WOW.....

Now, that's what I call setting standards!

Thanks Zenwalker, thanks Starwars Collector I seriously did not spect so many good coments . Thanks again for your kind words.

Cheers

A

I took more pictures of this helmet in different light conditions. I thought maybe some of you would like to see them .

Cheers

A

It's looking really lovely... mind if I use one of your pictures for the helmet list?

That looks fantastic! Any advice on painting the tube stripes?

Thanks NHM, I am glad you liked them. Please go ahead and use the one you like the best.

Cheers

A

Hey clutch thanks for your kind words. I will try to explain as good as I can the way I painted the blue stripes.

First thing I did was use a coin(to get the right curvature) and a pencil to draw the lines over a a piece of masking tape. Once I draw the desired number of lines I stick the masking tape on a plastic sheet (stencil) and cut them with a X-acto knife. (You can use the X-acto knife with the coin to get a nice curve)

The next step is translate the masking tape lines from the stencil to the helmet. For that you can use a pair of tweezers. Apply every single line one by one on the helmet. After this cut two thin pieces of masking tape and stick them slightly on top of both side of the masking tape lines already applied on the helmets. Then paint the tube stripes. Try to apply thing coats of paint and be as quick as possible when you remove the masking tape. If you get unplesant results as I did on one of the tube stripes(see picture) ;use the X-acto knive to remove and re-shape the tube stripes while the paint still is fresh. You also can retouch the surface with blue and white paint. I hope this help

Cheers

A

What a great paint job. So with the 14 stripes on the tubes... how did you go from splotchy to clean and crisp? Was that just excess paint that got lifted as you removed the masking tape, and you simply rubbed it off?

I was just going to ask the same question.

Well done indeed!

Truely fantastic looking work.

AJCG,

I'd like to commend you on your photography too. A lot of people use the old Christie's catalog photo to replicate the paint peeling. Yours looks a bit on the pristine side but combination of the painting and the lighting make it look almost like a polished up old piece (minus natural aging and yellowing). Very well done!!

Thanks Mac, I am glag you liked it . Yes you are right, it was excess paint that got lifted . So in order to fix it I rubbed it off with the X-acto knive(this can be tedius since you can damage the white base color). Right affter that I put away the helmet until the blue stripes were completly dry then I applied quick strokes of white paint until I got the desired finished.
But what it helped me to fix that completly was the a layer of Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze. This product gave me the desire gloss finish I was looking for and hide the remaining imperfections.

Thanks guys again, I am stoked with your kind words.




Cheers

A

BTW the right side has only 11 stripes on the tube. I noticed that some of the original helmets from ANH do not have the same number of stripes in both tubes

Thanks for your inputs GundamZeppelin

How's the Krylon working out in terms of flex tolerance? If you flex some of the plastic, does it remain okay or does it crack?