Who of you have used the polishing technique on HIPS?

[Stig]

Hey guys!

 

I am thinking of buying a set of ATA armor, but I really think I'm not up to the task of painting it, I will most definately screw up. So I came across another alternative to get it a nice finish:Wet sanding & Polishing

 

Who has done this before? Would you recommend it to be as a total newb? What polish did you use? Do you have any tips? Seeing e.g. Pandatrooper's results, this really made me curious!

 

thanks,

 

Stig

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

painting is actually a process that you can fix with light grades of sandpaper.

1200 1600 types like that.

 

even the primer can be sanded.

 

painting is somthing that needs to happen with hips, because it's so thin.

 

then it's just like waxing a buffing a car after that.

Edited September 11, 2010 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[Stig]

then I guess I can forget about it. Cause there is no way I can paint anything, I don't have the skills, the room....

[Runnriottt]

Buy some polishing compound and have at it. Just like waxing a car. There was a thread on here about it... It can be done. Just takes time.

 

 

 

Great Screen Name.

 

 

"Some say he has a digital Face"

[Stig]

Thanks!

 

Could someone help me find that thread? BTW: My name is really Stig, yes they do exist

Edited September 11, 2010 by Stig

[Billhag]

On 9/11/2010 at 3:06 PM, TK Bondservnt 2392 said:

 

painting is somthing that needs to happen with hips, because it's so thin.

 

 

Really?, where did you get this information from mate?

The thickness of Hips varies as does ABS but I wouldn't say this is a major factor

in whether or not it should be painted.

Granted, your normal every day hips commonly used for most stormtrroper parts have a

matte finish to it and the usual method for giving it that much needed shiney appearance

that we all love so much is to spray / paint it, but you can get some stunning results with

a little bit of work without a single drop of paint touching it

 

Stig

Here's Terry's thresd showing the work that he did on his ATA HIPS helmet.

 

-----

 

 

Basically you use the same method that you would use when carring out paint prepartion

and finishing.

For my TE2 suit I first built and assembled all the armour.I then wet sanded and polished

all the parts.

Its really simple, go to an automotive shop and get yourself a few packs of Wet 'n' dry

sand paper in varioUs gades.Just remember the lower the grade number the coarser

the abrasiveness of the grit will be.For example a 120 grit is fairly harsh and rough

and something like a 1200 or 2000 is very smooooth and as a very fine feel to it

Once you have your paper, get yourself a bucket of warm water with a smidge of your

favourite washing up liquid / dish detergent and off you go.

Just tear the shett in half, fold it over, dip it in to the water so its nice and wet

and then start sanding that sucker down

I started with 400 for the ruff spots and progressively worked my way through rubbing down

with 600, 1000, and then 1500.

After that rinse all the parts and when dry use a polishing compound to bring out the shine.

You can polish it even further once you have a good surface with something like MER

or any other high gloss car polish and it makes 'pop' even more.

 

As I said in another thread, its easy, give it a try you've got nothing to loose

and if you don't like the finish you can always spray it.

 

Hope this as helped mate

 

 

 

Oh, and here's a little something for Nathan 'coz I know he loves your name sake

 

 

 

 

Me, pondering with a pipe at a recent troop

Edited December 5, 2020 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020

[dashrazor]

almost any surface can be polished with time and effort, even a turd

 

 

its just an thought but is there a place around you that paints autos? i dont think it would cost very much to paint a set of armor

 

just an idea

[Stig]

Thanks for the great tips! Haha that video is awesome :D

 

Well, I had considered the whole car painter thing, but unfortunately it would cost me like 500€, in other words, two more sets of armor

 

Thank you so much Billhag! That really gave me hope!!! You just made my day! I hope I can ask you guys if I need any help =)

[Runnriottt]

Billy!

 

 

That is my new desktop.

 

 

Awesome!

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

Nothing against polishing HIPS, if that is a route anyyone wants to take. Anything can be polished or buffed to a certain degree of lustre, but one of the factors that I have to play devils advocate on is the normal white HIPS that most of these kits are made from are a stark white, which is not the same color tone as what the original screen used suits were. They were a "milk" white. So if you are standing beside someone that has a more accurate color tone, you will see a difference. The stark white will stand out and may look a little odd.

 

That's just my two cents worth.

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Stig, if you want a shiny armor without the labor or effort, have you considered ABS armor? TM, RT mod, AP, AM, etc. all use shiny ABS for their armor. Yes, they cost more for sure. But if polishing and or painting is not a viable option for you, for as little as $200 more you can get ABS armor, and never have to polish or paint anything.

 

At the cheapest, get an AM kit with a pre-painted, MRCE, or ABS helmet. That will solve all your problems. I have seen "second" quality AP kits for sale on the forums a few times and they are in your price range too.

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

I know you said your budget is 500€. The one thing that most of the armor vendors/makers will allow you to do is a lay-away. So if your are looking at painting or the polish method of the HIPS as something that you don't want to tackle, then like Terry said, ABS would be the way to go. It may cost you a little bit more to purchase it, but you should also consider the cost of buying the products to finish the HIPS (buying paint supplies or buying rubbing compounds and a buffer, etc.). You could put the money that you spend on the supplies to offset the difference that you would spend to purchase an ABS kit.

