Boba Fett ESB Helmet Paint Up by Fettastic

@Fettastic, the scratches at the back of the dome, topical or from your layers?



I've used the layering method between the following coats... Everything else I have done topically.

BACK PANELS: Silver to Concrete Sand, Concrete sand to Dark Blue/Green
DOME: Silver to Geen
CHEEKS: Silver to Green
UPPER CHEEKS: Silver to Black
MANDIBLES: Silver to Maroon Red (just did these last night and have yet to upload pictures.)
 
I decided I had better mask of the rest of the silver and airbrush on the maroon red before I do any more work to the upper and lower cheeks. Mainly because I didn't want to be putting tape a top freshly painted cheeks. So now that I have the maroon red on I will remove the masking fluid later today and finish up the lower cheeks and move on to the mandibles.

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Made leaps and bounds on the mandibles this weekend and I'm pretty excited with my progress. I may get this finished before the Rogue One release and be able to wear it after all! Next is finishing up the back hat band, and front mandibles and upper cheeks with the light base grey color. Then it's just the ears, range finder topper, and those dreaded killstripes and killstripe area. Then it's all some light finishing weathering and detailing.

For the Mandibles and Hat Band I used another custom mix to create a faded light maroon base red. It was a very tricky color to create and took a few different mixes of spraying on silver coated plastic spoons to create color samples to compare. In the bottle and in liquid form this color almost looks like a dark pink but once it dries, it looks like a faded maroon. I also like to lightly mist watered down black on this in certain areas to create a bit of fade and weathering...I also like to do this before removing the masking as to not darken the silver or grey. It is very subtle.

For the grey damage I used the same grey on the dome and back panels which is Humbrol 79 (blue grey). One of my favorite colors and paints to use for topical work. It is very thick and needs thinner but allows me to get the perfect consistency for very small chip detailing.

For the purple, yes I said purple, which is the darker accent and contrast color you see next to the grey damage, I used another custom mix. This was difficult because it wasn't just about finding the right color but the right consistency to allow fine topical detailing. Once it lays next to the lighter maroon and grey damage, the purple pretty much just looks like a darker grey.

For some of the small red chips I used the same color I airbrushed on the mandibles but with a hint more red.

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Killstripes are on! Removed the tape and masking fluid while the paint wasn't fully cured. If you wait too long then you risk the tape really sticking to the under layer of paint and potentially pulling up bits of previous layers so I use plastic bags to cover large areas and I try and avoid it being on there too long. This yellow paint becomes really rubbery and is not ideal for unmasking, I've learned that there's a sweet spot in the time frame to remove the masking...after the paint is still drying before it becomes rubbery. Then I'll let the paint fully dry and very very lightly use steel wool. The rubbery edges remaining from the unmasking will chip away.

I've also been able to work on the left ear a little bit.

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Neeeeed Morrrrrrre updatessssssss ;). Im upto where you are mate, what do we do next? lol. You and this thread has helped me so much with my build. Thanks Fettastic
 
Neeeeed Morrrrrrre updatessssssss ;). Im upto where you are mate, what do we do next? lol. You and this thread has helped me so much with my build. Thanks Fettastic

Josh! You must be killing it brother! I thought you started well after me. Post some progress pictures! This TDH community is really good about helping and giving feedback. Anyways I should have a big update tomorrow! ;)
 
Thanks Fettastic! Im on holidays so I have plenty of time to power through. Im also using enamels which I think dry to a hard shell quicker than acrylic, which means I can tape up sooner for the next colour.Your work is definitely a lot more refined and closer to the original helmet than mine. Mine is a 'that will do' job. lol ;)

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Finished the left and right ear! For the small black markings I tried Superjedi's dry rub transfers. I have to say I am impressed with how close they are to the real deal in size and detail! Saves a lot of time painting them on but still stressful trying to make sure they are in the correct position. Well worth hands down.

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Hey Fettastic! I've been following your thread over at TheRPF. It's the inspiration for me to sign up here and see what everyone without a lightsaber is up to! Your paintup is amazing! Any plans to rough up the edges of the masked areas to make the wear look hyper-realistic? I think it'd be a great challenge for someone to paint a helmet in layers and then use the stencils as a guide to sand and scrape down within the different color layers to reveal the colors below. Maybe for your next one, eh?! Looking forward to seeing you finish this one for now. Keep at it and thanks for sharing all your pics!
 
Hey Fettastic! I've been following your thread over at TheRPF. It's the inspiration for me to sign up here and see what everyone without a lightsaber is up to! Your paintup is amazing! Any plans to rough up the edges of the masked areas to make the wear look hyper-realistic? I think it'd be a great challenge for someone to paint a helmet in layers and then use the stencils as a guide to sand and scrape down within the different color layers to reveal the colors below. Maybe for your next one, eh?! Looking forward to seeing you finish this one for now. Keep at it and thanks for sharing all your pics!

Thanks for the compliment! That's a very interesting idea! I actually use 0000 steel wool but only to smooth out the edges from any layering. I do not plan on taking sand paper to this helmet at all. It definitely would be a challenge using sand paper and I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to get the kind of detail depicted on the original ESB Filmed helmet. I feel that would be a more realistic way of depicting damage but for this one I'm trying to capture the look and feel of the helmet in Empire Strikes Back. The damage on that helmet, however un-realistic, shows a lot of sharp crisp edges.

I did use sand paper on my Jetpack Paintup though! If you want to take a look at that thread here: http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f20/...-jetpack-paint-up-pic-heavy-55423/index3.html
A lot of the larger damage revealing the silver base on the jetpack looked like it had been worn and rubbed so I thought that was the best technique to accomplish that look.
 
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