Painting the TK abdomen buttons: What have you used for a 'perfect' circle?

[Psibur[TK]]

Besides just painting by hand, I'm curious what you guys have used as a stencil to give a good clean painted circle.  Any everyday objects get the size just right?

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi there.

I’ve seen some use masking tape and others use stencils, however I ended up hand painting mine. The originals are not perfect circles, or even the same size in places, so there’s quite a bit of leeway.

Here’s a nice reference shot. :-)

[Harbinger[IPM]]

I just freehanded it, IMO stencils require a lot of prep for good results.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I used some contact sheet, not sure what it’s called in US but it’s thin plastic sticky backed sheeting used for covering school books. Just used a hole punch to get the circle, stuck a piece around each button, painted thin coat of white first to prevent colour bleed under any edges, then applied two thin coats of the grey and blue.

 

I find my hands aren’t as steady as they used to be to freehand 

[Timberwoof[TK]]

What the buttons are for: 

 

[LTM[TK]]

Trooperbay has a great stencil kit

https://trooperbay.com/decals/prop-replica-decals/star-wars-props/troopers-tk/abdominal-plate-masking-template

My results: