FP Armor... painting techniques for the clandestine hunter

Wow

Looking good

Looks great. Nice detail

I have too agree, Great DETAIL....

Keep us posted Gary.

That looks incredible.....detail is right on!!
Do we all paint at out computer stations?? I know I do........

ow my... thats superb sweet armor and a superb detailed paint job... looks stunning!!! maybe some black wash or mist to dirty it up a little.

could you PM me what you paid for it?
thnx

Looking terrific! Do you have any pics of FP's knees?

I think I have been mentally blocking the knees. I have not trimmed them yet!

Originally Posted by Pavespawn

I think I have been mentally blocking the knees.

I know what you mean..

Originally Posted by R_boba_fett

ow my... thats superb sweet armor and a superb detailed paint job... looks stunning!!! maybe some black wash or mist to dirty it up a little.

I thought I would do the black wash after I applied the decal. That way it would look more like it weathered evenly.

Thats coming out very nice!!!

Cool knees! Does the kneeplate have tabs or something to attach the side pieces?
Anyone assemble vacc'd knees before? I'm wondering how sturdy they'll be once they're put together.

No tabs. Just a really good tutorial by Fettpride. I think once they are done, they will be super strong and best of all, flexable.

Fantastic choice of armor, and a great paint job to top it off.

Very nice and a great paint job too. Love the details.

I hope that one day i will be a proud owner of Fettpride armor as well.

cheers

Very, very nice! The details look right on! and the colors.....

........SWEET!

I need to get a set of these!

Frank

One more question, is this a fiberglass set or a vacced set?

Frank

Where do you get the med green? Is it for airbrush or is it spray paint?

Wes

Med green is for airbrushing. Check out testors.com for some.

TF

I've never airbrushed before, but it says you have to mix it 3 parts paint to 1 part thinner. You don't just put it in the airbrush and go? Can anyone elaborate on that?

Wes

I'm no expert, but I've never had a problem air-brushing acrylic paints straight from the bottle. Since they're water-based, you can water to them to thin the paint, if necessary.

Not sure about using oil-based enamels through an air-brush, though...

Have you ever tried using spray paint without shaking the can up first? It comes out very uneven. That's because the paint is not a uniform thickness. If you are using the paint in an airbrush without thinning it, you can get much the same result as using spray paint without shaking it up. As batninja stated, you can usually use water to thin acrylic paints, and it will work just fine in an airbrush. The thinner just lets the mixture stay a uniform thickness longer, and will not start to separate as fast. If you're painting alot of one color, you may want to consider using the thinners.

My armor is fiberglass except for the knees and the kidney strap. I got the US medium green from testors (it is Polly actually). I do thin the paint just a bit. You can use distilled water or you can use Acryl Thinner from Model Master. It actually says on the Polly bottles that you need to thin it 10%-15% for airbrushing. I will admit I don't use a very scientific method for thinning. I just squirt some thinner in there until it looks like the consistancy of milk. I have a cheap Walmart bought Testors Aztek internal mix airbrush that I use with compressed air cans. The testors bottles mate up perfectly with the airbrush caps (same brand and all). I just open the bottle of paint, put in some thinner, mix it up with a little metal rod, screw it on the airbrush and go to town!

I also went to the hobby shop in town and got a high flow nozzle for my airbrush. This puts out a lot more paint in a wider pattern and makes covering the large pieces a lot easier.

Here is a shot of what I have done so far...
Shoulders still need another coat or two, and the whole thing needs misting and speckles after the decals get here!

Amazing work!!! Im just waiting on a reply from FP about getting a set of this armour, I cant wait, its sooo cool!!!

Looks awesome! Can't wait to get mine and get started!!!

Frank

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, now I know that I have done something if I got the Seeker surprised face. Thanks for all the comments guys. I will keep everyone posted! Eventually I will make myself do the knees!

Here I have tried to experiment with the black speckling. I did it with a small house painting brush and some flat black MM Acryl. It still seems to be missing something. Maybe a little airbrushed rust or dark brown?

looking good. i can't wait to see the finished product.

hey, what is FP's email address....my computer won't let me email him from his site. i'm interested in the armor too.

So far so good G.

Ya wanna paint my Helmet??

Originally Posted by Pavespawn

Here I have tried to experiment with the black speckling. I did it with a small house painting brush and some flat black MM Acryl. It still seems to be missing something. Maybe a little airbrushed rust or dark brown?

I would say a few washes. Hit it with some washes with Newbrunswick green

Okay, I have been kicking myself in the butt cause I got on a roll and did a lot of weathering and sealing BEFORE I applied the decal! It may just come down to me having to redo the right breast plate. I also trimmed the knees and put them together. I will have to fill and sand them before paint.

Looks great. No way in the world I would touch the right chest piece, just put the decal on and weather it and redull it. Are you going to dirty it up?

It has about 4 black washes on it. You can't really tell it though. THanks for the comments. There are also some black specs per AOSW (actually probably a few to many but not bad).

Looking great! Can you take some close up pics of the weathering?

