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I like this statement. When I start to work on something I have the general view in my mind but I never know how this will look in the end and I always do each step as the moment dictates. And when you got it finished you have that woo-hooooo on your face!Quote:
Originally Posted by superjedi
UPDATE: JUNE 26, 2011:
Holy cat soup! Progress!
Man, I've only had little bits and pieces of time over the last week or so to work on the dome. Just an hour here and there, so there aren't any photos of the dome in-work, only these finished ones.
Starting this past Friday night, I have a week-long break between semesters, and with the 4th of July coming up, that works out to 11 days with no reading, homework, papers, or projects for school!! I've been taking classes for 21 weeks straight, so this break will be fantastic. :)
The pics below show many hours of work. I have completed the application of all the silver onto the dome. Once again, Rafal's templates form an excellent basis for placing the major shapes. Using them in combination with reference pics gives a very accurate "damage map."
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0827.jpg
Keep in mind that I still need to do the gray misting over all the dome/lower cheek areas, so the silver areas you see are not in their final configuration.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0829.jpg
Much of the silver will be misted over, and then retouched with a detail brush. There will be some areas that are masked and misted with the much darker gray, too.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0830.jpg
I'm debating between 2 different grays for the misting stage, so I'm pausing till I decide. Heck, maybe I'll do a blend. . . I dunno.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0831.jpg
There is so much silver damage on this bucket compared to the good ol' ESB!
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0832.jpg
As I'm sure many of you noticed in the pics above, the dark cheek crescents are done as well. Did you notice? Didja? Didja?
This is such an odd shade. Depending on which picture you look at, it sometimes appears almost Navy Blue, sometimes blue-green, and sometimes plaid.
OK, not plaid, just wanted to see who's paying attention!
The 2 colors most widely discussed for this area are Floquil C & O Enchantment Blue, and RLM 73 Green. I did color chips of each, and yesterday I said what the heck, why not try some blends?
So I mixed up some samples of the C & O and RLM 73 in different proportions and wound up using a 3:2 mix. That is, 3 parts C & O and 2 parts RLM 73. I think it cuts the "blueness" of the Enchantment Blue just enough, and adds that weird color shift depending on the light.
Here are a couple of closer pics to show what I mean. Depending on the angle and the light, the color looks sometimes more blue, and sometimes more green.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0828.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0833.jpg
There were 3 small areas on the upper cheeks where I applied some masking fluid before airbrushing, to allow small chips of the base color to show through. After the cheeks had dried, I stenciled and applied the silver with my size 0 brush.
Whew! Sorry for the long post, I had to play catch up.
I have a lot of mundane real life stuff to do today. For some reason, my wife seems to think we need to have food in the house, so we're going to what is called a "grocery store." Apparently, it's a big place where food and food-related items are sold. Crazy, right????
More to come.
AWESOME!... Email sent.:)
Simply stunning.... you are a master. :)
You are amazing! What a killer paint job!
By the way, I love your crazy/funny way of showing your posts. You always make me laugh.
Well, it's better to make people laugh than cry. :)
UPDATE: JUNE 30, 2011:
Whew. . . again I got caught up in a few steps over the past few days and didn't stop to take pics as I went.
I did a misting of gray over the lower cheeks and dome. There's one large reference pic that shows some swirly, faint gray patterns intermixed between all the damage areas, so I tried to match that as best I could. That toned the dome and cheeks down a bit, but they will darken slightly when I do my dull coat near the end of the project.
After the gray mist was dry, I went back and used my Winsor & Newton to mask off several of the large silver areas. I left the silver exposed and used a darker gray (SP Lark mixed with a touch of slightly darker gray) to create those faded darker sections. Some of them are a bit hard to see in the pics, but I applied the gray so as to leave a bit of the silver showing through in places.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0835.jpg
The dent of course was one of those areas, as seen above.
Here we begin to work around the dome.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0837.jpg
Lots of masking, spraying, and unmasking to do these areas! Sheesh. . .
I'm really digging the way this next large area came out. Not finished yet. I'm still adding a lot of the really small details.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0838.jpg
After the areas were unmasked, I went back and began to pick out some small chips and scratches, using a combination of my 000 brush and a compass point.
Here's a closer look at the back of the dome.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0839.jpg
Working around the side, you can see the more faded silver area above the RF ear. This was accomplished when I did the gray misting over the whole dome.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0842.jpg
The two larger areas on the front/right dome were not masked. I added the darker gray with a brush, as the reference pics seemed to show these as more hard-edged than on the rear of the dome.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0840.jpg
Finally, a shot of the cheek showing how some of the silver was faded by adding the gray mist. I also retouched some of the silver areas after misting to bring them back to the way they should appear.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0844.jpg
Next, I'll continue with the silver chips and details on the dome. Once that's done, it will be killstripe time! One of my favorite parts. :)
WOW! This is amazing! You sir are a true artist!
