Armor Painting ?

Hey everyone, I have a quick painting question for you all. I'm about to get my armor painted...finally ...and I'm doing a layered paint job. Would doing the yellow scratches be hard to do layered? Is it easier to just do that part topical? I really haven't seen many people paint the yellow layered, so I really wanna know before i get there and screw up :P.

thanks in advance to everyone who helps me out

I just did my armor using layers and masking fluid based on tips here and found it fairly easy. Paint the whole piece in the "metal" layer (I used Rustoleum Aluminum); mask the areas you want to leave silver and paint the whole piece in the next color (say, yellow for the chest), mask over the silver and outwards to where you want the yellow to extend and in any spots only showing yellow, paint the final layer. Peel off the masking fluid when the top coat dries and you have the yellow and silver underneath. It looks great and you can still touch up topically as needed.

I plan on posting photos of my first set of armor (sintra from WOF templates)tomorrow or this weekend, so you can see my results. And I'm a total n00b.

-Chris

You can easily put a light scratch on your armor by using the liquid mask with the layered method or you can just lightly scratch it later if you wish. Here is a pic of my painted armor using the layered method. Basically, what I did was just like Madmartigan covered on his post...primer, silver, then mask the silver areas, then paint the zinc chromate over the yellow areas, then mask the yellow areas then apply the US medium green.

Dunno about easier, but from the ref pics it's pretty easy to see that the screen used armor had the yellow applied topically.

thanks a ton everyone. That was quite helpful. another question though would be how long do I wait for airbrushed enamel paint to dry? I've only used spray paint to this point (primer and silver on my armor, and many others for other projects.)

also, when layering the yellow, can i just do the yellow in the spots that will be yellow, or will it look uneven if it's just in the spots that are yellow?

thanks again everyone

i do the yellow layered... it's not really hard at all.

as for painting just those areas yellow... it would probably be more effort to do that than to just blast the whole thing

I did this set layered and only sprayed the areas that needed it, turned out ok I think?

Nice looking armour guys!!! I also have been doing the 3 layered method for years. Nuthin wrong with topical, I just have personally never been able to achieve a realistic look with it. Vabil: You don't really need to wait that long before you go to the next layer...at least i don't. As soo as its dry to touch, get your mask off & go to the next layer. It seems to work best to do several coats of paint with thin application, rather than putting it on thick at once. However...its best to let your initial silver dry for a few days before you begin with the yellow & green. You can spray the entire plate yellow if you want, or you can just spray the spots where you are going to have the yellow show through...I've done both & don't really notice much of a difference...but as TK 7602 mentioned, it seems easier & quicker just to blast the whole thing. Up to you. Good luck, and don't be afraid to practice on a scrap piece of plastic to get the hang of it!!
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I prefer layered, it gives the armour a realism factor to it.

Originally Posted by GCNgamer128

I prefer layered, it gives the armour a realism factor to it.

that's my thought too.

yeah, the movie suit had the yellow on top, but up close, when someone is standing 6" from you staring, that extra little bit of realism from the depth of the paint helps sell the suit