Superjedi--GMH PP2 for Shabad

Oh no, that Superjedi character is at it again!
This will be my progress thread as I paint GMH #91 in the Pre-Pro 2 paint scheme for Shabad.
I got to meet him earlier today when he dropped off the helmet in person. It's always cool meeting
fellow TDHers. :) Thanks for stopping by, Luke. Hope you enjoy the progress!

Here's my current helmet collection in my shiny new Detolf display cases. I picked them up a few
weeks ago and they're fantastic for helmets!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1788.jpg

But wait, who's that poor unpainted guy on top of the cases? Why it's. . . Shabad's GMH! *gasp*

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1790.jpg

This is one of the resin helmets, and it's just as gorgeous as the gelcoat version. Superbly cast and smooth
as a baby bounty hunter's bottom. (There are baby bounty hunters, right??)
I spent some time out in the garage doing the cutting, trimming, sanding, and filing to get it ready for paint.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1789.jpg

Using the trusty ol' Dremel with a cutting wheel and a sanding drum, I got the visor and keyslots cut out.
Finish work was done using my jewelers' files.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1792.jpg

Next stop: Primer Town! Hopefully this heat wave will break during the next couple of days. Paint does
weird things in high heat and humidity, and I want to get a really smooth primer coat laid down.
More to come.

I'm so looking forward to this progress thread!

Ahh, lovely - always look forward to a SJ thread - crazy cat that he is! Nice display too mate :-)

I'll take the one on the top left Eric! How are you old friend?, hope to see you at C6

Those helmets you have painted are amazing, it's a fantastic display, so glad I got to see them in person. Great meeting you Eric, of course I'll be following this thread! :drool

Yet another SJ thread to bookmark. can't wait to see it.

Seems as though I have a few passengers along for this ride! :lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bountyone

I'll take the one on the top left Eric! How are you old friend?, hope to see you at C6

---

Hey Ben, good to see you're still around. And you certainly will not take the one on the top left. If I remember right, you
have an ESB of your very own. :b If all goes as planned, I'll be there at C VI.

UPDATE: July 2nd, 2012

Nothing super exciting today. I got 2 coats of primer on a little while ago. I've used Duplicolor primer on the last
couple of helmets I've painted. I like auto primers because they dry fast and give a very durable base for the
color coats. This one is in a very exciting color called "gray."

The first area I'll be painting will be the back panels. Hopefully my airbrush is speaking to me. It's been so long
since I've used it. :)

Ahh, PP2, back panels - dare I suggest a certain mix of green we have both had a little infatuation with? ;-)

UPDATE: July 3rd, 2012

Speaking of back panels. . .

Round 1 complete. I masked off everything but the back panels and keyslot area before airbrushing.
It isn't really necessary, because everything else will get painted over. But I always try to keep the
excess paint to a minimum.

I sprayed the entire area with Polly Scale CSX Gray. It's a nice medium-light neutral gray. Once that
was dry, I went back with a tighter spray pattern and overlaid some Bar Gray. I tried to match the
patterns in the reference pics as closely as possible. Now that this is done, when I mask and airbrush
the green, the differentiated grays will show through in certain places. A nice subtle detail.

Here's Shabad's GMH 91 alongside my number 9. :)

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...MHtimestwo.jpg

This is also a photo experiment as I took this shot with my new HTC One S 8MP phone camera. Not too bad!

Next step: stenciling, liquid mask, and airbrush the back panel green.

Cool..! another SJ paint thread. :thumbsup
Will be watching and taking many notes..

I love your paint jobs and I will watching this with more interest and admiration! I hope that the modified and improoved Pre-Pro #2 stencils will do justice to your paint job!

Thanks, guys! Rafal, yes your updated PP2 templates are beautiful! :thumbsup See below for the results.

UPDATE: July 4th, 2012:

Happy Independence Day, everyone! Hope you're all enjoying a nice midweek holiday.

I'm celebrating independence from plain gray back panels. :lol I got a lot of work done on the helmet today.
Not quite done with these back panels, but I'm getting there.

I started by stenciling and using liquid mask for the damage patterns. Rafal's templates came in very handy
as usual. If anyone's painting a helmet, I highly recommend checking out his templates. Even if you choose
another method, they're an amazing reference and may show some details or patterns that are tricky to make
out from reference pics. The darker areas below show where I have applied my Winsor & Newton masking fluid.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMAG0040.jpg

The fluid dries pretty quickly, so I was all set to airbrush the green. I took a cue from Jayvee and experimented
with CNW green mixed with another Floquil green in varying ratios. I wound up using a 3:1 mix of CNW Green and
Southern Sylvan Green. I think it brightened the tone just a touch and came out looking great! Thanks for the
tip, Johnny. :thumbsup

I misted the green using Reefer Gray, and I began adding some of the tiny chips and scratches as well.
Here are a couple of shots of the back panels.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1794.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1795.jpg

Another closer shot showing the fine scratches in the keyslot area. All the fine scratches were done with
Floquil Primer and a size 000 brush.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1796.jpg

The final stage for the back panels will be to add the silver. Then it's on to the dome and cheeks.

