Evan1701
Active Hunter
I figured I'd create a second thread dedicated just to the helmet, since there are going to be a lot of posts and pics.
For starters, here are my current resources:
Welshwarrior's Youtube series: How to paint a Boba Fett helmet - YouTube
Paint by numbers guide: "Paint by numbers" Humbrol Visual Guide - ESB & ROTJ Helmet & ESB Armor
TF's ultimate paint-up: One last wafer thin ESB paint job...
Another really nice paint-up by Jayvee: *UPDATE-COMPLETE 5/3/12:Jayvee's deluxe ESB paint up (with an awesome BGHunter lid..)
For starters, my supplies:
1. DVH fiberglass lid, with separate resin ears, rangefinder, and Borden connector
2. Sandpaper- 120, 150, 180, 220, 400, and 600 wet/dry. I'd skip the 120, you can see the scratches through the primer currently so I'm hoping it will even out after I put the airbrushed paint down. Also picked up some 0000 steel wool in the same aisle, which will be used throughout the whole process.
3. Airbrush with compressor. Bought a nice double-acting airbrush on Amazon for $35, and borrowed my dad's compressor. You can swap this out with a cheap airbrush and canned airbrush propellant, but I'm really trying not to half-ass this like I do most other things in life.
4. Rattlecan primer with Humbrol enamel paints for the airbrush, plus thinner to mix with the paint. I used TF's paint-up almost exclusively for my list of paint.
5. Lots and lots of plastic bags and some nice green tape for masking off. Got some Humbrol masking fluid as well.
6. Little plastic individually sealing tupperware containers for mixing custom paints.
7. Crappy little helmet stand I made myself out of a foam head from Michels, some wooden dowel rods, and a thick foam base. Covered it with a garbage bag during paint.
8. Dremel, for cutting out the visor and the Borden connector hole.
9. Electric drill for drilling out the holes for the ears.
10. Bondo for filling the pits on the ears. The helmet had some minor air bubbles, which I decided to let slide and just touch up with paint instead. Didn't really feel like messing with the bondo just yet.
11. Respirator, goggles, and dust masks to use while cutting, sanding, and painting.
12. Latex gloves, which I should have used and didn't so now my hands are covered in paint.
13. Needle files. These little buggers are worth their weight in gold. There are little build-up areas all over the helmet that I filed down, and they were very useful when cleaning up the visor.
14. Replacement visor from Amazon. $13. It's a shade 3 which may be too light, but I tested it out yesterday with a camera flash and my face isn't visible at all. Worst comes to worst, I wasted $13. Big deal.
So now that that's over, let's get into the details!
For starters, here are my current resources:
Welshwarrior's Youtube series: How to paint a Boba Fett helmet - YouTube
Paint by numbers guide: "Paint by numbers" Humbrol Visual Guide - ESB & ROTJ Helmet & ESB Armor
TF's ultimate paint-up: One last wafer thin ESB paint job...
Another really nice paint-up by Jayvee: *UPDATE-COMPLETE 5/3/12:Jayvee's deluxe ESB paint up (with an awesome BGHunter lid..)
For starters, my supplies:
1. DVH fiberglass lid, with separate resin ears, rangefinder, and Borden connector
2. Sandpaper- 120, 150, 180, 220, 400, and 600 wet/dry. I'd skip the 120, you can see the scratches through the primer currently so I'm hoping it will even out after I put the airbrushed paint down. Also picked up some 0000 steel wool in the same aisle, which will be used throughout the whole process.
3. Airbrush with compressor. Bought a nice double-acting airbrush on Amazon for $35, and borrowed my dad's compressor. You can swap this out with a cheap airbrush and canned airbrush propellant, but I'm really trying not to half-ass this like I do most other things in life.
4. Rattlecan primer with Humbrol enamel paints for the airbrush, plus thinner to mix with the paint. I used TF's paint-up almost exclusively for my list of paint.
5. Lots and lots of plastic bags and some nice green tape for masking off. Got some Humbrol masking fluid as well.
6. Little plastic individually sealing tupperware containers for mixing custom paints.
7. Crappy little helmet stand I made myself out of a foam head from Michels, some wooden dowel rods, and a thick foam base. Covered it with a garbage bag during paint.
8. Dremel, for cutting out the visor and the Borden connector hole.
9. Electric drill for drilling out the holes for the ears.
10. Bondo for filling the pits on the ears. The helmet had some minor air bubbles, which I decided to let slide and just touch up with paint instead. Didn't really feel like messing with the bondo just yet.
11. Respirator, goggles, and dust masks to use while cutting, sanding, and painting.
12. Latex gloves, which I should have used and didn't so now my hands are covered in paint.
13. Needle files. These little buggers are worth their weight in gold. There are little build-up areas all over the helmet that I filed down, and they were very useful when cleaning up the visor.
14. Replacement visor from Amazon. $13. It's a shade 3 which may be too light, but I tested it out yesterday with a camera flash and my face isn't visible at all. Worst comes to worst, I wasted $13. Big deal.
So now that that's over, let's get into the details!
Last edited: