General Help: Prep & Paint

[Huesos]

I need some advice on prepping and painting. Before I continue I should mention, however, that this is my very first pepakura or prop related project ever, so don't assume anything as obvious here. I might very well have missed something.

I received my Pinsky Dredd helmet recently and quickly proceeded to cut and sand it. Then I was quite busy with work for a while, but just recently got the helmet into just the shape I wanted it in--or so I thought. I proceeded to prime it with two coats. Though I thought could still see the seam in the helmet I could hardly even feel it, so I thought it safe if I moved on to wet sand and then paint the first coat of black. I thought the helmet looked and felt beautiful, but against the shiny texture the seam was now more visually prominent than ever. At this juncture I'm not entirely sure what to do. Is there a chance a few more coats of black will take care of it or do you recommend that I start over? If the latter, how do I go about it exactly? Do I just sand the paint down or do you recommend some sort of paint removal? It would feel somewhat frustrating to take steps backwards when I'm so close to seeing something resembling the final product. On the other hand I'd very much like to get a nice result.

Let me know if you'd like to see some pictures and I'll post them tomorrow.

 

[Huesos]

I'm sorry to be that guy, but I'm sure some of you can answer at least one of the questions above. Your advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Tvayumat]

Not sure which seam you are referring to.

If you could take some pictures of the helmet and the problem you are having, I'm sure someone could help you out.

 

[Huesos]

Not sure which seam you are referring to.

If you could take some pictures of the helmet and the problem you are having, I'm sure someone could help you out.

Perhaps seam isn't the right term in English then. What I'm referring to is the joint, the line at which the two pieces are put together to make up the helmet. I'll put up pictures shortly.

 

[Huesos]

 

[angelus0313]

I always called it a mold seam line due to its the seam where the two halves of the mold come together to form the whole mold.

But, you can correct it various ways. Easiest being spot putty or bondo if the seam's "dempel" is lower then the rest of the helmet then sand smooth/flush. Mine was higher than the rest of the helmet so I sanded mine smooth with the helmet, did not do as much work on it as I would a SW Clone helmet due to once I weathered mine it went away also added a little bit of character to it.

i hope this helps

 

[Huesos]

But, you can correct it various ways. Easiest being spot putty or bondo if the seam's "dempel" is lower then the rest of the helmet then sand smooth/flush.

Thanks for your reply! I suppose I'll still have to sand down the helmet completely before using the spot putty though. There are two coats of black on it as of right now. Should I just sand it down with 200 grit or should I use some sort of paint removal?

 

[angelus0313]

No problem

Its up to you, you can rough up it with sand paper were the seam is to allow the bondo/putty something to grab when you apply it then sand it flush/smooth with the rest of the helmet. The sortof the same process you would do way if yo had to do body work on a car body and you had fixed it.

Then clean up the helmet of any sanding dust / debris with a good washing before you hit again with one or two coats of paint overall to make sure it uniform/blending correctly as through the many helmets I painted have noticed sometimes paint, even from the same can, sometimes varies due to when you painted it as the older paint my be a tad lighter then the new paint or the other way around. Happen to me on my ODST helmet as I painted one side then painted the other side a week later and the paint on the left side slightly lighter than the one on the right as both came from the same storm gray rattle can.

The only thing I have against paint removers is its a solvent and you really have to make sure there is non left on the helmet due to the solvent may react to what your casting made of or it reacts to you paint and the paint never sticks or drys or it just slides off making a big mess.

 

[Ray48]

Spot putty comes in many forms. The type made for automotive body work is okay but I prefer a type designed for models that is available at hobby supply outlets. "Squadron" brand modeling putty is the stuff I use. It bonds very well to already painted surfaces so you shouldn't have to do anything but knock the gloss back a little on both sites of the seam. Spread it a hair on the high side, ( about the thickness of a coin ) then sand with the 200 grit and work down to 120 grit. it should then be okay to shoot some primer on the puttied seam...sand the primer with 400 grit and finish coat it to match the rest. By the way, if you don't over fill that seam and either use a sponge type sanding block or at least fold the sandpaper several times to make it semi-rigid, you wont be able to span the trough of the seam and level it. You'll likely just make another groove over the first one. Another tip, don't push down too hard and sand across the seam, not lengthwise. You'll be less likely to recreate another groove or seam line. Let the sand paper do most of the work. Some masking tape on both sides of the seam, about your thumb width, will keep you from sanding into areas that don't need it. Unless the surface was pitted or not originally smooth enough, you are usually fine with one coat of primer. The primer is only there to give a good bond for your top coat, provide good hiding ability for better paint coverage,(they make primer in colors to suit your top coat, Rust/red, white, grey, and black. Grey works fine for most top coat colors except white or pastels. Then I do sometimes start with grey and finish with white primer.) and a "filler/primer" can be used to add thickness where you have left sand paper scratches and need to erase them first. The only time you need to remove original paint is if you plan on painting a different color lacquer base paint over enamel. Lacquer will often cause the enamel paint to "wrinkle". You can paint enamel over lacquer, not the other way around. Hope that helps.

 

[Ray48]

PS: You should always wash a newly cast item with soapy water and dry it completely in case a mold release product was used in casting. Obviously it wll cause your paint to not bond to the surface.

 

[Huesos]

Thank you all. It seems I have more options than I thought and I now have a better grasp of what they entail. I'll get started this afternoon.

Thanks again!

 

[Ray48]

From what I'm seeing in your photos, it looks like you may have sanded the seam area a touch low, creating a slight groove. If that is the case, using the filler/spot putty is the answer. You can use an old credit card as a spreader to apply a dab where it needs filling. If you want to give the filled area a curvature like the helmet surface, use a scissors to cut the card to the same curvature. I've done that and almost eliminated sanding because the surface was so close to perfect.