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[Arris Ahnway]

Hi there,

As a first timer, I wanted to post my plans for painting my helmet, and possibly get feedback/tips.

Here’s the raw helmet: https://imgur.com/a/rEOiOLP

And here’s my color scheme: https://imgur.com/a/bD2HS8O

Painting plan:
1. Sand helmet down gently
2. Soak it in a dish soap/water solution for eight hours
3. Two coats of primer — should I go with white or clear, since the helmet is black plastic?
4. Two coats of silver (Krylon Fusion Metallic Silver)
5. Add toothpaste for weathering
6. One coat of sealant
7. Mask off helmet, leaving eyes and ridge unmasked
8. Two coats of light blue for eyes and ridge (Krylon Color Maxx Matte Aqua)
9.  Mask off eyes and ridge, leaving the rest of the helmet unmasked
10. Two coats of navy blue on the whole helmet (Krylon Fusion Matte Ink Blue)
11. Mask off everything but the cheeks
12. Two coats of black on the cheeks (Krylon Fusion Metallic Black Stainless)
13. Remove toothpaste to expose silver
14. Final coat of sealant for the whole helmet

Please let me know if I’m missing anything, or if you have other suggestions, especially regarding types of paint. I'm debating whether or not I should pick a glossy paint for the navy/light blue, instead of matte, to match the metallic black/silver.

Thanks!

[Hioda]

What plastic is it? PLA or?

Painting plan:
1. Sand helmet down gently
- Sanding before adding the primer is gonna save a lot of work after adding the primer.
2. Soak it in a dish soap/water solution for eight hours
- Depends on the material, just flush with water and let it dry properly, is what I did.
3. Two coats of primer — should I go with white or clear, since the helmet is black plastic?
- I applied light grey spray putty (easier to spot surface flaws with light gray putty on black plastic) and after that sanded down the putty and 3d printed layers. After that I applied another layer of spray putty and sanded again. I repeated this steps until I was happy with the surface.
4. Two coats of silver (Krylon Fusion Metallic Silver)
5. Add toothpaste for weathering
6. One coat of sealant
7. Mask off helmet, leaving eyes and ridge unmasked
8. Two coats of light blue for eyes and ridge (Krylon Color Maxx Matte Aqua)
9.  Mask off eyes and ridge, leaving the rest of the helmet unmasked
10. Two coats of navy blue on the whole helmet (Krylon Fusion Matte Ink Blue)
11. Mask off everything but the cheeks
12. Two coats of black on the cheeks (Krylon Fusion Metallic Black Stainless)
13. Remove toothpaste to expose silver
14. Final coat of sealant for the whole helmet

[Arkham]

Sounds like a good plan.

A suggestion I have, that has worked well for me.

Try removing the toothpaste (or other masking material. I use liquid latex) between each color change. Then reapply it. This will give you a better look as you'll see no only the silver metallic layer, but also bits of the "primer" or "previous color" coat. Look at some picks of Boba's (ESB/ROJ) helmet and you'll see examples of the effect.

[Arris Ahnway]

That's a great point, thanks!

Sounds like a good plan.

A suggestion I have, that has worked well for me.

Try removing the toothpaste (or other masking material. I use liquid latex) between each color change. Then reapply it. This will give you a better look as you'll see no only the silver metallic layer, but also bits of the "primer" or "previous color" coat. Look at some picks of Boba's (ESB/ROJ) helmet and you'll see examples of the effect.

[Arris Ahnway]

Yeah, I'm really glad I sanded this before primer.

I actually already did my coat of primer, but I'll think about the spray putty, in case I do a full kit later. Thanks!

What plastic is it? PLA or?

Painting plan:
1. Sand helmet down gently
- Sanding before adding the primer is gonna save a lot of work after adding the primer.
2. Soak it in a dish soap/water solution for eight hours
- Depends on the material, just flush with water and let it dry properly, is what I did.
3. Two coats of primer — should I go with white or clear, since the helmet is black plastic?
- I applied light grey spray putty (easier to spot surface flaws with light gray putty on black plastic) and after that sanded down the putty and 3d printed layers. After that I applied another layer of spray putty and sanded again. I repeated this steps until I was happy with the surface.
4. Two coats of silver (Krylon Fusion Metallic Silver)
5. Add toothpaste for weathering
6. One coat of sealant
7. Mask off helmet, leaving eyes and ridge unmasked
8. Two coats of light blue for eyes and ridge (Krylon Color Maxx Matte Aqua)
9.  Mask off eyes and ridge, leaving the rest of the helmet unmasked
10. Two coats of navy blue on the whole helmet (Krylon Fusion Matte Ink Blue)
11. Mask off everything but the cheeks
12. Two coats of black on the cheeks (Krylon Fusion Metallic Black Stainless)
13. Remove toothpaste to expose silver
14. Final coat of sealant for the whole helmet

[Arris Ahnway]

Anyone have recommendations on what to do about the lines from the 3D print?

I've already sanded the helmet down, and hoped that the paint would fill in the lines, but that hasn't really been the case.

[Celtkhan]

If you use a filler primer, it can fill the lines, but it will take several layers with sanding between each one. You can also use Bondo auto body filler or wood filler, but they will require sanding as well.

[Vetter]

Anyone have recommendations on what to do about the lines from the 3D print?

I found this video. 

I've already bought a can as I have a 3d printed E-11 blaster on order.  I'll know in the next week or two how well it works.

[The Bearded Mando]

i saw a video this morning by Uncle Jesse. he brushed on uv resin, then hit it with a UV light. iron man face plate done in about am hour. he got the idea from galactic armory.

[Ori Dart]

I found this video. 

I've already bought a can as I have a 3d printed E-11 blaster on order.  I'll know in the next week or two how well it works.

I second this. I've used that spray primer and it does a really good job. Just make sure you get a few cans as you'll likely get about 3-4 coats from a single can. That video does a pretty decent job showing how it's done. Lots of priming, sanding, priming, sanding, etc... But it'll all pay off when you finally get to the paint stage, because you'll have a smooth surface.

[Arris Ahnway]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I should've started off with filler primer before I started painting—chalk it up to a rookie mistake!

But if I apply filler primer now, after putting on a few coats of paint, I'd basically have to start over with painting, since the filler primer would cover the colors I've already put on.

I'm wondering if there's an alternative? Maybe mixing filler primer in the black wash?

tl;dr — Is there a way to fill in the print lines without essentially starting the whole thing over? 

[Celtkhan]

tl;dr — Is there a way to fill in the print lines without essentially starting the whole thing over?

Nope. Blackwash is going to accentuate your print lines, not cover them, and the samding required with any filler is going to destroy your current paintjob regardless. Chalk it up to a lesson learned about impatience. You must complete each stage completely before moving on to the next.