Topical?? or not???

[john django]

I had a question about painting a helmet.

I hear both good and bad things about topical painting, the bad being the weathering does not look layered, the good being it is quick and accurate.
I have seen both ways, and a mix of the two.
how was the the movie helmet done? Was it airbrushed using liquid masks or spray painted then weathering applied topically?

 

[Hammer of Might]

I imagine it was a mixture of masking and topical, but I'm not certain.

 

[superjedi]

One of the members here, Rogue Studios, has done very extensive research into the original movie helmets. Maybe he has some info on that.

 

[fettswatcop]

I used both. It blends in well.

 

[Desert Beagle]

Topical is NOT quick if you want accurate, and I speak from experience because I did it on my helmet.

I just did a liquid mask over the main parts of damage on my JP after painting the whole thing silver out of a rattle can and it took all of 30 min. On average a single scratch on my helmet took around 3 hours, and the whole helmet took 4 months to complete.

 

[john django]

Topical is NOT quick if you want accurate, and I speak from experience because I did it on my helmet.

I just did a liquid mask over the main parts of damage on my JP after painting the whole thing silver out of a rattle can and it took all of 30 min. On average a single scratch on my helmet took around 3 hours, and the whole helmet took 4 months to complete.

The way I see it, if you paint the mask first then remove it, you get the layering that looks more like battle damage.
If you apply that topically, there is no need for a base layer of chrome, also you have more control..i.e. picking your brush strokes for damage.
I have no idea if masking renders the same control?
I would believe it would be harder to paint the liquid mask plus drying time.
Also topically painting IMO might make the weathering look superficial?