Pre-Production Fett Replica (Finished Pics)
- Thread starter Keith
- Start date
the iron 1
New Member
Looks awesome.
Keith
Sr Member
Thanks 
Sorry the new pics are a bit poor. Its hard to show how smooth and shiny it is, as it just looks like a white glowing blob out in daylight with a black background.
I highly recommend the wet sanding and T-cutting painting method to anyone who is painting a helmet, or anything for that mater. The paintwork will stay flawless and high gloss forever with no maintenance. You don't even need to polish it again.
Thanks,
Keith.
Sorry the new pics are a bit poor. Its hard to show how smooth and shiny it is, as it just looks like a white glowing blob out in daylight with a black background.
I highly recommend the wet sanding and T-cutting painting method to anyone who is painting a helmet, or anything for that mater. The paintwork will stay flawless and high gloss forever with no maintenance. You don't even need to polish it again.
Thanks,
Keith.
Keith
Sr Member
<div class='quotetop'>(Dean O @ Aug 15 2006, 04:34 PM) [snapback]1300927[/snapback]</div>
Its a method i came across when i painted my first stormtrooper helmet years ago. I was not happy with the painted look after spraying it gloss white, so i wet sanded it smooth ready to start again, but then found that i could T-cut (which is a sort of polish/rubbing compound to remove scratches in paint) and polish the paint up to a perfect mirror finish. You just have to make sure you don't sand or T-cut all the way through the paint.
Its the texture of the paint that makes the finish look like its been painted. Remove that texture by sanding and then remove the scratches from the sanding with T-cut and polish and you can end up with a finish thats impossible to distinguish from high gloss plastic.
Keith.
Its a method i came across when i painted my first stormtrooper helmet years ago. I was not happy with the painted look after spraying it gloss white, so i wet sanded it smooth ready to start again, but then found that i could T-cut (which is a sort of polish/rubbing compound to remove scratches in paint) and polish the paint up to a perfect mirror finish. You just have to make sure you don't sand or T-cut all the way through the paint.
Its the texture of the paint that makes the finish look like its been painted. Remove that texture by sanding and then remove the scratches from the sanding with T-cut and polish and you can end up with a finish thats impossible to distinguish from high gloss plastic.
Keith.
Boba Frett
Sr Member
Looks great :thumbsup
DL 44 Blaster
Sr Member
AWESOME helmet.. :thumbsup
T-cut....sounds interesting. It sounds like a bit of trial and error is in order before one doesn't "cut" too deep into the paint.
Any further tips on the method? Brands of products, grit of sandpapers etc.? I'd like to try it.
Steve
T-cut....sounds interesting. It sounds like a bit of trial and error is in order before one doesn't "cut" too deep into the paint.
Any further tips on the method? Brands of products, grit of sandpapers etc.? I'd like to try it.
Steve
Keith
Sr Member
I use a brand of paint called Halfords, from the Halfords store here in the UK. Its fantastic paint.
I would use 3 full 300ml cans on one helmet, building the paint up bit by bit so the helmet has a really nice thick coat. Let it dry for at least a week.
Use the finest wet and dry paper you can find. Wet sand it and keep drying it with a towel to check for little glossy dots. These gloss dots are the low spots of the paints texture thats not yet been touched by the sand paper.
When the paint has all been sanded smooth, leave it for another day or two, as the paint can be soft again now its had the top layers sanded away.
Any brand of T-cut should do the job. If you do it right then you may not even need to polish it, but if i do use polish, i use autoglym super resin.
The following helmets were painted inside and out using the same method and its impossible to tell they have been painted even with the closest inspection.
Keith.
I would use 3 full 300ml cans on one helmet, building the paint up bit by bit so the helmet has a really nice thick coat. Let it dry for at least a week.
Use the finest wet and dry paper you can find. Wet sand it and keep drying it with a towel to check for little glossy dots. These gloss dots are the low spots of the paints texture thats not yet been touched by the sand paper.
When the paint has all been sanded smooth, leave it for another day or two, as the paint can be soft again now its had the top layers sanded away.
Any brand of T-cut should do the job. If you do it right then you may not even need to polish it, but if i do use polish, i use autoglym super resin.
The following helmets were painted inside and out using the same method and its impossible to tell they have been painted even with the closest inspection.
Keith.
StarWars Collector
Well-Known Member
Love seeing pics of snowy white. Yours is awesome.. :thumbsup
DL 44 Blaster
Sr Member
INSANE.. :eek I will definitely give this a whirl. Thanks for the tips Keith :thumbsup
Steve
Steve
B-Movie Zombie
Sr Member
Very nice. :thumbsup
