Superjedi's FPH2 for Nemesis

[superjedi]

Hi TDH!
Been a while, but I received a shiny new project helmet earlier this afternoon. It's an FPH2, and this is the
first time I've gotten to actually examine one in person. This is a beautiful lid!
There have been plenty of pics, and detailed reviews already, and I can't really add to what's been said already.
The casting is superb, and it's probably the smoothest raw helmet I've come across. The surface is almost glassy.
The accessories show the same level of attention. Crisp, sharp edges, and an immaculate 4-piece range finder.
The "Polaroid lens" is clear and smooth, and it's cast separately from the frame, which will make painting a breeze!
The kit is also supplied with a nice aluminum RF stalk.
Kudos to Chris for producing a superior product!

As I said, there have been plenty of pics, but here's the kit as I received it. I'm excited to begin work!

Much more to come!

 

[starchild99]

That is a really good looking helmet.

 

[BudaFett]

Very nice! I've been wondering why you've been so quiet!

 

[cjkirk11]

Very excited to see how this turns out!

 

[nemesis]

I think I'll subscribe to this thread [emoji4]

 

[Misfit2]

Looking forward to this one!

 

[e3kehoe]

Woah that is a REALLY nice lid! Can't wait to see how this goes.

 

[AFettFullofDollars]

SA-WEET! So it comes with the visor partially trimmed out?

 

[superjedi]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, been looking forward to getting my grubby mitts on one of these for a while now, LOL.

FFo$, I've only ever seen this one in person, and that's how it came out of the box.

 

[sleepalot]

Nice, you're in good hands Paul.

 

[Fett 4 Real]

SA-WEET! So it comes with the visor partially trimmed out?

Chris did this for my last commission too....but no they dont typically come this way....however he can trim a visor pretty nice i left it this way for the whole paint up and it was the tightest fitting visor Ive installed glad he did it

 

[Major]

These are a nice helmet to work with......

 

[superjedi]

UPDATE: DAY 1

Since the helmet only arrived yesterday and all I did was drool over it, LOL, I'll consider yesterday "Day 0."

No pics in today's update. I finished trimming the visor area out, and did just a bit of sanding along the bottoms
of the cheek areas. Nothing major, literally about 2 minutes just to smooth things out a bit more. I also sanded
the back of the ear parts just to make sure they're totally smooth, and drilled holes in the ear platforms for the
attachment hardware.
I gave everything a good washing with some anti-grease dish soap, and it's all drying now. Tomorrow should
be primer day!

 

[superjedi]

UPDATE: DAY 2

Primer! These things start out kinda slow, but I like to make sure the prep is done well before the fun stuff.
In these pics you can see that Roz the Rancor is watching over my hobby room.

The primer I've been using lately is Duplicolor automotive primer. It goes on nice and smooth, and it gives a
nice durable base for the color coats.

Once the primer cures (overnight) I'll do the base coat on the rear panels with Polly Scale Concrete.

 

[AFettFullofDollars]

Good prep work can't be stressed enough!

 

[syllander]

These shots always make me want to have one painted in full AND one just primered.

 

[superjedi]

Syllander, maybe I can convince Nemesis to let me just paint one half of the helmet and leave the other half in primer.

 

[superjedi]

UPDATE: DAY 3

Have a day off from work today, so I got an earlier start on the FPH2.
I airbrushed the Concrete on the back panels. When I do larger areas with a single color,
I try to avoid doing straight line passes with the airbrush. This avoids any hint of overlap lines
in the surface. I do random patterns, moving my airbrush in small circles or sweeping curves
until I get the coverage I want.

I'll let this dry and then I'll begin marking the panels off for the dark blue-green shade.

Just as a note, since this is a new style helmet that I haven't worked on before, I'll be making new
FPH2-sized stencils. I make my stencils on tracing paper, so they'll be reusable.

 

[nemesis]

Hey.. I thought we decided half primer? [emoji1]

 

[superjedi]

Oops! Sorry, I'll start all over again.