syllander's ESB FPH2 paintup by rubio95

rubio95

Active Hunter
I've held back from posting a thread on here of what I've been working on (syllander is a friend and it wasn't exactly necessary for his protection), but I'm nearing the final stages, so I wanted to share it with TDH.

I'm opposed to following the accepted paint lists (I'm CERTAINLY not knocking them, I just like to experiment). I've stood on the shoulders of giants in all my paintups, so I (once again) would like to call special attention to my good friends Rob (deadland), Jesse (FettSeven), Brian (Dynamic1), loooooong conversations with Eric (superjedi) and, as always, the mighty Jayvee. Of course, rafal's templates are a gift from above. And very few paintjobs these days can even begin without singling out Fettpride for his unparalleled craftsmanship and artistry.

Paint Study:
I spent quite a bit of time examining the colors. Great work has been done by so many, and our paint list has become stronger and stronger with each iteration.

I work at the AFN-BC in Riverside, California, and have access to a professional photographer and my photography mentor, the legendary Steve McGill, who is also an expert on digital imaging. He agreed to color correct a series of photos from the Gallery for me, to the best of his abilities. Our own Art Andrews is a very capable photographer, as well, and although he's taken many accurate photos of the ESB Hero, they're not available at the Gallery (I'm quite certain that's because of contractual agreements with eFX/ANOVOS). But I was able to use one of the few photos he's revealed as a Master Image, and Mr. McGill used that for matching (I wanted to have high resolution photos to use during the paintup, and Art's photos are small). Here were the results. The differences are quite stunning, in my opinion:

Original:

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Corrected:

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As a result, I took the dome/cheek mix that I created for my first ESB Hero and refined it. Here's a comparison picture that I took along the way:

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I arrived with this:

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Okay, green is ready to rock. Let's get started....
 
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So far, so good, right?

Here's the thing....the way that the green plays off of the underlying gray is quite distinctive. From some angles, it almost 'blends' together. That's why I deviated heavily on that color....

So let's pull some of that mask!

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Hmmmm....we might be on to something here. How does it react under flash? The ESB Hero was sooooo washed out when shot under flash....

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Not bad, at all....
 
So I was feeling pretty confident about my mixes and color choices. Sean was with me every step of the way, but I decided to play a little prank. I taped up the whole lid to get ready for (in my opinion) the most important part of the whole paintjob - the mandibles and trim. So I took a pic.

It's my favorite moment from this whole paintup.

Screenshot:

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Very minty....though the back panel green doesn't seem blue enough....I do like the green on the dome in the top down shot....though with weathering itll probably change the dome a little which wouldn't be a bad thing....
 
So all jokes aside, moving on...

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Okay, now brace for impact for a second.....

I am a firm believer in Jayvee's choice for the final red on the mandibles/trim (Humbrol Wine Red). But it comes out RED!

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Whoa!

However, Humbrol Wine Red does a weird thing as it settles. It actually darkens a bit on its own. Also, colors do weird things when they're next to other colors. After pulling the tape, it came out like this:

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And after a VERY gentle sponge rubdown:

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And after adding ears and under bright light (yes, I know I have to add some silver to the rangefinder ear):

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So here we are. Lots of detailing to go, kill stripes, etc., but we're moving along quite well.

Big thanks to Sean for his patience and constant input. More to come.
 
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Ryan she looks REALLY good from the front...hows that behind look? Im curious what you did as far as the dark green colorwise...I cant recall which color I was using myself as its been 14 months since Ive painted anything O.O almost time to come home!!!! And Im about to be trying to do an SE helmet for myself....I see a few Tamiya paints there.....

And my thoughts on the red whine were the same I was like FFFFFUUUUUUUUUDDDDDGGGGGGEEEEE that aussie and this color then...after I removed the mask I was like oh heeeeeeeeeeyyyyyy I know you! Kinda the same with the rock island maroon on the ROTJ....which is very close if not the same color as the red whine humbrol......on the ROTJ gaunts.
 
looks really good! looking to star mine soon as well:D I see some Tamiya as well. can I get the load out on that? finally something other than humbrol...
 
I think you should have kept that fluorescent green. :)


Minty Fett!!!

Big THANK YOU to Ryan for taking this commission!!
I knew after seeing his ROTJ paint up that this was the guy I wanted to paint my ESB lid. His attention to detail and real life lived in look on his paint ups just had me at hello. One hell of a good guy here too. Ryan has been awesome with suggestions, questions, follow up and just a cool person to talk with!
 
Sean I am not sure you know the same Ryan I do......LOL


Just kidding trust me Ryan has really been wanting to nail down this green on the ESB lid well lets just say for a long long time. Even though he professes his love for ROTJ I know deep down inside that his true love is ESB!!!!!
you have one fine lid coming your way Sean Ryan has been shooting me pics left and right and you are right he does pay attention to the details so you won't be disappointed i just hope I can get a peak at it before he sends it your way.
 
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