Great work mate, back panels look lovely, glad that southern sylvan green worked out for you. It looks a really good shade and really takes out that 'blue shade' that the cnw alone seems to give. Just for anyones reference - if you are looking at a green mix, Eric and I had a differrent ratio of mix, as he is using the floquil pollyscale acrylics, and I use floquil enamels. The colour we mix with the cnw is slightly differrent - the acrylic version he used is called 'southern sylvan green', while the enamel version is simply 'southern green'. Slightly differrent shades, hence the differrent ratio mix, but as you can see, eric has produced a fantastic shade with the acrylics as well :-)

Hope thats not hijacking your thread to much E - love your work, cant wait to see more! Peace :-)

This is looking excellent. Always a pleasure to see your paint work.

LOVE IT!!

Watching with great interest! This is looking awesome as always.

Craig

Thanks, all!

Alex, it was good talking to you the other day. :thumbsup Have fun next week!

UPDATE: July 6th, 2012

Back panels complete! :) I stenciled on the silver areas and painted them with Floquil Bright Silver.
I love using this paint. It levels and blends very well.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1797.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1799.jpg

Rafal's templates were a huge help. His right panel template is more defined than the set I used when I
painted my own PP2. You're getting the improved version, Luke!

Here's the helmet all masked up for the next step: the dome and cheeks.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1801.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1802.jpg

I left the upper cheeks unmasked because there are a couple of small areas where the lower cheek green
shows through the darker upper cheek color.
After the dome/cheeks are sprayed, I'll let it dry overnight and then lightly mist on some olive green in a
few places to match the reference pics. Most of the dome and lower cheeks will receive additional mistings
further down the line to "muddy up" the colors.

Eric, I always really enjoy following your paint up threads, this is looking first rate already! Can't wait for more

Thanks, HH!

UPDATE: July 7th, 2012

Dome/cheek stages 1 and 2 complete. I sprayed on the base green and then the olive misting.
Most of this will change tone with later mistings of gray.
Here are a few shots around the helmet.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1803.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1805.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1806.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1807.jpg

The next stage will be a long stretch of working with nothing but silver. All silver areas will be applied
topically with my detail brushes.
As I post pics during this phase, you'll notice that there seems to be some "extra" silver in several areas.
This is because some of it will be masked and overmisted with the dark gray that's seen in the ref pics.
I think when I did my own GMH PP2, I called this a "layeropical" method because it's a combo of layered
and topical. :lol
(That term is copyrighted by the way. Anyone who uses it owes me a dollar.)

UPDATE: July 8th, 2012

Got an early start this morning and did the first section: the lower right cheek.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1809.jpg

Here's a closer look.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1810.jpg

Gonna give my wrists a break for a while. :lol

UPDATE #2: July 8th, 2012

The silver keeps rolling along. :)
Here's the lower left cheek.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1812.jpg

Closer. Keep in mind, this will be misted with gray later in the process. Then I'll go back over some of the
silver that is to remain bright.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1814.jpg

I'll be starting on the dome next.

UPDATE #3: July 8th, 2012

As the sun sinks all too slowly in the west. . .

Whew! Got a lot done today. Hooray for weekends! :)

Started on the right side of the dome, and I'll be working my way around for the next few days.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1815.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1816.jpg

I like working the front of the dome. Those "signature" damage areas really start to pull the PP2 look together.
I love how the painted damage aligns with the physical damage on the GMH. Very cool!
More to come!

UPDATE: July 9th, 2012

Today's progress. Still working around the dome. :)

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1818.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1820.jpg

Tomorrow. . . the dent! :thumbsup

Lovin it bro like a mad man on a mission!!

I'm jelly. Wanting to paint up one of these now.

Your progress is impressive in accuracy (attention to details) and speed of work.

Thanks, guys! Rafal, your templates have a lot to do with getting things organized quickly. :thumbsup

UPDATE: July 10th, 2012

Today's progress includes the dent, and many small detail intensive areas toward the top of the dome.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1821.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_1822.jpg

Many of these areas will be bordered and interwoven with dark gray, so it looks a bit stark right now.

