Superjedi's GMH as ESB for Lucksy31

Hi TDHers!
I thought I'd put together one of them there progress threads for a new project
I'm working on. I've been really busy with school, but my semester is over, and
I have some hobby time, so I figured it's time to get Fettin'!!!

This thread will be for my paint up of a GMH helmet as the ESB "hero" version.
Been a while since I've done an ESB, so this will be fun! To make it even more
fun, it's for our very own Lucksy31. Scott has been a part of the community for
a while, and he's supplied some awesome vinyl decals that I'll bet several of you
are sporting on your own Fett costumes. Hi Scott!

The helmet arrived with the visor already cut out, along with the GMH resin ear
pieces. Scott is getting a set of Mojo's aluminum ears, so hopefully they'll ship
while I'm still in possession of the helmet so I can paint them up and install them.
Scott also sent me a few cool accessories to incorporate into this job, namely:
a real Borden connector, a TerminalFettler RF topper (super nice!), an RF mini
circuit board with flashing LEDs, a nice smoked visor, an aluminum RF stalk,
and a real microswitch to place in the cutout in the upper right ear cap.

To begin this job, I finished doing the trimming and sanding. There was some
smoothing to do around the visor cutout, and then I sanded around the bottom
of the helmet, and cut out the keyslots, and drilled the holes in the ear platforms.
Since this is to be an ESB bucket, I used some glazing putty to fill in the GMH's
physical damage.





I got it as smooth as I could in preparation for the primer. I also drilled out the
resin Borden piece and cut down the Borden connector.



Here's the Borden rough cut and sanded. I'll do a bit more fine sanding.



Here's the Borden in place. Nice, tight fit!



I put on the first coat of primer a little while ago. It revealed a couple of places where I
need to apply some more putty. I'll do that tomorrow and shoot a second coat of primer
and then I should be ready to start adding some color to this bad boy!

I always like to challenge myself when I do a new helmet, so for this job, I will do all my
painting with the paint brush held between my toes.

Much more to come.

Great start , can't wait to see your foot work

Sweet. Looking forward to this thread.

Looking like fun....just got a box from TripleD today...going ROTJ...will have to make a thread when I have significant progress besides cutting out the visor keyslots.

Ahh yes, another insane Superjedi thread! Looking forward to it E, you crazy Toe-Master..

You must have some serious control with your toes to be able to use a double action airbrush!!
Looking forward to your progress!

To say that i'm psyched is a complete understatement!!

Rafal, that's hilarious. Yes, guys, my toes are quite dextrous.

UPDATE: December 23, 2012

Not much to show right now. It's always slow going at first, but it should ramp up in the
next couple of days. I finished the puttying and sanding, and marked the position of the
ESB physical damage. A few minutes with a very sharp #11 X-acto blade and the helmet
was given another light coat of primer.



The physical damage can be seen in the picture above.
Once the primer had dried, I masked off the rear panels and sprayed the first color coat:
Floquil Concrete. Again, the pics are kind of boring, but here's where she sits as of tonight.





Tomorrow I'll begin the measuring/stenciling for the rear panel dark green. I haven't done a set of stencils
yet for the ESB version sized for a GMH, so I'll be taking my time and making sure everything is proportioned
correctly. Rafal's templates will be a big help as always!

Very cool, excited to see this progress

w000h0000!!! Here we go! Looking forward to it, Eric!

Finally have something to show you guys.

UPDATE: December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!
Enjoying a day off today, and thought I'd get a little painting done. This update
covers a couple of steps. The Concrete was sprayed on, and once it was dry, I
stenciled the damage areas on. I use Rafal's templates as a base, and I carefully
compare them with photos of the screen used helmet before transferring the markings
onto the back panels. Not many tweaks needed at all!

I applied some Winsor & Newton masking fluid with a microbrush, filling in all the areas
to remain the base color. I have to say that I've had my bottle of W&N for about 5 years,
and it's still completely viable, and it's only about half gone! Well worth the price.

Once the masking fluid had dried, I got my rear panel green ready to go. I begin with a
1/2 oz. bottle of Model Master Acryl Euro I Dark Green, and add about 60 or so drops of
Polly Scale BAR Blue. That's the mixture I've been using on all of my ESB paint ups for years.
The BAR Blue darkens the Euro green, and shades it just over into the blue/green range. It
also gives a nice color shift depending on the lighting conditions.

Here's the left panel.



I thin my acrylics with water. I got it fairly thin, and airbrushed it on in a couple
of pretty light coats. I wanted it to have some translucency, and not be one solid expanse of green.
I allowed some of the Concrete to show through very subtly in places.
I then tightened my spray pattern and went back to darken the green in certain places. I usually have
my laptop next to where I'm painting, and I keep a couple of reference pics on the screen as I'm
airbrushing. This shows me exactly where I need to go darker, or feather some of the color as
I'm painting.



When I had gotten the patterns I wanted, I went back with a wider spray pattern and shaded
the panels a little darker overall. That got me pretty much exactly where I wanted to be colorwise.

These next shots show the small dark areas scattered around the back panels. I didn't use a different
color on these. I used the same custom mix that I had airbrushed on. Applying the color with a brush
made it more dense, and it appears darker to the eye.



Here's the right side.



