Full ANH Vader: (addition to ) My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

williamtaylor said:
I was just watching "a new hope" the other night, and I noticed how dull and light grey the helmet looked, and I remembered thinking that it got darker, and much more glossy in ESB, and Jedi! Is that a fact, or just an trick of the film.
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It was painted differently for ESB and RotJ than it was for ANH and lighting has a lot to say about the look as well. In ANH it was a lot more messy as they went for a more used world look.

williamtaylor said:
I had also heard that by the time Jedi came around, they resculpted the whole helmet, so it would be correct from the right side to the left, as the first ANH helmet wasn't straight. Any truth to that info?
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No truth to that. Old rumor that circulated about the ESB helmets being from a resculpted helmet. It is simply a tall tale. The original ANH was molded and the ESB/RotJ helmets were cast from that mold lineage.
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

Too Much Garlic said:
Also, the color you used might still be the right one... perhaps you just put on a too covering layer and not having enough of the black showing through, which would have darkened the color a bit. That's why these metallic colors are a PITA to nail.
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I was just thinking that it may be a coverage issue. Since I used the wrong black base and as you can see in the pictures the base can look pretty light with the metalflake. I am also using the gunmetal out of those 1oz containers as I figured it wouldn't take much. I think I am going to try sanding it down and repainting using the gloss non metallic black and then trying this same gunmetal with a looser paint job to get a slightly lighter coverage.

Thanks for all the feedback and advice.
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

Too Much Garlic said:
Hey, never seen those colors numbers before... are they new?

Btw: you should try to take some better pictures of your helmet - 6 feet away and zoom - in natural light, if you can. :thumbsup
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I definitely will take some better pictures. As for the paint, I was just looking for the Hum Gunmetal and this is my first attempt so I ordered that paint. Do you have a link or the number for a paint you have seen that is closer?
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

pneumoniaprone said:
I definitely will take some better pictures. As for the paint, I was just looking for the Hum Gunmetal and this is my first attempt so I ordered that paint. Do you have a link or the number for a paint you have seen that is closer?
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Still searching my friend.

But I plan to use grey/silver Hammerite on mine. I don't care if it is the original or what. I just like the look of that brand of paint.
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

Yeah, the digital zoom will blur the picture. But they look better. Personally, I wouldn't change the paint job, but that's up to you.
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

Too Much Garlic said:
Yeah, the digital zoom will blur the picture. But they look better. Personally, I wouldn't change the paint job, but that's up to you.
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The contrast looks better outside. I think I might see if I can naturally dull or dirty the gun metal a little with handling and leave it as is. I think I will still repaint the dome with the t100 gloss black because the metallic black is a little weird and tends to look a little golden/black with different lighting.
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

Well I started redoing it and sanded everything down but the first coat of T100 gloss black was a disaster. The black parts of the mask looked great but anywhere that had any residual silver made the paint bubble and get gross. I have been sanding it back off again today.

Once I get it back to a clean level will a few coats of primer stop that issue or am I going to have to sand the facemask all the way back again?
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

So the sanding made it bubble? That does not sound like anything I have ever seen.

Do you have any photos?
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

it was the remnants of the gunmetal humbrol paint that made it bubble.

It looked just like the "vader facemask paint template" only black parts = gloss black. gunmetal parts=bubbled/orangepeel black.

I guess my main question is can I kill the reaction with a few coats of primer or do I need to sand down to step 1 again? I can test it of course but why reinvent the wheel if someone had experience.
 
Re: My first attempt at a Vader Helmet

pneumoniaprone said:
It looked just like the "vader facemask paint template" only black parts = gloss black. gunmetal parts=bubbled/orangepeel black.
Click to expand...

Sounds like we're dealing with the old "lacquer over enamel" situation (even if the Duplicolor isn't a "true" lacquer).
 
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