Okay. What I did was take 3 pics without the flash and 3 with the flash. You cannot see the weathering very well in the pictures. In person, you can see subtle weathering especially if you move the armor around in the light.

hm... I recommend taking pictures outside... best lighting you'll get... that's about any info anyone could give on that AWESOME paint job!!!


hope myn turns out 1/10 of that... I'd be happy then...

Cool! Thanks for taking those pics... looks fantastic! Great job on the weathering.

Looking pretty good Gary..

Can't wait to see the whole thing put together....it's gona be sweet..8)

Awesome job! Keep it up!

Here is an updated picture of my shoulder bells. What I did was airbrush on some pumpkin orange around the edges and appropriate places then I misted another layer of reefer yellow to blend it. They still need some washes to darken them up, and scratches etc.

Well I couldn't take it anymore so I took the right breast plate back down to primer. I have it re-chromed and masked and will paint it tonight maybe. I also got my decals in from bobmaker and put the skull on the shoulder. I also dremeled out the shoulder buttons and JB Welded in some nuts (lol I said nuts ).

Coming along nicely G.

Thanks Spidey. I have completed a little more work on the shoulders and the knees. I used a mix of UP Armor Yellow and Catwisker Yellow on the left knee trim. The right knee is a blend of Pumkin Orange and Reefer Yellow with a misting of Reefer Yellow over it.

looking great man!!

but why did you go with the AOSW rotj and pre-pro knee armor?

are you aiming at fully AOSW??

the MoM pics show 2 ROTJ knee armor pieces... with a pre-pro cod

That is a good question. I guess I got to looking at just one set of pictures and neglected to consider other photos. The more I think about it, the more I want to redo that knee LOL. Oh and the mix for the left knee trim is yellow zinc chromate and catwhisker yellow.

okay, well, I did'n't mean to set you up for a re-do...

it looks great man!!

I just wondered what the intentions behind it were.

should you redo the knee, you know where to find the right ref material I presume?

I guess my ultimate goal was to make a Special Edition Boba. I used the AOSW pics as a big reference though. I did this so that I could use only one source for scratches etc. AOSW has the ESB helmet so that is the pics that I decided to use. I would be willing to change one knee cap but I would definately not change an entire paint scheme on all of the armor .

and you shouldn't!!! looks bloody amazing!!

then stick to the aosw gauntlets aswell, as they are the stuntdoubles I believe, and the MoM have the detailed version, thing is that one has some shots of the underside, and one hasn't... kinda confusing.

but I'm trying to do a full 100% ROTJ, so I try to get the best pieces from both MoM and AOSW, with exception of the much cooler ESB bucket, but well... ROTJ or not ROTJ... there is no... uh ROTJ ESB mix??

maybe I'll save up more for another BM bucker and paint that in ESB colours...

I will admit that I looked at MoM for one thing. The left shoulder bell is covered in the AoSW. I used what reference I could from MoM for that. Otherwise, all of my reference has come from AoSW. I may do the more detailed gauntlets though.

the stunts also have sort of grey dust on them, like on the blaster... kind of strange

No shortage of talent on TDH forums. That armor looks great Pave.

Thanks! Here is my attempt at some weathering. I used paint, sandpaper, a file, and crayons! I will hit it with some washes as well.

Weathered shoulders after airbrushing black wash. I also mixed some yellow into the decal.

!!!!

Hahaha yeah, I guess I have learned one thing from you!

Okay. Here is a picture of my chest armor and shoulder bells. I hope this is all the work I need to do on them.

Man! That is looking amazing.
The only thing is, your vest looks like old newspaper. . . and you got paint all over it!
Eric

Okay then, how about this?

Here is a test fit on my vest. Looks pretty good over the new TDH shirts don't you think?



Here I have JB Welded on some snaps to fit the strap on the knees. Overkill kinda but I had some just lying around...

I've really enjoyed watching your progress...you're doing a remarkable job! Thanks for all the detailed pics!!

Very nice

ARE YOU SURE you haven't done this before..????

SWEET GARY...SWEET..

LOVE THE WEATHERED "Work station/ newspaper".. nice color washes..

Gary, looks great! Now dirty up that vest!

I like your snap attachments on the knees... good idea.

Very nice work Pavespawn!

I can't wait to see your finished suit.

this gets sweeter by the week!!! keep going!!

While waiting for my gauntlets I took some publicity photos of my suit so far. I am wearing my work flightsuit since my SFP one hasn't shown up (jab, jab). I am sure that Skygunbro is gonna hook me up right though.

Here you can see how I attached the bolts to my back plate. I JB Welded the bolts in which helps me attach the shoulder "keys."



Next a picture of inside of the kidney plate attachment point. I didn't JB Weld in these since I can get my fingers on those easier.



This is of my homemade key for my cod/kidney attachment. It is made of sculpey.

I know it's not accurate but that flight suit goes pretty good with the armor.
That's why i'm making a custom first.. Doesn't have to be exactly this or that way.

Outstanding work on everything you have done to date.

Here's to ya

Looking good man! I like the sculpy keys.

whoohoo sweet!!

dude!! I was startled by the jumpsuit picture!!!
I was like... whaaaaatt!!!!??? such an awesome accurate work on the armor and then... ow wait.. there's a message above... let's read it...

don't do that to my poor heart again!!!

awesome dude!! keep going!!