That looks fantastic! I was wondering if you'd get the grey misting patches on the dome. They are pretty obvious in one of the promo shots. Kudos, my good man. It's looking great. I hope I can make mine half that nice. :)
Thanks, guys. CSK, patience is the key!
UPDATE: JULY 2, 2011:
Two stages to show in this update; the killstripes, and the red areas.
The other night I finished adding the rest of the small silver areas to those gray oversprayed sections of the dome. There are still some final weathering details to be added, but that will be after all 'major' painting is done.
I used a measurement from one of the larger reference pics, along with Rafal's dome template to scale the killstripes. I measured them out as 20 mm high X 7 mm wide. I used a spacing of between 4 and 5 mm to make them span the proper distance around the dome.
After careful masking with some blue painters tape, I had them laid out on the helmet. I used some W&N masking fluid to block out the chips on the killstripes and let that dry.
I airbrushed the stripes on in three light/medium coats and when they were dry, I untaped and removed the masking fluid.
Here's how they came out.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0851.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0852.jpg
You can see that I've done the red areas, too.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0854.jpg
For the red, I masked the helmet yet again, leaving only those mandible and band areas exposed. I sprayed a base of a red-brown primer on before spraying the Floquil Caboose, rather than expending more of my expensive paint to get good coverage. (Yes, my Caboose is expensive! :lol)
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0855.jpg
Everything seems to have worked nicely. I got very good definition along the raised band parts, and the separation between the mandibles and upper cheeks came out good, too.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0856.jpg
This is one of the areas where I used an enamel instead of an acrylic. For one thing, I don't think I've ever seen an acrylic version of Caboose, but even with the close 'second choice' color Boxcar Red, there's a definite difference in the way the acrylic version looks compared with the enamel.
The enamels take longer to fully cure, and cleaning the airbrush involves a couple of extra steps, but it's necessary so I always do the mandibles on my helmets with enamels.
This will sit and cure for at least 24 hours, then I can begin mapping out the mandible damage! :)
Looks outstanding!!!!!
Looking good Eric.
Thanks a lot, guys.
UPDATE: JULY 3, 2011:
No school + long weekend = helmet time!!! :)
Silver marathon! Got lots done today on the mandible/band portions of the helmet. This damage is so different looking than my familiar ESB.
I had lots of reference pics up on my screen, verifying the position of the different areas as I went. I'll just post pics moving around the helmet.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0858.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0859.jpg
Not much going on behind the left ear yet. Nice random SP Lark area.
In several places, I used a compass point again to make the really tiny chips and very thin scratches.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0860.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0861.jpg
The face portion was fun on this one. I really like that big silver chunk by the right corner of the visor.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0862.jpg
At this stage, the biggest remaining step is to do the pinkish areas. I want to have a good amount of time to do those so I can mask everything at once and do them all at the same time.
So I'll be studying the ref pics again this evening and tomorrow before I break out the Winsor & Newton fluid and other masking equipment.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel at this point. This is a lot more detail intensive than I thought at first glance!
I haven't even touched the ears that came with the helmet. I'm hoping that at some point a set of aluminum ears will be available. I'm keeping my fingers crossed anyway. :thumbsup
I better get my game on , youve done a stellar job it loks great,
though its a shame you painted the ear plat forms ,
I like the way the darker colour on the dome doesnt pic up in certin lights then on another angle its really strong , just like the real one,
Nice work!
wow.. I love the way its coming out. Colors look dead on.
What color did you say you went with after all for the dome and cheeks?
I'm speechless while I'm looking at the images...
have you tried contacting commando8 for metal ears? i seem to remember him doing a 2011 run a couple months back.
Mojos will be ready in the near future , as I dont think Comando8s will be a perfect fitQuote:
Originally Posted by saint_nasty
:suprise:
Wow!
They would be too big thats rightQuote:
Originally Posted by BGHunter
Yeah, the Commando 8 ears were specifically made for another type of helmet, so I guess I'll have to wait for Mojo to finish with his project.
UPDATE: JULY 4, 2011:
OK, all 'major' painting is done. At least on the main helmet. Masking for the pinkish color was very t i m e c o n s u m i n g ! !
But it's always the prep that takes the most time on any stage of a project. Here's the GMH in 99.5% of its glory. :)
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0871.jpg
I've dusted it with a light coat of Testors clear flat lacquer. I'll go back again later to hit it with another light coat.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0865.jpg
The clear flat equalizes the sheen of the various paints I used throughout the project.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0866.jpg
Of course, this kind of deadens the silver. So as with my other paint jobs, I'll go back with a small brush and some silver and bring certain areas back up to a more shiny finish.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0867.jpg
Some final weathering detail will be added as well. Such as some "faded" spots in the paint, and that awesome "yellow crayon" streak on the front of the dome.
