Superjedi's FPH Progress Thread

The "blue-wisp" addition is what really setting it off for me! I did the exact same addition to my own with a custom blend...it took me forever to make a batch that matched. With the light changing just like you said, sometimes it is completely undetectable, or blatantly obvious.

A true master in his element! (y) Awesome job!

Do you plan on doing any "washes" with it? Still just a tad too clean...
 
Yeah, that "extra" color is interesting. The more I look at it, the more I like it.
DL44, no, no washes on the bucket. With the pastel powders and spattering, that's all she gets. (y)

UPDATE: December 1st

Wow! I can't believe it's December already. . . how weird.
OK, the helmet itself is done. :) I added the thumbprints, and a mix of brown and yellow inks for the greasy looking marks. They reflect differently too, so they look darker or lighter depending on the angle.

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I've also begun detailing the ears. For the RF ear, I used Floquil Earth. The gray damage is SP Lark Dark Gray, just like on the rest of the helmet.
I tried a different technique for the black arch (and the white arch on the left ear.) I wanted to try to paint them this time! Instead of using vinyl decals, which give me heart palpitations when I try to line them up and not ruin them :lol:, I marked the arches by scratching through the paint with my compass, then masking along the lines. I painted the black arch with Floquil Engine Black, which is the nicest, smoothest flat black paint I've ever used. The white stripe within the black arch was a part of a white decal. I didn't want to risk masking over the Engine Black to spray the white, only to have the black pull up.
Here's a couple of shots.

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I stopped at this point to dull coat the parts, and tomorrow I'll mask them off and paint the portions to remain raw metal. I'll use Testors Metalizer Stainless Steel for that.

I used the same technique to mask and paint the white arch on the left ear. For the damage within the arch, I applied some liquid mask before spraying the flat white.

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For the black symbols, I used rub-on transfers. I used 2 capital Es, and 2 'dots' from question marks! :) Then I added scratches using a brand new X-acto blade. The T and circle on the RF ear are also rub-on transfers.
So, now I have to do the gray and red damage on the left ear, and some silver on the RF ear, and that will pretty much be it! :D
 
Man!
Those ears look ridiculously good. Rub on transfers you say? I'm going to have to go hunting for these......Most excellent work! Love this bucket!

Josh
 
:lol: :lol: Thanks!

UPDATE: December 2nd

OK, apart from attaching the ears, and waiting for my new green welders visor to arrive, the helmet is soooooooooo close to being done! :love

I completed detailing on the ears today. For the left ear, I added the gray and red damage. I used Testors Camoflage Gray and Polly Scale Rock Island Maroon.

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For the range finder ear, I added the little silver chips and scratches, and masked off and sprayed some Testors Metalizer Stainless Steel for the exposed metal sections.
Once that dried, I buffed it with a soft cloth to bring up the shine, and began adding more dry transfers to do the detailed markings.
The symbol on the front facet of the lower ear piece is made up of a D, a V, and 2 'dots' from question marks. They were then scratched with a very sharp #11 X-acto blade.
(NOTE: After carefully studying one of the reference pics in our very own TDH Image Archive, I'm fully convinced they used rub-on transfers to do these markings. It's apparent that the vertical V part overlaps the horizontal D portion!)

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On the upper ear cap, the 9 lines were made with capital I transfers. I scraped them before rubbing them onto the ear cap. I took one of the ref pics and mirrored it so I could do the damage backward. :) Then I flipped the sheet over and rubbed them down.

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The only thing left to do now is add some brownish pastel to the left ear, and do the tan spatter to both ears. I'll describe how I add attachment bolts during the week.

Oh yeah! I also bought a hardhat today at Home Depot and put the liner into the helmet using industrial strength Velcro. It is now wearable!! Huzzah!! (y)
 
Uhm, I think I see a mistake dude ... ?

<points to the helmet in a disjointed fashion, at nothing in particular, but acting as if I just showed you what it was>

I think you should start over. I'll send you a fresh pallet man. I could send a couple of them in case you mess up again ... I got your back man.
Just ship that one to me in return, and I'll try to fix the mistake for you :lol:


Good grief Lucy ... you're a talented guy (y)

FP
 
Dang, Chris. . . I think I see exactly what you mean. (Stares at a completely blank wall.)

I'll rush the helmet right out to you for repair. I'll just stick a couple of stamps on the dome and scribble your address on it with a Sharpie. . . it should make it there OK.

:lol:

Thanks man! I've really enjoyed working on this helmet. Couldn't have done it without you! :cheers
 
OK, this is it! I'm still waiting on my visor, and I'll need an RF stalk. . . but the painting is done! Woo hoo! (y)

Also, I have to give big thanks to my wife for showing me that I didn't have the settings correct on our digicam. She showed me how to increase the pre-set resolution to "superfine." So all the pics I've taken till now have been on the normal "fine" setting. :eek:

So until my visor comes in, this will be the final

UPDATE: December 4th

The ears are installed, using small bolts epoxied into each ear, then attached from the inside with nuts. The upper RF cap is temp installed until I get a stalk. Once I get one, I'll epoxy a bolt into the outer ear cap and it will go through the stalk pivot hole and attach inside the helmet.

So here are my final pics. These were taken out on my balcony, with the camera set properly this time!! These are in natural, indirect sunlight.
First, a couple of overall shots from the major angles.

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Next, a few different angles and detail shots. Here's a high angle of the dome.

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The left ear and kill stripe area.

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A rear angle showing the staining on the dome and color variation on the back panel.

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The RF ear cap and left ear.

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In a couple of these shots, it's easier to see where I went back and brightened some of the silver after dullcoating.

Thanks so much to Chris for manufacturing such an amazing helmet! (y) And thanks to all you guys who have been following the thread! I hope I've provided some useful info to at least one of you! (y)
 
Eric, you have DEFINITELY raised the bar here. Future works SHOULD be measured against THIS piece...
 
Awesome work!!!!!!!!!!!

I really like that you painted it screen ESB without all the black marks between the dent and kill stripes, and all the other marks from mis-handling the real bucket. (y)(y)
 
Whatever you do, do NOT kill the pics in this thread! These closeups will come in very handy when I do my own paint-up. :)

Eric, awesome job, man. Very thorough tutorial!
 
Whatever you do, do NOT kill the pics in this thread! These closeups will come in very handy when I do my own paint-up. :)

Eric, awesome job, man. Very thorough tutorial!

Do what I do, oh master of the keyboards. :lol: Copy all the pics to your hard drive. I've got a collection of three paintup's from Supes. (y)
 
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