Minutefett ESB Restored paint up
- Thread starter Short4ATrooper
- Start date
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
Visor and key slots cut
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
Blacked out the inside:
spicy fett
Active Hunter
If you are going for movie accuracy I would check out Ord Mantells ESB build. The helmet interior is blueish color.
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Short4ATrooper
Hunter
I tend to skirt a line somewhere between screen accuracy, realism, and practicality.
To that end, I’m not fussed about the interior. That Ord Mantell build looks amazing though, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
To that end, I’m not fussed about the interior. That Ord Mantell build looks amazing though, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
RafalFett
Well-Known Hunter
Just so there's no confusion, the image posted by spicy fett is of the ESB Hero/ROTJ SE helmet, but here's Ord Mantell's helmet for comparison:
He sure did an excellent job so far!
He sure did an excellent job so far!
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
Gotcha
Base grey is down, coffee at the ready!
I debated whether or not to lay down another coat but I like the faint patches of grey primer showing through, I don’t want that base colour to be too ‘clean’ and uniform so I think I’ll leave it.
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
Silver damage is done with grey layer. I’m going to do the fine detail within the grey areas before moving on to the next layer. I waited until the very end before going back and doing the detail on each area and it was overwhelming, I got lost very quickly! So this time I’ll do it in each area before moving on.
Little bit of an issue with paint peeling off with the masking fluid in a couple of areas. It’s easily fixed with a touch up but I didn’t have this issue at all with my 3D printed one. Is it common with fibreglass helmets and is there any ways to guard against it?
Little bit of an issue with paint peeling off with the masking fluid in a couple of areas. It’s easily fixed with a touch up but I didn’t have this issue at all with my 3D printed one. Is it common with fibreglass helmets and is there any ways to guard against it?
I've seen a few MF helmets have this issue. Sometimes the helmet isn't fully cured which is why the paint peels. I've heard of clear coating between layers of masking and paint could help.
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
Oh really? Between every layer?! Damn.
Do you see any potential issues in me sanding what I’ve done so far off and starting again? I think that could help to be honest as it’ll scuff the surface a little and hopefully give the paint something to grab to more. Nothing too crazy, I have a lot of 400 grit
It really depends. If the helmet's top coat isn't 100% cure it doesn't matter how much you sand it. I would reach out to MF and discuss.
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
I have a WIP going on bobafettbuilders and he’s chimed in on that one. This was his advice:
I suggest sanding the entire helmet with 500 grit. The sandpaper will either sand the paint, or it willl easily take off any of the primer in areas that would eventually "lift" from tape peel. Should you have this in enough areas, then I suggest you to acetone the helmet to strip it. After stripping it, a good acetone wash should remove any and all trace of mold release/residue. After this, you should be ready to lay down primer again.
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
So, MF advised it is most likely residue of releasing agent causing the issue. Even though I gave it a wash with warm soapy water before starting, I suspect I didn’t go hard enough. I only used wire wool which is 0000 and therefore probably not ideal to scrub anything off.
So, now I removed all paint and primer from the helmet using acetone so it’s had a good scrub all over with that as well as another scrub with warm soapy water and we’re back to square one. I can’t see how any releasing agent would be left after that so I hope that has solved it.
I will say, after hearing that the issue could be releasing agent, I remembered how the masking tape wouldn’t really stick to the fibreglass when I was masking it up for painting the rear panels. If I had know a bit more about working on fibreglass, that would’ve been a red flag but hey-ho! Live and learn. We’re now re-primed and ready to go.
I think this may have been a bit of a blessing in disguise as, since I started painting this up, I found a thread by MF over on Boba builders which detailed the prep needed before painting which included sanding off excess fibreglass from the bottom of the cheeks and the bottom of the rear panels which I had not seen. This gave me a chance to do that and the cheeks now have that 'warp.'
If you look at the bottom edge of the cheek in the above photos, you can see what I mean.
So, now I removed all paint and primer from the helmet using acetone so it’s had a good scrub all over with that as well as another scrub with warm soapy water and we’re back to square one. I can’t see how any releasing agent would be left after that so I hope that has solved it.
I will say, after hearing that the issue could be releasing agent, I remembered how the masking tape wouldn’t really stick to the fibreglass when I was masking it up for painting the rear panels. If I had know a bit more about working on fibreglass, that would’ve been a red flag but hey-ho! Live and learn. We’re now re-primed and ready to go.
I think this may have been a bit of a blessing in disguise as, since I started painting this up, I found a thread by MF over on Boba builders which detailed the prep needed before painting which included sanding off excess fibreglass from the bottom of the cheeks and the bottom of the rear panels which I had not seen. This gave me a chance to do that and the cheeks now have that 'warp.'
If you look at the bottom edge of the cheek in the above photos, you can see what I mean.
Eythor20
Hunter
Also i would thin the thickness of the visor area aswell! you can see a line there which is about the thickness you'd want the visor area to be
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
Oh really? So I want to remove everything where the red line is:Also i would thin the thickness of the visor area aswell! you can see a line there which is about the thickness you'd want the visor area to be
At what stage would you say is best to do this? I’m afraid of making the helmet too flimsy and won’t be putting the visor in until the end
Eythor20
Hunter
I have a minutefett cast that I'm currently painting up and i finished all the clean up and trimming before painting
But it's entirely up to you if you want to do it. Here is a pic of the original helmet you can see that the visor area matches up roughly with the thickness of that line.
Short4ATrooper
Hunter
Ok, good to know. I can still to do it now as I've barely started painting - the helmet has a base coat of Humbrol 147 all over but I can't see that being disrupted too much by sorting this visor issue out.
