Paint color identification on ANH vader
- Thread starter Devilmaan
- Start date
TBH that's probably about right in terms of prop accuracy. All the Vader helmets are way lighter on the grey than you'd think seeing them on screen. If you want to repaint them, I can recommend using a mix of Tamiya X10 gunmetal grey and X1 black. Just add in a little black at a time until you get the colour you want. Use a 3ml syringe or something so you know how much you're adding and can replicate it if you run out.
ID10T
Sr Member
Just food for thought:
"flat" black often appears as dark gray, rather than black. I avoid it for that reason (and use "satin" or "semi-gloss"), but you may try spraying some samples and seeing if this looks the way you want it to. If nothing else, the sheen contrast might give you the look you're after.
"flat" black often appears as dark gray, rather than black. I avoid it for that reason (and use "satin" or "semi-gloss"), but you may try spraying some samples and seeing if this looks the way you want it to. If nothing else, the sheen contrast might give you the look you're after.
Devilmaan
New Member
ill keep that in mind.. my armor did have a heavy gloss to it for it being ANH... (SMH) so I wet sanded the clear coat down on the black and grey a bit and then didnt polish it out keep the flatter finish.
ID10T
Sr Member
Another idea is to apply a flat or satin clear on the areas you want to take the gloss down.
For a completely unrelated project, I tried several brands, because I wanted to take a high gloss (watch dial in my case) down to a satin finish. What I learned is that some clear coats are not actually clear, and they will add a "frosting", or light "whiteness" to the base color, and others are truly clear, just with a reduced gloss.
I tested by spraying the clears onto a welding glass (very dark green) and letting it dry. It was immediately apparent which ones were actually clear, and which ones added a "frosting", which altered the color, making the black look more gray.
In your case, you may prefer the frosting clear, but in my case, the true clear was the right choice.
I grabbed different sprays from Home Depot for my test. It was a while ago now, or I'd let you know my findings by brand...
For a completely unrelated project, I tried several brands, because I wanted to take a high gloss (watch dial in my case) down to a satin finish. What I learned is that some clear coats are not actually clear, and they will add a "frosting", or light "whiteness" to the base color, and others are truly clear, just with a reduced gloss.
I tested by spraying the clears onto a welding glass (very dark green) and letting it dry. It was immediately apparent which ones were actually clear, and which ones added a "frosting", which altered the color, making the black look more gray.
In your case, you may prefer the frosting clear, but in my case, the true clear was the right choice.
I grabbed different sprays from Home Depot for my test. It was a while ago now, or I'd let you know my findings by brand...
Devilmaan
New Member
Good idea! I will definitely experiment
ID10T
Sr Member
I think that a thin clear on an opposing under layer of “sheen” can be fun to weather too. It can give the appearance of something satin that rubbed on something else which caused a “polished” area.
Unless you are replicating a certain look, you can really do some interesting things.
I think Adam Savage said some of his best weathering happened when he thought he had just screwed up the entire project...
Unless you are replicating a certain look, you can really do some interesting things.
I think Adam Savage said some of his best weathering happened when he thought he had just screwed up the entire project...
lethyry
Active Member
I was looking for the same answers you are now, I found using Tamiya flat aluminum and a little bit of flat black got me to a close colour of the movie prop, theres some good threads about this on the den as well. also just did a google search and saw some good photos of the colour in day light and tried to match it,
