Top Gun Moto Helmet - Part 2: VIPER

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Whats happening with this, Any updates???
For some reason I feel my contribution to this thread may have brought it to a stand still :confused I'm always dubious about offering paint advise on forums.
Is everything going OK??

Hey! No worries!

I welcome any/all advice that anyone is willing to share! This is a HUGE learning expierence for me. Updates have slowed to some degree due to recent weather hampering my painting progress. Since I don't have a good indoor location to paint, I'm at the mercy of the weather, and the last few days have been pretty windy.

I've been working to balance out the color on the front chin bar where I sanded down to work out the crack that had appeared. Last night, I was able to get the third layer on and as soon as it's light enough this morning, hopefully I'll see that the color is now even and I can move on to the next step!

Having the graphics here is REALLY motivating me to get to that step, but I don't want to rush it!

- Snapped a few pics this morning after the sun came up.

Here's the true color and the side that I've been working on:

And here's one with the flash (washed out the color) but you can see that there are not uneven or missed areas that need more to even out:

^the line that you see in that one on the chin bar is actually a reflection and not actually in the paint.

I'm stoked that it dried so nicely over night!

So - what to do next? Wet sand and buff?? or leave as is apply graphics and clear coat?? Humm...decisions decisions!

 

[Darth Mawr]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Hey that's looking good. Can't wait to see the finished results.

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Thanks! I'm getting excited about the next step!

 

[Leigh]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Your doing a grand job there thumbsup:thumbsup

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Thanks Leigh!

Saturday Update:

Well, recent weather here has been less than prime for painting outside (30mph winds on and off all day), but it's been sunny. So I spent some of the afternoon wet sanding the the area of recent focus. I really appreciate the value of wet sanding - it's amazing how many little imperfections become apparent with a little sanding. And while I was hesitant to try and do any spraying today, I was able to get a light coat on over what I sanded without any crud getting stuck in the paint.

In the interim, I've been watching every video available on painting and clear coating. The next big step (stage 3) will be to apply the graphics, and then clear coat everything (stage 4). I'm nervous about stage 4 though because if I don't get it right...well, lets just say that I need to get it right the first time!! LOL!!

I'm really jazzed about getting to the graphics application, but I don't want to rush it - all in due time! Once the paint evens out from today's spray, I'll do some graphics mock-up and get an idea of exactly how I'm going to run the stripes.

Often, I look to my Akuma helmet for inspiration:



While it's a tribute to the Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 103 (the Jolly Rogers), I do love the subtle details that it has - especially the 'Ghost Rider' reference to Top Gun!

Top Gun-flyby - YouTube

:cool

"Sorry Goose, it's time to buzz the tower."

 

[NormanF]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Do you have something else you can practice clear coating on?

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Do you have something else you can practice clear coating on?

The one project related thing that I can think of that I could practice with are these side pieces (which I have yet to acquire:

Either that or I guess that I could always clear coat my mop bucket!! LOL!!!

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Hey Guys/Gals,

I need some advice

For the next step:

-Should I clear coat now, then apply the graphics. Or apply graphics then clear?

Secondly,

-Anyone have tips for striping a helmet??

I'm trying to figure out how to do this and have it turn out as symmetrical as possible, but mock-up today (working with painters tape) showed me just how difficult it can be.

 

[Leigh]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

I'd say you wanted your graphics under the clear, So go for it. If they're not too thick it should'nt be problem. As for your striping I'd start by using masking tape & marking a center line in pencil on the tape. From the center line work one side using tiny peices of tape to position your decals untill your happy. Then use more tape to build a template. Mark the template with reference to shapes in the helmet that are on both sides & obviously your decals, Then peel the template off & re-attach on the other side. It sounds complicated but its not

HTH

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Since tomorrow's Friday, I should have a chance to work on it some and into the weekend. I really REALLY want to get the graphics laid on in the correct locations. From doing a quick mock-up with painters tape, I discovered that it's a lot harder than it looks!!

I agree, I think the next stage is to apply the graphics and then clear. They really are not very thick, so I don't think it will be a problem. I'll take some pics as I work on the mock-up this weekend!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Saturday Update!

I got up early this morning and took my helmet outside and put it in direct sunlight to check for any final adjustments that might need to be made before I move on to graphics application.

