General helmet painting-masking, priming, weathering, ect...

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You don't need to remove all the paint, but if you did, that's ok. Sanding it enough to rough it up is sufficient. Then, just give it a good coat of grey, black or red primer.

To sand little nooks and corners, just fold up some sandpaper and hit it enough to rough it up.

As for the crack...cracks can easily be repaired using various techniques. Bondo, miliput, 2-part epoxy resin or even super glue (I highly recommend Zap A Gap - found in hobby shops) will often work wonders.

 

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As long as the existing paint is adhering well, I don't see any reason to sand it all off. I would sand it with 220 grit to "key" the surface, spray a coat of sandable primer, a light sand with 400, repeat, & you should have a perfectly smooth surface ready for paint. As far as the crack goes, that depends on what material the helmet is made of. Fiberglass for fiberglass and for vinyl? Look for a product that provides a molecular bond over a mechanical one, it will be stronger. I know some plastics actually have to be welded. Maybe someone else here has more info.

 

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Masking the Cheeks?!

Hey guys, how do you mask the areas in the cheeks to paint them? It's kinda hard to mask a rounded area with tape SO how all do you guys do this?

 

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I use electrical tape for masking. It stretches, curves and leaves a sharp, clean edge.

 

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I used wide masking tape and after it was applied just took a very sharp x-acto knife and cut out the curve.

 

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I used thin masking tape, using the small straight edges, rotated a piece each time, building up a curve. It's a long way, but it worked great.

 

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Go to an automotive parts store like NAPA or BIG A.They sell 3M tape that is blue in color.It is 1/4" wide,VERY easy to make turns,won't bleed through,and can be found easily.It works like a charm.It is shiny(vinyl or plastic i suppose) not paper like regular masking tape.
Hope this helps.

 

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I have read somewhere in these post about using rubber cement or something to mask the area. After painting you can peel off the rubber cement. I haven't tried this method but it sounds good. Does anyone else have any experience with this method?

 

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For fine lines on a helmet? That could be tricky. For scratches and dents, it works like a charm.

 

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Yeah, Rubber Cement works well for the scratches and dents.

For masking the cheeks, I used the blue painters masking tape and trimmed the line using an xacto blade lightly. Didn't nick the helmet, didn't leave a line.

Just take your time.

Tony

 

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For my helmet I used a combo of electrical tape and masking tape. I prefer the black electrical tape because it tends to bend and mold alot nicer than making tape. But the final decision is up to you of course.

Andy

 

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Hey there .... I'm new too. But have been doing similar
thingsfor a while.

When filling a hole or dent that way (trying to preserve the paint around it, you run a risk of "Orange Peelaround the outside of the dent, so you have to be very carefull. I would re-do the whole top portion of the helmet to get it right.


But if you really want to preserve the dome paint, I would say sand the dent carefully until you get down to the fiberglass / vinyl, depending on your helmet, and about a quarter of an inch around the the outside of the dent. Fill with the putty of your choice (Bondo or Testor's Model Putty) in mujltiple layers (Sanding and Drying in between layers)then sand the final layer flush with the dome, and finish with ultra fine sandpaper to blend with the 1/4 inch space around the dent to hide the orange peel, and then spray. You may have to lightly sand again after paint is dry to further conceal any orange peel, and possibly re-spray again.

Perhaps someone else has a better (more effective)method

Good Luck

Hope this helps

 

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You definitely want to sand any area that you are applying filler putty or paint to. The last thing you want is for your filler putty to pop out of the dent when your helmet is finshed being painted. I would recommend "keying" the surface with 60 grit sandpaper where you are applying filler putty & if you are just sanding for paint then use 180 grit. Follow by spraying two coats of SANDABLE primer, wetsanding between coats with 400 grit to get a nice smooth finish, followed by your top coat, more wetsanding, & your finish coat. If you have trouble with an orange peel finish you can wetsand using even finer grits (like 1500) followed by an auto polish. Remember to use the best quality paint you can, some will leave more "orange peel" than others. I recommend using auto touch-up paint that comes in a spray can.

 

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I am looking at my helmet(DP 97) and the dent looks too smooth, no sharp edges. Do you guys modify them at all to get the look like the one in the banner? I like the way it looks like it has ridges inside the dent.
Mine could be just full of paint for all I know but I just thought I'd ask.

 

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I've actually filled my dent in and will be carving it back out movie-screen-style. But that's just until I get my mits on a better helmet.

 

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That sounds like an option. I was thinking of using a needle file to get the look. I just don't want to make it too thin.

 

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Painting the Helmet

I am in the process of painting a Boba helmet and have read all of the painting techniques I can find on this site. I just have one question. Has anyone out there tried a weathering technique using wet sanding instead of masking or the addition of "scratched on" effects? I have detailed many vehicles this way with multiple layers of paint and then clear coated the finished work. However, I have never used this technique on the DP material. It seems that this would create a true distressed paint effect, even at close range.

 

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I think people stay away from that method only because the helmet is sprayed silvef first, with the other layers of paint applied over it. Others have painted their helmet and then applied silver paint in a fashion to resemble scratches. I think if you were to apply a silver base coat and then the various other colors over it and attempted to wet sand the top coat to reviel the silver underneath, you could damage the silver layer and expose the plastic, fiberglass, or resin material the helmet is made from. If you would put enough layers of silver on first and used a very fine grit paper you could wear down the edges to expose the silver, but anything too large may be gone over too many times and may wear away the silver layer. These are some of the things I dealt with when painting my helmet (and I have seen many that were painted better) so there are various other methods I am unfamilar with that would work better.

 

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does any one know a good brand of paint for the helmet that wont melt the don post plastic one

 

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Just about any spray paint will do....Krylon is of course the best way to go. But I have used Rustoleum, Dutch Boy, Plasticote, ect....

Acrylic paints are great for the damaged areas (greys and reds), as you can apply it inside with your reference photos.

And I think Testors Chrome Spray Enamel #1290 for the silver/damage areas is the way to go according to our paint expert.