. I felt like I had to add an extra drop or two of the 76 to get the color just right. Keep in mind, I still have to add a lot of little details and buff back some of the green once it fully dries. Other than that, I think I did I pretty good job, and I can't wait to work on the rest of the helmet. Is the damage 100% accurate like Terminal Fettler's awesome helmet? No. But for my first helmet, I think I'm doing quite well:




Any comments/suggestions would be highly appreciated. Stay tuned for some more work!

Looking good bro keep at it.

You have to be careful when bringing on the masking fluid not to run over the stenciled areas too much. You can see the stencils afterwards here and there after peeling away the fluid.

I always tried to stay "inside" the stencil lines to avoid this.

Great job you did there bro! The beige comes out very good.

After some layeres of color I would suggest to use 000 steelwhool to get rid of the tiny small "chips" that stay after peeling away the masking fluid.

We definatly need more progress pictures! ;-)

Originally Posted by mmgraphics

You have to be careful when bringing on the masking fluid not to run over the stenciled areas too much. You can see the stencils afterwards here and there after peeling away the fluid.

I always tried to stay "inside" the stencil lines to avoid this.

Great job you did there bro! The beige comes out very good.

After some layeres of color I would suggest to use 000 steelwhool to get rid of the tiny small "chips" that stay after peeling away the masking fluid.

We definatly need more progress pictures! ;-)

Yea, I'm working on erasing the stenciling and its coming a long well. Also, there's a lot of little additional details that need to be worked in. Thank you for the tips and suggestions mmgraphics, I really appreciate it.

I just started mine so I am following this closely. Looks good and I am starting to think I may be able to pull this off.

i like your paintjob pics

that bucket looks suhweet!!! you are a very patient guy, i love the paint btw

Wow, you did a really good job on the paint. I really like it, can't wait to see it complete.

This past week I've been working on the L/H earcap. I think it turned out very well, so here were the steps:

After spraying the red, masking it off, and then spraying the gray 28 I stenciled off the damage for the gray. Once that was done, I masked off the red and gray to get ready for the green:




Here's green 78+159 mixed and applied. In order to get the color I thought was best, I added an extra 2 drops of the darker green in order to get a richer tone. Plus, I made sure that I used multiple, thin layers that eventually built up to a thick, smooth coat:


Up next was to mask and tape the white no. 34 arc:


After that was dried, I finally took off the tape and masking to reveal:


Turned out much better than I thought it would. Also, here's a pick of the back after all the masking fluid was removed and I buffed back the green into the khaki in some areas. Keep in mind, not all details are painted (yet):


Now its time for me to get to work on the R/H ear caps. Stay tuned!

Ok, so I've made a little more progress with my bucket. My next step was to get the helmet covered minus the R/H earcap:





Next was masking the silver damage:

Here's the beige layer added:


I'll reveal what the earcap looks like once I'm done getting some layers done on the dome and cheeks (a tease, I know ). Here we have everything but the dome and cheeks taped up:


For some reason, I couldn't get the tape to perfectly conform to the curved line of the mandible, so I CAREFULLY brushed some masking fluid to get an even curve.



In order to help conform the tape over the edge of the mandibles, I used a guitar pick to carefully press down the tape so it doesn't touch any of the dome:


Now it was time to mask the light gray areas of the dome before spraying the metallic silver coat:


Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh shiny:


Next up were the silver pieces of damage that had to be masked. I first started with the cat scratch:


I actually think the stencil came out very well:


Tonight I'll be working on the rest of the damage using reference photos and tracing them from my monitor:

BIG TIP!: When using the tracing method, instead of tracing, flipping over, and tracing that so it applies to the right side, put the image in photoshop and flip it horizontal so when you trace it you'll have your image ready to apply. Not only does this cut time in half, but it provides a more accurate stencil since you don't have to go over the same thin lines again, causing mistakes.

I am glad to see you are still working on this. It is coming along great! Aren't you glad you didn't smash it? Look forward to seeing more progress.

Looking really good! Did you manage to track down a silicone brush?

Wow, great paint job, very meticulous.

Originally Posted by terminal fettler

Looking really good! Did you manage to track down a silicone brush?

While I found some nylon brushes at my local Michaels that were of the same shape as yours, I couldn't find any silicone brushes. As long as I have a bottle of Laquer Thinner and a rag to wipe the gunk off, my brushes keep clean. Where did you get yours? Also, I've been trying to find a decent white water-soluable pencil, but all of them are for dress marking and they're terrible (dont show up well, can't hold a sharp point). Which brand do you use?

Looks pretty awesome thus far, bro. I'm excited to see the mandible paint up. That is always the most interesting part of an ESB paint job to watch. Keep it coming!!

Kody

WOW ! What a paint job man ! Keep on going bro ! Can't wait to see it finished !

Originally Posted by Ponte

While I found some nylon brushes at my local Michaels that were of the same shape as yours, I couldn't find any silicone brushes. As long as I have a bottle of Laquer Thinner and a rag to wipe the gunk off, my brushes keep clean. Where did you get yours? Also, I've been trying to find a decent white water-soluable pencil, but all of them are for dress marking and they're terrible (dont show up well, can't hold a sharp point). Which brand do you use?

The white pencil i use is a Caran D'ache brand. If you lick your finger and wipe over the pencil mark it comes off so is ideal for quick marks and correction. The silicone brush is Royal Sovereign Ltd 0 angle chisel soft, this allows some really fine masking fluid application...

Sorry for the lack of updates. Just moved into a townhouse with my girl, but I was finally able to get the silver metallic silver masked and the gray painted over it. For some reason the gray rubbed off in a lot of places, exposing the silver. Not so much on the areas that were part of the stencil, thankfully. Here's the final product before painting the Green no. 78:








I just put on the 2nd layer of green, so I'll get pics up of the masking peeled off tomorrow. Stay tuned!

