Machinecraft metal ear commission

[superjedi]

Hi all!
I'm between helmet commissions, but I recently received a set of Machinecraft Replicas' awesome metal ears that will be added to an upcoming FPH2 helmet.
The set is fantastic! It comes with 4 ear pieces: left ear, lower RF ear, and a 2- part upper RF ear. There's a newly designed RF stalk, and a complete set of attachment hardware.
Here's how the set arrived.



Clean up will require some sanding to remove some of the machining marks, but a little patience and elbow grease takes care of that.

Once I had the parts sanded and prepped, I wiped them down with alcohol to remove any oils and metal particles. I masked off the areas that will remain bare metal and gave them a couple of coats of self-etching primer.



I let the primer cure for about 48 hours, then laid down the base colors.



Detailing is up next.

 

[BudaFett]

I love the exposed metal. It’s really going to make the helmet “pop”!

Can’t wait to see more WIP pictures of the other set you have!

 

[superjedi]

Soon!

I got the damage done on the lower RF ear.

I also masked and airbrushed the white arch on the left ear.



Now I can work on the damage on the left ear, and do the black arch on the RF ear cap.

 

[BudaFett]

That lower ear is awesome!

 

[hvacdon]

Looking Great so far !! …..even if you did have to cover up that nice shiny metal !

 

[MachineCraft]

Looking Great so far !! …..even if you did have to cover up that nice shiny metal !

That's what I said, Don!

Between Eric and Dom, I'm always amazed at how incredible the quality of work is, the timeframe that things get done, and how often the updates are. You have me seriously wishing I had kept some of these ears for myself, Eric!

 

[hvacdon]

Yes Sir, I agree totally !! They make some amazing pieces, with the quality unparrelled by anyone else !!!
But it would be cool to have the shiny metal look too. Someone should make a Captain Phasma Fett !!!

 

[superjedi]

Thanks guys!
Dakota, having a great base product to work with is important for getting good results. All of the Machinecraft parts I've ever worked with have been excellent quality.

I got most of the left ear done. All that's left is the bottom facet. In the second pic below, you can see something that's really hard to achieve on a resin ear-- the exposed metal along the edges. It's a small detail, but it's another reason why I like working with the metal ears.

 

[BudaFett]

Damn, that looks nice! I wonder what the comparison of your metal paint job compared to resin will look like. The metal ear just looks heavy...weird I know...

 

[Grimstuff]

Yeah, I totally get what you mean with the heavy thing. There's just something about just how solid real metal is, how machined and precise the corners are, the slightly brushed texture, etc, that's super hard if not usually impossible to replicate with plastics and paints.

 

[superjedi]

They definitely have some heft to them. It's weird handling them when you've worked with resin pieces for a while, lol.

I finished the bottom of the left ear. So that piece is all done.



I also got the arches airbrushed onto the RF ear cap. Now it's ready for some details.

 

[BudaFett]

Damn that left ear piece looks great! Mine next mine next!

 

[superjedi]

The boy has no patience...

Ok, the ear cap is detailed and the markings are applied. Just needs a wash and a shot of clear coat and the set will be finished.

 

[BudaFett]

Beautiful!!

 

[superjedi]

Thanks!

I gave the RF ear parts a wash and now i'm just waiting for the weather to warm up so I can give everything a clear coat.
Since I have 2 sets in hand for commissions, I thought it would be fun to show a "raw" set with a completed set. See if you can figure out which is which.



These ears are terrific and they'll make an excellent addition to an FPH2 helmet.
Thanks for following the progress!

 

[BudaFett]

Do you have a resin set to compare?

 

[superjedi]

Not at the moment.

 

[BudaFett]

Not at the moment.

How's the possible? You have like 15 painted helmets...

 

[superjedi]

Oh well yeah. I thought you meant a spare set sitting around.

 

[MachineCraft]

Thanks!

I gave the RF ear parts a wash and now i'm just waiting for the weather to warm up so I can give everything a clear coat.
Since I have 2 sets in hand for commissions, I thought it would be fun to show a "raw" set with a completed set. See if you can figure out which is which.

View attachment 169449

These ears are terrific and they'll make an excellent addition to an FPH2 helmet.
Thanks for following the progress!

Way too cool seeing the difference. I would love to know/share what your sanding technique is, because the set on the left looks incredible with the machining marks taken out of it! I'm sure there was some elbow grease involved!