Superjedi's GMH as ESB for Locitus

UPDATE: October 12, 2013

At last, something that's not gray or silver! :lol: Got the base color down for the mandibles
this morning. Lots of masking for a relatively simple stage, but getting nice clean lines is key.
Here are a couple of shots of the increasingly Boba-like helmet.

IMG_0623_zps63b6c50d.jpg


In the shot above you can see the additional damage that's between and around the killstripes.

IMG_0624_zps6ef7ab95.jpg


I won't do anything else on the actual helmet today. I like to give this coat at least a good
12 hours to really cure up hard before I begin the damage portions. But I will work on a couple
of the accessories. I'll be building a small platform to mount the resin MQ-1 insert behind the
keyslots. The circuit board is just a hair too narrow to completely span the width of the keyslot
openings. This tends to leave a lot of empty space that's visible if you look at it from an angle.
Gluing the circuit board insert onto a wider section of styrene or Sintra will fill that space and
help to give a finished look.
I also need to run by my local hobby shop and buy some more Tamiya flat black and flat white
in preparation for detailing the ear pieces. How could I have run out of black and white paint???
Shameful!

Tomorrow I'll be back at the damage, beginning with the keyslot area. (y)
 
UPDATE: October 13, 2013

The mandible base coat is dry and detailing has begun.
So I'm back to silver and gray now, but with the addition of the darker maroon shade.

IMG_0626_zps5a540130.jpg


From this point I'll work on the red band around the back of the helmet, eventually working my
way to the vertical areas behind the ear platforms. It's coming along!
 
UPDATE: October 17, 2013

The usual midweek business only allows a little time here and there to work on the helmet.
But I've made some good progress over the last three days.

As I just mentioned in the last update, I'm now working on the red band on the rear half
of the helmet. I break this area up into three sections: left, center, and right. It makes
it much easier to focus on all the small shapes that way. Here's a shot of the center section.

IMG_0628_zpsa565ec03.jpg


I like to complete each of the sections before moving on to the next. Once I had the center
section done, I worked on the right section, including the vertical space behind the RF ear.

IMG_0629_zps6b336245.jpg


These shots show one of the weird illusions of the ESB helmet. The gray I'm using on the
red areas is the same gray that is used on the dome and cheeks. But against the red, it takes
on an entirely different tone. Here's some proof.

I chopped a little square of the gray and moved it up onto the dome.

Graycomp_zpsa57c8d89.jpg


The illusion holds even when the grays are right next to each other. Pretty weird, huh? :)
 
I really would like to believe the grey on the dome and cheeks is the same as the grey on the mandibles and trim, it would make perfect sense, but I can only seem to get the colours/ tones to work when the dome/ lower cheek grey is darker?
 
Hmm. Not sure what to say, Garrett. The last several helmets I've done, I began applying some
misty, broken patterns over the dome and inner cheeks before I added any of the gray/silver.
I mix a slightly lightened version of the base green and apply that.

For the gray, I begin with 'pure' SP Lark Dk Gray and see how it looks against the green. This
usually appears to have a bit too much contrast over the lightened green of the dome, so I begin
lightening the SP gray a little at a time with a much lighter acrylic gray. I test this until the
contrast between the green and the gray looks good by eye.

I don't really keep any formulas or anything, and I do this process for each helmet that I paint.
So this may be one of those cases of serendipity where the custom gray I mixed came out with
that odd balance.

Here's a reference shot from one of The AoSW exhibits a few years ago:

AoSWgraycomp_zpsdd5c8e65.jpg


I've cropped it and done the same thing as in my previous post. I took a small square of the
mandible gray and moved it up onto the dome. It seems to show the same color shift.
 
Convincing. Raf, can you do a colour comparison on this pic? The greys I'm interested in are the light grey at the six o clock position to the dent, the darker grey immediately below this point and the grey of the brow trim... thanks...(y)

Picture 5.png
 
Yea, that pic is the interesting one fellas, and the area I remember doing a good amount of dissection on when doing ESB. The '6 o'clock' area Garrett mentions, definitely appears to have two different greys - the little upside down 'c' type shape appears lighter, while the grey underneath it appears darker. The lighter shade by eye, appears to be similar to the grey on the red trim, though this could be thrown off with the greys playing off the other base colours. But I definitely went with two types of grey around the dent, and this could also be some sort of evidence, that two different shades of grey were indeed used around the helmet.. :)
 
Convincing. Raf, can you do a colour comparison on this pic? The greys I'm interested in are the light grey at the six o clock position to the dent, the darker grey immediately below this point and the grey of the brow trim... thanks...(y)

I know about the 2 type of gray around the dent and the left lower cheek (thanks to you), but the majority of the grays looks the same on all the base colors. There are slight variations on the right side where the orange/rust color is misted in excess. Also the light is playing some tricks to the eye especially when you look at the dome colors (being a round, cup-like surface) and the rest of the helmet (round too, but with a tube-like surface), so the light didn't shine the same way even on close areas. Here are some other comparisons of the front of the dome:

ESB Lark Dark Gray 02.jpg ESB Lark Dark Gray 03.jpg ESB Lark Dark Gray 04.jpg

But looking at the dent and the long scratch behind it, it seems that the darker gray is present all the way. I need to look at some images to see if that is the case or not.
 
Great discussion and pics! I've gotten to the point where I almost don't see an
entire helmet when I look at those pics. . . I just see little sections of damage. :lol:

But that third pic Raf posted in post #29 is very interesting. In that pic, whether it's
due to lighting or the angle, it seems that the lighter "upside down C" under the dent
matches the mandible gray, while the other gray is slightly darker. Hmm. . .
 
