Superjedi's FPH-ESB for Grifter

[superjedi]

I'm back from my work trip, and now I'm dealing with a bit of a cold. I think I picked up some airplane-itis on the way home.
But I'm pressing on with the helmet and I've managed to get the big area on the right panel done.

It's tricky to get a good shot of this as the silver covers a pretty large curved area, so here are a couple of other angles.

Apart from the right mandible, this is probably the most detail-dense area on the ESB helmet.

I'll continue working on the damage in the lower right and upper right sections next. Then it'll be time to lay down the
base color and first weathering pass on the dome and inner cheeks.

 

[ROYSTERONE]

Superb work, can't wait to see the finished helmet.

 

[jbdubz]

that back panel green tho... just lovely. feel better E [emoji40]


Sent from my R2 unit

 

[superjedi]

Thanks, guys.

I got the remainder of the right panel done late yesterday and here are a couple of angles.

The appearance isn't quite final yet. I still need to do the contrasting pale gray and a bit of pastel weathering.
But those steps will be completed at the end of the project.

The small physical scratches have been added as well. Today's plan is to mask off the rear panels and lay down the base color
for the dome and inner cheeks. If I have enough time I'll do the first weathering pass, too. I mix a new batch of my weathering shade
for each helmet that I do, so no two buckets are exactly alike in that respect. I try to mix a slightly lighter/grayer shade of the base
green and use it to break up the starkness of the dome and cheeks. Additional weathering passes will be completed near the end
of the paint up. We had a really weird cold snap here overnight, so hopefully it will warm up enough to spray paint out in my garage.

 

[superjedi]

Base green has been applied, and I did the first weathering pass, too. I airbrush the weathering tone on in cloudy
patterns to give some variation to that expanse of green and make it look a bit oxidized. Later weathering will also
change the tone of the green, but this breaks up the initial color application.

Once this dries, I'll begin the gray and silver damage on the dome.

More to come!

 

[superjedi]

Detailing has begun. To me, this is where the paint job gets fun. To start with a "blank" dome and add all the little details
that make it ESB. I always begin with the rear of the dome. Not sure why, I'm just a creature of habit I suppose.

There's a pretty big network of small physical scratches all over the rear of the dome. I add them using a combination of silver, applied with
a very fine brush, and a metal scribing tool to scratch down to the gelcoat. Depending on the light, the scratches fade or brighten.

There will be a few more outlying scratches, but I need to place some more gray and silver damage to use as landmarks.

An odd illusion is that the base green appears to get slightly darker when the gray and silver damage is applied.

I'll continue around counter-clockwise, doing the "stacked" area behind the RF ear next. Then I'll jump across the ear platform
to do the cat scratch area. That's one of my favorite ESB features.

 

[mainst69]

Looks like another great job by one of the greats!

 

[superjedi]

Thanks.

Got a good amount done today. Had a day off from work so I put the time to good use.
I began with the stacked area behind the ear. I enjoy painting the damage on the rear of the dome for another reason that I didn't
mention before--it often gets overlooked! If you think about it, when you're trooping or taking pics with a great looking Fett at a Con,
people pretty much always focus on the front of the helmet and costume. But there's so much great detail on the back side, and
the smallest details are important to the overall look of the ESB.

You can probably see that there's some additional detail completed, too. So let's change the angle a little more toward the front of the lid.

The cat scratch region begins to come into view. One of my favorite areas to paint. I always do the 3 sections together as the spacing between
them is just as important as all the small details within the cat scratch, the "hump," and the scrape above.

Next up will be the area above and around the turn signals. Then it's on to the dent!

 

[haujohn]

Looking good! Im still afraid of mine..

 

[superjedi]

Afraid? Why?

Here's Saturday's progress. I got the small area around the turn signals done. This will receive a bit more weathering near the end
of the project, and I need to place a few physical scratches, too.

This was followed by. . . the dent! I love doing the dent. It's the most recognizable feature of the helmet and there's so much
tasty detail to paint.

I do this in 2 sections: the dent itself, beginning with the silver, and then outlined with the gray. Then I do the "comet's tail" that streaks back
from the dent, beginning with gray, followed with silver.

These shots are tilted to avoid getting too much glare off the silver.

I'll work on the big scrape across the crown of the dome next.

