MMcFett's first paintup - ESB style

[MMcFett]

So, since I am starting my first Boba build after nearly completing my custom Mando, I've decided to take the same route I did then: practice on my kid's stuff before trying mine. I bought him an upgraded helmet compared to the one I made him and am going to try to paint it ESB style. I've got a DVH coming my way for me. First, the helmet. As you can see it's incredibly accurateView media item 8699It was a fairly cheap find at the thrift store, which will do well enough for my purposes. Needed a little touch up so I filled in some holes from a bad cast.View media item 8698Next I put some primer and Rub n Buff for the base layer. I'm going to try a layered paint approach.View media item 8697I set in a T visor just so you can see the shape of the helmet when it's not warped.View media item 8696Next I started on the left ear. Had some issues getting the transfer paper I got from Hobby Lobby to work with the stencils, so I just had to free hand this.View media item 8695Not the most accurate but that certainly matches the bucket! The main thing is to see what my skill level is and figure out the colors and techniques using hopefully all stuff I can get from the local Hobby Lobby.

 

[Jurassic_Fett]

Good work so far, just figured I'd let you know that the chipping you made silver on the non-rf ear is actually a light grey. I use ghost grey which can be bought at hobby lobby usually.

 

[MMcFett]

Good work so far, just figured I'd let you know that the chipping you made silver on the non-rf ear is actually a light grey. I use ghost grey which can be bought at hobby lobby usually.

I was wondering about that. The templates called it "base silver" but all other paintups I've seen use a gray color. I'll have to look for that one!

 

[BudaFett]

I think you might want to use some acrylic clear coat on the rub'n'buff before painting. I believe you can reactivate the rub'n'buff if you don't.

Others can chime in.

 

[MMcFett]

I think you might want to use some acrylic clear coat on the rub'n'buff before painting. I believe you can reactivate the rub'n'buff if you don't.

Others can chime in.

What do you mean by reactivate? I was planning to do Testors dullcoat at the end of the job. Would that address the issue?

 

[MMcFett]

So I got the left ear marked off, and have actually painted the white part but don't have a photo yet.
View media item 8707I do have a gripe about this blue tape. It pulled off some of the green paint and allowed the white paint to bleed under the edges quite a bit.
Is there a trick to using this stuff? It has never been very good to me.

I also did some work on the RF side, got the black and grey done too - just need to upload a photo of that.
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[MMcFett]

Here's a pic of the finished ears. I had to do a bit of touch up because of the bad blue tape, so this is good enough for me to keep from messing it up further. I did get some frog tape which has worked much better so I shouldn't have this issue again.
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[BudaFett]

Ears came out great! You thinking about replacing that stalk?

 

[MMcFett]

Ears came out great! You thinking about replacing that stalk?

Not right now. This is a Christmas present for my boy, so more than likely this stalk will be broken by 2019. I do plan to get a hollow aluminum one from MachineCraft when I start on my personal DVH helmet. If this one breaks, I may get a nice plain aluminum one from full metal Fett.

 

[hvacdon]

I believe rnbuda is mentioning the clear coat due to the possibility of the rub and buff can oxidize and cause it to change color !!

 

[BudaFett]

Not right now. This is a Christmas present for my boy, so more than likely this stalk will be broken by 2019. I do plan to get a hollow aluminum one from MachineCraft when I start on my personal DVH helmet. If this one breaks, I may get a nice plain aluminum one from full metal Fett.

Makes perfect sense! Lucky to have a dad to paint a lid for Christmas! What a great present!

 

[MMcFett]

I believe rnbuda is mentioning the clear coat due to the possibility of the rub and buff can oxidize and cause it to change color !!

Like rust? Didn't know it could do that.

Makes perfect sense! Lucky to have a dad to paint a lid for Christmas! What a great present!

Thanks! I hope I can finish in time. It's got me a little stressed.

 

[hvacdon]

Yep, your Son's lucky to be getting such a great present !! Hopefully he will take care with it until you can build the rest of the suit for him..

 

[BudaFett]

Thanks! I hope I can finish in time. It's got me a little stressed.

You got a good amount of time! I'm sure he'll be pleased either way!

 

[MMcFett]

Thanks for all the kind words guys. I got a layer of gray down today so I'll get a few more pics up soon. This is the masking on the silver layer before I painted the gray.
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[MMcFett]

I'm trying to not double post, so I combined several things into this one.
Posted 27 Nov 18:

Here's pictures of the gray color. It's kind of hard to see.
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I'm trying to figure out what the concrete/beige color is supposed to look like next.

Posted 3 Dec 18:

So I played around trying to make a concrete color to match the templates, but the color on the templates is a more gray color and from what I've seen on other paintups this is a more beige type color. I wasn't happy with the gray I came up with, so I just used the same Sand/Wood combination that I used for the RF ear.View media item 8772View media item 8771Then I masked it off.View media item 8770View media item 8769View media item 8768View media item 8767
Next I spent quite some time trying to create the RLM 73 color. My first attempt didn't look right after I painted it on, so I tried again. I'm happier with this color, but I think it can use some refinement.View media item 8766View media item 8765
So last night I finally took all the tape and masking fluid off. I'm having trouble with some of the masking, so I'll keep working it to get it to match the templates. I think next time, I'll stencil-mask-paint and remove on each layer to make this easier.View media item 8764View media item 8763View media item 8762
So after looking at it all together, it's really not too bad. I'm disappointed with the masking because I had a lot more fine detail blocked off that hasn't revealed itself yet. Hopefully I can get more fluid off, but live and learn. I'll modify my technique as I go and see how that works.

 

[Jurassic_Fett]

One thing you can do after the paint has been left to cure (about one day), is get some masking tape/ painters tape and place it over the areas that still have fluid under them. The tape should pull up most of the spots with masking fluid underneath. Unless the paint was applied thick.. Hope that helps!

 

[MMcFett]

That's a great idea! I'll have to try it.

One thing you can do after the paint has been left to cure (about one day), is get some masking tape/ painters tape and place it over the areas that still have fluid under them. The tape should pull up most of the spots with masking fluid underneath. Unless the paint was applied thick.. Hope that helps!

So today I stenciled, masked and painted the reefer gray color on the cheeks.
View media item 8774

 

[MMcFett]

Here's a pic of the gray color.
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To keep from having the same issue with the masking fluid not coming off that I had on the rear panels, I went ahead and took it off this layer.
I'll have to reapply it for the next layer, but I should be able to keep my detail this way.
View media item 8777View media item 8776

 

[MMcFett]

I've done quite a bit of work, but haven't been great about taking pictures and posting updates. Here's the green on the cheeks.View media item 8786View media item 8785
Here is the flat black on the upper cheeks.
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Then I taped the bottom of the helmet off and started working on the dome. Traced out and masked the silver damage, painted gray and then free handed the gray with masking fluid. After that came the green.
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I think it turned out really good! The only issue I had is using the frog tape on areas where I previously painted. You can see on the back panels where it pulled some of the paint up. I'll have to do some touch up there.