SC Build Critique

[Guest hel0wrench]

Looking for some input on my progress. I've cut out the mask and painted the snout. I need to know if I've cut enough/too much and how the shape of it and the painted area look. Pay no mind to the discoloration on the rest of the mask, I'll be priming and painting it after it's all cut and shaped. I took a few with different backgrounds and angles to give some more reference and depth to it since it's hard to tell sometimes.

 

[Donovan]

looks good to me.ive got an sc bucket

[Griffin-X]

IMO...the top Black portion should be more round. It's really close but does not quite come up high enough.

[Mandalorean]

The painted black area of the snout extends to halfway into the outer flat area too.

[Guest hel0wrench]

Thanks guys. I need to get some fine line tape to get it done right. It was more to get an idea of the size and shape. I'll have to paint the whole thing eventually anyways. How about the eyepiece? Does it look uniform and should any more be trimmed?

[Donovan]

Lol I didn't even pay attention to the paint I was reffereing to the eye piece

[Scout472]

I think there should be a little more taken off over the nose. Advice I got and looking at the screenshots is that there is no lip over the snout. Your fourth picture looks like there is still a vertical lip over the nose. Not definitive, but have a close look at it

[Griffin-X]

Thanks guys. I need to get some fine line tape to get it done right. It was more to get an idea of the size and shape. I'll have to paint the whole thing eventually anyways. How about the eyepiece? Does it look uniform and should any more be trimmed?

 

I think you are very close on the visor cutout. You could trim a wee bit more off the top portion and maybe a little around the nose portion, but not too much.

[Guest hel0wrench]

Thanks Griffin. I'll keep it to a minimum. Then I'm on to painting!

[Guest hel0wrench]

Paint seems to be giving me a bit of a headache. I've applied a few coats of Rustoleum gloss white to the visor and face mask after a light sanding with 180 grit to remove the shine and 400 grit to finish. I've let the paint cure almost all the way before adding a new coat, but it's not laying down flat. On the mask it's been leaving a ball peened look and on the visor it's been bubbling up, looking like I've applied a paint stripper.

 

I'm in the process of wet sanding both pieces to get rid of the imperfections and will shoot again, since the coats weren't very thick and I've taken some places down to the primer just to get a smooth finish.

 

I used some Bondo to blend the top and back pieces into looking like one solid piece and it's coming together real nice. Now if I could just get the paint to lay down like it should...

[Griffin-X]

Sounds like orange peel on the paint. I ran into this with Rustoleum and now only use Krylon. I'm not sure what paint you are using but some require 24-48 hours before a respray. Others have a timeframe of 24 hours, but if you miss it, you have to wait like 72+ hours.

[Guest hel0wrench]

After posting my problem I looked around some and saw that almost everyone in the US uses Krylon. I think I'll give that a shot and see how it does. Orange peel would be the best way to describe the one problem. I looked online a bit and saw that the other problem is almost like I sprayed laquer thinner on the paint and that's why it crinkled. Is there a specific color you prefer, Jim? Or just go with plain gloss white?

[Pandatrooper]

Did you wash the plastic before you painted it? Its important to wash and rinse with dish detergent before you paint it as the plastic may have release agent on it from forming or finger prints. This will cause the rippling / orange peel.

 

Another issue might be temperature or humidity.

[Chef]

Paint is an incredibly fickle thing. Some paints like a single thick coat, and any further coats will always wrinkle no matter what you do.

 

Some have to be very specific to the primer and lacquers you use. They react horridly to slightly differing brands, even though they should be compatible.

Some as Jim has pointed out have a very specific shooting window, and anything outside this will either cause it to wrinkle or not cure at all.

 

Some (when making moulds...) react really badly to resins, even though there isn't anything in them that should!

 

I find the rustoleum range of paints to be the worst you could possibly use. It really is difficult to work with and reacts to absolutely EVERYTHING.

I found out the hard way and welded my lid sculpt to the mould, destroying both in the process.

 

 

 

Krylon is a decent paint and is reasonably simple to work with.

 

Although I prefer to use a 2-Pack system. Being a chemical cure, you are less dependant on temperature and humidity as factors when spraying (although you should aim to spray around the 20 degrees centigrade and less than 80% humidity where possible). Newer more modern paint systems are getting better.

 

I tend to flash off each coat in my little home made paint booth (just a cardboard box with a hole in the bottom that a fan heater pushes warm air into), as this both speeds up the curing process and the subsequent spraying times.

 

to avoid peeling or wrinkling, it is best to flat each coat with some wet and dry and then wipe the entire surface down with special 'panel wipe', which is essentially a very weak 'acetone style' cleaning solution. It removes any grease or silicates from the surface.

