hey all
I'm a huge hockey fan, so after Canada's gold medal, i was inspired why not paint a master chief helmet like a goalie mask???
having never used an airbrush before i figured that a bad pull of my mc helm would be a good test subject to figure things out. i used 4 different way to make stencils as well as 3 different way to prep the helmet to see what worked best for me.
so here are some pics as well as the process i went through to make this, although not every method worked ideally it gave me a good idea of what works and what doesnt, in the end im very proud of it.
first; i used a bad pull, it was warped and had some flaws that i really didnt like. i also did no sanding to it, other than hand break some of the flashing nothing was done to fix some of the issues.
second; i washed the helmet with dish soap, and used a brillo(sp) pad to scuff up the future red side.
third; primer i used two different primers, white side i used an automotive sandable primer and on the future red a used a plastic specific primer. both in light grey
fourth; i used a hvlp mini detail gun to spray the base coats one white one red
fifth; after paint dried i taped off the center area to create a solid gold stripe down the center. i also created small gold stripes on either side to highlight the main stripe.
i originally wanted to have a wrinkle effect to the gold so i used a silver base then layed a light black coat and used saran wrap over top to creat a 3d type effect. in the end my gold that i was using wasn't transparent or candy enough to make the effect work.
sixth; i made stencils using robo master from craft robo, used different mediums for each part of the project, for the white side i used clear frisket sheets, for the red side i used normal printer paper with spray tack to keep it adhered to the mask. and for the gold leaves on the chin i used vinyl with adhesive backing.
seventh; i added some black to some of the flaoting faces, to do this i used a brush and jsut painted on the areas i wanted.
eight; take a second to appreciate everything and let the paint dry fully
ninth; clear coat i used krylon gloss clear to finish, this is when i noticed the differences in the way i prepped the helmet. the white side had some wrinkling where as the red had an almost perfect finish.
supposed to show the cracking on the white but hard to see
detail in the inner red leaf
in the end i learned alot by doing all these different methods. IMO prep is key i consider the white side to be lazy and in the end it caused some problems, as far as masking and stencils go paper is cheap and easy but i had some bleeding issues. the frisket was a big pain in the ass mostly because it was clear and hard to work with but i didnt have any serious bleeding issues and it was in the med price range (i think 8$ for 12 sheets). the vinyl was the best it was easy to see and use, with no bleeding issues but it was the most expensive (10$ for 2 12X24 sheets). hope you guys like it, im going to add a gold visor maybe double layer it. for now im done with this and plan on finishing my ithica recon helmet as well as some iron man stuff. and of course i mean no offense to any American or other hockey fans
any questions just ask
also for bigger shots check out my photobucket pics here
My photo bucket account
