Annnnnd I'm back!
I've been a little scarce over the past few weeks, because, unfortunately, I decided to rework the mandibles, so I had to start that part from scratch. The Diesel Maroon turned out not too be a very good choice for a few reasons. First, it STANK. Second, the color turned out quite different as time went on. It actually seemed to get DARKER over the course of a week. And finally, because of the oddness of how it sprayed, the coat came out much more thick than I prefer, making the height difference between Diesel Maroon and Silver seem like cliffs. In addition, I had already re-applied the pink highlights with a new paint mix, so there was already a bit of unevenness. So I taped it up and started sanding:
All steps after the initial light gray worked better this time, in very clean, even layers. The pink highlights look outstanding, the color mix is very close, I think. And as for the final red, I went with Rock Island Maroon instead of Caboose. However, I do find that there's just a hint of 'red' missing from the color, as it seems that both the PP2 and the RotJ helmets have just a tiny amount more of actual red. I also find that there's a small element of shine that needs to be added, so I'll probably give it a coat of satin clear in the near future.
I added the triangles just by eyeballing them. A little bit of red and a little bit of dark blue.
I misted the dome of the helmet in the bizarre pattern that some of the pictures seem to show. It's hard to tell, because we have so few pictures of the helmet, and even the best photos available can be somewhat deceiving. So I went slow and very gentle. I may add some more later, including a nice muddy wash or two.
The wasteland-made FPH2 ears matched up pretty well, especially on the non-rangefinder side. Not so much on the rangefinder side, though (having nothing to do with wasteland's work). The lower piece is quite short, and doesn't line up well with the platforms on this helmet. And thanks to Andy's comparison, we can clearly see the difference:
So that makes a lot of sense now!
Nevertheless, the ears worked fine. I didn't paint them as thoroughly as I normally do because I'm holding out for a few sets of aluminum ears from MachineCraft. And because PP2 ears, like their RotJ counterpart, SUCK. They just do. Absolutely no fun to paint! Anyways, I attached the WONDERFUL PP2 topper purchased from Terminal Fettler. And it's really one of the few areas that I haven't completed. I need to give it a quick spray and a fleck or two of silver. But I've been so excited with the build that I allowed myself a few glamour shots (it's been awhile since I've photographed anything not using my cell phone - ugh).
Special thanks so far to Eric, Dom and the 'other' Ryan, I very much appreciate having you guys as backstops.
I love the PP2!
And of course, she's still missing the yellow crayon mark.