RS ABS HDPE Replica helmet-build

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

Hi guys, took the plunge and invested in an RS-helmet earlier this summer, and slowly but surely have been building it.

I wanted to do a build replicating an original ANH Stunt-helmet, with the base colour of the helmet resembling the khaki of the HDPE-plastic used, and white paint being chipped off here and there, not too much though.

I haven't really decided to replicate a specific helmet, but building the helmet to my personal likes, and then we'll see how much weathering I'll add.

 

I'm really happy with the build and how it's turned out, I think it's looking great at this point.

And I've used care in picking the colours, so that they are fairly accurate towards the original.

I guess you can say that this will be like an idealized replica.

 

Any comments or input or tips?

 

Here's a comparison of the three helmets I have, from left to right: AP, RS and TM.

 

 

I'm at the point where I'll mask off the paintchips and paint the helmet white now.

And mind you, this is the first time I'm doing this, so i'm learning as i go along. :-)

Edited August 8, 2012 by MartinSivertsen

[NastyNoah[TK]]

Looks fantastic.

[RedSpecial[TK]]

Great looking lid, the color looks spot on too

[DarthChridan[TK]]

It's really sad, to paint the helmet in white ...leave it so

It's a really awesome helmet....without question

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

I think it looks really nice as it is too, would be a nice display piece, but alas, I have to continue and finish this one.

Maybe someday I'll invest in a real "HDPE" one, hehe.

[DudeSidious]

Nice one Martin you had me fooled

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

Almost fooled myself there! I think the khaki colour was spot on, almost a shame to cover it up.

[Daveskie]

What a great lid. I got to see these at RS the other weekend and also look and try on the original.

Have to say I am seriously tempted to buy one.

Also on a side note, it's nice to see the 3 helmets alongside.

[vecspeed12]

Dang. That looks close.

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

Some more pics, before I start painting it white.

 

 

 

 

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

One thing I've learned, and I'm happy that I did, is to have a piece of scrap ABS that I spray with all the paints I'm going to use on the helmet, just to see how they look and behave.

 

I used a big piece I cut off the top of the faceplate to spray on.

First I used a clear primer, then the khaki spray, then I painted on liquid masking on a few spots to see how it behaved and would look, the I gave it a few coats of white, before peeling off the masking and revealing the khaki under, and the giving the whole shebang a quick coat of clear gloss varnish.

So now I got a feel for how it might look and turn out, without screwing up anything on the helmet itself.

 

And one thing I learned as well is that I'll have to do many coats of white, as the white isn't as covering as I would like it to be. So many thin coats might be the way to go there.

 

 

[RedSpecial[TK]]

Oooooft, you really should have NSFW in the title of this thread

Edited August 10, 2012 by RedSpecial

[Turrican]

I used a big piece I cut off the top of the faceplate to spray on.

 

 

 

 

 

Are you nuts???

Don't say me that you have cut this piece from the helmet

 

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

No no no, just the top piece that sticks out there. There was a lot of excess ABS, and I had to remove it.

[JoeR]

These really are awesome helmets. We could only dream of something so accurate a few years ago. Awesome work RS!

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

I have now painted the RS-helmet, it ended up really creamy even though I used a colour called "Pure White" (RAL9010, which is actually more of an Antique, creamy white).

 

Here's a comparison with an AP (almost blueish pure ABS), and a TM (a bit more creamy, acrylic capped ABS)

 

My goal was to try to get it to match the slightly creamy colour of the TM, but it ended up way more creamy.

 

You think I should repaint it, or leave it as it is? I think it looks beautiful by itself though.

 

 

A picture under more natural light:

Edited August 15, 2012 by MartinSivertsen

[DudeSidious]

Thats a tough one..maybe repaint it,but how are you going to redo the paint chips?

Also how do we know what shade of white these lids were painted in the 1st place.

[MartinSivertsen[501st]]

So, I finished the helmet.

Found a different white (radiator white), sanded it down a bit and painted over. The only thing that rubs me a bit is that I wash't able to remove all the paint and start over fresh, so in the end, there were quite a few layers of white and gloss varnish, partly obscuring the nice bumpy detail of the helmet, and not making it as crisp as I ideally would have wanted it.

The best would have been to have only the thinnest necessary layers of paint, to retain the texture as much as possible, but I think it turned out awesome anyway, and most of the bumps and irregularities are still very visible.

And in the end I managed to get a pretty good match in colour to the 2mm TM I already have.

All details were hand painted by myself.

 

Here come some medium quality pics with indoor lighting, will take some better pictures soon.

TM on the left, RS on the right:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus picture of me wearing the helmet, I'm the trooper on the left:

 

 

I guess the next project will be getting a "HDPE" helmet...

It never ends...

Edited September 4, 2012 by MartinSivertsen

[DudeSidious]

Great looking helmet Martin and it looks like a good colour match with your armour too.

I wouldn't worry to much about all the coats of paint you have,after all it looks like the movie lids got a good heavy coat with the all the paint runs.

When people see an RS lid some of them say" the movie lids don't look that bumpy",that's because that bumpy surface had a lot of paint on it.That's my theory any way

Edited September 4, 2012 by DudeSidious

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work looks really good, well done

[Rolf[501st]]

Great helmet and topic, congrats on the helmet, looks sweet!!!