Ebay Bio Complete Make Over

[Lowdmekon]

looks like a og predator mask from the 1st film in 1997. cool looking mask mate. how much was it if you dont mind me asking? im looking for a new one to add to my new elder mask..cheers

I paid £24.99 Plus £10.00 P&P, I've probably spent about between £40 to £50 so far not including the electrics. And about a millennia sortin it out. Its a Labour of love for deffo. I'tll be well worth it soon, as I'm nearly there. Slowly does it.

 

[Lowdmekon]

Hi All,

Just realised I haven't said thank you for all the com's and feedback so far, so A BIG THANK YOU to all who'ved helped and commented.

Bit of an update, a bit of re sculpting. and a minuscule bit of sandin'.

I've fettled away a front part for the laser shroud that will hold the new Don Jar part on order. (The one in the picture is a spare I thought I'd lost , but I wanna use one of the other ones he does as its more accurate).

Got some more epoxy on the rear, looking smoother and rid of the horrible fibreglass.

I also sculpted and sorted the part of the Bio that the shroud will fit into. I extended the cupped side temple shape back and put a bottom shelf for it to kind of sit onto.

I think I maybe drawn towards leds instead of lasers as funds are a bit tight at the min. but then again I will regret it. AHHHhhh !!!

 

[Lowdmekon]

Hi All,

Finally got it all flattened and a final coat of primer. She is one smooth futher mukka !

A few pinholes here and there but in all, its there, I've even cut the holes in the slug and primered the shroud in wait of Mr Jarrs laser end piece. For some reason I really like the large holes in the nose, fingers crossed when I get some paint on it, it'll look battle scared, like a blast mark.

I decided on LED's. If ever I make a full suit, that's when I'll be going for lasers.

Nearly time to add PAINT. I'm so excited its like the day before the day before xmas eve. Don Jarrs piece its in the post. Then fit the LED's then fix on the laser shroud and get that primered an' then....................... P A I N T !!!!

SO close to gettin this Bio done.

Would you guys advise a few coats of black first then silver ? or just straight to silver base coat?

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Awesome work there...the mouth almost has a Porsche Bio look to it. Kudos!

 

[Lowdmekon]

Just received my Don Jarr piece, YOU ARE A TOP FELLA.

Straight off to the work shop as soon as it hit my door matt. The shroud's glued in place and holes cut through the side laser cover so I can wire up the LED's. All primed !!! All ready to stick onto the bio !!!!

So close now to paint I can nearly taste it !!! I'm so excited !!!!!

 

[Lowdmekon]

Could't resist it. The lasers parts are now epoxied on and smoothed in. The back will be filled out by the end of the day. And first thing tommorow I'll get the epoxy around the shroud and the back primered up.

I also redefined the fin lines.

Time well spent I think. and I'm happy with the results

THEN, Silver time !!!!!

View attachment 28858

View attachment 28859

View attachment 28860

 

[made007]

Whoa! I cant belive all the work your gone tru, to make this look perfect , but it was worth, great work

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Most excellent!!!

 

[Lowdmekon]

As promised all primered up and the inside all epoxyed and primered.

Awesome work there...the mouth almost has a Porsche Bio look to it. Kudos!

Cheers Fella, that wasn't the intention, but I'm lovin' the ways its turned out. I'm gonna follow your paint a bio huntorial. Did you do a coat of black before the silver?

Whoa! I cant belive all the work your gone tru, to make this look perfect , but it was worth, great work

Cheers Dude, So close so much sand paper. PredatrHuntr's right don't add all the hours it takes to to get this far.


Another Q guys would you do a final 400 grade sand all over prior to the silver ?

Also I dry fitted the mesh and led's coz I couldn't wait........................... so close now !!!!

I was thinking of inventing the insides like on the Wolf bio ???? Maybe???

Also some of the other projects I've going on.

R2 Bin, decals mocked up.

E11 Blaster, gonna get a doopy conversion kit.

started to smooth and sort this side already, £15 inc P&P. I friken love fleabay !!

 

[PredatrHuntr]

I use a grey automotive primer, but you can't go wrong with a flat black for primer

Great pics btw

 

[Lowdmekon]

I use a grey automotive primer, but you can't go wrong with a flat black for primer

Great pics btw

Cheers buddy, I've used grey auto primer all the way through. Just been and give it a sand all over in 300 grade as I didn't have any 400 grade and a good bath and rinse off and a good dry in the airing cupboard. And my Bio is SILVER !!!! Auto acrylic based SILVER !!!!!!

Its looks if I do say so myself the Nuckin' Futz !!! I can't wait for another coat in 45 mins and then overnight to cure. Then I'll get some pics of here.

 

[Usurper]

awesome build.

just another reason why i love reading through these here pages, day after day after day.

 

[Lowdmekon]

awesome build.

just another reason why i love reading through these here pages, day after day after day.

Thanks Dude. Its so very nearly there.

Got some colour on !!!! Hold on to your hats !!! WWhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooooo hhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooo. Xmas is finally here.

Couldn't resist and took some more pics with the mesh loosely in and LED's plugged in. You could say I'm as happy as a pig in S#!te.

Its like a drug this, and I'm well and truly hooked, did a first coat of weathering this morning. What do you guys think, your feedback is needed here, as I don't wanna screw it up right at the last legs.