So that's a big stage done! Next will be to add the gray and silver areas on the back panels. I will probably
do the fine scratches as well before I move on to the next portion--the dome and lower cheeks.
Thanks for looking!

Just beautiful E - damage looking amazing at this point.love your little darker spots - a lot of people miss these. Keep it up my friend!

Originally Posted by Jayvee

Just beautiful E - damage looking amazing at this point.love your little darker spots - a lot of people miss these. Keep it up my friend!

I agree with Jayvee! Those darker spots are part of the actual helmet, but are constantly missing from most of the ESB paint jobs.

You did (and always do) an excellent paint job so far, Eric! If this is how you paint with your toes, then I would like to see how you paint with your mouth. Or other body parts?...

Wow................. looks great

Thanks, guys. The ol' ESB is coming back to me now.

UPDATE: December 27, 2012

Left rear panel is complete. I used the "standard" colors as usual:
SP Lark Dk Gray, and Bright Silver. I cracked open a brand new bottle of silver
for you, Scott!



Once the basic colors were on, I went back with my compass point and added the
fine scratches. I also added the contrasting pale gray base color. It really changes
appearance depending on the lighting and the angle. There will be more of this color
on the right panel, and then in several places on the front of the helmet once I
reach that stage.



Oh, and to do this detail work, I held the paintbrush between my eyelids.

Looks great! I would say that looks like the toughest part and you nailed it.

Originally Posted by superjedi

Oh, and to do this detail work, I held the paintbrush between my eyelids.

You are killing me!



The back plates looks great! As always, you constantly provide excellent info and paint work!

Absolutely beautiful work Eric!!! Can't wait for mine

Thanks guys. Here's the latest:

UPDATE: December 28, 2012

Continuing to work on the rear panels. Since I work topically, I thought I'd show the progression
from "blank canvas" to completed section. I began by laying out the large silver area next to
the keyslots. It looks very featureless at this stage. I just want to block in the entire area.



After adding the gray damage, it transforms into what we're used to seeing.



With the addition of the contrasting gray, this section is done! I've included two shots
to show how the color shifts depending on the angle.





You can see that the upper right corner of this panel is done also. All that's left now
is the area in the lower right. When that's done, I'll do the fine scratches and then
I'll mask and prepare to airbrush the dome and lower cheek areas.

Truly amazing stuff man

Glad you like it, Scott.

UPDATE: December 30, 2012

OK, several steps to show in this update. First, I masked everything off and sprayed
the dome and lower cheeks. I used a base of POG and then misted a lightened tone over it.
There will be more lightening and weathering to come. But I need to place the damage
areas first to get the weathering patterns in the right places.



When the dome/cheek green was dry, I did the upper cheeks with PRR Brunswick Green.
I use a soft 1/2" brush for these areas. The Polly Scale paints really go on smoothly, and
after 2 coats, there isn't a hint of brushstrokes to be seen.





Now. . . the fun part! I began placing the damage on the back of the dome. Not sure why
but I always seem to start on the back of the helmet and work my way around counterclockwise.
Maybe I'm just crazy!!



I use a slightly darkened SP Lark Dk Gray for the dome/cheek gray. I add a few drops of
the PRR green until there's a good contrast. The straight SP gray just doesn't quite have
enough of a visual difference to look right.
(The opinions of Superjedi do not reflect those of The Dented Helmet, LLC )



After applying the gray and silver, I used my compass point again to add the fine
scratches. I like to try and complete one section as much as possible before moving
around the dome. Once the entire dome is done, there are so many small scratches
that it can become a little overwhelming to do them all at once.

Next I'll continue working around the dome with the taller gray/silver area behind the
right ear, then it's on to the area in front of the right ear. . . and the cat scratch!
That's one of my favorite "iconic" features of the ESB helmet.

UPDATE #2: December 30, 2012

Rollin' right along. Approximately 1/4 of the dome is done now.
Next will be the little corner in front of the right ear, and then the cat scratch!

UPDATE #3: December 30, 2012

Got a lot done this weekend. I love weekends.
The cat scratch region is complete. Traced, stenciled, and painted using
the same colors as on the rear of the dome.



There's a bit more gray at the lower edge of the dome that extends toward the front of
the dome, but I'll do that when I do the smallish area above the turn signals.



I should reach the dent area by Tuesday or so.

I love your fantastic work(s), Eric; it is always sharp, well detailed and clean! Can't wait to see the next posts.

Originally Posted by superjedi

Now. . . the fun part! I began placing the damage on the back of the dome. Not sure why
but I always seem to start on the back of the helmet and work my way around counterclockwise.
Maybe I'm just crazy!!

From the Superjedi Dictionary:

crazy
cra·zy [krey-zee] adjective, cra·zi·er, cra·zi·est, noun, plural cra·zies.
adjective

1. overly meticulous human being.
2. personal technique developed for accuracy-hunger Fett-heads.
3. painting with talent while entertaining the masses.
4. a person who's able to paint with every part of his body using a paintbrush as an extension of his painting talent.

Originally Posted by RafalFett

I love your fantastic work(s), Eric; it is always sharp, well detailed and clean! Can't wait to see the next posts.





From the Superjedi Dictionary:

crazy
cra·zy [krey-zee] adjective, cra·zi·er, cra·zi·est, noun, plural cra·zies.
adjective

1. overly meticulous human being.
2. personal technique developed for accuracy-hunger Fett-heads.
3. painting with talent while entertaining the masses.
4. a person who's able to paint with every part of his body using a paintbrush as an extension of his painting talent.

Yea, nice call Raf, im happy to go along with all that crazyness
Seriously beautiful paint work there E, you little genius

Thanks guys. My form of craziness is generally harmless. It comes from years
of inhaling paint and resin dust.

UPDATE: December 31, 2012

Well, this will be the final update for 2012! This has been a busy year for me with
work and school, and there's no better way to ring in the New Year than by getting
back into an ESB helmet.

Just a smallish area to show today. I got the area above and around the turn signals done.



My eyes are starting to only see gray and silver by now.



I filled in the dent with silver as well. This will make it easier to get the stencil positioned
when I do that area. Since I have the day off tomorrow, I can get more done. Not sure
whether I'll do the dent and it's surrounding area. . . or the killstripes.
What will it be?? Who can say for sure?? The suspense is building!!

You mentioned something about suspense????? :-)

Yeah, I kept you in suspense a little longer than I anticipated. I just ran out
of natural light for decent pictures. But here's an. . .

UPDATE: January 3, 2013

Wow, that's the first time I've written 2013 this year. Cool!

I am continuing my gray and silver march around the helmet. I got the dent complete!
Of course, this is one of the most iconic features of the ESB helmet, so a lot of care
was taken in making sure the position and proportions of the damage were correct.



There certainly is a lot going on in this relatively small area, so I kept several reference
pics up on my screen as I was painting. It helps to see things from a couple of different
angles as I work.
Here's another view.



Although it can barely be seen in the pics above, I did the large damage area on top
of the dome as well. I've always found this area to be tricky to align with the rest of
the damage on the helmet.
Here's a closer shot of the dent. The contrasting gray can be seen a little better here.



I also completed the right lower cheek. Not too much damage on this section
so it went relatively quickly. Since these pics were taken, I've also completed
the right upper cheek, and I've also laid out the stencil for the left lower cheek.
Pics of those areas tomorrow.



Once I get the left lower and upper cheek completed, I'll begin toning the dome and cheeks.
I'll use a blend of lighter and darker mixes of the base color to get some of the fading and
streaking effects. After that, it's on to the mandibles. To infinity and beyond!!
Oh wait. . . wrong movie.

Very nice SJ!

Thanks, 22.

UPDATE: January 6, 2013

Man, it's the 6th already?? Where did the weekend go?

Got a lot done since the previous update. I completed the left cheek, using the
usual colors. I made sure to get the contrasting gray/green tone for the damage
on the very left edge of the inner cheek. It was a custom blend starting with a
base of SP Lark and adding some of the back panel green to darken it up.



I also spent a good amount of time toning the dome and lower cheeks. I misted on some POG
to darken some areas a little, then I mixed a lighter tone of the blend I had originally misted
over the whole dome. This was applied in cloudy patterns to approximate the faded, oxidized
look of the original helmet.
When the lighter tone was dry, I went back again with some POG and an old toothbrush and
spattered some areas to subtly break things up. The pics don't really convey how it looks in
person, but I'm really happy with the overall effect.



Finally. . . killstripes! I did these this morning, masking everything off and applying
some masking fluid to get the chips within each stripe. I used a base of UP Armor Yellow, then
misted the trailing stripes with a red-orange color to get the light-to-dark look.



When the stripes were unmasked, I added the silver and gray damage that is within
and around the stripes. I also thinned some Polly Scale Concrete waaaay down and
added the "tape residue" under and between some of the stripes.



The helmet is finally at the point now where I can seal everything with a couple of
coats of Testors dull coat. I do this to protect all the painted areas before I mask
everything off to paint the mandibles. Which, hopefully I should be able to do tomorrow!

I have a class that starts on Tuesday, so progress may slow down a bit over the next
few weeks. This is my very last class for my Bachelor's degree! Woo hoo!
More to come.

No Bachelor's degree needed on how to paint an ESB helmet, that's for sure
liking all the methods so far

Absolutely awesome, Eric.
This is coming together so well and having you painting Scott's as I'm painting mine is a fantastic reference. Keep up the great work.

wow, very meticulous, with alot of attention to detail, wow

Awesome man. Always love your work!!

Awesome mate! Very inspiring! Look forward to seeing more!

Well E, let me just say that you are absolutely killing this paint up! As always, it looks fantastic, you crazy foot painting, topical guru

One thing Id like to get your opinion on, is the dent damage. Firstly, I think the overall accuracy of your dent damage looks spot on - completely top shelf stuff. I added a picture, firstly of your own dent, then the original. I remember doing the dent on my ESB, and painfully dissected the photos for hours, and found a couple of areas I really tried to emulate. Forgive me if this is still to be part of your extra weathering too, and im just jumping the gun..

