My RA Y-Wing helmet build

[superjedi]

Hi all,
I've been having so much fun working on this helmet that I forgot to post some in-progress pics, so this post is a little long.

FROM FEB 10th
I've always liked the different looking helmets used by the Rebel Alliance, especially the different designs for the pilots. I ordered a Y-Wing helmet kit from Richie's Armor about 3 weeks ago, and it got here yesterday.
Great looking kit, and he got it out to me nice and quick!

The kit consists of 2 vac-formed styrene shells (left and right), a clear tinted visor, 2 strips of black edging, and several small greeblies for detailing. It even includes a length of flexible coated wire to make the microphone boom.

Here's the contents of the kit.

Here's a tighter shot of the resin detail bits. No trimming had been done on these for this shot. These are "as received."

Construction of the main helmet was very straightforward. I cut several small tabs from extra styrene, and after lining up the 2 shells, superglued them in place. I just did that to keep everything aligned while I got my JB Kwik ready. Then I applied that all along the inside of the seam. I worked it in small section cuz that stuff kicks pretty fast!

Once the JB Kwik had dried, I went back along the outside of the seam and puttied it. The stuff I use is similar to 1-part Bondo. I bought it while I was stationed in Germany and I've had this tube for over 4 years. It's still going strong! It dries pretty fast and sands to a really smooth finish.

I applied some extra putty to the chin area, which was kind of "sunk" where the 2 halves came together. I built it up to a flatter surface, taking some extra care to blend it in well. Here it is after sanding.

I'm off to the hobby shop in a little bit to grab some primer, and then I'll see how the putty looks. If it needs touch ups, I'll do that later tonight.

Got some Tamiya primer on the helmet, and after it dried I found that I did have to go back and re-putty the seams. Oh well. So now it's gray with puttied seams! Oh the progress is just staggering!

I'll resand and reprime tomorrow. Then I'll have to test some colors as I'm trying to replicate a specific screen-used helmet from ROTJ.

UPDATE: Feb 12th

Got the first color on. It's. . . white!

I masked off the area I wanted to paint and used Floquil Reefer White. I just misted it on with 2 or 3 light coats to get a "dirty white" appearance. The entire helmet is going to be pretty heavily weathered, so I don't want my base colors to be really pure.

The little split in the top of the chin area doesn't matter as that rounded detail will be covered by some brown vinyl when the painting is all done. It's supposed to look like padding.

UPDATE #2: Feb 12th

Had some more time and the white was dry, so I sprayed the second major color.

Tomorrow the last major color will go on the 2 slightly inset panels on the top/back, and then I'll start on the markings.

UPDATE: Feb 13th

OK, got the last major color on the back panels. I used Floquil Dark Green for these areas.

Next will be some more complex masking for some red and gray markings.

UPDATE #2: Feb 13th

Started some of the markings. First ones are the gray stripes along the jaw line. If you look at pics of the real helmet, you can see on the right side there's a section that's darker gray. I added some darker gray while everything was still masked off.

The real helmet is extremely dirty. Once I get all my base colors on, I'll go back and add all the weathering and scorching and chipping. You know, the fun stuff!

UPDATE #3: Feb 13th

OK, I can't stop. . .

I added the first set of red markings to the right 'temple' area. I'm hitting these areas with primer first so I'll get an even red tone no matter what color is beneath it. I'm using Floquil Caboose Red for my markings.

Please keep in mind that as I'm doing this paint job, it's necessary to slightly alter the shape/positions of some of these markings, as the proportions of the RA kit are slightly different than the screen-used helmet. I'm trying to keep the overall proportions/spacing of the markings as close as I can.
Next will be the red stripes over the forehead area.

UPDATE #4: Feb 13th

Whew! OK, this will be it for today. I got the forehead stripes on. Again, I masked everything off, then hit it with Tamiya primer, waited a while, then sprayed on the Floquil Caboose Red.

Tomorrow I'll start on the weird script on different parts of the helmet, then the basic painting will be done!

I've already primered the greeblies. They'll receive their basic color coat (very dark gray) then they'll be attached for the weathering phase.

 

[superjedi]

Continued:

UPDATE: Feb 14th

OK, these pics show work I did from last night through a little while ago. I meant to take some in between pics, but I was just having too much fun.
I had some left over black vinyl from another project, and I used it to make the "Aurabesh" script and symbols that are seen on the helmet. On the left temple, it's just a couple of strange geometric symbols.

