Superjedi's GMH as ESB for Terrantula

Thanks guys. Getting closer. . .

UPDATE: June 16, 2013


Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Alright, now down to the serious business of mandible-ness. OK, maybe not quite so serious. :lol:
Half of Boba's face is now complete.

leftmand1_zps0d6b6656.jpg


For those who are familiar with the helmet as it exists today, you'll notice that there are some
areas that seem to have some damage "missing." I'm doing this as the screen used version, so
when I do the mandibles, I compare the reference pics from the various AOSW and MOM exhibits
with hi-def screen caps to see which areas suffered additional damage over the years.
Here's a slightly different angle, and a slightly clearer picture (silly phone camera).

leftmand2_zps28d3d795.jpg


The right mandible is next, and it will take me several sessions to complete. To me, that's
the most intricate section on the entire helmet. Once the right mandible is complete, I'll work
on the ears. :)
 
While I doubt anyone is surprised in the least, this is just once again looking amazing Eric.. Mad, mad skills my good man! :)
 
Thanks Jonny. I'm still waiting for you to send me that ROTJ helmet. :lol:

UPDATE: June 20, 2013


For those of you who are astronomically-minded, Happy Solstice! It's the longest
day of the year here in the northern hemisphere, and the extra daylight was very useful
the last couple of days as I worked on the insanely intricate right mandible.

No pics of it in stages, I'm afraid, but here's how it came out.

rtmand4_zps678bf704.jpg


This section of the helmet always melts my poor eyeballs. It's a series of very complex shapes,
and the position and spacing of each shape is interdependent on others near it, so it's slow going.
I always paint right next to my laptop, so I have a nice big reference pic on my screen as I go.

You may have noticed that I have also drilled out the molded-in Borden. The brass one from Mojo
looks outstanding, and I'll be weathering that up and installing it once all the helmet weathering
and sealing is complete.

I believe that completes all the "major" painting on the helmet. I still need to do the RF ear arch
that extends into the dome, and I'll do that once I mask and spray the ear parts with Floquil Earth. :)
Nearing the end now. . . whew!
 
I knew it! You are some kind of a robot... or android (no smartphone jokes here)... or something! There's no way that each time you provide us the same awesome paint job! That's not possible...
 
Great job on the right mandible, that part of the helmet is equivalent to the only ballad on a rock album, if you know what I mean and you got the harmonies spot on!
 
Scott, thanks man! Hopefully once you have this puppy I'll get to see some cool trooping pics.

Rafal, I'm not an android. . . as far as you know. :p

Great job on the right mandible, that part of the helmet is equivalent to the only ballad on a rock album, if you know what I mean and you got the harmonies spot on!

Wow, that's quite poetic! Never could sing harmonies though.
I have the singing voice of an angry elephant seal. :lol:

I've gotten some more work done since the last update, but I got tired of taking pics on my
phone camera. So I bought a new digital camera this morning! It's charging up right now,
and there will be a proper update later today.

I shined up the cold cast ears with some fine wire wool. They came out looking nice!
They really have the appearance of worn stainless steel. I haven't worked with cold cast
parts before and the effect is quite convincing. They're even kind of cold to the touch.
 
UPDATE: June 22, 2013

The new camera is charged up, and what better way to break it in than to take some
pics of a Fett helmet! :)

As I mentioned in the last update, all of the major paint application has been completed on
the helmet. So now I'm taking care of some final weathering and detail application.

First is the dent area. I've added the contrasting pale color in and around the dent. Also
visible, yet subtle, are the blast streaks coming back from the dent. The streaks, as well
as some grayish weathering on the inner cheeks, was done with some pastel powder.
I really enjoy working with pastels. Once you get some practice with them, you can really
achieve an almost airbrushed finish with much more control.

IMG_0012_zps59795c48.jpg


Next up, the thumbprints. These are a really odd feature of the ESB bucket. But since
they appear on the screen-used helmet, on they go! And no, I didn't use my thumb to
put these onto the helmet. . . I used my big toe. :lol:

IMG_0013_zps0fc064e0.jpg


This final pic shows the grease stains that appear randomly across the back of the dome. There
are just a couple of lighter stains around the right and left sides, but most of this grime is limited
to the back.

IMG_0014_zps49b04b21.jpg


As you can see above, I've also done the RF ear arch, and the pale color that will be visible
between the upper and lower halves of the right ear. The helmet has also been given a final
sealing with Testors dull coat.

Ears and RF to come!
 
Hmm, I was more under the impression that those 'grease Stains' appeared on the aosw (and likely the special edition)version of the helmet, but not on the hero. I could well be wrong tho.. And as always, you know how much I love your paint ups.. In fact, I'm getting my lighter ready to wave in the air to your angry elephant seal love ballad as we speak! ;-)
 
Thanks, Mac!

Jonny, with the quality of the ESB screen caps I've seen, even the "hi-def" ones, it's really difficult (for me)
to make out whether those stains were there during filming or not. I've seen what I think is a hint of a
more brownish tone on certain parts of the rear of the dome. . . I think they certainly add some character
to the helmet though. :)

UPDATE: June 26, 2013

Got some work done to the ears the past couple of days. Since this is a cold cast kit, I polished up the
bare metal sections on the RF ear parts with some fine wire wool. It gave those sections a great looking
sheen. I then masked those sections off and laid down the base color.

