superjedi
Sr Hunter
Hi all,
Picked up another cool Richie's Armor X-Wing helmet to work on.
I'll be doing this one as Gold Leader from ANH, and even though he was a Y-Wing pilot, they all used
the same style helmets in that film.
This is the third RA helmet I've worked on, and it looks like Richie has made this helmet from a newer
vac-forming master than my other ones. It's really nice! Very crisp detail, and it's assembled very
sturdily, using rivets to make the inner shell, and to hold the visor onto the pivoting mechanism.
I ordered the helmet from him assembled but unpainted, and it was a very quick process to get it
prepped for paint. I simply peeled off the self-stick black trim from around the bottom opening, and
removed the chin cup/strap and microphone, which are held on with velcro. I masked off the visor
on the inside AND the outside to prevent any possibility of overspray, and masked off the whole
interior of the helmet. Richie puts in some nice custom formed foam padding and I don't want to
get any overspray on that either.
The photos show 2 steps in one. First I gave the entire helmet 2 light/medium coats of Rustoleum
satin white. The color of the plastic was just a little uneven, and even though this helmet will
be very weathered when it's done, I wanted to start with a nice even base coat.
Then I sponged on some MM Acryl Panzer Dunkelgelb (dark yellow) on the forehead panels. I
wasn't too concerned about the edges, as most of this is going to be covered up.
The Dunkelgelb will form the grid lines that appear on Gold Leader's helmet. I'll mask off the grid when I
mask the helmet for some dark green. Once I remove the taped off grid lines, the Dunkelgelb will show
through. That's the theory anyway!
Gold Leader really doesn't have a very complex paint scheme. It's mainly the Dunkelgelb, and the dark
green on the ram's horn areas, and the small raised squares further down on the cheeks.
I picked up a set of vinyl decals from Lucksy31, and they look great! Can't wait to apply them. The details
always make these helmets come to life.
More to come!
Picked up another cool Richie's Armor X-Wing helmet to work on.
I'll be doing this one as Gold Leader from ANH, and even though he was a Y-Wing pilot, they all used
the same style helmets in that film.
This is the third RA helmet I've worked on, and it looks like Richie has made this helmet from a newer
vac-forming master than my other ones. It's really nice! Very crisp detail, and it's assembled very
sturdily, using rivets to make the inner shell, and to hold the visor onto the pivoting mechanism.
I ordered the helmet from him assembled but unpainted, and it was a very quick process to get it
prepped for paint. I simply peeled off the self-stick black trim from around the bottom opening, and
removed the chin cup/strap and microphone, which are held on with velcro. I masked off the visor
on the inside AND the outside to prevent any possibility of overspray, and masked off the whole
interior of the helmet. Richie puts in some nice custom formed foam padding and I don't want to
get any overspray on that either.
The photos show 2 steps in one. First I gave the entire helmet 2 light/medium coats of Rustoleum
satin white. The color of the plastic was just a little uneven, and even though this helmet will
be very weathered when it's done, I wanted to start with a nice even base coat.
Then I sponged on some MM Acryl Panzer Dunkelgelb (dark yellow) on the forehead panels. I
wasn't too concerned about the edges, as most of this is going to be covered up.
The Dunkelgelb will form the grid lines that appear on Gold Leader's helmet. I'll mask off the grid when I
mask the helmet for some dark green. Once I remove the taped off grid lines, the Dunkelgelb will show
through. That's the theory anyway!
Gold Leader really doesn't have a very complex paint scheme. It's mainly the Dunkelgelb, and the dark
green on the ram's horn areas, and the small raised squares further down on the cheeks.
I picked up a set of vinyl decals from Lucksy31, and they look great! Can't wait to apply them. The details
always make these helmets come to life.
More to come!