HOW TO VIDEO: Spray Painting Helmet Details

[dashrazor]

i have been experimenting with different methods of painting helmet details,, though i prefer using my airbrush, i know that a lot of people don't own one so i made up this tutorial on painting helmet details with common spray-paints and masking tape with minimal bleed

 

one of the disadvantages of using spray paints over an airbrush is the bleed. an airbrush can apply super thin controlled coats and does not soak the areas you paint.. spray can paints tend to cause bleeding because they are applied too thick and the viscosity can not be altered like airbrush paints.. this method i discovered seems to help eliminate 99% of the bleeding.. by applying a clear primer before adding the paint it essentially seals most of the gaps in the masked off areas making it harder for the paint to "leak" under your masking tape (you will always get some bleed with any type of spray-paint) the trick is to eliminate as much as you can

 

tips to eliminate paint bleed

 

1: always use good quality masking tape (do not use dollar store or no-name brands)

2: use a round edge tool to press down all the masked off edges (like the back side of a artist paintbrush) make sure it is plastic or wood so you don't scratch up your bucket

3: make sure you thoroughly cover areas that you don't want to paint... never skimp on the masking tape (more is better)

4: temperature is important!! try to paint on a cool day or night (heat makes most paint thinner and more likely to bleed) if it is a really hot sunny day find a shaded area to paint.. do not paint inside, you will get dizzy

 

MATERIAL LIST

 

1: masking tape (i used normal 3M masking from wal-mart but automotive masking works best)

2: plastic grocery bags 2-3

3: exacto knife or razor blade

4: pencil (with eraser)

5: small paint brush

6: transparent plastic primer

7: black, gray and blue spray-paint

8: small artists easel or helmet stand (just something to hold the helmet up)

 

 

here is the vids of painting an ATA helmet... Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

photos of the finished helmet (i used a normal pencil eraser to easily remove the small bleeds that i got) also not the color in the photo looks darker than it actually is.. we have no sunlight in Maine lol

[Toddo[TK]]

thanks for sharing your method.

[xaoslord]

Now I know where all of the snow is this winter...the clear primer should be a good method even when hand painting the details. Thanks!

[Spectre]

Looks good.

[xaoslord]

When you masked the vocoder, did you draw the area first, then mask around your lines? My initial thought was to mask around the decal then remove the decal, but I'm afraid removing the residue that was left would ruin the masking work...

[dashrazor]

i just rough masked it around the detail then trimmed the fine edges it with an exacto knife, then applied the primer and paint. i did lightly score with a blade around some areas when removing the masking.

[NastyNoah[TK]]

Thanks for this great tutorial and videos.