WOW! This looks really great! Keep up the awesome work!!!

Keep up the great work

Thanks so much man! This is really helping me get started
oh and btw LOOKS AMAZING!

Looking great buddy. Really slick job you're doing here, I'm looking forward to seeing more.

You did a fantastic job there Ponte!
Awesome! A great result for a "first helmet" ... looks like you did several before!

I agree!! It looks beautiful mate! I'm very envious of you for taking such care during the painting. I have a Fett lid that has been bare for months now as painting the sucker really intimidates me!

It's been a long time since I've posted fellas, and for good reason. The past few weeks I've been working on correspondence courses to get my promotion points up to make Sergeant, and I passed my board with flying colors! I should make E-5 by September. Anyway, I've been able to get some work on the mandibles done, and I have to say, they are by far THE MOST FRUSTRATING PART OF THE ENTIRE HELMET. For some reason the Rich D. stencils I printed off weren't matching up on my helmet correctly (probably didn't take enough time rescaling them) so I had to improvise in a lot of areas. Also, I'll admit that I got a little lazy on the back of the trim, but I for a first time helmet, I think I did ok. Here's the silver done:






After the silver and gray were masked, I proceeded with painting the no. 73+104 purple mix:




I can't believe I'm only one more step away before I have all the primary colors down for the Fett helmet. It'll be kill-stripes, weathering, and small paint details I missed earlier. Like I said before, these mandibles are REALLY testing my patience, but then again, I guess it does for everyone. Hopefully I'll have the red 73 layer posted up by Sunday, so stay tuned!

Hey Ponte,

great progress! The mandibles will look awesome once you have put down the 73 too and removed the masking fluid!

And congrats to your "step up the ladder" in the army.

Cheers,
Manuel

Looking great so far and I know what you mean with those mandies. I am going through the same issues right now in my paintup. Very much so a test of patience and the will do get it done!!!!!!!!

Well, after a long battle with the Visor Trim I finally have a 95% finished Fett helmet. For some reason, the Red 74 that I used actually came out to be a pink-salmon color, so I had to RE-MASK all the damage and used a "Claret" color from a spray can. Applied REALLY thick, but after some buffing, it looked decent. In thses pics the visor trim looks rather light, but the color looks good in person. I noticed that the masking tape pulled up a lot of paint in random areas around the helmet, and I'll have to fix those small details with a brush. All what's left really are minor paint details I missed (some gray's on the back), the kill stripes, and some weathering, and I should be pretty much done (not including the rangefinder). Here's some photos of where I'm at now folks:






Like I said, some areas look a little harsh, but keep in mind, I plan on fixing them.

I'm going to give myself an honest grade when I'm finished with this helmet, but so far, I'd like to say that for a first helmet, I did DECENT. Not great, but well enough. I feel that I cut corners in a few places when I felt I didn't have time (Between moving, studying for the NCO board, etc.) and it kinda shows. From a few feet away, the helmet looks great. But up close, you can kind of tell that the paint isn't exactly properly applied. I'm still working out my paint to thinner ratios and airbrush techniques to get some smooth applications and coats.

I'd REALLY like your guys' honest input, especially from the pros on here *cough TF cough*. I use whatever criticism, good or bad, as a learning experience for my next helmet and other works (armor, and....yeeeeesh, the jet pack ).

I love this helmet. For a first time paint job you did extremely well! I guess the red still is a tick too pinkish ... needs to be slightly deeper red in my eyes.

Congrats brother! Be proud of what you have achieved here ... minor fixes aren´t that bad and happen to all of us ... even the pros have to battle from time to time.

Great bucket! Thumbs up my friend!

This is my very first ever post!! I was looking through as I'm soon to start reshaping and working on my Rubies '97 bucket (unfortunately!) And then thought I'd check out some 'bought' projects.
This looks beautiful mate!! And it looks like you need the patience of a saint too which you seem to have by the 'bucket' load!!The masking idea seems the way to go. One suggestion that I discovered for myself a while ago - instead of redrawing the scratch templates on the back of the tracing paper try using the carbon paper from a triplicate waitresses pad - you know, the blue-inked paper slip that comes with a restaurant ordering notepad!

WOW:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup:thumbup

Really nice..... great job.

Hey dude sorry I wasn't around to reply to your PM but it looks like you got it all straightened out. You bucket looks GREAT! Perfect example of layering. Nice Work!

Great job on your helmet. I like it.

Really great job on your helmet, I wish I had your skills and patient.

That looks great..... great job.

First time?? That looks fantastic!!

Ive yet to even get a helmet but Im working on that, but I noticed you would pencil in the outlines then use the liquid mask. Could you do a positive with painters tape instead of tracing onto the helmet then use that to mask off where your going to mask with the liquid?

Originally Posted by Fett 4 Real

Ive yet to even get a helmet but Im working on that, but I noticed you would pencil in the outlines then use the liquid mask. Could you do a positive with painters tape instead of tracing onto the helmet then use that to mask off where your going to mask with the liquid?

That might be able to work, but I think using the painters take as a stencil in itself may be a bit tricky as far as getting an accurate stencil. My best advice would be to check out my AOSW Paintup in the Armor thread. I use a MUCH more accurate method of stenciling, and I can't wait to use it on my soon to arrive Fettpride Deluxe helmet (Yup, another super long winded thread folks )

The super long winded thread is definitely better than a thread with holes in it where its not very explanatory. Better to leave no questions asked.

great job, impresive.....keep on it, and please show us more.........

Great job, you should be very proud!

I hope my helmet looks even half as good as your does. looks amazing.

Great job thanks for sharing.

Looks great dude!