 

[BobasDent1138]

Wow....I cannot believe how amazing this is.. well, I can, it's superjedi ;P but all topical silver and gray??? Most impressive...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A

 

[superjedi]

Yeah, sometimes I see gray and silver in my sleep. But here's another color to add into the mix. . .
Killstripes! I managed to get these done before the end of the weekend. Lots of masking with tape and with liquid mask.

I did the majority of the tiny chips between the killstripes, too. There are a few more above the stripes and I'll finish those once
I place the final gray and silver damage area. It's the little area I call the "Scottie dog."

I forgot to get a clear shot of the big scrape on top of the dome, but you can see most of it in the next shot.

Just a little more to finish on the dome and then it's on to the cheeks.

 

[superjedi]

The work continues!

I finished up the remaining (small) section on the dome above the killstripes. There will be just a bit more damage added
at the end of the project using pastels and some other media.

With the dome complete, I blocked in the dark color on the outer cheeks. I paint these areas by hand, just as the original
helmet was painted. Using a wide flat brush I'm able to cut a nice line at the cheek borders. I began the damage with the
right cheek. I'll save the left cheek until I have more time, as there's a bit more detail to do, and another custom color to mix.

The cast-in Borden will be drilled out, by the way. Grifter is sending a machined replacement to install. It's a simple matter to cut
out the resin one, and the paint job won't be impacted at all.

 

[e3kehoe]

I fricking LOVE your paint ups!!!

 

[superjedi]

Thanks!

Today marks 4 weeks since I began Grifter's helmet and it looks like all the "basic" painting on the green parts is done.
I finished up the left cheek a little while ago. I really like the damage patterns in this section. They seem more angular or
something compared to other areas.

The left cheek also has another custom mixed gray. The area along the outside edge (against the dark outer cheek) is a darker and
greener gray than the gray that's used elsewhere. I've studied reference pics for I don't know how many hours, and I believe this is the
only portion of the helmet where this gray appears. It's definitely a different tone, not an optical illusion!

With all of this complete, I can mask everything off and lay down the base red on the mandibles/band/ear platforms/keyslots.
It's maybe the most time consuming masking for the whole project. But again, thorough prep is a necessity for Fett!

 

[superjedi]

Now we're starting to look pretty Fett-y! Got the base red airbrushed on earlier. Once this is dry I can begin doing the damage.

I took a little trip to the hobby shop just now to pick up some new detail brushes. If you live near a hobby shop that sells Princeton
brand brushes, I highly recommend them. They last a good while as long as you clean them well.

I'll be starting the damage on the keyslot area, then working on the rear half of the red band.

 

[Level3Fett]

Beautiful work!

 

[superjedi]

Thanks much!

Damage on the red sections is underway. I started yesterday with the keyslots. This is another phase of the paint up where I mix up
a custom color for the dark maroon/purple shade. I start with some Polly Scale PRR Maroon and add a few drops of Polly Scale BAR Blue
until it tips over into the purple range. It's a "dull" sort of purple. . . almost brownish. In the following pic you can see that I've also laid in
the gray in the center part of the red band.

In this next series of pics I'll show the stages that I go through when painting an area topically. I don't know that I've really shown this before,
but it'll give you an idea of what's involved in building up the detail.

First, here's a tighter view of the red band above the keyslots. The gray is blocked in here. I don't worry about getting all of the edges of the gray
damage 100% spot on to the templates at this stage. The silver and maroon/purple are going to tweak the shapes as I go.

I always have a reference pic or two up on my laptop screen as I'm painting, and in this next shot I've laid in the silver with a very fine detail brush.
I'm using either a size 10/0 or an 18/0 depending on how fine the detail is.

Next comes the maroon/purple. Again, it's added with a very fine liner brush.

Once I'm done with the three main colors, I go back and add the last details. These consist of some tiny flecks of the base red and
some additional gray and silver flecks and scratches.

Hope that wasn't too boring!
Now that the center area is done I'll continue working on the left and right sections of the red band.

 

[TheBobaFett]

Another masterpiece in the making by the man himself :cheers

 

[superjedi]

Well I don't know about that. Thanks, though!

OK, the next section is done. This portion of the band will change slightly in appearance during the final weathering when I add
the white thumbprints. There's some "whitewashing" that kind of streaks back from the bigger thumbprint and it will blend some
of the damage patterns.

The right section is up next.