On the pic, the 2 yellow arrows, point to a section of damage, where I believe a lighter shade of grey interacts with the standard grey. I also tend to think that lighter shade is also used for that little blob within the dent that the yellow arrows also point to. If you tend to agree, that will be an easy fix, if not, then may hafta change my own ESB..

the second little area, and one that I really tried to get right on mine, was where the red arrow points. I see some little spots of the unweathered base green, and then actual misting over them. I remember using small spots of masking fluid to keep the base green, and then a light mist - once the masking was peeled off, it had that light mist, and kept the spots nice and clean like they appear. I only mention it, as I think many actually miss the fact that it is a mist rather than solid grey damage. However, it could be my ageing eyes, and you crew are indeed correct. Again, i only mention this as I know you are a master of accuracy, and just thought two heads may be better than one to nail down the specifics of an area. Your work is inspirational, and I have no doubt this will be one of the very best ESB buckets on this board on completion. Let me know what you think my good man, peace

I'm with Jayvee on this (I think we discussed this in your ESB paint and my ESB stencil threads) as how the subtle colors around the dent seems to replicate a slightly burned surface. The same subtle colors are on the left lower cheek and the back plates (Eric already added them on this helmet), but there are also those brighter red patches (or touch-ups) all over the red areas and the rust-like color misted around the killstripes (best seen in the Britt Dietz photos in the C-IV Gallery).



This post was not meant as a critique or disrespect to your work Eric, which is always refreshing and informative, it was just a sometimes-over-meticulous-detail-hunting type ranting from a crazy man (see the meaning of the word crazy according to the Superjedi Dictionary at post #25 or here ==> Superjedi's GMH as ESB for Lucksy31 - Post #25).

Agreed Raf - there is no way to disrespect any of Erics work, as it is quite clearly of an unbelievable standard. Simply from talking to him, he seems to be as obsessive as us, so the thoughts on the dent were simply out there from one over-pedantic painter to another. Eric is without a doubt one of my top 2 favorite painters on these boards without question, so i'm sure he understands my intentions. If not, feel free to give me a nice firm kick in the butt E!

Hi guys,
Yes, the detail-obsessive side certainly comes out during these paint jobs.

Not to worry, though. The slightly paler green will be added near the end of the project.
Once all my "base painting" is done, I'll do some pastel weathering, including those
slightly scorched looking areas around and streaking back from the dent. After the pastels
have been applied, I'll go back to add that cleaner looking green, and also touch up any
of the gray that needs it.

Raf, those little flecks of slightly brighter red will be added too!

Ahh, of course - I forgot you use the pastel weathering. I actually used it for the leather sections on my Boushh helmet - it really is a good method. Excellent my friend, can't wait for the new updates!

This is looking incredible so far and making me doubt ever so slightly if I'll go with PP2 or ESB for my GMH...

I hear ya, TeeVee. The ESB is my favorite of all the versions, but the GMH looks really
good in that PP2 scheme! It's a tough decision for sure.

UPDATE: January 8, 2013

Alright, now we're getting somewhere!



Painting the base coat on the mandibles requires the most comprehensive masking
of any stage of the paint job. It literally took longer to mask the helmet than it did
to airbrush on 2 coats of paint! But it's necessary.

The helmet looks pretty weird at this stage. All banged up everywhere but the red areas.
That will soon change as I begin doing the damage areas. I'll begin with the back and
work my way around. I always seem to work in the same order on my ESB paint ups.
I guess I'm a masochist, saving that crazy right mandible for last.



I'll be using the same Bright Silver and SP Lark as I begin to detail these areas. I'll also
add the darker red/purple damage. I hope to be able to get at least the keyslot
area done tomorrow.

On a side note, I need to check my camera settings. . . not sure why I'm getting that
grainy appearance. My wife's niece loves our camera and she was using it recently.
I'll have to take some time to go thru the setting menu and see if she changed anything.

UPDATE: January 11, 2013

Slowly but surely. . .

Got the keyslot area done. I'm using the same gray and silver as usual.
The darker color is PRR Maroon.



Here's a close-up.



You may be able to see in the above pics that I've transferred the stencils onto the
center area of the "hatband" above the keyslots. That's where I'll start this weekend.
This part of the helmet and the vertical parts behind the ears are relatively small sections,
but there's a lot of detail crammed in! I'll post more progress over the weekend.

Simply... awesome! You are like a paint-machine or a paint-god, maybe a paint-guru? No, no! You are a paint-yogi or a paint-fakir!

Beautiful E, keep it comin' you paint-yogi! (I rather like that one Raf )

You guys are killin' me.

UPDATE: January 12, 2013

Moving along the band now. I've got the central section done. This is actually
one of the more detail dense areas.



I also got the rest of the rear right area done, including the vertical part
behind the ear.



Next up will be the left rear portion. After that, it's on to the mandibles!

UPDATE: January 13, 2013

More hatband work. I now have everything on the back half of the helmet complete.
The thumbprint details will be done after the final weathering and clear coat. So
this area will change slightly in appearance.



It was my goal to get this far over the weekend, so I'm right on track. During the week
I'll begin working on the areas in front of the ears: the band above the visor cutout, and
then on to the mandibles!

UPDATE: January 17, 2013

This series of pics shows progress from the last 2 or 3 days. My time is much more
limited during the week, so I tend to do smaller areas.

Working around the band above the visor cutout. I began on the left corner:



Continued moving through the center area:



Finally, finished on the right side.



Next, I'll begin working on the main mandible areas. After that, it's on to the final weathering
phases, which will consist of some light pastel application, the tan spatter, then clearcoat, thumbprints
and the grease stains.

Gav has shipped the metal ears, so hopefully they'll get here within the next few days. Woo hoo!

Simply amazing.........

Movie quote time:

"........ it's difficult for me... to... express myself... when I am on the verge of... exploding ......"

So, so nice... Amazing as always you little paint guru...

So jealous

Originally Posted by Lucksy31

Movie quote time:

"........ it's difficult for me... to... express myself... when I am on the verge of... exploding ......"

Thanks, guys. Weekend coming up. . .hope to have lots more to show over the next couple of days!

I'm drooling waiting for your next update! Seriously, I hope you pat yourself on the back 'cause this is awesome!

I'm in that point in which superjedi will surprise me only if he will do an average paint job... I will never see that day!

I already said it, but I love your professional way of painting and each new post of you is funny, refreshing and informative. Thanks for doing this for us!

I enjoy doing progress threads. To me it's part of the process, where I can sit
back and get an overview of the helmet as it comes along. I've seen things in
my own pictures that made me go back and make some tweaks here and there.

UPDATE: January 19, 2013

Mandible-ness! The mandibles are a key part of the helmet. These are
the areas that frame Fett's "face" and just like when you look at a person, it's
one of the first areas that draw the eye when looking at someone in costume.



I take a lot of care with the sizes/shapes/proportions of the damage
on the mandibles. The left side has very specific patterns (just like the rest
of the helmet), but not nearly as complex as the right mandible.



There are still a couple of final details that aren't on there yet. Such as the
little tan "drips" and the small brighter red chips. But those will come once I
go back and do my final sweep before the clear coat.
Also keep in mind that this is the screen-used version of the helmet. There's
some extra damage that is seen on the exhibit photos that wasn't present
during filming, so I'm not adding it to Scott's helmet.

Getting pretty close now!

UPDATE: January 20, 2013

Whew. . . right mandible is done!



I did this area in several sittings to save my eyeballs from melting.
This was done with the same color palette used on the rest of the red areas: SP Lark Dk Gray,
Bright Silver, and PRR Maroon.



A couple of other details on the above photo. I added the contrasting pale gray color on some of the silver, and
I did the upper ear base with Polly Scale Earth. Finally, I did that dark greasy stain over the RF ear with Tarnished Black.

This means that all the "basic" painting is complete! I'm still waiting for the aluminum ears, and I won't do
the tan spatter until the ears are in place. Next up is some pastel application on the lower cheeks and the
area around the dent, and just a touch on the right rear panel.
Once the pastels are done I'll give the entire helmet a coat of Krylon clear matte finish to seal everything.
The final steps will be the tan spatter (once the ears are done), the thumbprints, and the brownish
grease stains on the rear half of the helmet. So close now!

Lovely job Sir, perfect edges to the detail which makes all the difference to the overall feel...

Thanks, Garrett. I find this to be one of the greatest advantages of a topical paint job.
Whenever I use masking fluid on the rear panels, I always find that I need to do minor
touch-ups after removing the mask. Maybe I just don't have the right tools, but I can
never seem to get all the intricate shapes exactly right when using a layered technique.

I mentioned in another thread that when I delivered Shabad's PP2, I got to see one of
your ESB helmets up close. You certainly seem to have conquered the layered method!
That thing is just amazing.

(Minor update: The pastels and clear coat have been applied to the helmet. )

superjedi just AMAZING, I love all the details in your works, you become in master piece, thanks for show us this helmet.

Leo

I just can't over the detail here! Looks great!

Thanks, guys! It's getting there. . .

UPDATE: January 24, 2013

OK, had some good light this afternoon and I set up the helmet in a better
location than sitting in front of our DVD collection.
The helmet itself is complete now, except for the tan spatter. Here are a
few pics showing an overall look.



The front left view above shows the pastel weathering around the dent, as well as
on the lower left cheek. The white thumbprints are also visible from this angle.



The opposing front angle. It's hard to capture with my camera, but I attempted
to show some of the subtle color variation in the dome/cheek green. I used a
multi-step process of darker and then lighter mixtures of the base color.



The left rear angle shows the thumbprints again, as well as some of those
brownish grease stains. It also shows how the silver can still appear fairly
bright even though the helmet has been misted with Testors dull coat.



The right rear angle shows more of those greasy stains and the overall detail
of this section.



Finally, a close-up of the rear of the dome and part of the rear panels. The
grease stains are visible here as well. The very fine scratches look even finer once
the airbrush toning is complete.

So there she sits! I'm still waiting on the arrival of the aluminum ears, but once they
get here, I'll post some more progress as I paint them. Hope you like it, Scott!

Looking great Eric. Am I right in saying the powder streaks from the dent going towards the back of the helmet appear darker on the helmet during its screen use? As though they have been partially rubbed off by handling over the years as now seen in the exhibit pictures...

Originally Posted by superjedi

Thanks, Garrett. I find this to be one of the greatest advantages of a topical paint job.
Whenever I use masking fluid on the rear panels, I always find that I need to do minor
touch-ups after removing the mask. Maybe I just don't have the right tools, but I can
never seem to get all the intricate shapes exactly right when using a layered technique.

I mentioned in another thread that when I delivered Shabad's PP2, I got to see one of
your ESB helmets up close. You certainly seem to have conquered the layered method!
That thing is just amazing.