Once that was dry, I masked for the black upside down U-shape. I always have to cut my tape into
really thin strips to get it to lay down in that curve. Like less than 1/8 inch thin. Once the outline is
taped off, I add more tape to overlap the strips and cover the remainder of the ear piece. Then I
airbrush the U-shape with Tamiya flat black in a few light coats.

IMG_0167_zpsca2b8291.jpg


The black dries overnight, then I mask for the white half-arch. Same technique, airbrushed
with Tamiya flat white. I like airbrushing with Tamiya. It goes on nice and smooth, and gives
good dense coverage.

While the upper RF ear was drying, I did the detail painting on the lower part. As seen above and below,
I used SP Lark Dk Gray and Bright Silver once again. Here's a low angle shot showing the bottom
of the piece.

IMG_0171_zps0096e809.jpg


The left ear was handled in a similar manner. Base coat sprayed, allowed to dry overnight, then
masked for the white arch. For this side, I used some of my W & N masking fluid to block out the
damaged sections of the arch, then airbrushed some of the Tamiya white. Unmasked, and photo snapped.

IMG_0170_zps85f29d11.jpg


Please note that the ears are just temporarily installed for these shots. I do not paint the ear pieces
while they're on the helmet! I've painted helmets before with built-in ears, and it's very fiddly business
getting everything masked off. :lol:

Up next will be completing detail painting on the ear parts. Then it's on to the RF topper, and cutting
and fitting the visor. We're nearly there now! (y)
 
Thanks Wolf!

UPDATE: June 29, 2013

Sooo close now. . . :)

I've gotten more work done on the ears. The upper RF ear cap is always fun to do.
Lots of nice little scratches, and it proves that my old hands aren't starting to shake yet. :lol:

IMG_0175_zps373f8555.jpg


Above, you can see that I've added the T and black circle that appear on the screen used helmet.
In pics from the exhibits, these details are so worn that it's impossible to tell what they originally were.
I still have to add the little black stripes to the bare metal section. You can also see that I've added
some rusty stains to the RF stalk.

Here's another angle, but this is meant to show the Borden connector. Very nice brass piece from
Mojofett. I weathered it by applying a green/gray wash over the entire piece, leaving it translucent
so the base metal still shows thru. Then I applied a bit of silver around the edges to mimic the
reference pics.

IMG_0172_zpscf20ac5b.jpg


Here's the opposite side showing the work I did on the left ear. The black markings within the white
arch are done with Woodland Scenics dry transfer lettering. I have never been able to find the original
Letraset lettering that was used on the ESB helmet, but this set is a nice approximation. The T on the
RF ear cap is a dry transfer letter as well.

IMG_0176_zpsfd302490.jpg


In the shot of the left ear, I have also reapplied that faded strip below the kill stripes. When I dull coated
the helmet a few days ago, the dull coat absorbed some of the fade, so I decided it needed to be more visible.

Next up, small markings on the RF ear pieces, then the range finder itself.
After that, it's on to the visor and MQ-1 circuit board installation!
 
Thanks guys.
Luke! How have you been? :) Your TF ESB is gorgeous, I remember. (y)

UPDATE: June 30, 2013

The last day of June already?? Where is this year going. . .

Alright, getting into the final stages now. Here are a couple of shots of the completed
range finder. It's attached to the stalk with a small machine screw.

IMG_0178_zps3b545d2f.jpg


I know the backdrop isn't the greatest. Much better pics will follow when the helmet's all done.

IMG_0179_zpscdab0a00.jpg


I also worked on the keyslot insert. This isn't the piece that comes with the Asok kit. This is
a piece I had with my Fett spares. Honestly I can't recall who made this piece, but it's a
one-part cast of the upper half of the MQ-1 circuit board with a smooth lower half, just as it
appears on the screen used helmet. I figured I'd use this piece since it was less work than cutting
and building a platform for the circuit board part that came with the helmet.
(If you look in a lot of my other threads, you'll see how many times I admit that I'm lazy! :p)

IMG_0181_zpscce26762.jpg


The piece sits on 4 little posts at the corners. I put a drop of super glue on each post and
held it inside the helmet to make sure I had it positioned correctly. Then I added some reinforcements
using 2-part epoxy putty. I formed it so that it has little "fingers" that extend over the piece to
keep it secure.

IMG_0184_zps22271066.jpg


Tomorrow I'll begin trimming and fitting the visor. Then it'll be on to final pics.
 
Thanks, Turrican. :)

THE END: July 3, 2013

I received Scott's helmet kit on May 18th, and today wraps up the project. It's been 47 days
to get it to completion. He's going to be using this as a "trooper," and I expect to see some
awesome pics of it at some events! ;)

Here are the final pics. I'm not a photographer, so I set the camera to Auto and let 'er rip.
These are taken in indirect daylight.

IMG_0192_zps1fbae003.jpg


IMG_0194_zpsd577ae9d.jpg


IMG_0195_zps28b1b7c8.jpg


IMG_0196_zps16bdad2c.jpg


As I'm sure Scott will see, there are some subtle color variations that are much better viewed by eye.

IMG_0197_zps1661a301.jpg


IMG_0198_zps80d5479a.jpg


IMG_0200_zpsa289f6ef.jpg


Big thanks to Scott for trusting me with his GMH kit! It was great to meet you down at C VI last year,
and I hope you'll enjoy the helmet for a long while. Dune Sea Garrison. . . represent! :lol: (y)

Thanks to everyone who has followed along with the progress! I'm sure I'll have another thread going
sometime in the near future.

Eric
 
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