Yeah, it is interesting and another example of how ridiculous the detail is on this helmet! I tend to go a slightly darker grey on the dome and lower cheeks as opposed to the trim and the back panels, a similar concept to the two shades of red on the mandibles and trim I suppose...
 
I'd say it's ridiculous how closely we study these minute details! :lol: But the more that is
learned about the reference pics, the better the replicas become, and that's a good thing!

UPDATE: October 19, 2013

There will be a slight pause after this update because my company is sending me on travel
starting tomorrow. But I'll be back at it in a few days.

I've completed all the remaining red areas behind the ears. Still using my gray/silver/maroon
combo, and I'll continue on with this for the remainder of the mandible areas.

IMG_0632_zps5041ce7c.jpg


This area will wind up looking different once the thumbprints are applied. There will be some
white streaking coming back from the lower thumbprint, which will give it a slight washed appearance.

I've also made it around the ear platform and just started on the front portion. Here's the left
corner of the T-visor.

IMG_0634_zpsd2e16e57.jpg


So that's it for the next few days. I should have internet access where I'm going, so I'll
be able to check in on all you crazy TDHers. (y)
 
UPDATE: October 24, 2013

OK, back from my trip and back to work on the helmet. :)
I've continued onto the band above the visor cutout. This is the left half completed.

IMG_0636_zps441e64b6.jpg


Same colors, and some very fine scratches added with my compass point. You can
see that I've laid down the base gray around on the right half as well. I'll detail this
portion next with silver and the maroon color.
 
UPDATE: October 26, 2013

Here are 2 pics to show the last couple days' progress.
First, the right side of the band above the visor cutout.

IMG_0639_zps4e31e9fb.jpg


I did the left mandible after that. Lots of juicy detail here! :)

IMG_0642_zps41adb32b.jpg


I'll begin laying out the damage on the right mandible next. That's the last "major" portion
that remains. There are some additional weathering stages to do, including the white
thumbprints, pastel application, the tan/rust spatter, and the grease stains on the back
of the dome.
I also have the ears and RF assembly to do. We're well over the hump and on the way
to a completed helmet!
 
UPDATE: October 30, 2013

Whew! Got lots done over the past 3 or 4 days. After about 7 sessions, I got the right
mandible done. This area always makes me cross-eyed. :lol: It's one of the most detail-intensive
parts of the helmet, and it takes constant checking of the reference pics to make sure the
shapes and proportions of the damage are as close as they can be.

IMG_0644_zps76239f7d.jpg


This area, and the whole helmet, will receive a bit of the pale contrasting gray. So even
after all that effort, it's still not quite done! But there's much less of the pale gray on the
front of the helmet than on the back.

Also seen above is the brass Borden connector. The Borden received a thin wash of a light
green/gray mixture to give it a sort of patinated look, like "old" brass. The wash is applied
sparingly to allow the base metal show through. Then it was detailed with a bit of silver.

When I didn't have quite as much time to spend on the helmet itself, I worked on the left ear.
The white arch was masked and airbrushed on, with chips courtesy of Winsor & Newton
masking fluid. It was then detailed with light gray and red. The black markings were done
with dry transfer (rub-on) lettering. I used 2 capital E's and 2 tiny squares cut from other letters.

IMG_0646_zps5a9da705.jpg


I use a bolt-on method of ear attachment, so they are removable. The ear is yet to receive its
final weathering with some tan/brown staining near the bottom.

So now all of the "major" painting on the helmet is complete! Final details and weathering to come. (y)
 
Glad you like it, Mathias!

UPDATE: Halloween, 2013

Hello all you spooky ghoulish TDHers! :lol: As October comes to a close, I have begun
working on the helmet's weathering effects. I began with the odd patches of pale gray.
There has been a lot of debate on this color, and what it represents. Some believe that
it is the helmet's original gelcoat where the paint has been scraped or rubbed away. Or
it could be an additional layer/primer that was laid down before the real painting began.
Either way, it's a very cool feature of the ESB helmet. I use a very pale bluish-gray acrylic
craft paint to add this color. The color is called Blue Wisp by Ceramcoat.

Here are a couple of pics showing how this color "hides" depending on the light source and
the viewing angle. First, the back panels. This shot, in more direct light, barely shows
any hint of the contrasting color.

IMG_0648_zps66bf990c.jpg


When the helmet is rotated so that the light falls at a more oblique angle, the color pops into view.

IMG_0649_zpsa19589b3.jpg


There are several other small areas where this color appears. The next most evident area is down
the outer edge of the right mandible. Here's an angle showing that the color blends with the silver.

IMG_0650_zpsd051bef1.jpg


But when the helmet is rotated away from the light, it becomes more apparent.

IMG_0651_zps7aea5c15.jpg


There are very fine traces of this color within the dent. Viewed in direct light, the color is
slightly evident, but not fully realized.

IMG_0652_zps2150910d.jpg


Change the angle, and those fine lines and scratches come into view.

IMG_0653_zpsb2be5710.jpg


So there you have the beginning of the weathering stages! In the picture above, you can
also see a portion of the "fade" below the killstripes.
I have also done the white thumbprints around the killstripes. . . but I forgot to take pics. :facepalm
More to come!
 
Great explanations with images of the base gray's effect. According to the Boba Fett - Progress Report (from Oct. 3rd, 1978) the 6th helmet was painted grey and sent to U.S.A., so we might talk about the ESB Hero helmet.

As always, your paint thread(s) is(are) very informative and fun to watch. Keep up the already great work, Eric!
 
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Looks great! You certainly got the base grey spot on. I think it's possible the helmet colour is the yellowish hue we see under the right hand ear pieces, the base grey appears to be a layer on top of this...
 
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