Primers, paints & decals?

[JackSpratt]

Hello,

 

I'm about to tackle my first bucket and wanted to get things clear in my head, apologies for the noob questions.

 

First up is, are there any preferred primers and base whites to be used or are they all as good as each other? I'm in the UK if anyone can recommend specific brands.

I may also tackle the paint chip effect and was wondering about the beige under coat, again any brands or specifics would be great.

 

I've sussed and sourced the blues and blacks (going for ESB) but wanted to know whether to had paint decals or go for the stick on numbers. Again, is this personal preference or is it one or the other for specific helmets?

 

Hopefully I haven't embarrassed myself too much here but I have to start somewhere

 

Cheers,

Matt

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

I followed PandaTrooper's thread to a T... http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=14806 ... you could probably ask him specific questions.

 

 

Are you talking about painting the whole bucket white, or just the detailing? For details I didn't use any primer, just put the Testors (your equiv of Humbrol?) on directly, 2 coats gray under, 2 coats for lines/black, 2-3 coats black on the vocoder. I used my decals for the tube stripes.

 

Some of the guys suggested using the decals to get approved (EIB should be ok) and hand-painting afterward. But I love painting so I went straight for it and it turned out better than I expected. Just look closely at pics of helmets that are approved on the EIB thread.

[inglorious trooper]

i like the hand painted look with humbrol no5 and for the sprays i always use plasticote with a plasticote primer(b&q)

[gazmosis[501st]]

In my experience, and I have had failure, the failure occurred when I painted the top gloss coat without allowing the primer to cure completely. You need to use a plastic bonding primer and if it does not cure,cit had not bonded with the plastic and will lift (wrinkle) when the gloss coat is applied. I left my primer cure for 72 hours before applying my top coat. You must then allow your top coat to cure completely before ANY sanding or polishing. I suggest 1 week minimum with two coats 10 days with three.

[darthyagi]

The biggest mistake I made when I was doing my helmet was temperature. It was winter, I didn't have a place where I could control the temperature, and I was impatient. It all worked out, but make sure that the air temperature is consistent and warm (16-25 degrees is ideal.)

 

Basically, I did two coats of standard gray spray primer, two or three coats (I can't remember) white paint, and a gloss coat if you want. I used a high-gloss white, so I didn't need the gloss overcoat, though I kinda wish I had now. But do it before you put any decals on it. Again, a mistake I made.

[JackSpratt]

Thanks for all the info guys (& gals), more than helpful!

[JackSpratt]

Schoolboy error #1, of course I knew ESB lids had decals rather than painted?

[JoeR]

Keith has a tutorial somewhere, I will find it and email it to you. He got a painted helmet to look and feel exactly like ABS plastic, it was the best paint job I have ever seen. I'll dig up the instructions.

[JackSpratt]

Nice one Joe, appreciate it!

[bobojuice]

If you're going for ESB you will need decals.