Battlestar Galactica Cylon Helmet Build

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This is another one of those projects that I had to put a hold on due to all of the events surrounding the SW prequel films, not to mention a host of other prop projects which included a Viper Pilot helmet.

I picked up this Cylon helmet around 2001 right here on the rpf. The member selling these had an original stunt helmet which he had molded and then did fiberglass pulls from. If memory serves, it was a short run that was only done once, so I jumped on it not really knowing what I was getting into. After about 20 years inside a box, sitting in the garage, the fiberglass smell finally went away.
When I finally had a chance to setup an office in my current residence, I was able to take the helmet out and display it with some other BSG goodies:



The first thing I did a few years ago was get it cleaned up. I started with a Dremel and a some fiberglass wheel attachments, then moved on to a lot of sanding. Here's how it looked afterward:



Because a two part mold was used, there was a good size molding line right across both sides of the helmet, so this required a good deal of clean up:



One the inside, the visor area needed some clean up:



At some point I washed the helmet in soapy water and let it dry.
Later I did a little putty and sanding in specific areas:

 

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After cleaning up the surface with some denatured alcohol, I sprayed the helmet with some grey primer:



There was a good amount of pitting and some gaps along the seam line, so I used some modeling putty to fill in those problem areas:

 

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After sanding down the puttied areas with 220 and 600 grit, I sprayed the helmet again, then repeated the process. Here's a shot after sanding off the putty for the second time:



And a third time:

 

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So at this point (that was back in 2020), my helmet was ready to be chromed, or so I had thought. I spent about a year off and on searching for a place locally that did plastic chroming, otherwise known as electroplating. Most of the places I called either didn't pick up the phone or told me that they only plated metal. I also tried sending out several emails, but as with the phone experience, I either got no response or a reply that basically said the same thing. I even contacted a large, well known plastics company and the salesman advised me to just spray the helmet with basic chrome paint. I think I chuckled at that response, because we both knew that the end result would be a dull or greyish chrome color.

So I contacted an old friend of mine who not only has a vast amount of experience working with plastics, but he also has a degree in plastics. He referred me to an artist in Burbank who could only be reached by phone. I told him what I had and he quoted me at about $1K to chrome the helmet. After speaking with him and giving it some more thought, I realized that this was a lot of money for something that was basically just for display. On top of that, all of the work that I had done to the helmet would have to reversed because a special primer was needed for the electroplating. I had started to become tired of starring at a grey, unfinished helmet, so I kept an eye out for an alternate solution. Then one day, I received an email from a local hobby store that was putting all of it's Revell "Chrom" paint on clearance at about $30 a can. It was a new spray paint that Revell had only recently exported to the US and it could do wonders with plastic model parts. I did some research and realized that this might be the answer, so I bought a can and tested it on an Adama amulet that I had also been sitting on for a very long time.

Here's a before and after photo:




And with the Chrom paint can:



Technically, this paint was originally meant for painting wheels for model kits, small game pieces, etc. so I wasn't sure if this would work on larger items like a helmet. It was a real gamble. As for the amulet, I had some luck with it. One problem I ran into was dust or lint, so the best advice I can give when using this product is to only use this it in an enclosed area, like a garage and of course, use a respirator. The fumes from this stuff aren't good.

One other problem with this paint is that it doesn't come with directions, so I used the directions off a can of Rust-oleum Chrome paint. The only kicker is that instead of letting the paint dry for a week, it must be 2 weeks. I ran into a big problem after letting it dry for one week while painting a Cylon sword part. When I picked up the piece, the surface displayed my fingerprints and it couldn't be buffed or cleaned. The markings were permanent.

 

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Before moving forward with the newly discovered Chrom paint, I realized that it was time to go through some reference photos to figure out exactly how the helmet was painted, because there's more to it than just chrome paint. As I went through lots of references, I realized that different helmets were painted differently, so I picked one that I liked the most. Here it is:



There's actually three different colors to the helmet: Chrome, satin black and metallic grey.