Painting trick i discovered...

[LittleOne]

Hi all,

this applies to HIPS helmets

 

dont know if this is gonna help anyone but after painting my helmet so many times because of different reasons, i finally discovered a way ( sort of ) to paint properly ( please feel free to disagree completely with this)

 

 

In the end what i found is this:

 

step 1: shake you can of krylon pretty well and for a long time before you paint.

 

step 2: test your paint can by painting away to see how the spray turns out out of the can.

 

Step 3: hold your can at a distance of the surface where your paint starts to drop by gravity. The idea is to let the paint drop on the helmet, instead of trying to cover a specific area and have runs. I think it is better to have to do several coats than just one thick coat full of ugly runs.

 

step 4: start painting outside the helmet and moving in...like drawing a long line on a piece of paper. then exit out of your helmet while spraying. do this at fairly brisk pace or fast movement of the arm. you ll lose paint but better to lose paint than have it looking ugly on the helmet and "always" buy 2 cans just in case....you may need to do some touch ups some time later!

 

step 5: i found out that if you do 4 to 5 pass of this line where you paint you will avoid runs. Meaning: i pass quickly doing my line 4 to 5 times then i let it dry...

 

step 5: after your 4 to 5 th pass, wait let the paint dry for at least close to 5 minutes and up the more you wait the less chance you have a chance of generating bad runs. While waiting shake your can, and when you start to paint again spray away from the helmet a few times then continue painting your helmet again.

 

Step 6: repeat until you are satisfied that the job is done.

 

 

TiP: put your helmet high, as high as you can reach the top with the can. The chin part gave me the most problem because i was spraying over the helmet and all the paint went down, created gobs of paint that i had to sand. It is easier to paint under the chin area if you helmet if high and you get less of a chance of having runs or gobs of paints in the end because you will be in a natural position when painting.

 

If you have an adustable height stand the better so you can bring the helmet down when done the under the chin part or up and down depending on the part you are painting.

 

the pause in between sprays is crucial i think because the more you try to put on at one time the more it will turn crappy on you. I learned the hard way that it is better to put in 10 lights coats in succession with pauses in between than trying to put 3 thick coats and then having to sand off gobs of paint.

 

 

I am not an expert at all, and i am sure that you tube can show how to paint properly. But even then, seeing and doing is 2 different things and it takes practice to be a better painter but knowledge and tips are great too.

 

 

please fell free to ad your tips for others..

 

 

so quick spray 4-5 times then take a break then do this again.

 

 

update:

 

Today i have tried to paint the traps and temples on the side with crappy results. ( lack of experience i am sure ) but i always got out of my mess so far so i ll clean this one too.

 

I also did the frown which turned out real cool. I masked the part i did not want to paint with some liquid mask , let is dry out then painted away the humbrol gray and let it dry...roughly 6 hours later i checked and the humbrol was dry, so i rubbed the mask off and the frown looks crappy, just like in the movies, so at least that part i am very satisfied with. so that is another tip, you can mask the frown if you think your hand is not steady enough to do a proper job, that paid off for me.

 

If i ever decide to do another helmet, i think i am going to invest into an airbrush to paint the details because my hand is not steady enough and i got crappy results that i have to fix...

 

cheers!

 

 

 

opinion:

 

 

I am inclined to say that you should paint your bucket but not do a “final coat†until your detailing is done…

 

What I mean by this is that if you make mistakes on your details, traps, tears, frown, or vocoder and you have to sand off stuff, chances are you are going to hit the paint below and curse like I did.

It is some work to clean the stuff off the masking liquid but it beats having to repaint the white parts over and over..

For me, my solution is to paint the details and then mask the details with liquid mask so you can peel it off after your final coat of paint…

 

There is no point in trying to obtain the perfect paint “shinny glossy look†if you know that you are going to have defects while detailing that you are going to have to clean up by sanding most likely which will void your cool shiny paint job...

 

Perfect example: my tubestripes were messed up so I had so sand them off which took some of the paint below so I have to paint some part of the bucket again so might as well wait until the very end and then do the white do-over after all the detailing is done…

 

Some will say this is not the way to go, but as a beginner and facing a lot of unknown in doing your bucket you will find that you will do the same thing over and over again which is going to upset you.

 

The older troopers are better at doing this and they know what to do and avoid the mistakes so they can safely build their bucket without running into any problems…

Edited May 9, 2011 by LittleOne

[TK-2126_MD[TK]]

Thx!!! wish i had this post, when i first started many moons ago!!!!! first time painters will be very thank full. the only thing i would add is to practice the spray technique awhile with other things before hitting the helmet.

Good job

[john danter]

One thing I always get wrong is spraying. Nice tips

[sixxgunn13]

You can never go wrong IF you want to recreate a accurate crappy paint like the originals, paint runs are subjective.

 

You have to remember WE as prop/costume builders make our stuff 10x better than the originals ever were.

so have fun and you'll never go wrong.

 

Now if you were trying to do a Boba Fett ESB helmet THEN, accuracy is a must!

[kiyotei[TK]]

sorry but I find this instruction from you very funny, you may need to be a bit clearer in what you mean..."While waiting shake your can..." I can only imagine the funny videos we will start submitting of the painting process:))

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

really letting paint "fall" onto the surface or fogging the paint on is an art.

temperature, air flow and technique all combine.

 

elimination of paint runs before they happen is just knowing exactly how much paint you have on an area.

spraying directly, is a major cause for failure.

 

allowing the paint to fog evenly is the key he seems to be describing here.

 

I put my helmets on a shower curtain rod attached vertically. then I paint sitting in a chair starting from the bottom

and then standing up all while rotating the helmet by spinning the rod. rotation allows me to stand in one spot, and manage

the paint flow by doing the helmet in quarters.

 

I've painted 3 helmets. one mrce, and one ATA. and clear coated one black ATA.

 

painting inside a room/ garage is really the best way to manage air flow.

 

but the real key to painting a bucket is this:

 

let the paint cure fully at the proper temperature (can take weeks) just let it sit.

 

then polish your paint by wetsanding with 1200-1600 evenly and carefully.

 

then finally clear coat and wetsand for the "impossible" shine look...