Gifted Boba Maker Helmet Repair/Paint-Up

[ShortFuse]

Don't let the title fool you. I am not the gifted one.

I received this Boba Maker v4 Helmet from Irongladiator earlier this year. In fact he generously gave, yes gave me this helmet.

It apparently had a rough trip from Daz in Portugal and has some cracking around the temple areas.

I got some advice from boba87fett on how to approach this repair. He did something similar in his ROTJ SE to ESB Hero conversion. So I will be using some Bondo glazing putty to fill the cracks. followed by sanding, wet sanding, priming to see where i messed up, rinse and repeat.

Once repaired, I will be adding the physical ROTJ damage follow by a ROTJ paint job. My intent is to have my 15 YO son assist me in this repair/paint-up and to give it to him afterwards. Although, depending on how well it turns out, I may just hand down my current ToEleven ROTJ helmet and keep this one.

Anyway, there will be more to come...

 

[Irongladiator]

ShortFuse
I know you've been pretty busy this summer with all your projects you got going on. And I hope those are going (or went) well!
....But....

I'm super excited to see how this is gonna turn out!

Best,
-Iron

 

[Lazerjock]

Watching this build.
That glazing putty is great stuff! I use it all the time.

 

[ShortFuse]

Taking hvacdon ’s suggestion ( over on Boba Fett Builders ) I drilled some small holes where the cracks stopped to avoid any further cracking. I did this by hand. It would be a shame to get this thing painted up and have the cracks to rear their ugly heads again.

Since the cracks were only in the gel coat layer, I drilled down only until I felt resistance from the fiberglass.

I repeated the process on the other side.

The cracks on the right temple have some unevenness to them, so I will sand them smooth. Once sanded down the cracks and holes will be filled in with the glazing putty undoubtedly followed by more sanding, filling, etc.

Thanks.

 

[ShortFuse]

Sanded down the right temple area to make it smooth again.

Ok, time to make those cracks bigger. What?! What do you mean bigger? Sounds a little counterintuitive, I know.
Well, the cracks themselves are flush against themselves so I have to make a space for the glazing putty to go, otherwise it would just be sitting on the surface and eventually all being sanded away and doing no good.
As mentioned before, I received some advice from boba87fett on how to handle this repair. I am trying to follow the same steps as seen in this post Boba87Fett's ESB Hero Conversion and Paint Up

First I sanded the area of damage in order to see the cracks a little easier. Next I used an Xacto knife to cut into the cracks wide enough to get the glazing putty into once again all the way down to the fiberglass ending at the drilled holes.

I know it looks much worse than what I started with, but sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better.

 

[Irongladiator]

ShortFuse
This is comin’ along nicely!


-Iron

 

[RamSkirata]

Following! This should be interesting. Also Irongladiator huge props for your generosity!

 

[BudaFett]

Helmets regularly have those small cracks around the mandible. I would also reinforce the inside once you're finished with the cosmetics on the outside!

 

[RamSkirata]

Helmets regularly have those small cracks around the mandible. I would also reinforce the inside once you're finished with the cosmetics on the outside!

no kidding! I know of a prominent example calld the "ESB hero helemt" or something... REALLY crappy condition that one is

 

[ShortFuse]

Small update today. I used a silicone tipped brush to apply the Bondo glazing putty, making sure to push the putty into the cracks.

The glazing putty starts to set up rather quickly, so small amounts were squeezed out of the tube at a time until all cracks were filled.

Once fully cured I will sand, fill any spots that were missed, and then repeat. I’m sure it will take at least a couple more rounds of this.

 

[ShortFuse]

After the first round of filling and sanding there were still some pin holes that remained. This was to be suspected.

As you can see, the glazing putty filled in the cracks quite nicely minus the aforementioned pin holes.
I once again used the glazing putty, but only on the spots that were missed.

I’m very happy with the results thus far.

 

[ShortFuse]

Sanded down the spots that I refilled and shot a layer of primer, revealing some areas that still need attention. (Especially the left side)

 

[ShortFuse]

Round 2

 

[Irongladiator]

Ryu = ShortFuse

<At the End> "ShortFuse Wins!"

 

[ShortFuse]

Results after round 2:

I wouldn’t call it a knockout, but there are no more cracks. The filler is still visible on the left ear platform, but that will be covered up anyway.

I will still be doing some light sanding to get rid of some of the rough areas, but after all I think most of it will not be noticeable once the final paint and intentional damage is applied.

All in all, I think it turned out fairly decent.
Any thing else you see that needs attention?

Thanks

 

[Irongladiator]

ShortFuse
A great repair job! Well done!

-Iron

 

[ShortFuse]

ShortFuse
A great repair job! Well done!
View attachment 215322

-Iron

Thank you.

 

[Lazerjock]

That is the exact process I use when filling seams on 3D prints.
For larger areas I use Bondo then finish with glazing putty.

Excellent work!

 

[ShortFuse]

That is the exact process I use when filling seams on 3D prints.
For larger areas I use Bondo then finish with glazing putty.

Excellent work!

Thanks!

 

[ShortFuse]

Sorry for the lack of updates on this project, but I have recently lost by brother-in-law and friend. I have still been around but I am going to put the project on hold for a little while so I can spend more time with my sister, who is going to be living by herself now for the first time due to all her children being older and moved out.

My next step is going to adding the ROTJ specific physical damage to the helmet. I should probably be picking back up on this within a week or two. Until then.

Justin