Re: Star-Lord Costume (Female) WIP
This is looking good! I wish we were going to be at FanExpo to see it. Hoping for next year, though! =D
For the mask, you could also just do a wash over the silver to tone it down a bit -- lots of water to a little bit of paint -- and then blot off as needed to help control the layering and the color. It's one of the things I've been doing a lot of, weathering my armor for Sif. I also found that applying thinned paint to the cracks and crevasses with a brush, then blending it with a dry brush helped weather the edges really well.
I'll echo what was said previously about stripping the blasters -- Simple Green or Purple Power. I had a couple of props that I wasn't thrilled with the paint job on, so I sanded them slightly to break up the finish, tossed them in a Rubbermaid container with enough Simple Green to cover them, then let them soak. I grabbed a stiff brush from the paint section at Home Depot, and took to brushing at it a bit every few days, getting rid of the paint that was coming off and helping to get more of the cleaner under the existing paint. In the end, it took almost a week. OTOH, I wasn't in a hurry, so I didn't work at it every day. Still, it did the job and didn't screw up the plastic underneath.
I feel your pain about the Dremel: they're great tools, but I'm more afraid of screwing something up, either myself or my project! Very handy for sanding and cutting, though. Couldn't have finished Hawkeye last year without it (or the cheap facsimile I have).
Can't wait to see the finished ensemble!
I wish you were going too! I'd love to see your Sif! I'm not sure if we'll be going next year (we're helping at a friend's booth, but he's been diagnosed with cancer, so everything is up in the air for the future).
Weathering is going to be a new experience for me too - so many new things on this build! I probably should have left myself more time to work on it, lol. I might try mixing the pewter and the black together tonight and experimenting with different ratios. I think the pewter with a bit of black would be better because the black is
really dark. But I'll see how it goes tonight!
The canola oil is actually doing a spectacular job of cleaning the paint off - the problem is my lack of time to clean the oil off.
And maybe some procrastination, because it's not exactly fun (and I have to make sure I'm wearing old clothes in case I get any on me!). My hands smell like French fries afterwards! I'm down to the last two pieces, so I really should try to get done today or tomorrow.
I have a cast Magneto helmet that needs the edges cleaned up for painting and I am
so paranoid about messing it up trying to dremel it smooth! At least with this foam helmet it's not
too bad - I'm not wrecking a couple hundred dollars worth of work.
I will post pics - I just hope I get it done in time!
- - - Updated - - -
Maybe it is overkill, but I always wear a breathing mask, face shield, ear plugs and leather gloves when having fun with tools. With dremels you should brace yourself and plan your cuts so that if the dremel catches on something, and races off, it won't hit anything. Like working with a knife, always point it away from you.
Making stuff out of aluminum is a ssslllloowwww processsssss zzZZZZZZZZZZZZ:sleep
View attachment 364685and lots of pieces are trial and error, so I will post when closer to dun
I learned the eye protection lesson when I got a tiny shred of foam in my eye - thankfully it was only foam! But I learned to
always wear eye protection - even if it's something "safe" like foam.
Thanks for your advice! I will keep practicing - I've already noticed I'm better with it than I was at the beginning.
It's looking great so far! I can't wait to see more!
