question about boba fett paint up process

alvomedia

Hunter
my husband wants me to do a boba helmet paint up for him, and i am game for the challenge! i've read and read and re-read, and watch videos about the process and i've really got the impression that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

i figure there are two options for me:

1) start with a silver/chrome base and build up my paint layers from there; stencil on the details, masking and then airbrushing on the subsequent layers, using a fine paint brush for some of the more minute details.

2) start with the classic boba green (or red for other areas) base and paint on the damage layers; stencil on the details but probably not masking and using the airbrush, instead using a brush to hand paint all the details.

i see option 1 as utilizing an airbrush more, and option 2 as using hand painting more.

my concern with the hand painting is i don't want it to look like it was "hand painted" with brush strokes.

just looking for some guidance, advice, or debate about what will come out looking the best. (i don't think either option will be "easier" than the other. both options have considerable amount of work involved!)

thanks!
 
Greetings, my name is Tommy. With all the great info here on TDH it's more than possible to do a great job using either technique.

I am finding the stencil/tracing paper/masking fluid/airbrushing technique is so far working pretty well for me. If you wish you can check out my progress on my thread here...http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f20/tjr2d2s-gotta-start-somewhere-esb-build-53691/index3.html

best of luck with your project, your husband is a very lucky guy!
 
Greetings, my name is Tommy. With all the great info here on TDH it's more than possible to do a great job using either technique.

I am finding the stencil/tracing paper/masking fluid/airbrushing technique is so far working pretty well for me. If you wish you can check out my progress on my thread here...http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f20/tjr2d2s-gotta-start-somewhere-esb-build-53691/index3.html

best of luck with your project, your husband is a very lucky guy!


Greetings Tommy, thanks for posting your thread. You are really documenting things well and it will be an asset for so many people! How are you finding the liquid mask to work with?
 
Greetings Tommy, thanks for posting your thread. You are really documenting things well and it will be an asset for so many people! How are you finding the liquid mask to work with?

Thank You. I am glad to be of help. As far as the masking fluid goes, so far it is has been great to work with. I use a rubber tipped color shaper in conjunction with the fluid rather than a brush, it really helps a lot because the fluid can gunk up a brush real quick!

I am also gonna piggyback on what my Bro Raizo brought up. In addition to the masking fluid, stencils, etc there will come times when some of the paint will need to be applied topically. Which is okay cause the masking fluid only gets so many of the little details.
 
I would recommend a combo of the two also..............at least that is the way I have done mine. When you talk about brushing, I would recommend that only the smallest of details will be done by hand. 95% will be done with masking and airbrush.

Do small sections at a time, and take your time. The largest section I would ever try to tackle all together is the back panels. Other than that think of each area of detail in sections maybe 3 or 4 inches square and work your way around the helmet.
 
I would recommend a combo of the two also..............at least that is the way I have done mine. When you talk about brushing, I would recommend that only the smallest of details will be done by hand. 95% will be done with masking and airbrush.

I agree, only the smallest details should be done by hand. So what have you personally done in terms of order paint layers? Start from a silver/chrome base?
 
If you look in the sticky section at the top of the helmet section you'll find a sticky called 'consolidated helmet paint ups' or something like that. In there you find some lovely paint up threads. All are good but I particularly enjoy the Terminal Fettler and Jayvee threads. The Jayvee 'deluxe ESB' thread is particularly useful as a walk through. It also contains the (modified) humbrol paint list from Terminal Fettler which is around 25 different humbrol colours plus a handful of mixes from those 25 colours giving around 30 different colours or so on the esb lid. In my opinion a layered approach for the large areas with some of the fine details added topically is the best way to go. I apply the masking fluid using a cocktail stick. Cheap and better than ruining a brush; gives better detail too.
 
Ah, the old layered vs. topical debate. ;)

You're correct in your first post that you'll see much more airbrush usage by going layered while
topical will require more hand painting. If you have some quality paints, and good brushes, that'll
help with eliminating brushstrokes.
I prefer acrylics for hand painting. IMO they're just easier to work with.
 
thanks for the response guys, you are really helping me out! i've definitely spent a lot of time in the sticky boba paint up threads and they have been invaluable. i think i've formulated a plan in my mind (it is a lot to wrap your brain around when you're dealing with so many layers) and i'll likely get to it sometime in the spring. so that still gives me plenty of time to study up!

as far as paint goes i've seen a few paint lists as well which is handy. what about acrylic vs. enamel? i typically have leaned more toward acrylics, mostly because like supderjedi mentions they are just easier to work with. i suppose i just answered my own question, ha! it probably just depends what you prefer to work with. ;)
 
as a man with hands that vibrate as violently as a chiwawa in winter, I find the air brush a lot better, but either way is good, also you will find that most people here use the airbrush as well.
cheers, ryan
 
Are you using Humbrol acrylics? If so, do the colors come out the same as the enamels?
I attempted to, but the entire batch that I bought ended up being bad paint. I went with tamiya in the end. I actually have a bunch that I didn't even open (wasn't worth the headache) that I'd offer up if anyone wants to try their luck with them.
 
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I attempted to, but the entire batch that I bought ended up being bad paint. I went with tamiya in the end.

i like the tamiya acrylics. do you have a color list for the tamiya paints you used? i've been trying my "best guess" for some of the colors i got from a few of the other boba paint up threads.
 
i like the tamiya acrylics. do you have a color list for the tamiya paints you used? i've been trying my "best guess" for some of the colors i got from a few of the other boba paint up threads.
I do! Although I don't have the exact ratios, I pored over reference pictures and tested with layered color swatches.

Base Grey: X-2 (White) +XF-18 (Medium Blue)
Silver: I went with Testors Diamond Dust
Grey (Humbrol 79): X-2 + XF63 (German Grey)
Concrete back panels: Model Master Concrete Acryl
RLM 73 Back Panel: This one was a doozy, it ended up looking alright, but I think with more tweaking I could get it better XF24 (Dark Grey)+XF-27(Black Green)+XF70 (Dark Green 2)
Dome and Lower Cheek greens: A little XF-18+ mostly XF71(Cockpit Green) and just a few touches of XF-25(Light Sea Grey)
Upper Cheeks: XF-1 (Flat Black)
Mandible Maroon: X-7 (Red)+XF-9 (Hull Red)
Mandible Main Red: TS-33 (Spray Can, Dull Red)
Killstripes Yellow: XF-3 (Flat yellow)
Killstripes Orange: X-6 (Orange) + XF-3
Rangefinder Ear Sand Color: XF-59 (Desert Yellow) + XF-3
Left Ear Red: X-7
Left Ear Beige: XF-20 (Medium Grey)
Left Ear Green: XF-5 (Flat Green) + XF-51 (Khaki Drab) + XF-70
Black U on Rangefinder Ear: X-1 (Black)
White Strip on Rangefinder Ear: X-2
White U on Left Ear: X-2

I think that's it, hope it helps!
 
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