 

 

Make sure you don't spray anything like SILICONE, be it in hairspray, greases, WD40 (fish oil... but just as bad), etc anywhere near your lid. That WILL cause fish eyes and all manner of other problems.

 

Preparation is 90% of the key to a good paint finish.

[Griffin-X]

After posting my problem I looked around some and saw that almost everyone in the US uses Krylon. I think I'll give that a shot and see how it does. Orange peel would be the best way to describe the one problem. I looked online a bit and saw that the other problem is almost like I sprayed laquer thinner on the paint and that's why it crinkled. Is there a specific color you prefer, Jim? Or just go with plain gloss white?

 

I use Krylon primer and then follow-up with Krylon gloss white. When I paint in black, it's Krylon primer and then Krylon black. If I want/need a really shiny appearance, I follow-up with a Krylon clear coat. I go with a 24 hr cure time for primer and a 48 hr cure time for colors. That process seems to work well for me.

 

Like Chef, I too had a terrible experience with Rustoleum. A few months back, I painted a Tie helmet (primed then gloss black). It looked awesome and I was really pleased with it. Then I added a second coat of gloss black and WHAM...orange peel all over the place. It sucked and pretty much ruined all the work on the bucket.

 

So, never again with Rustoleum...ever.

[Guest hel0wrench]

Terry, I always clean parts before painting. I do some painting from time to time with my job though it's always a PPG product. I don't see the cost of laquer, reducer, hardener and accelerator working with my budget and any build. I use a wax remover/degreaser that's naphtha and acetone then I wipe with a clean cloth to remove the chemical, always wearing rubber gloves without powder.

 

Rob, I can see that my experience mirrors yours with Rustoleum. The difficult part of painting in Florida is the humidity, which is always 75%+ unless we get a nice cold front with dry air behind it.

 

Jim, I'm going to take your cure times and use them to the T. Again, I think we're seeing a lot of the same problems with the same product. I'll get some Krylon gloss white and flat black to finish up the helmet. With any luck I'll be able to get the paint down right and move on to the soft parts while I wait for armor funds to be saved.

 

Thank you all for the input, I'll reread these comments about 20 times before I go to paint again. I just need to remember that I can't get all the paint down at once.

[Guest hel0wrench]

Ok guys, after a long break - not by my choosing - I've come back to continue my build. Here's my progress so far.

 

Here's the bucket mocked up. Painted with Krylon lacquer, the wet sanded and buffed. The snout is also Krylon. Glued the snout piece with e6000 and also put a small sheet metal screw through the vocalizer to help hold.

 

 

Here's a side shot with the vinyl decals on the ears. I'm going to trace them and cut out the ABS. How's the positioning?

 

 

Please tell me my fish hook is correct.

 

 

Here's the back with decals in place. Are they ok?

 

 

Here's a top view. Is my spacing good? I haven't glued anything down yet because I want to make sure it's all lining up properly first. Also, what's the best way to get the lens in? SC sent one with the kit that's already cut and somewhat formed. It it'll take a little pressure to get it flush. I'm worried about having glue or sealer goo out onto the mask if I use too much.

 

Thanks for the input in advance.

[01Hawk]

I haven't put my visor in place yet but I did heat it with a hair dryer and shaped it to the visor - basically just squeezed it while heating the center where I was bending it and then let it cool while holding it.

[spookymufu]

depending on the visor material you might need more heat then a hair dryer cant produce, for mine I used the oven at 300 degrees and placed it on top of two bowls and waited for it to droop between them and then took it out and pressed it into my helmet until it cooled then used hot glue to hold it in place

 

http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=11862&view=findpost&p=102931

[Guest hel0wrench]

I'm going to attempt to mold the visor material today. I really need some input on the ear holes. I've looked for good reference pics and I think they're in the right spot but I want to make sure. I'm hoping to have final pics and a closed thread by the end of the weekend.

[Griffin-X]

I'm going to attempt to mold the visor material today. I really need some input on the ear holes. I've looked for good reference pics and I think they're in the right spot but I want to make sure. I'm hoping to have final pics and a closed thread by the end of the weekend.

 

This is one of the best shots. Check out the SW site for more.

 

http://starwarshelmets.com/real_Biker_Scouts.htm

 

 

[Guest hel0wrench]

Sweet. Thanks Jim. I held off on the ears because they seemed a little off. Now I know why. Mine were a little more inside than the pics you've posted. Would I be correct in assuming the visor and mask should be even on the sides? So that they look like one piece since they're to be glued together?