I love that detail! :)
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0868.jpg
The dome on the PP2 was very challenging. Many layers and sessions of masking, misting, unmasking, and detail painting.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0869.jpg
It's a long process, but I'm pretty happy with with the way it's turned out.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0870.jpg
I'm sure I'll get the metal ears for this one when (if) they're available. I don't think I could replicate all the weathering and still have them look like bare metal rather than painted resin.
Hopefully, an RF topper will be coming soon, too. :) Final pics will of course be on hold till those items are available, but I'll be sure to post some when it's all done and together!
Hope all the other Pre-Pro lovers out there have enjoyed the progress to this point. :thumbsup
That looks awesome. I love seeing these progress from the beginning. Great job!
Love it bro.. ;)
Pink color looks awesome...
As always you've done an excellent paint job and it really shows your care on this helmet.
I don't know if you noticed this, but there's a missing continuity of pink scratch on the right mandible.
Attachment 54265
Are you planning to do those white stains on the back of the dome?
Wow, I love it!
Awesome, inspiring work, SJ!
You definitely knocked it right out of the park yet again Eric! I applaud your work my friend :).
Thanks guys! This was the most complex Fett project I've done to date. It's not even over yet! :)
Rafal, good catch! I will have to correct that section. I'm starting a new semester today, so I probably won't have time till the end of the week.
Shouldn't be too hard to mask and blend that area with the airbrush. Thanks man!
I'm glad that I can help in any way... Even so your paint job looks perfect!Quote:
Originally Posted by superjedi
UPDATE: JULY 9, 2011
Thanks to Rafal's keen eye, I went back onto the right mandible and corrected the larger pinkish area.
I remasked the shape, and airbrushed Caboose back over it. I think that if I just tried to do the extra pink portion, the rest of the pink would have come out brighter than I wanted.
I resprayed the pink over the Caboose, and after it dried, I unmasked the area and repainted the small gray details and touched up the silver.
Oh, and I also misted a bit of pink over the right turn signal, too. I had base painted it previously with Caboose.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0875.jpg
I have also drilled out all the small holes to position the ears, but until I find out for sure whether the aluminum ears will be a "for realz" addition, I'm not going to mess with the resin ears just yet.
So for now I will remain in standby mode. :)
Woa. This is FANTASTIC! Way to go with this paint job. The layering is the only way to go.
still waiting on the crayon! :cheers
LOL Eric! I scrolled up from the botoom of the page to you most recent post and literally for a moment thought that I was looking at a photo of the real helmet.
So true!Quote:
Originally Posted by TxFett
Thanks, guys. I wish it were the real helmet! That would be the ultimate collector's piece.
Yes, the crayon! I've been considering the best way to do it. I have a couple of methods I want to test this weekend before I do anything on the helmet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dahone
It has to be subtle, yet distinctively crayon-like.
I'll post for sure once I add that detail.
Boy, that thing is gorgeous! What a beauty. You've made an absolute masterpiece! Kudos.
THAT'S...
NOT...
POSSIBLE!
SEEKER'S FACE ARE HERE AGAIN!!!
Stunning.. simply stunning...
Ear designs are almost complete bro.. :thumbsup
PM sent
Wow outstanding work thus far!!!! and Seeker it's great to see that image again it has been far to long!!!!!
A Seeker face?!? Now my life is complete. :wacko
Mojo, sounds great! Can't wait to hear more.
That is really inspiring me to dust off my airbrush, great eye for colour...
Do it! Do it! I love your progress threads.Quote:
Originally Posted by terminal fettler
As far as colors go, I absolutely can't take credit. Ryan has been my "color guru" on a couple of projects. His help has been invaluable! :thumbsup
UPDATE: JULY 16, 2011
Crayon! Picked up a set of 24 Crayolas earlier and scribbled all over the helmet!
OK. . . that's a bit of an exaggeration, but The little yellow "swoosh" is on the front of the dome now.
I tested 2 different yellows and went with a shade the Crayola executives decided to call Dandelion.
I had several pieces of scrap plastic painted green, so I practiced on those.
I used very light pressure while actually drawing on my helmet, and wound up making 2 passes,
trying to get the best balance between subtle and visible.
