Three helmets I am about to start - plus some questions

Hi all,

I am rather new to the whole costuming game (this is my first post). I have purchased the majority of my stuff from another guy in Australia who didn't have the time to make his suit. As a result I purchased all his pieces which are completely untouched and yet to be worked on. The pieces I ran by someone in my local garrison to make sure it was legitimate (always have to be careful of an eBay sale). Now the armor I purchased ended up being relatively cheap seeing it saved me shipping every item individually over to Australia. I ended up with three helmets (not sure why the guy had three) which doesn't really worry me as I don't mind a bit of practice and I could even do the helmets of each movie, I am planning on doing a ROTJ as my main build.

If you look at the image below you can see the third helmet is significantly narrower then the other two. I am not exactly sure how to approach such an issue or whether it is fixable, open too suggestions here? Overall I am not too worried as I have two other helmets to play with.

Just a few questions about paints for a newbie.

1. Does anyone know any good paint suppliers that are international or available in Australia? Currently I am looking at Humbrol but it looks like it may be difficult to locate suppliers.
2. What kind of paint do you use for your airbrush? (e.g. enamel, acrylic, water-base)
3. Do you guys recommend any specific air brushes and compressor kits?

First helmet is a FP:


Second and third are apparently BGH buckets, one is an older cast however the seller said.
Second:


Third one:


Ninja edit!: Additionally what kind of knife or tool do you generally use for scratches and cutting the visor section. I have looked through allot of threads but there doesn't seem to be much emphasis on these tools is all.


Thanks!
-RJ

A lot of people use a Dremel with a cut off wheel. I guess I don't know if Dremel-brand is present in Australia, but I'm sure that you can purchase some variant. They are called a "rotary cutting tool." You can buy about 1,000 different attachments for them and they're incredibly handy. That is what I use, but I guess in a pinch you could cut visors out with a mini-saw blade and make the physical damage with a file.

On another note: don't cut out all of those visors and let them sit because the helmet's mandibles will likely warp. Look into that issue a bit and save yourself some time and frustration.

Good luck to you!

Pretty much what Cbrant said...and humbrols work really well if you can get em...other then that the floquil colors are hard to come by and no ones sat down and made mixes for testors model masters as of right now...and honestly the MM colors that replaced floquil are slightly off...less vibrant IMO. I use both arcyl and enamel...depends on what Im painting...Typically use humbrol enamels and MM acryls for weathering... Jayvee is in AU and uses humbrol maybe he can chime in for a supplier?

Hi rjmd - Mate, not sure what state you are in, but I am in W.A., and the full range of Humbrols are readily available in just about any hobby store you walk in to. I think they are the most available paint in Australia. If I'm not mistaken, I think even places like Games World carry them. But if you still have trouble, there is a real big hobby shop over here called Stanbridges - they have a large website, and will definitely ship to you

Thanks cbrant, I have found a Dremel kit at one of our big supplies warehouses which seems like a good choice. Let me know if this is not the right one but it seems like a low price from what I searched domestically: Dremel 130W Corded Rotary Tool 26Pce Acc Kit F0133000pm I/N 6280041 | Bunnings Warehouse

Fett4Real & Jayvee, thanks for the advice on paints! I have located a store that sells humbrols in the city near my university after some searching, I am going to give that a try. Do you recommend painting armour as you paint helmets or is it more commonplace to do them at separate times?

Awesome feedback so far! Thanks all

I like to concentrate on one thing at a time - even helmets, I take it in sections and spend the desired time and detail on each section. So I would tend to paint them separately, but that doesn't mean you can't spend some time on the armour while your helmet is drying etc. Totally an individual thing brother

Jayvee said:

I like to concentrate on one thing at a time - even helmets, I take it in sections and spend the desired time and detail on each section. So I would tend to paint them separately, but that doesn't mean you can't spend some time on the armour while your helmet is drying etc. Totally an individual thing brother

Click to expand...

Pretty much work on everything I can when I can...so if a helmet is drying or armor is drying I work on one or the other...I work armor get it stenciled and painted then jump to the helmet...get it going good till I have to stop or finish a section and jump back to the armor...helmets take longer to do so thats why I tend to do that...lot more work involved...to a degree.

I have one of these for my dremel: Dremel 225-01 Flex Shaft Attachment - Power Rotary Tool Accessories - Amazon.com

I have found it to be invaluable when working on finer things. It is simply a small extension of the dremel and makes it easier to maneuver.

As cbrant said, a Dremel with a cutoff wheel should make quick work of cutting out the visor slot.
For getting into the tight corners, a set of jewelers files is very helpful, too. They're also great
for smoothing out the key slots on the rear of the helmet when you cut them out.

Thanks for the advice! May do one helmet and see how it turns out, then do the other two together

Does anyone have any advice for the third helmet being narrower? Can I actually make it more round somehow like my first two helmets. If you compare the first image of each helmet front-on you can really notice it.

Is it the blue helmet? I don't know if it came skinnier or if it warped to be that way... If it is just warped inwards and you want to fix it, here is what I would do:
Get a bar clamp and a heat gun.
Flip the one side of the bar clamp so that the clamp no longer clamps, but instead pulls apart. It may be called something else altogether.
Put the ends inside the base of the helmet and gently clamp until they have some pressure against the inside of the ears.
Bust out your heat gun and move it all around the base of the helmet, slowly giving it more pressure until its as wide as you want.

I haven't actually done that, but based on how my resin helmet reacted to the heat gun, it wouldn't take much to do. You could also probably forego the clamp if you have another pair of hands. Or slowly press a futbol into the helmet as you heat it. Just spit-ballin' here.

That dremel kit should do the trick, another thing you might want to check into is a dremel with adjustable speeds, comes in hand working with different materials.

Thanks for all the great feedback! I will post back here if I get into any road blocks.