I picked up a Mynock's Den GI helmet a little over a month ago, and finally got around to adding some battle damage this weekend.
For the front left, I added a mix of shrapnel damage and a bit of melee scarring. I also like to include a fair bit of scuffing on the forehead/brow line to indicate a penchant for head-butting.
Mainly shrapnel damage over here - clearly a grenade went off somewhere to my right at some point. Plus one big scar from a melee weapon from an unseen/ambushing attacker.
I tried to make most of the damage in the back look like it's from bring knocked backwards and hitting my head on things, which a few more signs of ambush attacks. I also put the only blaster impact here on the back at an elevated point, suggesting a sniper shot; I figure, if you're gonna get shot in the head, ideally it's because you never saw the shooter.
The left transitions from stray bumps to primarily melee damage. Here on Earth, most people are right-handed, so hand-to-hand attacks will tend to favor the left; there's no reason that would necessarily hold true in the galaxy far, far away, but I think it lends a bit of subconscious authenticity.
I like to include a mix of cuts and crushing/impact marks, to suggest a variety of weapon attacks over time.
Always start with a plan! I like to draw my battle damage in first with a pencil to make sure I get it right when the time comes to start for real. One of the main challenges with adding battle damage is overcoming our brain's passive desire for symmetry and patterns. If you just start freehanding damage, it will almost always end up in a pattern of some kind; drawing first gives the opportunity to spot those patterns and break them up. It also helps to ensure you have a good variety of damage, ie, not too many marks of the same kind, and gives the opportunity to think about what kinds of damage your Mando is most likely to take and where.
If you compare against the images above, you'll see I followed my pencil markings pretty closely, with only a few exceptions.
One exception was the blaster impact, which ended up a bit smaller. No special reason; I just got it looking good and decided to quit while I was ahead rather than keep Dremel-ing and potentially end up with something bigger that I didn't like as much.
The glare makes it a bit hard to tell, but the big scar over the visor here was originally much longer, and at a slightly different angle. The angle was just a matter of my metal file not quite cooperating with me (it happens sometimes), but the size change was intentional; after staring at it drawn on the helmet for a month, I felt like it was too prominent and dialed it down. Another advantage of drawing the damage first!
The tools I used. Not pictured: filter mask and Dremel circular cutting blade.
Next up: a base coat of black spray paint!
