Green "resin(?)" Don Post Fett helmet materials/safety?

[Strikerkc]

Hey all, I have one of the old low end don post fett helmets made from the greenish molded material. I went to go trim the front with my Dremel, and it kicked up a ton of the material into the air as powder. I stopped and cleared out because I wasn't expecting that, and had heard mixed references to what the materials might be.

I know it's not an accurate helmet, but I wanted to practice a few things with it, and get it up to a psudo display point; it's had a rough life so doesn't look great right now, but is sentimental to me, so I don't want to just chuck it in the closet.

Is the green helmet an actual resin? or is it something else that just a regular N95 full seal mask will handle just fine?

In the longer term, is it a material that survives any particular type of paint stripper? or any that need to be avoided?

 

[superjedi]

A pic of the helmet would be helpful.
Is the material super flexible? The vintage Don Post helmets were molded vinyl. There should be some kind of copyright info stamped into one of the rear panels.
If it's vinyl, I think most paint strippers would cause damage.

 

[Jango Fett Jr]

Honestly there’s not much paint to strip off, and as SJ said you’ll damage the vinyl. You’re better off sanding it down and coating it with primer.

 

[Strikerkc]

A pic of the helmet would be helpful.
Is the material super flexible? The vintage Don Post helmets were molded vinyl. There should be some kind of copyright info stamped into one of the rear panels.
If it's vinyl, I think most paint strippers would cause damage.

Honestly there’s not much paint to strip off, and as SJ said you’ll damage the vinyl. You’re better off sanding it down and coating it with primer.

Apologies, yea. Green psudo flexible stuff. The paint is spray paint that's gotten onto it over the years. Everything but the green is original. The rest has been masked off at times while the green portions have been repainted as black, or back to green. I plan to repaint the whole thing, but I'm just figuring it's best to try and take some of the 2-3 layers of spray paint off first.

Is this version vinyl and thus good to go to town on? (I took the original chunk out decades ago with a small hobby saw, so no dust/residue. took ages).

 

[superjedi]

Yeah, that's a vinyl helmet.
Cutting it is probably less hazardous than cutting resin or fiberglass. A regular dust mask will do just fine.
As far as painting goes, I'd do a little research on what type of paint would be best. But again, no stripper or it'll eat into the vinyl.

 

[Strikerkc]

Slick. Thank you much.

 

[jhfagan]

I think it's just a very low grade vinyl.
It made a very fine grainy powder when I sanded mine down after repairing a massive break on the side.
It turned out pretty cool though.
Here's my re-build of it.
Lots of other good points from others who've worked on theirs , too.

Don Post '95 Standard vinyl Fett helm resurrection

From a dry cracked and broken visor, half the helm actually breaking off, and many failed attempts in the early days, to make a better paint job... The DP '95 Std Fett helm resurrection has begun! : ) I am not planning on "upping" this to anything else but what it was. As best I can, a factory...

www.thedentedhelmet.com