Painting Predator helmet tips

[mandalore697]

I'm looking to get another one of my many projects off the work bench this weekend so my other half doesn't throw me out!

I've got a Celtic Predator helmet that I need to paint and wanted to know if anyone had any tips or techniques on how to best get the weathered/aged metal effect.

Thanks in advance!

Dan

 

[Jluck]

hey man, check out some hobbie shops or online stores. theres a 3 kits of metal aging u can get for paints ... ones for rusting, ones for oxidized metal, and one for a tarnished look.. its a pack with 3 bottles about 2.5-3 oz each and applicators....next time i go there ill get the name and company info who makes it 4 you :cheers

 

[General Grievous]

You might try here:
http://www.micro-mark.com/
Click on "Painting, Decalling, Weathering" Then click weathering.
Looks like some nice stuff.
Hope this helps.
Wayne

 

[Southern hunter]

When I painted 25mm miniatures in plate and chainmail, I always chose a primary color, then one darker and one lighter. You can layer the paint with the darkest color first, the main color next, then drybrush the lightest color for highlights and wear. You can also paint main color first, highlights next then do a wash of the darkest color over all of it. Generally a wash will be about 1/4 paint to 3/4 solvent or thinner. Washes take longer to dry, but you can easily blot up any excess. It also looks darker when first applied than when it dries.

I hope this helps.

 

[kanol matea]

http://www.thehunterslair.com/index.php? try here they have alot of help to give

 

[Jluck]

You might try here:
http://www.micro-mark.com/
Click on "Painting, Decalling, Weathering" Then click weathering.
Looks like some nice stuff.
Hope this helps.
Wayne

general g. yep thats the stuff i saw at my hobby shop i was talking about

 

[HeadlessHunter]

I remeber a while ago over on the RPF? A UK based member there posted pics of his Celtic paint up, if memory serves it was robosteve? does that ring a bell with anyone else? From what I remember he started off by painting the whole thing black, and then dabbing on silver with a paper towel to give that random scratchy effect before lightly airbrushing a further coat of silver, I cant for the life of me remember exactly what paints he used but the helmet looked AMAZING, try a search on the RPF for the member name, good luck Dan

ps I think he works for EA games

 

[mandalore697]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I'll have to show my progress!

 

[HeadlessHunter]

Hey Dan hows that Celtic coming along, Ive just painted up one of my Predator helmets I had lying around I'll get some pics up soon, I used the method I described and it worked nicely, I surprised myself!!!

 

[HeadlessHunter]

Heres my custom bio helmet, about 75% done lots more weathering to do plus I need to add an eye mesh and a tri-laser unit

 

[Mojo Fett]

Wow... Joe, that looks awesome!!

 

[Mr Fett]

Just like I said over at the Lair.....awesome bio and awesome work!

 

[HeadlessHunter]

Ah hi there, yes im also a member here and have been for a few years now, thanks alot, more weathering to do and at some stage I'll be trying to get a nice undermask and some dreads for it

 

[mandalore697]

Thanks for the tips guys!

Great work on your helmet mate, it looks great! Any more progress?

I've started working on mine again and have started with a base coat of black and am going to try the "dabbing" method as well as dark layer then light layer approach......

 

[HeadlessHunter]

Actually I finished it a while back and sold it to a member over at the lair, they were from California and it cost me 40 quid to post it!!! It was the only method that had insurance, it was a heavy helmet tho!! Let see some pics of your progress!!!

 

[kurtweinreich]

The process I used for mine was...

1. First layer of primer.

2. Second full layer of Hammered Metal Paint. This gives the helmet/armor the look of hammered metal versus smooth, dirty chrome. It pays off on the next step.

3. Black acrylic paint that is dried for a few seconds and wiped horizontally across the mask. The black paint stays in any grooves and imperfections and gives it the dirty look. You can wipe off as much as you want, and if you mess up, just add water and wipe away.

4. Once satisfied with the look you want, I always "finish" the piece with a nice layer of Clear Coat paint. This not only gets away from the painted look and protects the paint from elements, it gives the dirt an "oily" appearance which I liked better than just paint.

I used this technique with my armor as well. I got alot of response to the paint job when I informed them my armor was made out of foam...

And again used on the resin plasma cannon...

Hope this helps.

 

[mandalore697]

Thanks for the tips guys!

Here's my progress so far....

I primered it black, then put a base coat of some automotive metallic grey which was very dark.

I then used the light on dark approach and used a paper towel to dab a layer of lighter paint on top. I need to re-do a couple of areas where I went too heavy with the lighter coat and it has covered too much of the layer below...

One without and then one with flash

 

[Mojo Fett]

Looking great Dan...
Awesome lid, I will add one of these to my collection someday?

 

[HeadlessHunter]

That turned out great Dan, nice work mate!! :cheers

 

[mandalore697]

Thanks guys! And thanks for all your input!

Just got to finish it off and add the visor and lasers. I've got some real lasers to install which look great shining through some smoke/steam!