Here's a closer shot showing some of the chipping. I'm using good ol' Zinc Chrom. Yellow and Reefer Gray. Some areas have a darker gray and for that I'm using SP Lark Dark Gray.

On the right temple, there's some script. Again, I hand cut some black vinyl and laid it on.

Here's some of the chipping done above that area. Once the weathering is completed, it won't look so stark against the bare white.

Across the forehead there's more script. Just to its right (as you're wearing the helmet) there will be a raised dark red rectangle. I'll make that out of some sheet styrene and glue it on once it's painted.

I also used black vinyl to make the thin black stripes in between the red stripes. More chipping here.

On the chin of the screen used helmet are the remnants of a sticker. From what I've read it's a "Radio Free Bolinas" sticker that came from an old pirate radio station in Bolinas, CA. I've seen a graphic of the complete sticker, and there's a big white "RFB" on a red background with Radio Free Bolinas in a curve around the top. On some photos of the real helmet it's plainly visible. I used one of these pics to trace a stencil and just painted it on there.

It will still get some more weathering and some color variation. I'm not sure if I want to add the "Radio Free Bolinas" lettering around the top or not. . . with all the other script on there, it sort of seems odd to add wording that's so clearly readable. I may do it, I may not. So there!

Closer view.

This is a fun helmet to paint!

UPDATE: Feb 15th

OK. . . got a lot done! I've done most of the weathering, with the exception of the greeblies. I know I said I was going to attach them and then weather them all together, but I decided it would probably be easier to do them separately. So sue me!

Once all my base colors were on, I took a very pale gray and added some large chipped areas. These are visible in my reference pics, so I painted 'em on there!

I used several weathering techniques on this helmet. I airbrushed a couple of different gray shades on the entire helmet. Lighter gray everywhere, some darker gray in certain areas. On the white portion, I also mixed a "muddy" gray brown for some variation in the tone.

After airbrushing, I went back with an X-acto blade and made some scratches all the way down to the white styrene. I also took a toothbrush and spattered some of the base yellow color back on over the darker areas. Really broke up the dark gray and gave it a "deeper" appearance.

Here's the forehead, showing the gray and muddy colors.

And the left side.

On the green dome panels, I first airbrushed the same dark gray shade I used on the rest of the helmet, then went back with a toothbrush and flicked on some slightly lighter green in random patterns. Then I took some light gray and a very stiff "stippling" brush, and added some gray damage. The final step was taking the X-acto blade to it, scratching down to the raw styrene.

If you notice, in the shots where you can see inside the helmet, I've also added the "car door trim" around the bottom of the helmet. This was included in the kit, and really makes an excellent looking finished edge!
On to the greeblies!

 

[vaderdarth]

That is a sweet looking build so far. You do nice paint work.

 

[yodasan]

Outstanding work - and fun to read build posts too. :thumbsup

 

[B-Movie Zombie]

Very nice!

 

[OdiWan72]

VERY COOl Eric!

You´re painting skills are maaaad :thumbsup

Markus

 

[Star Wars Helmets]

V E R Y Nice work

Looking forward to seeing this finished

Cheers

Jez

 

[rmschneider104]

Wow. That is progressing very nicely. It is easy to see all the hard work and long hours. Keep at it!

 

[Too Much Garlic]

That's an interesting helmet. Don't see many of those. Honestly, I liked your painting and weathering skills up until the misting pictures. Took the real and natural looking aspect of the weathering away from the build and made it look painted instead, imo. It still looks cool though and I'm very impressed with how you turned it from a kit into a helmet! :thumbsup

 

[Darth Lars]

Wow. Great work! In the last post, each next picture had wow-factor over the previous.
I have planned to build one of these kits, so the tutorial-aspects of this thread will come in handy. Thanks for sharing info about the process, and providing inspiration with your great paint work! I'm looking forward to the next part.

 

[ywingfighter]

Great work, Eric! Nice looking helmet.:love

 

[RICHIES ARMOR]

Great job Eric!!

Richie

 

[defstartrooper]

Monster paintjob really looks battleworn :thumbsup

 

[clancampbell]

Cripes!!!

I always loved the style of the ROTJ helmets and this is just amazing!

I love the amount of passion you've put into this!

Fab!

