TIE helmet painting

[yodasan]

I've got one of the copies made by Sarge of a a DP TIE helmet which I would like to
paint. I'm thinking...black might be a good color.

I'm wondering what more I need to know, eg primer? what kind of black paint? any advice
on going from the bucket you got in the mail from Sarge to a shiny TIE helmet would be appreciated.

thanks-

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Having only worked in small scale, I don't know how much help this is, but I have found that the Testors Black Chrome Trim #2735E has a very convincing ABS look when clearcoated afterwards. But these come in tiny model kit bottles... and I don't know if they come in larger cans... gotta check into that myself.

Cheers.

 

[Snake]

You might want to check the, http://www.omegawing.net/forum/ They are a tie pilot forum and have a lot of good ideas. I also have the sgt fang tie pilot and I am taking it to an auto shop to get painted. From what I have seen in the omega wing it can be done by yourself very easily. Now you have to figure what what variant you want since there were I believe 4 different paint schemes.

Paint schemes
http://www.omegawing.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4396

 

[yodasan]

Thanks Snake - looks like that omegawing site is just what I need.

 

[thorssoli]

For mine I used an automotive epoxy filler primer, wetsanded it smooth, then shot a jet black basecoat from www.alsacorp.com, wetsanded it smooth, and then three coats of clearcoat from the same company.

The lenses I made myself out of 1/8th inch smoked acrylic:

I've got more of them if anybody's interested.

 

[yodasan]

So I thought I had done everything right but after the first coat of paint there are some
weird looking spots -

what did I do wrong? :cry

 

[Johda]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(yodasan @ Mar 1 2007, 11:59 PM) [snapback]1429740[/snapback]</div>

So I thought I had done everything right but after the first coat of paint there are some
weird looking spots -

what did I do wrong? :cry
[/b]

Looks to me as though are maybe oils or some other residue in the surface that the paint is reacting too.
did you wash it throughly with a degreasing soap?

 

[yodasan]

I did wash it in mildly soapy water.

Maybe I should really be asking - what should I do now?

 

[Predatormv]

Sand those spots a bit and repaint them. If it still happens you might have to sand down to the base in those spots and then wash them with something like actone or simlar and then soap and then repaint.

 

[SaberFreak]

Or maybe the resin at those spots haven't cured properly.

The same thing happened to me when I painted my Polymer Armory Biker Scout Blasters. A friend of mine found a thread here on the RPF that says you need to heat it in an oven, or with a hot air gun, to make the resin cure properly, before applying paint again.

If you have a hot air gun I suggest you strip the paint on those areas, heat them, wipe them down with acetone and paint again. Hopefully that'd solve the problem.

 

[Clutch]

Fisheyes. I hate those things............. :confused

 

[Treadwell]

I've seen some very beautiful mirror-finish TIE helmets. Although it might be noted that they were never that shiny in the films. Satin/semi-gloss at the most.

In that vein I've had good luck with rattle cans. Rustoleum gloss black.

 

[yodasan]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try them a try.

 

[Vader1]

The glossy black looks great on my helmet but it picks up scratches, then I am sitting there buffing the bucket. I might try the satin finish also.

 

[Darth Kahnt]

Did you prime it before painting?

 

[yodasan]

Solved my painting problems and the helmet is now looking quite nice.
Next question - Sarge sent a couple of the Imperial logos to apply to
the helmet but I am not sure how to do this - are these decals?

 

[Clutch]

http://www.imperiallounge.com/tiepilot1.htm

 

[yodasan]

Great resource - thanks clutch.

 

[yodasan]

Now I'm a little confused - the tutorial at

http://www.imperiallounge.com/tiepilot1.htm

says the TIE helmet needs some metal greeblies attached on the ears. But this
page at Jez' site

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/bingo275/realjeztie.htm

seems to show no such greeblies. In fact looking through more of starwarshelmets.com I see quite a lot of variants in terms of the ear greeblies.
So - are there many different screen-used versions of the TIE helmet?

 

[Clutch]

I think there were a few variants. I think in ANH at least, they had the silver disc with notch and I thought cone knobs below those. Here are the parts on Ken's site: http://www.elvistrooper.com/tiekit.htm However, in this screenshot (thanks Rocko), I can see no cone knob.

I think the pointed ear greeblies were on a costume on exhibit or in the visual dictionary. I can't remember which.