How do you get the shadows around the crown and cheeks ??? PreddtrHuntr I couldn't make it work following your huntorial, the Tamiya flat black kept beading like rain on a polished car.

Do you use a stencil for the blast marks or do you freehand them ?

Sorry questions galore, do you guys spray a clear coat after every layer ??

I've used the same flat black and a sponge to dab it all over and a small brush for around the details.

I've read one of Arts post about naming the pictures so to direct more traffic to the site, I must admit Ialways do that for my site but didnt think it doing for the Lair. So from now on forward I'll try and do it as much as I can. And also posting them on the site helps much more, Is there anyway of getting them bigger ? Like the size of when I use photobucket?


Forgot to say the large pin holes on the nose have turned out mentally well.

 

[Lowdmekon]

AAAHHHHHHHHHH DISASTER.

I've just picked up my Bio to admire my hand work and noticed that I had left finger prints in the weathering. All's all dry.

Its comes of like dust. so I wiped it off so I have roughly a blank canvas again

Feels like Santa just took all my pressies back. Oh well two steps forward two back !!

Help All what have I done wrong.

 

[troggs]

It's looking great so far, nice to see some paint on after all this work.
What I like to do when I'm weathering over something like gloss silver is to either spray on a coat of matt varnish, the surface is rougher than gloss and allows the paint to stick better, especially if you're doing a wash with acrylics.
The other thing you could try is to use some fine sandpaper on the silver.
Hope this helps, looking forward to the stormtrooper blaster as well, I did one myself a while back, for the weathering on that I painted it all silver, then varnished that, then sprayed on black. Once the paint was dry I used very fine sandpaper on the raised surfaces to allow the silver to show through

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Not sure why your paint came off, but I'll guess it's possibly a couple things: your Tamiya paint is too thin and is beading off because your Bio is soooo smooth. I would grab a bottle of flat black acrylic paint from Walmart for .99 and then blot it on with a sponge. You can go for a very dirty look, or you can make it mildly dirty - all up to you. Here's the huntorial I made for painting a Bio:

http://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/5677-huntorial-how-to-paint-a-raw-p1-bio-helmet/

Here's the one I did for Art:

http://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/24054-p1-stunt-bio-helmet-cleanup/

Hope these help. Remember that you can't go wrong with painting over your mistakes. I've put 20+ layers on a Bio until I was happy with the end result. Try acrylics instead of thinned Tamiya paints. Good luck!

 

[Lowdmekon]

Cheers PredatrHuntr, the one you did for Art will be my painting bible.

I've been such a Pudz, I was using some old thinned out paint that I used for a wash on another model ages ago. I'm so glad I also didn't use the hammerite paint, I've just found in in my workshop. The silver is a great place to start, maybe if I ever do a Celtic or a Wolf maybe I'll use it.

Crisis over, I've used my normal flat black and its come out a treat. I also looked up that I can use lacquer in between each coat. like a sealer.

I started with some really over zealous shadowing !! Then had to go and lay some more silver over the top. Its turned out pretty well. kind of looks like pitted metal.

I've also incorporated the nose holes into the blast/markings on the nose section, a bit more detailing on them, I've got some flat aluminium paint in the post and some more black.

PredatrHuntr what colours did you use on Arts? I see some brown and greens, but which ones, what brand, so I can replicate?

I've also restarted the base black sponged layer. Just popped out and got a minuscule brush, deffo needs some more colours on it. The lacquer really lifts the black and all the layers are working out well. 2 so far. I must stop and leave it for a while. Look at it and then go back in. But its is so addictive.

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Now thats what I'm talkin bout! Good job!

As for colors, I couldn't tell you name or specific color because I mix and match too much. People ask me all the time what colors I use, but frankly it's all eyeballed based on what I think looks good. The blast marks are all hand painted with a fine brush.

On Art's I used: green, bronze, gold, silver, metallic gunmetal silver and that's it. I mixed colors with other colors and some with a wee bit of water to give it a splotchy look. The key to getting paint to look like metal is layer after layer after layer.

 

[Lowdmekon]

Last update today I promise. Its sooooooooooooooooooooo addictive, I must do some work soon.

Coats 3 and 4. I need to go and get some more paints and have ago at the blast marks on the crown and front Y part. I'm gonna try on some other sprayed up spare parts. Once I've got some others colours on and then once perfected the blast marks I'll paint paint them on my pride and joy.

Cheers PredatrHuntr I have my list of colours. I need to get to a shop. I need another paint detailing fix.

 

[Lowdmekon]

After 2 hrs rummaging around in my loft I found my old old old model paints from when I was a kid, I was sure I had some of the colours in my old kit. I used to use them paint models and stuff and tanks and other tamiys type kits. I was hoping to find my Halcyon APC, but sadly it must of gone when I moved out of my Mums and into in my first flat 10 years ago. OH WHY OH WHY did I get rid of the APC and all my other Sci Fi models. I've found a hole container of paints and other modelling stuff, mostly proper old Airfix ones that are all solid. Gold and Copper were Hunbrol and kind of congealed, but perfect for dabbing on, kind of dry sponging.

Flat aluminium, more black, and a gun metal grey are on there way and some proper clear spray coat as I sold some stuff on ebay at last to further fund my Bio other wise it would be at a standstill.

Coats 5 and 6, Copper and Gold.

View attachment 28945

View attachment 28946