Painting a DP CA Vader helmet

[Prometheus]

I scored a nice DP CA Vader helmet a while ago and am planning to have it paint by the professionals.
Problem is, the facemask is not as smooth as it used to be, covered with some pits in certain areas. It looked as if the original owner used some corrosive agent on it and ate into the raw vinyl.
My question is, what kind of filler can i use on vinyl? Are any of those hobby fillers of the shelf good enough?

 

[Darth Detroit]

If its just surface pits, youmay be able to just sand them out. For larger ones I would use a 2 part sandable epoxy putty. Then use a sandable filling primer when done. That should smooth things out.

 

[Prometheus]

Cool, thanks for the tip.
I was concerned about the epoxy eating into the vinyl.

 

[Darth Detroit]

I would guess it sounds like the prevsious owner used a harsh paint stripping agent. There is a variety of types of puttys out there. I use one that ACE Hardware sells. I would just be careful not to use it on a flexing area, after you paint you mask it may crack under the paint. I would begin by just trying to sand out what is there, then primer the mask with a good fill and sandable primer. I would only putty if it was something that was just beyond repair.

 

[Darth Kahnt]

I second the use fo epoxy putty. Wonderful stuff and there should be no problems bonding to the vinyl.