Superjedi's FPH Progress Thread

Hey, thanks guys. Painting and other hobby stuff is like my Zen meditation. I just get into it and let everything else fade away.

UPDATE: November 19th

We have half a face! Got the left cheek areas done. I finally put away that pesky PRR Maroon and went back to gray and silver. For the gray areas on the lower cheeks (and later, the dome) I darken up my Polly Scale SP Lark Dark Gray with a few drops of PRR Brunswick Green until there's a noticeable contrast. The SP Gray by itself is too close in tone to the PO Green. (Not my trick. . . I think that's one of the things Lee mentioned in his color thread.)
I'm also doing my helmet as the screen-used version rather than the exhibit version. So there will actually be less damage on this one. If you're familiar with all the ref pics of the ESB helmet, you'll probably notice a couple of scratches and chips that aren't on my helmet. That's the reason why.
So here she is for tonight.



Tomorrow I hope to get the right cheek done.

AWESOME!!!

I am very impressed!!

Just a couple of questions, are you using the airbrush for all of this or just the major coats and your trusted friend the "o" brush for a majority of the details?

Sick, sick, sick <shakes head>


Awesome work my friend. Just awsome ! :cheers

FP

HMPOTC33 said:

Just a couple of questions, are you using the airbrush for all of this or just the major coats and your trusted friend the "o" brush for a majority of the details?

Click to expand...

I'm using a roller and a big sea sponge.








I spray on all the "major" colors, and all the detailed damage is done with either a size 0 or a 000 brush, depending on how fine the detail is.

I'm using a roller and a big sea sponge.<<<<<<<

Seriously Eric, SICK. Nice job....

Coming along AWESOME! Great work!

Thanks again, guys. The helmet is really starting to shape up now!

UPDATE: November 20th

OK, I'm done with the cheeks and have moved up to the dome!
The right cheek went a little quicker than the left. There's not as much detail. I'll do the Borden connector later once I'm doing my final weathering.



On the dome, I've started at the back above the keyslot area. Still working with my Bright Silver and darkened SP Lark Dark Gray. I'll move around counterclockwise until I reach the dent. I'll stop at that point and do the killstripes.



The killstripes make me more nervous than any other part of the paintjob. . . so being the big chicken that I am, I usually save those for the latter part of the project.

Looks great, keep it up! It's funny, how we all paint in different sequence. I too, normally do the back first to get it out of the way, but I do the kill stripes first. After the back comes the dent, then the front. I love seeing others doing the sequence different.

Yeah, it's just a matter of preference.
I do have another reason for saving the killstripes for the end: I use the shapes and positions of the damage on the red band to make sure I'm positioning the stripes in the right place. I measure and tape them off, then judge their position in relation to everything else before I start painting. If it doesn't look right, I readjust. I dunno, for me it helps to keep everything in proportion.

UPDATE: November 21st

Alright, working slowly around the dome now. To take a break from painting (a short break) I went back and began putting in some of the really fine scratches on the dome. I use a compass point to do this, scratching down to the raw white gelcoat. I try to match their position as closely as I can to my reference pics.



I painted the damage behind the right ear, then went back and did the fine scratches in that section as well.



Barely visible above is the cat scratch section over the right eye. I've done the silver portion already, and later I'll go back and do all the little gray "breaks" in and around the silver portion.

SuperJedi, Thanks so much for posting this progress thread! It's been thoroughly enjoyable to see this work of art coming to life. It's also going to help me out so much when I get to start my MSH2 ESB paint job (only 1 more month before I get to move into my renovated house!!.)
So just saying thanks
Cheers
Matt

Yess!! You are painting it ESB!! No ASOW screw up scratches

SJ... This is one totally awesome paint job bro!

Totally insane detail in so little time? :wacko Dunno how you do it...but keep it up.

Lovin the ESB (movie) look too

Once again, thanks for the comments. I can't say enough that this is such a terrific helmet to work on. That's part of the reason I'm so excited to work on it and watch it get closer to completion.