 

Like Terry said and I agree, you might want to look into the AM lite and possibly any one of the more accurate helmets like TE2, AP and ATA, etc. In fact, right now Mark (ABS80) has a sale going on for his AP helmet kits with minor flaws at $110 USD. Here is the link:-----

 

You don't have to buy everything at once. You can purchase your helmet first and then your armor or vice versa.

 

One thing that I also want to ask, is your budget the 500€, just for your armor, or is it your total budget for everything? Have you considered the other things you must have like, underarmor, boots, neck seal, gloves, belt, holster and blaster. Not to mention if you want to have upgrades like fans in your helmet to keep yourself cool (I strongly urge that) and little add ons like the ROMFX voice amp/sound effects.

 

Like I said, you don't have to purchase everything at once, but do not jump in to anything, until you consider all your options and what you want to put into it monetarily and physically.

Edited December 5, 2020 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020

[Stig]

Well, I don't like the AM kit too much, how much more would the AP kit be? And 500€ for armor with helmet.. Is it really that much of a color difference?

Edited September 11, 2010 by Stig

[RogueTrooper[TK]]

Well, I don't like the AM kit too much, how much more would the AP kit be? And 500€ for armor with helmet.. Is it really that much of a color difference?

 

 

 

 

The last time I heard, the full AP kit (helmet and armor) is around 628€ + 137€ for overseas shipping and handling. But, don't hold my feet to the fire, check with Mark Harrison first

 

As for the color tone, I can tell a big difference...

[pandatrooper[TK]]

PM sent for info. Check your messages Stig.

[Stig]

I guess I can forget about it then...

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

I have hips plastic sitting here in my living room, and there's no way I'd consider wearing hips, without priming, sanding and making stronger the plastic

for an hips set. Te2 and ATA are both far too brittle, and weak to just strap up, and polish with a buffer.

 

how in the world are you going to polish with a buffer into the low parts of a hips suit?

 

even in the polish thread, the writer explains that he's making a sandy helmet out of hips, so he does not intend to polish up

the low spots, or the hard to reach areas. how in the world is someone going to polish up a belt box? or a knee plate?

 

ok, sure... we can have a little shine, but it's not going to cut it in the strength dept.

 

and hey there stig... how would you like me to paint up your armor for you?

 

you purchase it, assemble it, and leave the knee plate off the shin, and leave the power cell plate off the thigh, and

you purchase the paint, and primer, and I'll paint the armor for you.

 

50$ plus you cover shipping.

 

I cannot promise that it will be "perfect" but it won't have orange peel, or runs in the paint.

I'll wet sand the final coat and wax it too...

 

I also have to add that it takes about 10-15 cans of paint to cover a suit.

the last armor build I did cost 140$ for paint and primer.

 

and I spent 200$ just to outfit my paint booth with lights, and a air conditioning system.

Edited September 11, 2010 by TK Bondservnt 2392

[Stig]

Thanks, but that won't be possible as I live in Germany...

[SuperTrooper]

 

how in the world are you going to polish with a buffer into the low parts of a hips suit?

 

even in the polish thread, the writer explains that he's making a sandy helmet out of hips, so he does not intend to polish up

the low spots, or the hard to reach areas. how in the world is someone going to polish up a belt box? or a knee plate?

 

 

3M makes polishing pads for automotive paint that are 2-3 inches in diameter and less than a quarter inch thick. They also fit any standard angle grinder. I love mine and have found all sorts of uses for them, but have never tried polishing HIPS with them.

[Billhag]

Stig

Here's another fine example of polishing HIPS by DarkTrooper,...just check out THAT SHINE!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the link to his thread

 

 

-----

 

 

 

Vern

I never used a buffer or pads when I did mine mate, just good ol' elbow grease and a wee bit of effort.

That included all the hard to get to areas and 'soft spots' which all came up a treat.

 

I'm not saying that everyone should do it, but I don't think that it's an option

that people should just dismiss out of hand, because after all, the results show

that it does work.

 

Edited December 5, 2020 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

that does look great... no doubt..

 

I believe that paint makes hips stronger, and I've been considering not painting my black hips kit.

but that would only be to keep it flat black, which looks really stealth...

 

I guess a person can also use "future shine" as has been suggested by izzi on the spec ops board.

 

or could polish and buff up... it might even be fun just to paint clear on the parts... but most times hips suits come in the

 

mail with some pretty deep cuts from rubbing inside the box...

[stormtrooperguy[501st]]

I don't think paint really makes HIPS any stronger.

 

In my experience HIPS is pretty tough for impact in general, but where it gets weak is that it will continue to tear along the slightest crack with very little effort.

 

For example, I hit the chest of my clone armor with a hammer, and it did not break.

 

But, I over-trimmed a piece, leaving a slight razor cut into the finished part. I was able to tear it completely in half easily.

 

As far as the fear of painting it goes... with the exception of the helmet and ab buttons, you're just painting the suit white. Coating something in a single color of spray paint is really easy... I'd say don't be intimidated and just give it a try.