Question Sanding and Painting and Visor

[NightHawk]

So okay I'm about halfway with done applying bondo which I am very paranoid about because I'm going to get it to look at smooth and round as possible.

Question #1: Working on sanding and I'm using roughly 80grit sandpaper to speed up the process a bit and really grind out the lumps and such. Granted I can sand to much to fast and have bumps which I have run across. But to overall complete the sanding process and make it look smooth as possible "What grit should I use for the final process?" Because You always use lower grits so start of strong and typically taper off to get a smooth finish. So with body filler what would be the Best Grit to use to help seal the deal?

Question #2: When it comes to priming and painting (spray). What does typically everyone use? I am going for a very realistic very fine looking appeal to it. I have seen some paint look gritty then someone have a fantastic metallic look to it. So I'm looking for a very good quality paint / primer.

Question #3 Visor wise I'm kind of helpless looking for advice from individual who have attempted making their own. There is esty and such and I got a couple ideas for making one and getting tints. However, im looking for just good old solid advice on making a good visor me and my fiancé intend to make on so if anyone has a good YouTube video or anything that would be great. For the visor I actually took out the paper portion of the visor I heated the areas that I glue it in and removed it. After applied resin and body filler I am still able to fir the visor in there with no issue. So should I reprint and go down a size? Because if I make my own over what I have it will turn out just a hair bigger correct?

I have a ODST helmet btw.

 

[Master Builder]

#1. How ever smooth you want it to be! I like to to my initial breakdown with 60 grit and then sand out the marks with 100-150 or so grit. After that, you can usually wet-sand out the rest starting with 400 grit. Going in a circular pattern with 150 grit should be smooth enough not to notice much difference in look. And it should, for the most part, take out all the visible lines.

#2. For paint, anything in can will work fine, Krylon, Rustoleum, etc.
Basically all this is a matter of learning more about paint and the types of paint out there, and how it reacts with light (pears, metallics, fluorescents, opaques, semi-opaque, transparent, etc) . Now what you would probably want is a metallic paint (cars/automotive). These paints have little tiny flakes that shine when light bounces off them and gives that metallic look. You can find automotive paints in a lot of places, dupli-color is a common company that you will find in big box stores.

Any primer will work. Bondo accepts all paints and primers well. i would just stick with a cheep can of what ever you find. As long as it sprays good.

 

[NightHawk]

#1. How ever smooth you want it to be! I like to to my initial breakdown with 60 grit and then sand out the marks with 100-150 or so grit. After that, you can usually wet-sand out the rest starting with 400 grit. Going in a circular pattern with 150 grit should be smooth enough not to notice much difference in look. And it should, for the most part, take out all the visible lines.

#2. For paint, anything in can will work fine, Krylon, Rustoleum, etc.
Basically all this is a matter of learning more about paint and the types of paint out there, and how it reacts with light (pears, metallics, fluorescents, opaques, semi-opaque, transparent, etc) . Now what you would probably want is a metallic paint (cars/automotive). These paints have little tiny flakes that shine when light bounces off them and gives that metallic look. You can find automotive paints in a lot of places, dupli-color is a common company that you will find in big box stores.

Any primer will work. Bondo accepts all paints and primers well. i would just stick with a cheep can of what ever you find. As long as it sprays good.

Thanks a bunch the info helps out a lot

 

[Zaff]

For as smooth a surface as possible, be prepared to repeat the process of bondo, sanding, and primer. The bondo fills the gaps, the sanding takes off the excess, but more often than not it's the primer that gives the first real clue to how smooth it actually is. Little pockets and high spots will be amplified and easier to spot. Just remember to really clean the piece well after sanding, whether you're going in with primer next or more bondo. You have to give it more than dust to adhere to or it's just going to start peeling off.

With the paints be sure to note the difference between metallic, which comes in high/reflective (think chrome) and simple/flat (like sheet metal) and metal flake (what you usually see on cars with a slight "glitter" effect to it). A lot of the "gritty" and "battle worn" suits you see start with their primer, go on to a flat color to simulate the "inner layers" of the armor, then lay on a flat metal (usually silver) layer before adding the surface color. Some just simply apply all the paint and then sand it down in certain areas to look like the armor has been worn down, others use different masking methods such as painters tape or mustard (yes, mustard) to cover the spots they want to be "worn" or "damaged" and then paint over top of that and then pull it off after the final coat. Regardless of the approach, you definitely want to top it all off with some clear coat to help protect it from enduring real damage.