Rich

 

[Howlrunner]

Looking fantastic! This is the first time I've ever seen anyone else do this helmet in the proper screen-accurate style. (Heck, even Hasbro can't get it right!) :lol Are you using the reference pictures that I collected together when doing mine by any chance? Think I posted them on here and the RebelLegion a while ago.

http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b24/msbillen/Rebel Pilots/Y-Wing Pilots/

I researched the background of the RFB sticker and did the graphic in Photoshop, so I wonder if that was the one you'd seen?

You're lucky getting all those resin greeblies in the kit - when I ordered mine from RA it didn't come with any of those, so I had to make my own. The ones that come with the RA kit look more accurate than my attempt with found parts.

Here's mine (on the bottom row) compared with the screen used (top row):

 

[superjedi]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I hope at some point someone will produce A- or B-wing helmets, cuz I'd love to add one of each to my Rebel headwear collection.

Are you using the reference pictures that I collected together when doing mine by any chance? Think I posted them on here and the RebelLegion a while ago.

I certainly am using those pics! They're excellent, thanks. :thumbsup
I debated for a while even before I got the helmet as to what color scheme I wanted to use. The one with mostly dark blue-gray markings (from Rebel Assault I think?) is really cool looking, too. But I decided to go with the ROTJ scheme.

 

[superjedi]

Getting really close now!

UPDATE: Feb 17th

Whew! OK, pretty much all that remains is to put in the visor and add some padding for my noggin.
All the detail bits are done now. Here's the styrene plate added next to the lettering on the forehead. I used Polly Scale Rock Island Maroon as a base coat, then sponged Wisc. Central Maroon over that. The reference pics show this as having a random, broken pattern.

I bought some brown vinyl and made a paper template to match the curve of the jaw. I sort of eyeballed it, and I adjusted the pattern about 4 times to get the curve right. I transferred the pattern to the vinyl and cut it out, then attached it using CA glue. I just did a bit at a time, slowly working around the curve. It's folded over the "top" edge and glued to the inside of the rim. (My fluorescent kitchen light is killing the colors in these pics. . . when it's all done I'll get some shots in natural light. :redface)
In these pics you can also see the mic boom assembly. The resin piece is glued to the helmet, with a hole drilled for the large piece of wire. The mic has a depression drilled into the backside and is attached to the wire with CA. Inside the helmet, the wire was bent around and epoxied to the helmet shell.

I also did lots of work on the greeblies today. I decided to remake some of the resin parts that were supplied with the helmet. They're nice casts, but some of the parts weren't quite as "crisp" as I wanted them to be. I added a couple of additional details that can be seen in the ref pics, but weren't supplied with the kit.
Here's the right side, showing the remade part (the gray assembly) and the bits I added. It's hard to tell exactly what these are, but they seem to be some kind of latch. It's possible the back of the helmet shell was supposed to swing open or something. I built the latch parts from Sintra and some sheet styrene.

Here's a closer look.

On the left side there are 2 greeblies. The one closest to the chin is the stock piece supplied with the kit. It was really nice and only needed some quick sanding. The round heat-sink looking piece was scratchbuilt to replace the resin part. The vanes on the resin part were kind of uneven and even after heating and bending them, they still slowly moved back to their original position.
I rebuilt the part using a section of round styrene tube for the central core, then added the 10 vanes. The part that sits on top of the vanes was just a flat resin disc. I took a thin piece of styrene and marked and cut out the X shape, then glued it onto the disc and sanded the edges smooth. The disc was attached to the vanes, and I attached the whole assembly using a small sheet metal screw from inside the helmet.

A tighter shot.

Something occurred to me as I was painting today; the greeblies are the only parts on this whole helmet that have any silver on them! Quite a change from Boba Fett gear, which is what I'm usually working on.

So, tomorrow I'm off to buy a batting helmet to rip apart for padding. Then I'll attach the visor, and we'll call this puppy done!
Hope everyone's enjoying the progress.

 

[Howlrunner]

Looks absolutely fantastic! I too really want someone to get the A or B Wing helmet done.

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

Great work on that helmet !!! Can´t wait to see a completed outfit !

Btw, that "Asbach Uralt" bottle that you propped your helmet on, it´s kind of irritating to see a german liquor bottle used some thousand miles away as a helmet stand :lol

Michael

 

[superjedi]

Great work on that helmet !!! Can´t wait to see a completed outfit !

Btw, that "Asbach Uralt" bottle that you propped your helmet on, it´s kind of irritating to see a german liquor bottle used some thousand miles away as a helmet stand :lol

Michael

:lol Sorry, Michael! But it makes such a great helmet stand.