Retrofire Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 So after I finished building my armor I found myself needing another project to feed my OCD and I found a nice KS helmet in the trade forum and have decided to give the old OCD reno treatment. I started by firmly yet gently separating the faceplate, visor, and main bucket into parts. It came with a DVH snout and the 3M helmet bolts and I bagged those and set them aside for later reassembly. They’re too nice not to reinstall! The lid still had remnants of the old foam and hot glue that needed to be removed. I pulled off as much as I could with my fingers and an X-Acto and then used a heat gun on low to warm up the glue. This made it easier to scrape off using a chisel blade. I had to work slowly as this material is way more sensitive to heating than my SC armor was. I don’t think it’s ABS. HIPs maybe? I also started to look over the helmet and square up the cut lines. I penciled in a new line on the top part of the bucket and trimmed it square. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 BONDO! I wanted to clean up the seams on the interior. Why? Because I don’t like seams:) I also added Bondo to visor area and filled in a couple of dings on the top When I was working with the visor it seemed that the sides didn’t match so I measured and it turned out that one side was one centimeter larger than the other. I made a template by tracing the shorter side and used that to sketch a new cut line. My plan here is to take small slivers of material using my lexan scissors as I learned here that it’s easy to remove material but hard to replace it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikerScout007 Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Nice work man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 Nice work man! Thanks Mickey! There is much more work to be done. Do you know what material the KS is made of? It doesn't have the rigidity of ABS and cuts like paper using my lexan scissors. I plan on using the pics of your RS as a reference for my reno. For example, it looks like the visor has a return edge around the lip on the KS and I think I need to flatten this and square it up like my Altmann's. I need to do some more research. Back to the books (and pictures)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Looking good Peter. I need to fill the seam in my ALT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 Thanks Tim. I'm enjoying working on this lid. I learned and was taught so many great techniques here that I wanted to take this on and try something new. I am always game for advice from ya'll since you guys know your stuff and I'm just a learner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stasz Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Very nice! I'll be following. I'm thinking about painting my KS a it's a bit yellowed compared to my armor. I tried the retro brite mixture last summer and it helped, but a nice new paint job will put it over the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Just to give you a heads up if I were you I'd use a good automotive paint with matching primer. It'll lay down smoother and over all look better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikerScout007 Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 It's ABS just not as brittle as say...MC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 Just to give you a heads up if I were you I'd use a good automotive paint with matching primer. It'll lay down smoother and over all look better. I been thinking about how I could get a nice finish on this and that makes sense. I just don't know how I could apply it as I don't have the equipment. Is there another way to accomplish a finish like that without using a rattle can? It's ABS just not as brittle as say...MC That's helpful to know. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 A good automotive rattle can paint will do the job. I use dupicolor most of the time. I used krylon gloss black on my shadow scout now that paint will make you wanna pull your hair out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 A good automotive rattle can paint will do the job. I use dupicolor most of the time. I used krylon gloss black on my shadow scout now that paint will make you wanna pull your hair out! So I take it I should not use Kylon oh bald one Thank you for the information! I've seen the results of Krylon on the Shadow Scout Jedi_Paramedic was working on for his son and that stuff scares me. I'll look for the duplicolor you mentioned. Correct me if I'm wrong but it should be a gloss white exterior and a gloss black snout outline correct? I'm going to paint the interior flat black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroker Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 So I take it I should not use Kylon oh bald one Thank you for the information! I've seen the results of Krylon on the Shadow Scout Jedi_Paramedic was working on for his son and that stuff scares me. I'll look for the duplicolor you mentioned. Correct me if I'm wrong but it should be a gloss white exterior and a gloss black snout outline correct? I'm going to paint the interior flat black. I use to love it but I assume here in the last year they changed the formula and it's a pain in the a$$ to use. It's tends to fish eye more than other paints. On the snout I go satin and yes gloss on the helmet. Make sure you sand it down super good with 1000 grit then work up to a finer grit to eliminate all swirls marks from sanding. ABS is hard to paint because of all the low spots and so on. It's gonna be hard to get a "perfect" paint job on abs. Paint,sand, repeat. It may take a bit to you the look your looking for or maybe you can do it in a few coats. Just remember to keep the coats lite. I never go pass three coats unless it fiberglass I plan on wet sanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 I use to love it but I assume here in the last year they changed the formula and it's a pain in the a$$ to use. It's tends to fish eye more than other paints. On the snout I go satin and yes gloss on the helmet. Make sure you sand it down super good with 1000 grit then work up to a finer grit to eliminate all swirls marks from sanding. ABS is hard to paint because of all the low spots and so on. It's gonna be hard to get a "perfect" paint job on abs. Paint,sand, repeat. It may take a bit to you the look your looking for or maybe you can do it in a few coats. Just remember to keep the coats lite. I never go pass three coats unless it fiberglass I plan on wet sanding. Thanks very much for the insight I really appreciate it! I have a lot more to do before I even get to paint starting with a ton of sanding both inside and out as well as some trimming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 When I sat down to being sanding I noticed this damage. The inside seam was pretty big and I had to use a larger amount of Bondo to fill it in and I believe that the chemical reaction caused the ABS to soften and melt in. I'll have to fill this in and sand it smooth. I'll go with another type of filler material that won't damage ABS. Possibly squadron green putty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 I spent some time sanding today. I started with 100 and 220 grit to work on some of the Bondo I applied over the weekend. I used my sealing iron to flatten the deep return on the lip of the visor and then trimmed it and sanded it down to square it up. I also spent some time on the faceplate around the lens. It looks better but I think I need to smooth out the upper right corner a bit as it looks a bit square if that makes sense. Thoughts? I would appreciate and insight/critiques to make this lid better. Thanks! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SikSiks Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 Thanks Michael! Still much work to do......sanding, sanding, sanding, sanding...repeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 I need some advice. I'm working on the rear of helmet and I need a good filler material that will sand and paint well without melting the ABS. I want to level the back upper seam as it's a bit crooked. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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