As for the visor, how to approach it depends on the complexity of the visor itself. You mentioned the ODST which is basically to fairly simple curves connected at an angle to each other. Some options are to get the piece to the primer stage, cut out the pepped visor, and use it as the foundation for a vacuum-form visor. So long as the visor is simple enough (and the ODST should work for this) you could also use that same cut out piece to make a paper template of the two curves (you will want to add a little extra for mounting tabs), transfer the shapes to a sheet of thin, clear polycarbonate/plastic (no more than 1/8 inch) and carefully use a heat gun to soften and shape it to the desired curves. Join the two pieces together and reuse those paper templates to cut some window tinting film (available in a wide range of colors and finishes including reflective metallic) and apply it to the visor.

 

[Master Builder]

Glad I could help! Sorry I don't know much about visors myself, so I can't really give you any advice there. Oh if you don't already know, wet-sanding is very easy and fun to do. All you need is some sandpaper made for wet-sanding, and some water. Just spray a little water on the build or sandpaper and go at it! The water is used as a lubricant.

 

[NightHawk]

Oh you gave more than enough information thanks again

- - - Updated - - -

For as smooth a surface as possible, be prepared to repeat the process of bondo, sanding, and primer. The bondo fills the gaps, the sanding takes off the excess, but more often than not it's the primer that gives the first real clue to how smooth it actually is. Little pockets and high spots will be amplified and easier to spot. Just remember to really clean the piece well after sanding, whether you're going in with primer next or more bondo. You have to give it more than dust to adhere to or it's just going to start peeling off.

With the paints be sure to note the difference between metallic, which comes in high/reflective (think chrome) and simple/flat (like sheet metal) and metal flake (what you usually see on cars with a slight "glitter" effect to it). A lot of the "gritty" and "battle worn" suits you see start with their primer, go on to a flat color to simulate the "inner layers" of the armor, then lay on a flat metal (usually silver) layer before adding the surface color. Some just simply apply all the paint and then sand it down in certain areas to look like the armor has been worn down, others use different masking methods such as painters tape or mustard (yes, mustard) to cover the spots they want to be "worn" or "damaged" and then paint over top of that and then pull it off after the final coat. Regardless of the approach, you definitely want to top it all off with some clear coat to help protect it from enduring real damage.

As for the visor, how to approach it depends on the complexity of the visor itself. You mentioned the ODST which is basically to fairly simple curves connected at an angle to each other. Some options are to get the piece to the primer stage, cut out the pepped visor, and use it as the foundation for a vacuum-form visor. So long as the visor is simple enough (and the ODST should work for this) you could also use that same cut out piece to make a paper template of the two curves (you will want to add a little extra for mounting tabs), transfer the shapes to a sheet of thin, clear polycarbonate/plastic (no more than 1/8 inch) and carefully use a heat gun to soften and shape it to the desired curves. Join the two pieces together and reuse those paper templates to cut some window tinting film (available in a wide range of colors and finishes including reflective metallic) and apply it to the visor.

Sweet I will say I am concerned about the visor because I took the pep visor out before I resin in but the visor fits very very snug in the visor area so my concern is will it fits once its vac formed because of the 1/8 inch thickness you will get.

 

[Zaff]

I believe vacuum forming plastic is thinner, but I could be mistaken (no experience with it). If/when I ever actually get to finishing a helmet I was planning on using the 1/8" polycarbonate, basically display case plastic, which I think would be too thick for vacuum forming.

 

[MyrHerder]

I'm doing a Sean Bradley ODST kit, so i only have a few hiccups to sand out along the edges, but this is useful info for preparing the surface for paint. Sean's technique for battle damage is toothpaste, same idea as the mustard mentioned above.

 

[RobotChicken]

I believe vacuum forming plastic is thinner, but I could be mistaken (no experience with it). If/when I ever actually get to finishing a helmet I was planning on using the 1/8" polycarbonate, basically display case plastic, which I think would be too thick for vacuum forming.

I've vacu-formed clear polycarbonate (for Star Trek Enterprise bridge domes) and they came out fine so you should be okay with it for making a visor.