UPDATE: Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone is enjoying some well-deserved holiday time with family and friends today. :cheers My wife and I had some delicious brown sugar and honey glazed ham. Nom nom nom. . . :love :love

Anyway, just showing the latest stage of the dome painting.
I finished the cat scratch area, plus the small areas around and above it. These have some reeeeeeally fine detail, and I spent a good amount of time with my gray color, trying to get the shapes and proportions correct.



I then moved around to the front of the dome, adding the gray and silver details above and around the forehead triangles. The triangles themselves will be weathered with powdered pigments once final weathering begins. In both of these new areas, I also went back with my compass and added the very fine scratches. I try to work each new section as I go so I don't get overwhelmed with hundreds of tiny scratches at the end of the process.



Finally, THE DENT! I went ahead and painted in the dent to give a guide for placing the damage around it. I won't paint the damage around the dent until after my killstripes are on.



Speaking of killstripes. . . they're next! I go through a pretty thorough process to mask them off and make sure they're in the correct position. Hopefully I'll have something good to show for my next update!

eric, can say it enough......LOOKS AWESOME!!!!!!

its just soooooooooo perty

Thanks again!

UPDATE #2: Thanksgiving!

*Whew!* Killstripage!
Several hours later, we have some groovy stripes painted on.
I took some pics as I went, so I'll try to outline the process I use.
I begin by measuring the helmet against the reference pics to try to figure the size and position of the killstripes. For the FPH, these are the measurements I came up with:
-- Distance above the red band: 6 mm
-- Height of each stripe: 24 mm
-- Width of each stripe: 8 mm
-- Space between stripes: 6 mm
Once I determine the size and spacing, I mask off the 'basic' shapes using blue painters tape. I'm very careful to make sure each spacer strip remains vertical in relation to the red band. It's much better to check and reposition before you start painting.
Here's what it looks like at this point.



To mask the damage on each stripe, I return to my good ol' Winsor & Newton masking fluid and a microbrush. These are fantastic! They come in several sizes, and are sold in packs of 10. They're cheap and disposable, and come in really handy for a lot of different projects.



Following the reference pics carefully, I apply masking fluid within each stripe. It doesn't take long for the fluid to dry. Below, the masked areas look kind of shiny.



One last step I take before I begin painting the stripes is to mask off the rest of the helmet (again) and shoot the stripes with Testors Dullcoat. This serves two purposes: it seals the edges of the tape, preventing my yellow paint from bleeding under, and it gives a nice matte surface for the paint to adhere to.
After the dullcoat dries, I apply Polly Scale UP Armor Yellow with a dense make up sponge. I let it build up slowly, applying 4 to 5 coats, waiting a short time between applications. The sponge is dense enough to prevent any stipple marks, and the Polly Scale paint dries so evenly it really helps the final appearance.
After about 5 light coats of yellow, this is how the stripe area looks.



Once the yellow dries, but before I unmask the stripes, I go back with some reddish orange pastel powder and tone the stripes. It goes on heavier on the rearward ones, and fades to pretty much pure yellow at the front. I use a big, soft brush to do this, being careful to let the color build up slowly.
Not sure how easily you can see, but here's a pic after the pastel is applied.



Finally, once all the above steps are done, I unmask. I use a small piece of tracing paper to rub off the dried masking fluid, then some fine tweezers to remove the tape. I pull the tape off slowly, making sure I don't pull up any of the yellow.
So after all that, here's how the stripes look.



Lots of work for such a relatively small area!
Next will be doing all the damage around the dent, and the damage that streaks back behind the dent over the stripes. Getting close!

pffftttttt..............and u said u were "scared".

look at that!




~ ya no, with the paint as far as it is.
looking at that shot really shows the what FP was talking about ecxactly with the way he put that slight angle in the mandible nose area.

WOW!!

Jluck said:

I'm using a roller and a big sea sponge.<<<<<<<

Click to expand...

After the dullcoat dries, I apply Polly Scale UP Armor Yellow with a dense make up sponge

Ah yes, I see you do use a sponge ha!ha!lol:

This is an incredible job, and thanks for clairfying the technique you are using.