First try at trashcan armor

Hi all,

I'm still brand new to the world of Boba Fett costumes, and thought I'd take some old trashcans from my basement to make some trashcan armor, just to see if I'm capable of doing it. I started with just the chest/ab pieces, and I have the shapes more or less how I want them.

My question is, what sort of prep work needs to be done to the armor before I start painting? Can I just put down a base coat of primer? Should I coat it with a layer of Bondo and then sand/prime it? I'd like to be able to have something that doesn't scream "homemade".

If it makes any difference, I'm planning to use an airbrush for the paint job. I've searched through the forums, but haven't found any definitive answers. Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided!

*Edit for spelling*

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 2

I've heard of some people having issues getting their paint to stick to trash can armor. I guess it flakes off easily due to the flexibility of the material. I would recommend using an adhesion promoter before shooting a layer of primer. It might be overkill, but it certainly won't hurt any. Places like Pepboys and Advance auto parts should carry it.

Dupli-Color CP199 Clear Adhesion Promoter Primer - 11 oz. : Amazon.com : Automotive

Will need to have a clean surface and some roughing up with some sandpaper too (180-220 grit should work) before priming it. And without some type of flex additive it still wouldn't take too much bending before the paint starts cracking.

Use a scrap piece first and run it thru the motions before spending too much time on the good pieces. And as grotty suggested a good primer/promoter can make a world of difference and definitely won't hurt. You'd need to follow the directions on any wait time after use prior to priming.

Oh yeah, sand it and clean it for sure. Use something like superclean, or purple power cleaners, they're both the same thing, and fairly cheap. They should do a good job getting any residue off the armor. Also, try not to handle your parts without gloves. I've seen a lot of people go and spend a bunch of time cleaning their parts, then pick them up right after stuffing their mouth full of cheetos and then wonder why their parts have spots on them.

As far as a flex additive goes, I'm not sure if they're available for each type of paint. But they're primarily used for plastic car parts, so you might have to plan your paint job around what the additive is compatible with. But being that you said you plan to airbrush, that shouldn't be too much of a bump in the road for you.

Yeah, doubt there is a flex for these style paints, just know that's how it holds it's form on car bumpers withstanding the flexing. Lots of peeps have made it work so it's prolly just some practice on getting it to work for ya.
How do you give it depth , prior to painting? Use a heat gun to roll the edge a little? Don't want it to look as thin as it really is....

I used rustolium plastic primer it worked great. I bought it at wal-mart

I completely forgot I had made this thread. Slowly but steadily I've been progressing with this project.

After a little experimenting, I decided to go with Rustoleum for my paint job. I couldn't get the thickness effect by curling the edges (I'm not very talented) so I ended up buying a can of Bondo and putting several layers on each piece. After some rough sanding, a little primer, and a bit of glazing putty, I wet sanded the whole thing and started the paint job.

So far I have the center diamond and both chest pieces. They still need a little weathering, and I'm not very happy with the dents, but it looks better than it did as just trash can plastic.



If you guys can make out the thickness in the pic, does it look adequate? Should I be trying to get it a little thicker? Any and all criticism (good or bad) would be appreciated.

I'm in the process of sanding down the ab plate; I'll post pics once I have it a little more finished.

Thanks!

(Vest is courtesy of Arkady. [emoji2])

From that angle the thickness factor is actually fairly convincing. The trouble you may run into is that the overall look may be flatter than you hope--or not. It depends on your overall level of expectation and what you are trying to achieve.

Fettered said:

From that angle the thickness factor is actually fairly convincing. The trouble you may run into is that the overall look may be flatter than you hope--or not. It depends on your overall level of expectation and what you are trying to achieve.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback! That does make me feel better to hear someone other than myself say the thickness looks convincing. There is a bit of curvature to the chest pieces, although looking at the pic now I can tell that it's hard to see it at all. I think I can probably get a better angle (with better lighting) once I'm able to attach the pieces to the vest. I'm thinking of trying the magnet route. I think my main goal with it when I started was for people to be able to recognize it as Boba Fett.