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

[Purity Knight]

i got another question... i want most of my helmet shiney but not the silver weathered parts... i would mask them but it would be really hard..what do i do?

 

[jrnymanprotector]

First option is of course to simply mask them. Secondly I think you might simply coat the entire thing, then dull the silver. You can rub your fingers on them sometimes, you might also rub in some charcoal (i'm the spokesperson for this stuff ) or maybe even lightly dry brush it.

Hope this helps,
Phil

 

[Shadowknight]

...stripes on the side of the helmet. I'm sure there is a name for the stripes, but I don't know it and I didn't see a thread that tackled this particular area. I may have missed it. :facepalm

Anyhow, I have two casts of off a DP Deluxe and I was wondering if there is a template that anybody has made for these. I need both the ESB and the ROTJ.

Thanks a lot.

BTW - Do those stripes have a particular name?

 

[BobaFettish]

Shadowknight wrote:Do those stripes have a particular name?

OCRE STRIPES, although I can't remember where I read that.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Well they have been called ocre stripes because of the color of the ESB stripes-- can't get away with calling the ROTJ stripes ocre.

At the bottom of Motorfish's ESB tutorial, he describes the process of creating the template for the squares:

http://forum.thedentedhelmet.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1432&forum=2

The ESB stripes are a yellowish ocre color that a bit of an orange gradiation toward the rear of the helmet. In looking at photos of the AOSW ESB helmet, it almost appears the stripes are one longer sticker strip. I can't quite tell on the ROTJ.

ESB Stripes:

ROTJ Stripes:

 

[Spidey2222]

 

[Tyler Durden]

[Originally posted by Motorfish at the RPF:http://rpf.prop-planet.com/viewtopic.php?topic=20058&forum=1]

[edit] bandwidth reset. pics available again
Howdy all!

(and yes Brak's, please feel free to post this on TDH as well, and T4BB, and the Old RPF...)

Over the past several months you've probably heard me talking about how great weathered effects can turn out being applied topicaly, rather than using a very time consuming masking process, but I've never actually shown you guys how I go about doing it. Well, here's this super simple techniqe, illustrated in a step-by-step process so easy to follow, even the most novice of painters will be able to apply realistic weathering techniques in no time flat!

(Some of this is re-hash from previous posts, but at least this time, I have photo illustration.)


1) Here's a look at one of the Fett gauntlets I'm currently working on. All of the weathering on this particular piece has been done topicaly. I'll show you an easy way to do so.

2) Start out with a regular sponge. Get the kind with the denser packed cels, and DON't get the abrasive-backed kind!

3) Dampen the sponge with regular water, and wring it out so it's moist, but not sopping wet.

4) Cut a small wedge shaped piece out of the larger piece of sponge. A one inch piece should be enough.

5) Cut the wedge again the opposite way so that you're left with a pointy tiped piece of sponge...

6) ...like so.

7) Carefully spray a bit of Testors Chrome spraypaint into the lid, and dip the point of the sponge into the paint filled lid like so.

8)Ready for application!!!

9) Using small dabbing motions, apply the paint to the surface of the object you wish to weather. The amount of preasure you apply can affect the shape of the weathering effect, so be creative, and use that to your advantage to get realistic, random looking effects! This takes a little practice to ge it to look the way you want, but you'll be able to master it in no time! (depending on the size of the weathered effect, you may need to re-saturate the sponge in the paint more than once.)

10) Congratulations! You've just weathered a prop! Repeat this process, cutting new sponge tips when they get too paint encrusted, and keep going until you're done!!

 

[mindphunk]

the paint on my hemet has slipped and wrinkled over the past few years, so now I'm repainting. What grit should I use and should I remove all the paint or just sand it down until the wrinkles are gone?

 

[Fetthunter]

It's hard to say without seeing your helmet. At least sand the imperfections out. I use 60 grit for removing paint, 150 grit for smoothing out the scuffs the 60 grit left, and then 320 grit to finish it up and give it a nice feel. If it's not that bad, you can probably just use some 150 & 320 on it.

 

[mindphunk]

Ugh!!!!!!!

For some reason when I painted the helmet three years ago, the chrome did not "set" properly. Thats why I got the wrinkles. So I finally got time to sand today, the first few layers came off fine, until i got to the chrome. I spent the entire afternoon using my exacto to remove the chrome. I'm still not done. Anyway, I remember seeing on TUBFC bulletin board a few years back as to why this happened. But since its no longer there can someone please explain again. How can I prevent this from happening when I repaint again?

 

[bigkidbiggertoys]

Did you use a good primer before you started painting? Priming not only gives the paint a good surface to adhere too but also provide a barrier to keep certain paints from attacking the vinyl surface. Try not to mix brands of paint too. They are sometimes incompatible & the results will be dubious at best.

 

[fettcicle]

I'm not sure, but when I painted something and primed it, I sprayed the primer too thick, so what happened was the very top of the paint dried, the paint below was wet and as it dried the liquids evaporated and shrunk causing the wrinkles. Try to coat the helmet with 2-3 thin layers of paint see if this helps. Just an guess.

 

[Boba Phett]

Scuff the helmet with some 240. Couple of light coats of primer allowing each to dry. Scuff the last coat of primer with 320. First coat of chrome do a light misting allow it to dry or be pretty close to dry. Next coat of chrome do a little more than mist but not much. Let it dry and repeat till the helmet is covered. If you get dust or garbage in the chrome take some 1200 grit and wetsand it. Make sure to add a little dish soap to the water when wetsanding. This should give you a good base to work from. Try not to mix brands of paints usually they will react to each other. -Mark

 

[mindphunk]

Thanks for the help guys...

 

[Keith]

Im still thinking of ways to paint the ESB fett helmet, i want to paint the silver/weathering last, tell me what you think of this idea:
After the painting of the helmet is finished other than the grey and silver weathering, mask of and airbrush the grey (thats the grey you see around the silver weathering on the ESB helmet), then brush on liquid mask over the grey, leaving the area that you want silver, then airbrush a thin coat of silver, then a thin coat of clear varnish so the silver will not rub off.
I think this might be the best way to get smooth, brush mark free silver, that will last a life time.
Most model makers or painters will know that silver paint is very soft and will rub off in time.
I have never used liquid mask on any of my models, anyone know how good this stuff is?

Keith.

 

[motorfish]

Too much work.

I'd suggest you apply the silver/metalic weathered areas with a sponge tip using Testors Chrome spraypaint mixed w/ a small amount ot thinner to thin it out, the grey weathered spots using a thin acrylic based paint thinned with water.

The effect looks great, and you won't have to bother with lots of unnecessary masking.

 

[tteF aboB]

Heres a thread that details what motorfish has explained in more detail, by motorfish in the past. Its located at the bottom of the page but the pictures no longer load. If your a member of the other prop board you might find it there. the link is still noted. After seeing his work on ebay and TDH this is the route Im going. Strong work on your prop MF.
http://forum.thedentedhelmet.com/viewtopic.php?topic=1685&forum=2