(Minor update: The pastels and clear coat have been applied to the helmet. )

And the ESB helmet was topically painted right? I mean ROTJ yeh layered but ESB wasnt

Originally Posted by Fett 4 Real

And the ESB helmet was topically painted right? I mean ROTJ yeh layered but ESB wasnt

Maybe the final weathering was topical but the main colour on the ESB had to be layered, right?

That's an excellent question, Garrett. There's so much that has happened to that
poor hero ESB helmet over the years.
What I try to do when I weather my helmets and armor, is to approximate the level
of contrast that I see against the base color. I know that's subject to
interpretation. It's the "eye of the beholder" factor. One person may say, "Well I can
barely make out that streak/splotch/mark/etc." While someone else will say, "Oh yeah
I can see it plain as day."

For the dent streaks in particular, I view them as having a good amount of visual
contrast from the background green. This is one of the clearest HD screen shots I have
in my picture collection. Here, I've thrown a similar view of Scott's helmet in there as well.



If you try to ignore the obvious differences in color due to the screen shot being lit for
filming, as well as color-timed, then further processed for transfer to digital media, I tried
to hit the right level of contrast. Some may say I did, and some may say otherwise.

Pastels are also like any other media that's applied to a curved surface. Its appearance will
change depending on the angle and level of lighting. If you look at the streaks at an
oblique 90° angle, they'll appear darker than if you view them from a shallower angle.

Originally Posted by terminal fettler

Maybe the final weathering was topical but the main colour on the ESB had to be layered, right?

Why? Look at the close ups of the PP3 helmet...same painter, same technique...the silver is on top of all the other colors.

Originally Posted by Fett 4 Real

Why? Look at the close ups of the PP3 helmet...same painter, same technique...the silver is on top of all the other colors.

This pic of the PP3 speaks volumes, hats off to that brush work with the silver! It looks like the grey has been pulled of the silver base coat with masking tape or similar...

Thanks for the detailed explanation Eric, very interesting. This is the shot i had in mind of the ESB helmet during filming illustrating how i imagine the powder burn to have looked at that time.

Oh and sorry to go off on a tangent in your thread Eric, (but you may like this) but i have a theory that the main mandible and trim dark red isn't the colour it appears to be. It only appears to be that colour because it is layered on top of the purple/maroon colour, as illustrated in this picture of the PP3. Bottom right hand corner, the red is on top of the purple and silver and changes colour accordingly...

Superb Eric - I think you've captured the tone of the powder burns very nicely. The grease stains that you added look fantastic - I wad more under the impression that they were part of the 'extra stuffs' that the AOSW version had, and didn't appear on the hero helmet, but with fairly limited resource pics avail, and the fact it all looks superb anyway, it really isn't a huge issue. Bravo on the lid my friend!

I tend to go with Garrett line of thinking that the silver layer at least seems layered in that PP3 pic

Eric, that helmet is a pure beauty! You did a great job!


Here is a comparison image between the ESB Hero and the ESB C-IV helmet:


I did a bit of color correction of the ESB Hero helmet to match up the ESB C-IV colors. Although the burnt dent look darker in the Hero image, it's kind of hard to tell for sure because the different lighting and the grainy Hero image, but as already said, the miss-handling for over 30 years might be a great explanation of the color fading.

As for the Pre-Pro #3 helmet, looking at some of the close-ups from the Gallery, it looks that most of the colors were layered on the mandible/brow/around ear/rear keyhole area and partially topical on the back rim area, and only the silver on the back plates and the dome/cheeks. But the paint job is so cleverly and professionally made that is hard to see some of the differences. It is possible that this helmet was also painted by Joe Johnston (it looks close in technique to the helmet painted by him for the 'As You Wish' project) and I think that the ESB helmet was not his work.


Off Topic
-------------------
That red shade noticed by TF is close to the left ear's red (which was painted later by Joe) and it looks like a touch-up of some areas:



Notice that the dark brown shows those touch-ups too, and some of these 'repairs' are present on the dome too, mainly around the killstripes:

But the brighter red appears else where on the PP3 in and around the silver damage and most noticeably also on the ESB hero on the complicated right hand mandible area?

Originally Posted by terminal fettler

But the brighter red appears else where on the PP3 in and around the silver damage and most noticeably also on the ESB hero on the complicated right hand mandible area?

On the ESB helmet those red areas looks like touch-ups of the silver or even the helmet surface (possibly masking fluid peel off accident) and are quite deep:

Sorry mate, i meant the OTHER right mandible! ( And sorry SJ for derailing your thread Sir...)

OK in this picture of the RIGHT mandible i see the red continuing on top of the purple, the purple ends and it goes on top of the grey, same again as the grey ends and its on top of the silver. Each time slightly shifting in colour. Which could mean one colour red as one layer on top of the other colours?

You have some valid point there!



My guess is that after the base coat the silver was painted then masked in some areas and the same thing was made with the dark grey and after that they painted the base red color. After the base color they painted the dark brown topical then the whole masking fluid was removed, this is why the red looks brighter around the silver scratches and it looks darker next to the dark grey. But some portions were corrected with the base red to break up a bit some of the colors (similar to the Pre-Pro #3 paint job).

By the dark brown are you referring to what i call purple? The colour between the red and the grey?

Here's a shot of the PP3, unusual as it is one of the few shots where you can see an edge to the red layer, the purple layer clearly underneath this red. This also shows from the edge of the paint that the masking fluid has been removed with an adhesive tape, randomly removing paint to make it appear 'chipped'.

I love that image (and there are others like that)! I was wrong with the dark brown/purple color being topically applied, because it was layered, the same way we see in that PP3 image. You sure have the eye for the small details and because you did lots of paint jobs (and I didn't) you know what you are talking about, and I should listen to you more often. Whoever did these paintjobs, they did an excellent job:



I reduced 20% from the blue level from the ESB image to match up the Pre-Pro #3 image (the dark gray had a blue hue) and now all the colors looks the same.

Let's give back this thread to Eric.

Agree with what you said, apart from the listening to me bit of course!

So Eric, what i meant to say was are you going to darken the powder burn around the dent?

Wow, that was a long detour! I don't mind, I love seeing everyone's theories about
the different paint jobs.

I agree that certainly some portions of the PP3 and ESB helmets had to have been done
with a layered technique.
The thing that gets me is that those two helmets have very similar damage patterns, and
I've always thought that one was done to mimic the other. Which was done first? I'm not
sure if that's been nailed down yet or not.
With a topical or layered technique, we know that one helmet can be made to look nearly
identical to another. Hence all the awesome replicas of the helmets that members here on
TDH have completed over the years. Maybe the PP3/ESB helmets were painted to be
hero and stunt versions of each other? It's sometimes hard to tell in pictures, but I've
done both of these helmets for my own collection and when you see them right next
to each other, their details are so similar it's hard to imagine that they were painted
by different people using different techniques. *Shrug*

But in short, no, I won't be darkening that scorch mark any further.

Loving the thread SJ and the tangents.

I sense something......ears......ears!

Originally Posted by Lucksy31

I sense something......ears......ears!

The Force is strong with you!
The ears are indeed here. Pics to follow shortly.

UPDATE: January 26, 2013

Ears! Wonderful ears!
I had a missed delivery notice in my mailbox yesterday that showed the tracking
number for the aluminum ears. I went and picked them up earlier at the post office.
They look amazing! There was about 15 minutes of clean-up required, just to remove
some small burrs on some edges. After that, I gave the parts a nice buffing with
some wire wool, then washed them with some Palmolive dish soap to remove any
residual oils.
There are 3 sets of ears pictured below: Scott's set, my set, and the GMH resin ears.



The deal I made with Scott is to paint up both the aluminum set and the resin set,
so both are being prepped. My personal set will be going on my GMH PP2 helmet, so
they won't be painted per se, just weathered quite a bit.



So far on Scott's metal set, I have masked and shot a coat of Duplicolor self-etching primer.
I like this primer a lot. It sprays on smooth, and it really gives some "bite" into the surface.
When the primer is dry (overnight), I'll airbrush the base coats on. Polly Scale Earth for the RF ear
parts, and my special blend of secret herbs and spices for the left ear. Mmmmm. . . smells great!

NICE i like the metal ears wonder if mine are here too? Should go look in the mail

Man, those look great!

Yeah, the ears are superb.

UPDATE: January 27, 2013

Having a relaxing morning before I run my Sunday errands (fill up the gas tank, go to
the grocery store, plot the demise of my enemies. . . you know, the usual) so I decided
to get some ear work done.

I had previously masked off the parts to remain raw metal when I primed the ears yesterday.
The primer was nice and dry this morning, so I shot the base coat of Polly Scale Earth onto
the RF ear parts.



Although the bare metal looks pretty bright in the photos from the early morning sun, they actually
have a nice stainless steel appearance since I had buffed them with wire wool prior to painting.
Here's another angle.



I still have to airbrush the left ear. I'll do that later today. For the RF ear parts, the next stage
will be to do the gray damage. The silver will of course be physically scraped down to the bare
metal, so I won't do that until after the black and white arcs are finished.

Some other accessories are now complete as well. Here's a shot of the RF stalk that also comes
with the metal ear set.



I did the rust spots, plus an overall rusty wash with Tamiya Red Brown acrylic and a Microbrush.
Some spots were left slightly darker, and some were blotted with paper towel immediately after
application to get a variance in saturation. There's also some silver applied that's hard to make
out in this image.

The Borden is also complete. It's not affixed in position yet because I have to do some
light dry-brushing around the socket first.



On the stock Borden connector, the 3-hole pattern is backwards, so earlier in the thread
I showed how I had cut off the end of the piece and sanded it smooth. Placing it in the
helmet inside-out gives the correct hole pattern.
The Borden is plated brass, so the cut end was raw brass. I applied a wash of a dirty
green/gray in a couple of light layers, letting some of the brass show thru. Then I used
my 000 brush to do some silver chipping on the surface.



I'm really digging how it came out.

I ran out of my Duplicolor self-etching primer, so I'll pick up more today and get the
resin ear set primed, too. More to come!

UPDATE: Feb 1, 2013

Hi all, it's been a few days since the last update. I've been trying to fight off a
cold this week, and it's been hit or miss. But I've managed to get some work
done on the ears.

The RF ear parts are finished now.



