Snout painting - hints and tips needed

[Southscout]

Hi

 

I still haven't recieved my hard parts, but I'm planning as much as I can in the meanwhile to be fully prepared once it arrives.

 

So right now I'm thinking on how I should paint the snout since I ordered an unpainted helmet from MC (MLC v3). The snout piece itself is pretty clear, just primer and then black on the aerator, it's however the black surrounding this part that is causing me some confusion.

 

The plan is to spray paint the entire face place white, then mask of the snout, put on a thin layer of white spray to seal the masking and avoid a bleed. I then plan to paint the black with Humbrol enamel #21, thinned 50:50 with white spirit and put on 3-4 layers until it looks good.

 

What worries is that the white spirit will react with the spray paint, so I will maybe put on a varnish on top before applying the black. I am doing some paint tests right now to check this.

 

Does this sound like a good plan? Or is there some other technique that I have missed? I have ruled out spray painting the snout since I'm afraid of getting black spray mist on the rest of the face plate. Or is that a better idea and just be completely anal with the masking?

[Dart]

Does this sound like a good plan? Or is there some other technique that I have missed? I have ruled out spray painting the snout since I'm afraid of getting black spray mist on the rest of the face plate. Or is that a better idea and just be completely anal with the masking?

 

Honestly, you're better off just keeping it simple. Mask off the shape (about half the width of the outside edge). Then just use a plastic bag or something to mask off the rest. I used a satin Black spray paint and it turned out nicely.

 

Masking off the curve can be a bit tricky so take your time and really check the curve before you paint.

[Guest TK9787]

Your best bet will be to use two spray paints of the same make. You definitely do not want a paint that is going to have a crazy reaction with the underlying substrate.

 

A nice way to tape off the curve is to go to a automotive paint place and get the thinnest pin striping they have and make the curve using that. Then mask it off and spray. Make sure you spray a light coat at first, and when you have taped things off.

[Chex]

What they said.

[Cragar]

Just redid mine, one thing I learned, give it plenty of time to dry before pulling the tape off.

[Southscout]

Ok, thanks for all the help guys.

 

Btw, is it satin black? I thought it was shiny black.

[Dart]

Satin has a bit of sheen to it but it's not super glossy. Having a satin black next to the gloss white of the helmet, to me, just looks better than if it was all glossy.

[Southscout]

Ok, great to hear. I have a good black spray that's the same make as the white I plan to use. And thanks for the tip on the pin striping. I'll try to find some that I can cut out. It looks quite close to a half a circle so should be fairly easy to cut out and fit.

[ukscout]

try using Choas Black, paints from Gamesworkshop

[PanzerKraken]

Does everyone use spray paint for the edges or will doing it by hand with an acrylic or such work fine?

[Southscout]

Thought I'd revive this old thread in case someone is searching around for snout-painting hints and tricks.

 

I used spray after a very heavy masking:

The mask is made of car detailing vinyl which I cut out to the correct shape. I then put the entire helmet in a plastic bag and taped everything up.

 

After this I gave it several coats during an evening (a very stressful evening..), making sure to use the hot-water trick on the paint (i.e put the can in hot water, the hottest I could get out of a faucet so it's around 45 degrees centigrade). I gave it maybe 30-40 minutes between each coat, and there's 4 or 5 coats.

 

After giving it just a couple of minutes to dry in the end, barely touch-dry but not running, I pulled of the mask and then I did a backflip since it came out so nice.

 

 

I noticed that there was a tiny flare out at the bottom right, it's around 1mm, but it bugged me, so I ended up just scraping it off with a blade. Probably something only myself would notice, but that was enough....

 

I hope this helps whoever reads this (old) thread

[PanzerKraken]

try using Choas Black, paints from Gamesworkshop

 

Yea I was thinking that, also the chaos black spray perhaps? Again I didn't get a reply but did anyone try doing it by hand instead of spraying the black onto the snout? Seems it would be far easier to mask and hand paint rather than going through so much masking coverage.

[NegativeEleven]

The snout greeble I've got is black. I'm thinking Painter's Touch Winter Gray spraypaint is correct, right? I think it's the same as Rustoleum's Smoke Gray (Painter's Touch is made by Rustoleum, but supposedly better for plastic and comes in more gloss bright colors).

[silverBoyd]

I'm thinking of using the Humbrol Admiral Grey #5 and Humbrol Gloss Black #21 that I still have that was used on my Sandtrooper helmet build. Anyone think these paints would be ok for the TB helmet built? I believe they're the same shades that were used in A New Hope. If not, I'll get the Rustoleum Smoke Grey

[Southscout]

The black #21 I used for the aerator tip, remember to thin it a bit and give it a couple of coats (the first one will make you cry).

 

I think I've seen somewhere here that the AD #5 is too dark for the snout, do a search on "Humbrol" and give it a look. It's good for the chest detail however.

[silverBoyd]

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking it might be too dark (just slightly) for the snout too. But should be ok for the rectangle on the chest?

[Southscout]

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking it might be too dark (just slightly) for the snout too. But should be ok for the rectangle on the chest?

I think so, it's generally referred to as being a "darker grey".