Oya vode!
Welcome to my Boba 3-piece (B3P) tutorial. If you need a good ol' fashion besk'ar for your noggin, you've come to the right place. For this project you'll need
A Rubies Boba Fett Helmet
Bondo Body Filler
Bondo spreader squeegee
A hot glue gun with glue sticks
Dark opaque construction visor
Vaseline (weathering)
Automotive 2 in 1 Primer & filler
Low & High /Extra High grit sand paper
Metallic paint and primer (weathering)
Painting/Masking tape
Rotary tool with drill bit (optional)
Paint brush - small size: any kind (weathering)
Black and Brown Acrylic Paint (weathering)
The B3P can be found on Amazon for about $50-$60. As is, it's
NOT approvable for the Mercs without a few needed modifications that will solve that issue in this tutorial.
THE VISORFirst, you need to determine if you're going to keep the clear visor attatched to the helmet. It would certainly be easier to glue the opaque visor behind it but understand that it might be harder to clean as a result. If you are keeping the clear visor, cover it with masking tape before doing anything.
If you wish to remove the visor, be advised the plastic is
EXTREMELY brittle and will break and shatter providing very rough cuts. This is where you would take your dremel with a drill bit and used the drill bit to cut out the clear plastic. Once cut, attatch a sanding drum to your rotary tool and sand down the edges. Use a sanding cone for the small "T" tip ends of the visor where your eye level is.
FILLEROnce your visor situation is taken care of, now is time to fill your Boba dent. Disassemble your helmet by popping off all your ear cap pieces and separating all three major helmet pieces. Bondo is comprised of two pieces, the grey filler puddy and red hardener. The more hardener you apply, the quicker the bondo hardens. Mix your bondo and hardener onto a disposable container or surface and liberally apply it over the dent. Let set over night.
Picture was from another helmet project.
SANDINGTake your low grit sand paper and sand the bondo down and switch to a high/extra high grit sand paper to sand it down into the surface of the dome.
Picture was from another helmet project.
Take a new sheet of high/extra high grit sand paper and sand down the whole helmet so that your primer will adhere better to the plastic. After you sand your helmet, wash all the pieces in cold water and dry them off with a towel. From there, start priming.
PRIMINGI used Rustoleum 2 in 1 automotive sandable primer and filler for literally what's written on the label; if you find your filled area is uneven, you can sand it down more. It'll also fill any imperfections like unwanted scuffs, and as a primer I find it to be very durable and paint bonds to it VERY well. Keep your primer spray about 8-12 inches away from the surface and spray in a vertical/horizontal motion.
REMEMBER, keep your spray paint moving to avoid pooling. Add light coats every 15-20 minutes until you have a solid layer of primer. It took me roughly 4 light coats. Then let it dry for 24 hours.
If you plan on weathering, use the instructions below, otherwise, skip to paintingWEATHERINGWhen doing weathering effects, I highly recommend that all your paint be the same brand. Various companies use different components to make their paint and some do not mix well. I use Rustoleum for all my paints. For all of you vode living in humid climates, this is the brand you want as it is more water resistant. Take your chrome/metallic paint and primer and add light coats every 15-20 minutes. Remember to keep the nozell 8-12 inches away and to keep your can moving to avoid pooling. It took me about 4-5 light coats. After you get a nice solid layer, let it sit for 24 hours. After you've let your metallic coat dry, take a paint brush dab a healthy amount of your Vaseline onto various places of your helmet; brush your Vaseline to various areas in various sizes and patterns. Do not be afraid to put heavy dabs on your helmet, in fact it's almost perfered. It'll be easier to remove later on. (Weathering will continue in PAINTING section)
PAINTINGNow that you've let your primer dry. It's time to add some color to your bucket. If you plan to use more than one color for your helmet, make sure all your paints are the same brand. Different companies use different components to make their paint and some of them do not mix well with others. I used Rustoleum brand paint. For those of you that live in humid regions, I highly recommend this brand because it's more resistant to moisture. Like you did when you primed your helmet, apply light coats every 15-20 minutes keeping your spray nozzle 8-12 inches away from the surface. Once you have a solid layer of color, let it dry for 24 hrs. It's important to note that it doesn't matter what color comes first: primary or secondary. I decided to put the primary color (gold) on first for simple instructions.
WEATHERING CONT.Once you've let your paint dry, rub off the Vaseline with a dry cloth or paper towel. Feel free leave the Vaseline where you plan to put your secondary colors alone until you've painted again. If you want to add some depth, go ahead and rub them off and reapply some Vaseline over the original spots you rubbed off (it does not have to be perfect, but stay as close to the original weathering pattern as possible).
PAINTING CONT.After you've left your first color dry, move on to prepping for your next color. Use your masking tape to block off any areas you do not want painted. When applying tape, put it on as straight as possible. Over lap each strip of tape with another, do not try to conserve by spreading it out. Both aforementioned techniques will help prevent paint from bleeding through. Once you've covered the areas you don't want painted and you've double checked your tape work, begin painting. Again, light coats: 15-20 minutes, spray 8-12 inches away moving your spray in a horizontal/vertical pattern. Let dry for 24 hours. Repeat the process with additional colors if any.
WEATHERING CONT.This part is completely optional. After you're done painting and scuffing off your paint, take some black and brown acrylic with a paint brush and dab/brush random areas of your armor in varying sizes and amounts. Then quickly take a paper towel and wipe off the excess paint while it's still wet, other wise use a wet towel to remove the excess and a dry towel to dry it up. If you plan on doing this in segments (which is recommended) repeat the process on each part of the helmet until satisfied.
PAINTING CONT.Once your weathering and painting is complete, take a clear finish to your helmet as if you are painting it again (because you essentially are).
REASSEMBLE THE HELMETOnce you've painted every component, piece your helmet back together. Cover the inside seams inside the helmet with a glue gun to keep them from separation. Before you put the range finder ear cap back on, you'll need to do one thing: remove the original range finder and stock. It does not meat to CRL standards. If you wish to lengthen it, feel free. Just know that removing it is easier for beginners. Take a Philips Head screw driver and unscrew all the screws to separate both halves of the ear cap from each other and pop out the range finder. Put the ear cap back together and snap it to its place on the helmet. I highly recommend gluing the ear cap in conjuction with snapping it back on to keep from falling out and to reinforce the helmet.
INSTALLING THE VISORWeather you've left the original visor on or off does not matter. You need to install an opaque dark visor. First, measure your T Visor frame from end of one end of the T to another, the length of the T from top to bottom and the T column from side to side. Take those measurements and widen the pattern by at least a half inch. Do not match your pattern to precise measurements. Then, take your template and trace it on an dark opaque face shield and cut it out. The face shield is soft enough to use a tough pair of scissors. Next, take a hot glue gun and glue the edge of your visor to the inside of the helmet. For a snug fit, hot glue the spongey yellow foam inside.
If you followed all these steps, you should have a bucket worthy of protecting your dome from roudy fans
I hope this helped. Feel free to post your B3P mods on here or if you have any questions. If you'd like to contribute other methods, please do so. How I do is only one of many ways (I've even used wood filler on the dent)
