Painting the Grant McCune Helmet (GMH)

obi sean kenobi

Well-Known Hunter
Hi all,

Like many out there, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Art and Chris' fantastic (& historic) bucket.

And, again, like many of you, I intend to paint mine in the PP2 paint scheme .

To that end, it is my hope this thread will serve three functions:

1. Serve as a discussion thread for which paints (& techniques) to use on this helmet.
2. Serve as a repository for some of the best reference pics (or links to same) of the PP2 helmet.
3. Allow us to follow one anothers progress as we paint these up.

Lastly, I'd love a volunteer to step up and do a template for the PP2 killstripes (but that's just me being selfish!).

So, thoughts?

OSK
 
Sounds great! I plan to do mine in the PP2 scheme as well. Unfortunately, I'm primarily an ESB guy so I'm still in the information gathering stage, too.
As far as which paints, I would say liquid. I'm going to use liquid paint on my helmet. :wacko
 
I would search Floquil paints as the first ones, then, if some colours are not found found try with others.
 
I would say that the colors of the ROTJ should be close...being they were painted by the same person...theres are a few pics out there of the PP2 helmet but alof them dont show all the angles. Im really debating what I want to paint my first GMH. Id like to have like 6 of them to paint different ways each in all honesty but finances wont allow that right now. The dome and upper and lower cheeks are very close in color to the ROTJ...problem your gonna have is the back of the helmets areas...where there is very little reference and the refernce there is, is very poor...but once again VERY similar to the ROTJ hunter green with misting of grey paint...right ear looks the same style as well...I would get CC ears if possible get them looking like metal then go over them with dark grey and brown and then sand away the paint to get the effect...thats what i did for my ROTJ ears on my MS3...the left ear looks similar but also looks green in some of the pics there arent great pics of that side fo the helmet......The Red trim is a brighter looking red...kill stripes all but two appear to be the same red orange as the ROTJ the last two seem faded...theres alot of physical damage to the helmet in the pics not just the masked damage...to get that effect i would get the layered green over the silver and go back with a exacto once dry its a long process but it works...anyone have a better idea that that and im all ears...this is for the tiny stuff you cant mask...on this and the ROTJ theres "carbon" around alot of the damage i like to dry brush this on top of the green once its dry hope to get mine soon just dont know which style i want to do
 
This is a great thread Sean... When I was told about the project a few months back I did my own research on the colors used, and in the coming weeks I'll be posting, what I believe, colors that are extremely close..

I think KaanE said it best, we should start with what we already know, and Floquil paints/ Polyscale/ Testors would be the way to go...for starters..

As I mentioned in the reveal thread, here is Micke's version... he used Humbrol paints, I think he came pretty close... humbrol is enamel based, and when creating swatches next to Floquil or Polyscale, once dried, alot of the colors are close to eachother..
If I couldn't get Floquil, I would definately use Humbrol.(y)

my-new-boba-fett-helmet-grant-mccune-boba-fett-helmet-casting-preprocolors.jpg-47132d1286372240


grant-mccune-helmet-gmh-definitive-boba-fett-helmet-now-available-prepro2_finished_02.jpg-47129d1286371138
 
A very challenging paint job, deceivingly simple I think. The colours strike me as being quite dusty in appearance, might be the pics of course and that pink on the mandibles will make or break the look. The dent appears to be an odd colour, not quite silver or grey...? Looking forward to everyones solutions!
 
A very challenging paint job, deceivingly simple I think. The colours strike me as being quite dusty in appearance, might be the pics of course and that pink on the mandibles will make or break the look. The dent appears to be an odd colour, not quite silver or grey...? Looking forward to everyones solutions!

Certainly a lot of misting/overspray to consider.
 
Here is what I was thinking for colors:

Dome/Cheeks: Panzer Olive Grun
Mandibles: Caboose
Cheeks: C&O Enchantment Blue
Back: US Med Green (??????)
Scratches on Mandibles: PRR Maroon (?????)
Killstripes: Reefer Orange or Road Orange (???)

I have no idea what that 'pink' color on the mandibles is? Any ideas.
 
I have no idea what that 'pink' color on the mandibles is? Any ideas.

When I look at the PP2 mandibles, I'm reminded of the Slave 1 paint on the "skirt". Hull red with a medium toned pink and a base grey beneath. I'm thinking the way to approach the pink is to mix the mandible red with a medium grey to achieve the correct hue...
 
I'm thinking the basic colors are very similar to Rotj Especially the back and dome. I think TF is on the right track for the "pink" parts.

In this shot you can see a small bit of the pink:
PP 2 Helmet 03

To me it looks more like a translucent layer of (reefer?) grey was painted topically over the base red (caboose or boxcar) of the mandibles to get that pinkish look.
 
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After looking at those pics more and more it really seems to me that pretty much the whole paintjob was topical. That and the whole helmet is clearly misted with some type of grey (reefer? primer?)
 
After looking at those pics more and more it really seems to me that pretty much the whole paintjob was topical. That and the whole helmet is clearly misted with some type of grey (reefer? primer?)

I'm convinced this helmet was totally layered, but then I would be...:) I think the real secret is the masking tape "pull" effect through the top coat, down to the base silver; the silver seams too detailed to be painted either topically or with liquid mask. Maybe the secret to the extra damage ( especially seen on the wear on the ears, between the publicity shots and the final images with it's present owner ) is the lack of key between the silver layer and top coat, very easy to pick off paint layers, but also easy for paint to be chipped/rubbed off accidentally...
 
From the ref pics, I'm counting 18 kill stripes. Anyone come up with a different number? Or is this something that was established much earlier?

Also, from this pic:

PP2Helmet04.jpg



Does it appear that the white 'blobs' on the dome were intended to be part of the paint job? I know the long cuts were from molding damage.
 
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