One thing I think I'll do differently on Shabad's helmet is that I'll do the killstripes before placing the silver
damage at the back of the helmet. I did the silver first on mine, and the position of the silver wrapping
around the back of the killstripes was just a bit off.
So tomorrow's forecast looks like. . . killstripes! :)

You gonna be able to sleep tonight knowing those stripes are waitin' for ya?? :-)

Hiya Scott. Yeah, I think I'll be able to grab a few winks. :lol

I'll be dreaming of killstripes

UPDATE: July 12th, 2012

Hi guys! I know I was talking about killstripes in the last update, but I was getting ahead of myself.
I need to complete all the silver so I can do the gray misting over the dome and lower cheeks. If I
would have done the killstripes at this stage, they would have to be masked before the misting stage.
So I'm continuing on with the silver. Here's today's progress.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2015.jpg

That's one big silver area! But it will be masked and misted, then overpainted with some more silver.
There are about three more silver areas to paint before the misting begins.

I could not be more excited to see how this is turning out, I've always been a huge fan of your progress threads SJ but knowing this is mine makes it extra special.

Glad you're enjoying it so far, Luke. The PP2 is a pretty intricate paint job and it really helps to keep my skills sharp.

UPDATE: July 13th, 2012

All the "pre-misting" silver is done. :) All the other silver will be applied after the gray misting over the dome and cheeks.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2018.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2017.jpg

It doesn't look that much different than it did yesterday, but I added a couple of smallish detail areas.

There will be a (hopefully) brief hiatus while I wait for some more paints that I ordered. I had thought I had
enough of my PP2 colors, but some of them were just about depleted. That's just poor planning on my part,
and the paints are supposed to arrive anytime between tomorrow and Tuesday. I've got my fingers crossed
that they'll be here sooner than later.

EDIT: I checked the mail about 30 minutes after posting this and the paints are here. :lol Hooray!

UPDATE: July 16th, 2012

Wow, I fell behind on picture updates! Just got wrapped up in painting. :lol

Got several stages done. First was the final step before the gray misting: the upper cheeks.
Since the upper cheeks on the PP2 receive the same misting treatment as the dome and
lower cheeks, I had to get them done. So I did.

The pics below show the helmet after being misted with gray. There's quite a bit of gray
on this helmet, which really tones down the colors. I tried to match the cloudy patterns
as closely as I could to the reference pics.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2019.jpg

Here are a couple of pics that show where I "brought back" some of the silver. I just reapplied it
with my detail brush.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2020.jpg

The left cheek.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2021.jpg

And finally. . . killstripes!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2022.jpg

There were two sections of silver that I waited to complete until after the killstripes were painted. It just
helped me get the positioning a little better than when I painted my own PP2.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2023.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2024.jpg

Next will be a couple of good coats of Testors dull coat to seal everything, then I'll start masking and misting
the darker gray areas on the dome. That's another long session with masking fluid and tape, so not sure if
I'll get it all done during the week or not. But it's getting there! :)

Lovely work bud! Awesome collection in your cabinets too! Very nice!! :D

Thanks, Dex.

UPDATE: July 17th, 2012

Very boring update today. I sprayed 2 coats of Testors dull coat on the helmet to seal everything up
in preparation for the dark gray on the dome. *Yawn!*

More masking and misting mayhem to come!

Eric,
That's a GMH correct? What is the "Ballpark" measurement(LxW) of those stripes?

Always amazing to see your great topical paintjobs! Awesome!

Thanks! Should hopefully have more updates today or tomorrow.

Scott, yup it's a GMH. I did the stripes at 20mm X 7mm with a 4-5mm spacing between each one.

UPDATE: July 18th, 2012

More gray! :)
I began the process of adding the dark gray to the dome and lower cheeks.
This is one of the very few custom colors that I use on the helmet. SP Lark Dark Gray isn't quite
dark enough to provide a good contrast with the dome, so I mix a gray that's a shade or two
darker. I mixed some Tarnished Black into my SP Lark to darken it up enough to give me the
contrast I want. I just add a bit at a time until it looks good by eye.

Not much appears on the lower cheeks, as you can see below. Just a few small spots.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2026.jpg

On the dome, the patterns are more evident.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2025.jpg

These are basically all of the hard-edged dark gray areas.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2027.jpg

The remaining dark gray will be airbrushed on, after a looooooooooot of masking. I have to get those softer
patterns where some of the silver still shows through in places.
Stay tuned!

