The 'yellow' trooper renovation -WIP

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi all,

New to the forum, after years of stumbling across useful info as I drifted in and out of my life-long obsession with Stormtroopers. :-)

As a kid, my brother and I always wanted to be Stormtroopers. Whilst searching the net over 12 years ago, I spotted a couple of UKG TKs at a show of some sort - in the background was a banner for SDS Props.... and so it began.

It wasn't long before I purchased my 'Stunt' trooper, number 330, and collected it in person from AA. This was later joined by the Tie Pilot and matching busts for both.

Sadly, the years took their toll on Stormie and he started to yellow.

 

 

So, after umming and arring for ages on what I should do, I attempted selling through a well known auction site - but nothing. So, I carried on researching and came across Mike (from Trooperbay)'s YouTube videos. Renovation time:

I started by removing all of the decals, then carefully disassembling the helmet.

 

 

You can clearly see the high level of discolouration, specifically under the tube stripes and brow.

 

From this point, and following advice from this very forum, I sourced the paints, ordered the relevant templates from Trooperbay, and started prepping for paint.

 

One cleaned (isopropyl alcohol), I was ready for primer. I went for Halfords (UK) white primer.

 

 

The first coat was very light. Second coat helped to tame the yellow.

 

 

 

Being very new to spray painting, I read that I should sand this down a little to take the rough surface away. 600grit sand paper.

Here are four stages of prep:

 

 

I was happy with the primer surface. I went for Halfords Appliance gloss white (as suggested by a few members) and started with coat one. Now, I'll admit that I didn't rewatch the tutorial before this part so wasn't intending to spray, leave for 5/10mins, second coat, leave for 5/10mins etc. As such, I was not getting even results and applied too much paint at one point, giving an undesirable 'tear' under his right eye.

 

 

So, tried again, this time trying to improve my spray technique. Results were average, now with a tear on the rear, the right tube and an uneven coverage.

 

 

So, went back and rewatched Mike's tutorials. Sanded down the whole helmet, cleaned up again ready for painting. Then, third can of spray paint and much better time keeping.

First coat:

 

Second coat:

 

Final coat:

 

For my first attempt at spray painting, learning how to work with the paint, getting the paint to the right level just before it runs, I'm really happy with the glossy finish. Now just need to find the time to start hand painting all of the details.

 

TBC

 

 

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Edited June 3, 2017 by CableGuy

[swibowoj[TK]]

Hi Dan, glad you started this before me, 

Your decision to renovation your kit by painting it, makes me more excited to do the same.

My ATA armor already yellowing too, and I've tried to use some Oxymilk treatment, came back white again...

but only a while back to yellow again.. 

Keep thinking to paint it, cause to reach next level, I need to repair and renovation my armor anyway.

 

Can you share the youtube link Mike (from Trooperbay)'s YouTube videos?

 

waiting yout next parts renovation.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Dan, glad you started this before me,

Your decision to renovation your kit by painting it, makes me more excited to do the same.

My ATA armor already yellowing too, and I've tried to use some Oxymilk treatment, came back white again...

but only a while back to yellow again..

Keep thinking to paint it, cause to reach next level, I need to repair and renovation my armor anyway.

 

Can you share the youtube link Mike (from Trooperbay)'s YouTube videos?

 

waiting yout next parts renovation.

Hiya,

Of course.

https://youtu.be/T2OK1wYntio

I found his videos an outstanding source of knowledge. He's incredibly good at what he's doing, and explaining it clearly at the same time.

 

He also did a thread here: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/2066-te2-stunt-build-upte/

 

Hope that helps. :-)

 

 

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[iRegretNothing]

This is brilliant. Thanks for the share!

 

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[Shanester[TK]]

Very nice work.  Your helmet is white again.  I look forward to seeing the finished work.

[Artshot]

Very nice paint job on the helmet, looks so much better white than yellow.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi all,

Made a start on the details today. Lightly marked my boundaries with a pencil, then started on the grey areas. Quite pleased thus far.

 

 

 

 

 

I did notice a slight fingerprint mark in the cheek though - as such, I don't think the gloss white has fully dried (even though it's Sunday night and I finished spraying at 11:30am on Thursday).

Oh well, no need to rush. :-)

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

So, it looks like the paint WAS dry - I just left a slight fingerprint on the gloss surface. As such, I continued with painting the grey areas.

 

 

I must say, I'm dreading the black pin-striping.

 

 

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Edited June 5, 2017 by CableGuy

[CableGuy[TK]]

Here's a before and after (well, before and now)...

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

More fun tonight. I've gone for a specific trooper for my vocoder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited June 6, 2017 by CableGuy

[Toddahhhh[TK]]

Found this article last week, bookmarked it in case I needed it later, I'll share here.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.instructables.com/id/Restoring-yellowed-Stormtrooper-armor/%3Famp_page%3Dtrue

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi all,

This evening I've been frightening the life out of myself with pinstripes. I had a couple of test runs and then got to it. A few bits need to be adjusted with a toothpick once the paint dries.

