A question about dirtying up a helmet

ShireFolk

Hunter
Hi, ive recently been painting a custom mandalorian helmet and the primary color is white. Thanks to this site Ive learned a lot about the weathering effects and ways to detail the helmet but ive come to the conclusion that theres only so many ways to weather a white helmet and its not very forgiving if u mess up. So other than the metallic silver showing through ive decided that most of the weathering i want to try to get on the helmet is just to make it look dirty, like its been caked with mud or something. Heres a pic of what i want to achieve (the bottom pics)
http://www.jedi-academy.com/fett_helmet_weather.html

In the pics the helmet looks like it actualy has had mud caked on it some places, could this possibly be an airbrush??
Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

-Shmeagol-
 
If you are going for an earthy/muddy/sandy/dirty look, I like the Woodland Scenics Earth Color Kit. I used it to weather my Marmit Sandtrooper. It's a liquid pigment that you dab/paint on and dries to a non permanent powder. You wipe off the paint and reapply; it's great. Just seal it some clearcoat or something when you have the final look.

Brak's has a tutorial here for use on a ST pauldron, just to give you an idea:

http://www.looksirdroids.com/replica_dirty_tutorial.htm

-Edit Updated bad URL
 
Last edited by a moderator:
try a airbrush to dirty it up, you can get them cheap at walmartin the hobby section model cars and such.
 
Dry pastel is IMO the absolutely best way for this kind of weathering. Comes in every color and it's SO EASY to use! Just remember to lock it with a coat of clear when you are happy with the result.

Much easier then an air brush and it looks 10 times more like real dirt then an air brush will ever do!

Steve.
 
STS, Ive seen some of your work on other boards and its awesome. Are using the pastels for the carbon scoring also? Any particular colors you've preferred or brands? Thanks for any help. Vern
 
Thanks for all the help guys, im definately gonna get that woodland scenics earth color kit and might even venture into airbrushing. The dry pastels seem like a geat way to go too but i know nothing about them, can anyone give me a quick overview? Where to get them? What are they?

-Shmeagol-
 

tteF aboB wrote:

STS, Ive seen some of your work on other boards and its awesome. Are using the pastels for the carbon scoring also? Any particular colors you've preferred or brands? Thanks for any help. Vern

Thanks a lot man! I'm not really sure what you mean with "carbon scoring"? Dry pastel is sold as chalks in all hobby and art stores. I can't think of any special brand that's better then others but you want to get them as soft as possible, but DON'T buy oil pastels by misstake! I have only had good results with the colored ones on light surfaces like white or grey, but I have been able to use black with great results on almost everything. Remember that the powder only sticks on matt paint and not gloss.

I don't know how to post pics on this site ( I guess I'm not allowed to host them with wackychimp here) but if somebody could host pics for me I'll be more then happy to take pics of the chalks and how you apply them, the results of different techniques and so on!

Just let me know!

Steve.
 
how much was it if you dont mind me asking

cheers

neil
uk-scout
www.uk-scout.co.uk
ukbikerscout@hotmail.com
ukscout-webbanner.jpg
 
I would venture to say the pastels and the Wooland Scenics Earth Color kit will give roughlythe same effect. The Scenics' paints are liquid during application, but when it dries it becomes a powder. You can literally wipe the whole thing off with your finger. So I think either the pastels or the Scenics paints would give you a very flexible non-permanent, until you seal it, solution.
 
Tyler, when you seal it, do you use a Woodland Scenics product, or something like Krylon Matte Sealer?

Also, I'd love to see pics of your Marmit Sandtrooper! Mine's still standing with his original "factory desert smudging..."

:lol:
 
STS, the carbon scoring is what or at least what Ive seen most referring to the black scorching. If you want to do a thread on your technique and send me the pictures Ill host them for you. Just send me the pics and Ill give you the links back via email and you can place them in your thread. let me know, Vern

partello97@yahoo.com
 
:lol:

Yeah the old feces fight Sandtrooper. Ugh.

I haven't finished on the Sandy yet, but yes I would be using some brand of matte sealer-- same if it were applied to a helmet or any other part I would like permanently "weathered."



Bountys Hunted wrote:

Tyler, when you seal it, do you use a Woodland Scenics product, or something like Krylon Matte Sealer?

Also, I'd love to see pics of your Marmit Sandtrooper! Mine's still standing with his original "factory desert smudging..."

:lol:
 
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