It's more or less visible depending on the light. In this first picture, it's not quite as apparent.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0876.jpg
Rotate the viewpoint slightly, and it is easier to see.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t/IMG_0877.jpg
Here's a super cropped copy of the photo above. I did the 2 small yellow dots at the upper left of the big silver area as well.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2.../IMG_0877a.jpg
So thanks to the good people at Crayola, I've added one of the strangest details on any Boba Fett helmet I've worked on to date!
At this point, I'm calling the helmet done. Mojo has said that the aluminum ear sets are getting close to production, so until they're ready,
I won't be able to do anything else. I'll wait till the ears are fitted to install the visor.
That can be a delicate operation and I want it to be the very last thing I do to the helmet.
Crayon looks great! good match
Congrats bud, on a perfect paint up!
Great googly moogly man :suprise
What the hell are you trying to prove ? LOL !
Well, whatever it is, you done did it ;)
How did all the paint detail line up with the original damage ? :b
Absolutely fantastic work, Eric. Likely the best helmet paint up I've ever seen :cheers
Chris
Wow........ that is amazing.......
Geez, thanks again guys. As I've said, this was a great helmet to start with, and it was a really fun paint up.
Chris, everything lined up really well! Those "landmark" gouges and scratches were a huge help in scaling the damage areas.Quote:
Originally Posted by fettpride
Especially the ones on the dome. As I'm sure you know, going off of photos to create a 3-dimensional representation of something is a tricky proposition.
The existing scratches really helped me to be sure I was getting things in the right places. :thumbsup
Amazing result. I haven't been here for a while, checked back in to see progress on the GMH project and this has knocked me over!
Has Mojo started a run on the aluminum ear parts yet?
+1. I love how this helmet turned out.Quote:
Originally Posted by TeeVee8
On the aluminum ears, stay tuned. The interest thread is due very soon!
FINAL UPDATE: April 12, 2013
Hi all! Sorry to necro my own thread, but just this afternoon I finally completed my
PP2. I had received a set of Mojo's metal ears a while back, and a TerminalFettler
RF topper to finish it off. I literally just got everything assembled about half an hour ago. :)
So here are some actual, no kidding final pictures of my GMH as PP2. It was well worth
the wait for the ear set. They're incredible looking.
First, a couple of overall shots from the front.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps3e546f5b.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps77dacd10.jpg
Here are a couple of back angles.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps82cc82c8.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...pscc5ce351.jpg
Now for some shots of those scrumptious ears! Here's the left side.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...psc94ff64d.jpg
The prep on the ears was done very carefully with several fine grades of sandpaper.
I wanted to get rid of the overall shine and sort of dull them down. There were just
a couple of traces of some machining marks, but the sandpaper took care of those
very nicely. After the sandpaper, I gave them a good rubdown with some wire wool.
Here's the RF side.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps5be7dad0.jpg
The weathering was done with a couple of misted coats of SP Lark Gray. I applied
it very carefully, letting the color build up slowly. After the gray had dried, I went
back with the wire wool and wore some of it away, trying to match the patterns seen
in the pictures of the promo helmet.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps465fb473.jpg
There's nothing that looks quite as much like metal as metal. :) I really like
the way the aluminum comes through the weathering. The eye catches differing
levels of reflection depending on the angle and the lighting.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps92ede6fc.jpg
It may be hard to see in this next shot, but there's a real micro switch installed in
the ear cap assembly. You might just barely make out the red part of the switch.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps100b3fe0.jpg
Finally, here's a close-up of TF's excellent range finder. It's a gorgeous 3-piece resin
kit. The main body is superbly cast, and the perspex block fits like a glove. A multi-part
lens completes the RF. The Polaroid frame is cast in black, and it's filled with a clear
resin lens! Makes painting and assembly a breeze.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2...ps72bb67a3.jpg
So. . . with the wait for the ear set, that makes this one of my longest projects! :lol
But absolutely worth every minute. I'm thrilled to have this completed and on display
with the rest of my Fett family!
Thanks for following along. :thumbsup
Necro nothing, it's a job well done. Congrats on a long project.
Stunning work... just beautiful. :cry
Just awesome! That helmet is gorgeous!
Looks amazing! It's been a great project to watch man.:cheers
Now that helmet looks perfect! So... when will see you starting a ROTJ paint job?
Beautiful E, love this lid! Just got my ears in too, so been prepping the ROTJ weathering patterns for them myself... and I have to agree - ears totally worth the wait! Splendid work again fine sir! :)
woowww nicely done
I am glad you brought this thread back from the dead as I missed it the first time around. Amazing work as on all your helmets. This one is incredible. It looks like you stole the original...except you took a time machine and stole it back before it got all that damage it has currently!
Thanks guys. I'm really happy to have this one done. The resin ears that came with
the GMH were very sharp casts, but I felt this bucket deserved the metal ears! :)