I'm quite happy with it so far but open to comments/suggestions. The line thickness looks reasonable and I'm hoping it'll look accurate once the tweaking is done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

Brow trim re-added last night. Also spent some time tidying up the paintwork on the traps. Need to get some gloss white to help with the touch up.

I've read a lot about how to tidy up the hand painted part using thinners (for example). Problem is, when you've spray painted the whole helmet, (rather than painting the details direct to the plastic), thinners will eat your base coat too. As such, careful use of the other coloured paints is key to tidying the pinstripes. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited June 9, 2017 by CableGuy

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi all,

More progress tonight with the trap stripes. I ordered templates from TK4510 (Trooperbay) and followed his tutorial. His templates are for an organic, hand drawn ANH style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up, tube stripes. :-)

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

Evening all,

Had my first attempt at the tube stripes this evening. Note to self - let the paint dry for longer before removing the templates!! ;-)

 

Using TK4510 templates again. Using a pencil width from the cheek. Took a while to get the placing of the templates as desired but ended up okay.

Peeled one of the templates off a little prematurely so will have to do some touch up work tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Deckard1138[501st]]

Looks great! For the pin striping I find it easiest to paint the black first. I filled in a good part of the traps/tears in black then painted the grey over that when it dried and was able to get a nice uniform line.

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

Looks great! For the pin striping I find it easiest to paint the black first. I filled in a good part of the traps/tears in black then painted the grey over that when it dried and was able to get a nice uniform line.

 

 

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Hiya Mike,

 

Thank you. I saw both methods before starting and might give that a try next time. I still have some touch up to do, just waiting for my Humbrol Gloss White to arrive.

I'm treating this helmet as a test run really. Finding out what works and what doesn't. Hopefully it won't be too long until I'm working on a full kit on the way towards 501st (UKG) approval.

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

Wow, this learning curve can be a drag. So, I have found that one template was removed a little too soon and the other was removed a little too late!! The latter has reacted slightly with my top coat leaving lines. Add to that the Frogtape that has reacted with the tube paint and left 3 round surface marks.

I have quite a bit of touching up to do as there are a few bleed areas. Then, from what I've read, I should be able to use something like Novus polish to bring the tube back to a good level.

Does anyone have any advise on polish to help fix the affected areas?

 

 

 

 

 

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[Sly11[Admin]]

Very nice work so far, looking forward to seeing the completed project.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Very nice work so far, looking forward to seeing the completed project.

Hi Andrew,

That's very kind (especially considering the current state of the tube stripes lol).

I checked out your Centurion application pics - very impressive detailing on your lid. 

Dan

[Sly11[Admin]]

It might be a bit late but I have some tips for stopping or reducing the bleed when painting. 1. When applying the decals or stencils, always spray them lightly with water with a drop or two of detergent in it. This allows you to position the decals and slide them around to get the positions spot on. Then with a paper towel pat dry and then hold decal at one end and make sure you press all the water out from underneath. The sticky back will adhere once the water is out and dry.

2. Always paint the tube stripes with white paint first. Then when dry and you paint the blue, it dramatically reduces the chances of the blue paint bleeding.

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

It might be a bit late but I have some tips for stopping or reducing the bleed when painting. 1. When applying the decals or stencils, always spray them lightly with water with a drop or two of detergent in it. This allows you to position the decals and slide them around to get the positions spot on. Then with a paper towel pat dry and then hold decal at one end and make sure you press all the water out from underneath. The sticky back will adhere once the water is out and dry.

2. Always paint the tube stripes with white paint first. Then when dry and you paint the blue, it dramatically reduces the chances of the blue paint bleeding.

 

 

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Excellent advice. I'm very much looking forward to starting my next helmet, hopefully avoiding some of my teething problems. :-)

 

 

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Edited June 14, 2017 by CableGuy

[CableGuy[TK]]

This evening has been all about toothpicks and T-cut. After a slightly disappointing tube stripe session yesterday, I picked up some T-cut polish today and started testing a patch on the back of the helmet. The results seemed good so I carried on with the Frogtape affected tube. Seems to be working very well.

Also, now that the blue stripes are dry the toothpick technique works a treat.

Still not finished but here's some updated shots.

 

 

Before and after:

 

 

 

 

 

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[CableGuy[TK]]

Happy Friday everyone. :-)

 

I took to tidying my tube stripes last night. Much happier with the results. Also did some more work on the pinstripes etc.

 

Here's a pic of the original SDS decals vs my hand painted effort, followed by more shots of the updated paint work. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[ukswrath[Staff]]

Beautiful job Dan