DUDE!! .where's your bucket????............

Originally Posted by Pavespawn

While waiting for my gauntlets I took some publicity photos of my suit so far. I am wearing my work flightsuit since my SFP one hasn't shown up (jab, jab). I am sure that Skygunbro is gonna hook me up right though.

Originally Posted by Spideyfett

DUDE!! .where's your bucket????............

Well I paid some creep to paint it and he hasn't come through yet !!

I got my gauntlets in the other day and I finally got time to start working on them. Here is a picture of the big parts:



I really had no idea where to start so I decided to attach the resin pieces to the vac parts and go from there. To make it as sturdy as possible, I dremeled out the resin pieces and JB Welded in machine screws (reverse of what I did for the shoulder keys.





After fitting them I have temp installed the resin pieces.





For the keypad, I sanded it down and then glued it in place. Instead of bondo, I used sandable wood filler to fill the gaps. If anyone knows if that was a bad idea or not, please let me know. I haven't sanded it down all the way yet!

your Fett is gonna be SWEEEEEEEEEEET Gary...

Alrighty. Here are a few update shots. I got some Bondo in a tube the other day and it works pretty well for small stuff. I also am digging JB Weld for big gap filling. Here you can see some pics of my right gaunt after being filled and sanded. I missed a couple places but as luck would have it, they came out looking like nicks.

Here is the gaunt after primer and sanding.


And after a coat of chrome:


And now here it is after paint and removing the masking fluid (I love this technique!)




The paint ran on me a bit in places because I had it thinned to much. What I did was wipe it down quickly and then repaint it. Turns out that it actually makes it look more authentic since the real ones appear brushed in parts!

The more I got to looking at my gaunt, the more I thought it was to dark. What I did was go back over it with the Rock Island Maroon in the big areas. After that I gave it a black wash and I think it came out pretty good.

right you are that looks great!

WELL DONE!!! keep gping pavespawn!! that's just becoming a way to freakin cool costume!!

Looking great Pavespawn... looking great!

Thanks fellas. Just a couple more greeblies on the right gaunt, then I am off to the left! After that, all my armor pieces will be done and hopefully this will be a decent source document for all pieces armor related.

Can you explain how you do the wash method? I have tried it and my results suck.

Wes

Very Very nice, can't wait to see how turns out! 8) Also this is gonna be a great guide for my new armor!

Originally Posted by Jango_Wes

Can you explain how you do the wash method? I have tried it and my results suck.

Wes

What I did was fill one of those disposable glad cups (the little ones) with windshield washer fluid and then put a few drops of black paint in it. Then I get a rag (I used a "finishing towel" from the automotive section at Wal-Mart) and dip it in the solution. Ater that, I go over the item gently. I have gone so light on the black that it sometimes doesn't show up. I just add a little paint at a time until it starts working. It is best of course to go a little at a time but just try to remember the starting color. Sometimes the gradual change goes unnoticed until it is to late.

I do have to say, that the dark weathering look on this gaunt is from me going back over the base coat of Wisconsin Central Maroon with the lighter Rock Island Maroon. You can see where I did this in the big areas which left the darker parts around the scratches. I did this in an attempt to lighten the entire thing, but it actually came out better that I could have hoped for. I will be doing this on my other gaunt as well, but next time, I will not remove the masking fluid until after the top coat.

Just wanted to show off my progress. Well that and my new Skygunbro jumpsuit! This thing rocks! I will have to add a "lower" opening on the front for bathroom breaks. Anyway, that is a whole other tutorial .

Looking great!!!!!!!

Wow! Sweet stuff Pavespawn!

How did you attach your gauntlet halves?

Originally Posted by mandalore697

Wow! Sweet stuff Pavespawn!

How did you attach your gauntlet halves?

I went with the velcro. I had to reenforce stress points on the inside of the halves (I used JB Kwik, big surprise huh?). I had this big plan to use elastic but In the end, the velcro won.

Quick update. I have seen some really great gaunt tutorials so I will keep this to a minimum. Here is a picture of my left gaunt in progress. I JB Kwiked the bottom cap on then bondoed and sanded. The nozzles are the same that TK-409 suggest. I did turn them out so the diamond cut side is out. To hide the threads I dabbed (you guesed it) JB Kwik on them and spread evenly:


I then painted the gaunt up and sealed it with acrylic sealer:


I wired up the light to the switch and mounted the battery inside the shell. That is a 9V mount I found at Radio Shack:


Here is a shot of the gauntlets put together minus the rocket:


And a full shot with my helmet paintshopped in:

Wow! Great job, looks absoulutley GREAT! You are truly have a very creative mind! Congrats! 8)

freak out!!

well done!!

now keep it up and dirty up that jumpsuit and those boots!!!

Originally Posted by Pavespawn

And a full shot with my helmet paintshopped in:

Sent you Pics of your helmet in sun-light......
Looks great by the way....

Looking excellent. Just dirty her up!

And here we are all dirtied up: