Superjedi's GMH as ESB for Lucksy31

superjedi

Sr Hunter
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'!!! (y)

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.

IMG_2858_zps9d780f6d.jpg


IMG_2860_zpse0ab85e7.jpg


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.

IMG_2859_zps9287efee.jpg


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

IMG_2861_zps90f1f61a.jpg


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

IMG_2862_zpsc0b68d0a.jpg


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. :lol:

Much more to come.
 
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.
 
Well, I must admit that I'm a huge 'superjedi paint thread' fan because his threads are always well explained, informative and very funny. So, when I read this:

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. :lol:

...my first thought was this:

ESB Foot Paint Technique.jpg

EDIT
-----------------
Replaced the image with a better one (featuring my sexy feet and the Rafal Works v1 helmet).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
:lol: 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.

IMG_2864_zpsa6af53e7.jpg


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.

IMG_2865_zps3ad3771b.jpg


IMG_2866_zps1865100e.jpg


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!
 
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! (y) 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.

IMG_2867_zpsfce5c6be.jpg


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.

IMG_2870_zpsf4f62dec.jpg


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.

IMG_2869_zps75834a5c.jpg


Here's the right side.

IMG_2871_zps3941f010.jpg


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! :)
 
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?...
 
Thanks, guys. The ol' ESB is coming back to me now. :lol:

UPDATE: December 27, 2012

Left rear panel is complete. (y) 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!

IMG_2872_zps636d60cc.jpg


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.

IMG_2876_zpsfc2a6916.jpg


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

IMG_2880_zps4b864b26.jpg


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

IMG_2882_zps8074581b.jpg


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.

IMG_2883_zpsf5e2b933.jpg


IMG_2884_zps1a211dca.jpg


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. :)
 
This thread is more than 10 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top