Turns out there were just a couple little inconsistencies that I felt compelled to work out. So I did about 10 minutes of wet sanding in a few small places, let it dry, and then applied a light coat of paint. I'll let that dry for the better part of today and maybe start tape mock-up this evening.

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Today was BIG day with LOTS of progress!

This morning I did a full inspection of the paint and felt it was completely done and looked GREAT! Now on to Phase II: Graphics Application

To get fully into the spirit, I sat myself down at the coffee table and put Top Gun on the blu-ray player and got to work!

I figured the best place to start would be be mark a center point and then lay down the call sign which I would then use to guide the stripes that I will do later:

Success!

Then based on the positioning of the E and the R of MAVERICK, I layed down a center line that ran all the way to the back for placement of the rear MAVERICK logo:

It went on perfectly! That being said, I was stressed and my hands were getting sweaty because I didn't want to mess it up!! So I took a break to calm down and enjoy the progress.

Next, rather than try and do stripes, I decided to do the eagle!

With a lot of patience and care to keep out bubbles, those both went on GREAT!!

The hard part was getting both eagles positioned properly so that the tail end didn't run up on the vent for each side as well as getting them positioned in the same place on both sides so that from the back (as seen above) they both look symmetrical.

I was SO happy when I saw that it worked!! Though I'm far from a pro, and nothing is ever perfect, I'm really happy with how they look!

Now, this is a motorcycle helmet rather than a flight helmet, so the dimensions are different and I knew that the placement would be different - mainly that the eagle tails would not meet in the rear. And I'm totally OK with that, but what I tried to closely mimic was the downward angle of the eagle from back to front while still keeping the positioning good looking on my helmet.

I'm so excited that it's turning out the way that it is! Time for some lunch, then consider striping!

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Got the back done!!! I had to modify the rear slightly to fit with the rear vents, but I really like how it turned out!

Here's a flight helmet that someone else did for comparison:

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Since things were going so well, I decided to keep on going and started striping the front!

This picture gives screen accurate a new meaning!! LOL:

Cutting the angles isn't that hard, but getting them to match and keep the lines strait is a challenge.

Here's another pic that's not so up close and personal:

This has taken me nearly 6 hours to do...and I've now seen (or at least listened to) Top Gun 3 times today!!! One more viewing and I should be all done!! Even after 3 times, that movie never gets old!!

 

[Gigatron]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Looks awesome, Dave. I'm really glad you went ahead with the wet sanding - it really paid off.

Looking forward to the completed helmet.

-Fred

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Looks awesome, Dave. I'm really glad you went ahead with the wet sanding - it really paid off.

Looking forward to the completed helmet.

-Fred

Thanks Fred! I agree - it was worth all the effort!!

So here's where I'm calling it quits for the night. I went ahead and did the top stripes but things ran a little tight with space due to the vent housings. I have plenty of striping left, but I think that this is the max for what I'm going to do on the top (between the vents). It's a little cramped for my taste, but I think that I can live with it. I almost considered leaving the white stripes off entirely, but they are such a key to the layout. And while it looks 'cleaner' without the white stripes (as seen in my last post) I think that it also looks like something is missing.

I can't believe that I did all of this today...moreover, I can't believe I've been working on this for almost 8 hours!!

I think a break will give me some perspective. I welcome any/all input!

 

[Hirohawa]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Great work!

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

THANKS!

I keep going back and forth on the white stripes on the top. I like them, then I don't, I like then, and then I don't....

I do want to add a bit more striping I think from the vents down towards the lettering to balance it out.

The next big step is to decide about clear coating. I'm worried about clear coating over the vinyl graphics...any thoughts or suggestions??

-edit-

I just got an email from the guy who sold me the graphics pack (amazing Ebay seller btw), and he said that the graphics work great under clear coat but that I should wet scuff the surface lightly with 1000 grain sand paper and then apply several layers of clear wet sanding in between coats.

...I'm going to be a pro wet sander by the time I'm done with this!!!

 

[Keyser]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

\m/ :eek \m/

 

[Monster Dave]

Re: My First Build!! Top Gun Moto Helmet!!

Thanks Keyser!! thumbsup