UPDATE: July 20th, 2012

Friday! Woo hoo!
This update covers a couple of stages. First: gray misting.
I used my Winsor & Newton liquid mask to outline the areas that received the
gray misting. Then I used tape and plastic wrap to mask the entire helmet, leaving
only those small areas exposed.
The idea is to apply the gray while allowing some silver to show through in places.

Here's the dent area.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2028.jpg

This is that large damage area on the back of the dome, as well as some of the smaller
chips, too.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2029.jpg

Once that was done, I went back with a size 000 brush and picked out the silver chips
that were within those misted areas.

The dent again.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2030.jpg

The back of the dome.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2032.jpg

Finally, a smaller area above the killstripes.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2031.jpg

Next will be to add the really small chips and scratches with a sharp compass point.
After that, it's on to the mandibles! :)

The back of that dome melts my mind :wacko:fettpre

This is such a great way to appreciate the helmet - all of them, mine for myself, SJ's paint job and also the original PP2 which I will now see more clearly. Thanks SJ.

You're welcome! You should enjoy this post.

UPDATE: July 21, 2012

Mandibles! Now it's really starting to look like Boba.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2033.jpg

It always looks a little funny at this stage. Nice clean mandibles against a chipped and weathered helmet.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2034.jpg

But of course it won't stay this way for long. :)

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2035.jpg

In the shot above, you can see where I've added the really small chips and hair thin scratches with
a compass point. There will be just a little more of this to do once I place the damage on the red areas.
Next up: back to gray damage. :thumbsup

UPDATE #1: July 22nd, 2012

Mandible damage stage 1: silver.
On this helmet, the predominant damage color on the mandibles is silver.
So (for me) it's easier to place the silver first, then go back and do the other colors.
These shots combine some gray and silver on the back, and silver on the front.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2036.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2037.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2038.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2039.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2040.jpg

See the following update for the secondary stage. :)



UPDATE #2: July 22nd, 2012

With the silver on the mandibles complete, I masked and airbrushed the pink color.
This involved masking fluid, tape, and plastic wrap. It's one of the more time consuming
parts of this paint job, but it's gotta be done! :thumbsup

Once the pink was dry, I went back with 2 shades of gray and completed the mandibles.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2041.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2042.jpg

Tasks remaining:
1) Dull coat the entire helmet
2) Reapply silver to bring back the sheen
3) Yellow crayon mark
4) Minimal amount of pastel smudging

Getting close now, Luke! :D

This is, without doubt, one of the best PP2 paint jobs I've ever seen! Great job bud.

I was gonna say the base colors look too not-dirty but it looks like you got that on your to-do-list. Can't wait to see it done!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Archaster777

This is, without doubt, one of the best PP2 paint jobs I've ever seen! Great job bud.

---

I'm totally agree with Archaster! But there is an area on the left upper cheek where should be some silver weathering but you missed that part:

Attachment 62459

Thanks A777! This is definitely turning out better than my own PP2. :)

Rafal, not to worry! I had left off several small silver areas, and added them on the final
detailing after the dull coat application. When the helmet is done, everything will be on there. :thumbsup

Not much of an update today. I have been going back after the dull coat and re-brightening some
of the silver. Is re-brightening a word??
Next update will include the completed pics!

wow thats a nice piece of art. Some people buy paintings, I say pay for boba fett helmets this well painted lol.

I love this version of the helmet

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lucksy31

I love this version of the helmet

---

I'm loving it more every day, I always thought nothing could compete with the ESB but this is so good when you appreciate all the details in a paint up thread it makes me realize how every Fett helmet is awesome. I think I just decided I'm gonna need more helmets...

Yes, more helmets is always a good idea. :lol

Slight delay for completion on this one. I've been asked to put in a visor and I'm
waiting for it to arrive. Hopefully it won't take too long to get here.

UPDATE: August 2nd, 2012

COMPLETE!

Got the visor install done, as well as the resin ears.
I'll be delivering the helmet to Shabad this weekend. :) Enjoy the final pics!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2056.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2057.jpg

Turn to your left. :lol

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2058.jpg

Turn to your right.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...d/IMG_2059.jpg

It's beautiful, thanks SJ.

That paint job is perfect!

WOWWWWWW...THAT is absolutely fantastic!!!

Wow! Fantastic job! You are a man with great patience! :D

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT

Thanks very much, guys! I brought the helmet to Shabad earlier this afternoon,
so it's with its new owner now.
I also got to see an UNBELIEVABLE Terminal Fettler layered ESB paint job up close. Wow. . .

Shabad said he may take some pics in natural light at some point. Hope so. :)

Wow dude, you are killin' it. Very nice work bro.

That is gorgeous.