After the base coat of Earth was nice and dry, I did the dark gray details on the lower
ear part. I also masked and airbrushed the black and white arches on the upper ear cap.
This is a very slow, tedious process. It's very nerve wracking for me because if any
paint pulls up. . . I have to start the whole piece over again! *Gulp* Fortunately,
it worked out well.



After the black/white markings were applied, I finished up with the dark gray on the
upper ear cap. I gave the ear parts some light pastel weathering with some brown and gray, and
then I masked off the bare metal sections and hit all parts with some dull coat to seal the pastels.

The small markings came next. I use dry transfer lettering to do these details. I don't have
the actual font used (which is mentioned in a thread somewhere on the board. . .) but these
appear very close. I used a D and a V, as well as 2 tiny squares for the markings on the front
face of the lower ear piece.



The letters were then strategically scraped with the tip of a brand new X-acto blade.

For the marks on the ear cap, I used a line of 9 capital I's. Again, they were carefully
scraped after application.



Since this is being done as the screen used version, I also applied the black circle and T
that are seen beneath the black arch. (For those detail-obsessed nuts like me, I went back
with my 000 brush and applied the 2 little "overruns" at the base of the black arch's left leg. )

Scott had sent along a real micro-switch to be installed in the RF ear, and it's in there too,
even though it can't be seen in these photos. It's a really cool little detail!

Whew!

I have given the left ear its green base coat, and I've masked and airbrushed the
white arch. As long as I continue to feel semi-OK, I should be able to get the
details done on that ear this weekend.

MAN OH MAN, the metal ears set it off so nicely, I got two GMH's and only 1 set of metal ears, I dont know what to do now ESB has so little metal exposed but it makes a world of a difference...do I try and get another set of metal ears?

Um. . . yes. Yes you should.

Originally Posted by superjedi

The small markings came next. I use dry transfer lettering to do these details. I don't have
the actual font used (which is mentioned in a thread somewhere on the board. . .)

That would be the Folio Bold Condensed font and the thread about it is here ==> Letraset Dry Transfer Font - Folio Bold Condensed.



I really like what you did with the ears (too) and I'm already eager to see the left ear done. I think that you should increase a bit the circle and the T on the right ear's arch (I know you don't have the correct font), at least this is how it appears in the few shots of the original ESB era helmet (and the Pre-Pro #3 too). With your painting talent, this is an easy task...

The detail on this is blowing my mind. Will be sharing this with TDH Facebook community as soon as finished pics are up. Amazing work!

I have to admit I wondered how worthwhile it'd be to use these amazing ears on an ESB helmet since they would mostly be covered in paint, but it still makes all the difference. Looks just great! I'm aching to get my ears (and my GMH, for that matter!).

Thanks, fellas!

UPDATE: Feb 3, 2013

Whew! So close now. . .
All the exterior work is DONE! Got the left ear finished and attached. I also did the
silver dry brushing around the Borden, the tan spatter, and installed the keyslot MQ-1 part.
The only "construction" left is to put the visor in.

Here's a walkaround view.



The stalk and topper are not attached. The pieces fit so well together that it sits
very nicely without the big bolt threaded in. I won't attach this before shipping to Scott.
It will be much easier for him to attach it once he receives it. It will take about 30 seconds.



I have to say that this is the nicest RF topper I've seen. Very crisp, including the clear insert.
The Polaroid lens is actually cast in 2 parts: the black frame, and the clear lens (which is cast as
a convex piece, so it functions like a real lens!)



Working our way around the back now. From these photos, it's hard to see the MQ-1 piece,
but it's in there. I built a small styrene platform to extend it a little on the sides. So when
it's viewed from an angle, the gap isn't as visible.



Those thumbprints again. I really like this feature of the ESB helmet for some reason.



Above is a good overall shot from the dent side.
Now, just for fun, some close-ups.

Here's some left ear action.



Not close enough, you say? OK. . .



Here's the RF topper. I was hoping it would show up better, but the Polaroid frame has some tan
spatter applied. This is actually the first time I've incorporated this into one of my paint ups! Don't
know why I never noticed this detail before. Guess I'm getting old.



Here's the dent area. After my pastel weathering was finished, I went back and
did the cleaner looking green within the damage areas (just below the rim of the dent.)



The contrasting red on the left mandible can be seen here. It shows up slightly better
in person. Still not sure that I've corrected my camera settings.



Here's the turn signal area. I used some slightly thinned Tamiya Khaki to grunge them up.
This is the same color that I use for the overall tan spatter all over the front of the helmet.



So that does it for the weekend! I'll definitely have the helmet completed by next weekend.
I have already cut my visor tabs from some aluminum bar stock, and I'll work on getting everything
positioned and epoxied in during the week.
I'm also working on the resin ears that came with the GMH. Next update will have finished pics!

How on earth is work this good even possible?, blown away!!

Just incredible. I really am blown away by how good this looks and the attention to detail!

a work of art, it should be in the Tate gallery

Oh no good sir, it belongs on my wall!

New here though I have been a lurker since like 2003 off and on. I'm a very private collector as I'm so busy with family stuff now days. I do a few projects a year and didn't want to start a fett bucket until I was 100 percent committed to studying details and doing it right. Builds like this help a ton as despite my project and spfx experience, I know you can't just wing it with this project. Have a asok cold cast kit coming this week so I'm very glad to be here to learn different approaches to starting this project. Will be watching this build thread closely!