ANH TK helmet paint color - Dupli-color

[wook1138[TK]]

Hi all,

 

So I painted my ANH TK bucket.  I researched some possible shades of white that might have been used.  I was under the impression that automotive paint was used so I researched some possible colors.  I know @CableGuy mentioned he used a Ford Diamond White by Halfords.  I tried to find something similar in Dupli-color (they don't have the exact same colors).  I picked a "creamy" looking Ford white that had a code found on older 1970's cars.  It is called Ford Pure White (C,9E,YG).  It looks far more beige than I was expecting.  Determining color from images is almost impossible - especially from screen captures.  

 

So does anyone have any idea of what shade of white the original 1970's HDPE buckets were painted with respect to Dupli-color automotive paints?    See images below - am I way off base with the color?

 

The bucket compared to a white piece of paper.

 

 

My painted "Tantive IV" inspired HDPE bucket on the right, my AP bucket on the left

Edited June 11, 2021 by wook1138

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Greg,

I keep hearing Ford Diamond White but I don’t know for sure if that is a) the closest match from current paints available, or the actual shade used for the originals.

As it stands, the photo of yours makes the sprayed helmet look a little in the yellow side compared with Ford Diamond White (and perhaps a little matte). Here’s a comparison of one of mine, if it helps:


Left - RS ABS
Centre - TM spray painted Ford Diamond White
Right - 4 year old RWA ABS helmet

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

I have some polar white which is 70's Ford UK and it's got a cream tinge to it, much darker than armor I have on hand. Very hard to color match from the lids on spray cans too.

 

If you find a color code you could have some made by an auto paint supplier, many did this for the Anovos FOTK's to match their supplied helmets.

 

 

[wook1138[TK]]

4 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Hi Greg,

I keep hearing Ford Diamond White but I don’t know for sure if that is a) the closest match from current paints available, or the actual shade used for the originals.

As it stands, the photo of yours makes the sprayed helmet look a little in the yellow side compared with Ford Diamond White (and perhaps a little matte). Here’s a comparison of one of mine, if it helps:


Left - RS ABS
Centre - TM spray painted Ford Diamond White
Right - 4 year old RWA ABS helmet

 

Thanks Dan.  I actually feel a bit better about the color - the AP is very stark white and almost greenish compared to most other kits (I'm not sure how it compares to RS).  It makes Anovos ABS look beige when compared directly.  So I think I'm closer than I thought with the color, but still not quite there. The dupli-color is very handy here - right off the shelf of my local hardware store.  But I think I may need to actually hit up as automotive paint shop as Glen mentioned or start combing the internet for some paint.

 

For the matte appearance, it looks worse than it is  (probably due to the back lighting) but it is more matte than I would like.  I don't know what is going on.  I'm getting a matte finish (in places) but the paint is gloss.  The layers are nice and wet.  I might have to try some light sanding to see if that works.  I did use a plastic bonding primer over the HDPE - I'm not sure if that is affecting the top coat.  I tried testing a bit of clear coat over the paint - way too glossy IMO. 

 

FYI - my approach to the painting:

I did a layer of white acrylic lacquer with no ears on and then stripped away the paint (only around the ear area so I can display without ears and have that classic look).

Added masking fluid for planned paint chips.

Put ABS ears back on

I did a light coat of plastic bonding primer. (adding bonding primer to the ABS ears was probably not the best idea - there are some pretty strong solvents in it).

Red oxide primer.

white acrylic lacquer.  

 

Just based on what I've done, I'm starting to wonder if the oxide primer should have been used on that first layer that got stripped off - the effect under the ears didn't look quite right.  And then I'm wondering if the red oxide was ever used once the buckets were stripped (which I believe they were after AA painted them).  I have trouble seeing evidence of the red oxide primer under paint chips on auction images of screen used helmets, but I can see some red oxide rimming some of my chips (this could be the fact that I just can't see this detail in images).  I assume the boys (Rob et al) at RS would know - and I believe they use the red oxide primer.

 

Anyway, a learning experience... as usual.

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Greg,

I’ve not seen anyone else apply an clear acrylic layer before. Is there a plan behind that?

Usually, I believe most folks go for something like this:

Oxide red primer applied to HDPE helmet (no ears)
White primer applied
Ears added and gloss white applied

There’s debate over when the ears were added, however, I won’t go into that here.

Regarding the gloss finish, I’ve done a few of these now and find that it’s all about how far you ouch the spray paint. It’s a very fine balance of layering the spray paint to the point JUST BEFORE it runs all over the helmet. Too little and the pain looks quite dull. Too much and you get lots of streaks. Now, obviously the originals DID have a few streaks, so this is not the end of the world.

I’m sure you’ve already seen this, but, I discuss the painting in this video;

The finish on this one was purely spray paints - no clear lacquer, no sanding etc. :-)
No

[wook1138[TK]]

2 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Hi Greg,

I’ve not seen anyone else apply an clear acrylic layer before. Is there a plan behind that?

Usually, I believe most folks go for something like this:

Oxide red primer applied to HDPE helmet (no ears)
White primer applied
Ears added and gloss white applied

There’s debate over when the ears were added, however, I won’t go into that here.

Regarding the gloss finish, I’ve done a few of these now and find that it’s all about how far you ouch the spray paint. It’s a very fine balance of layering the spray paint to the point JUST BEFORE it runs all over the helmet. Too little and the pain looks quite dull. Too much and you get lots of streaks. Now, obviously the originals DID have a few streaks, so this is not the end of the world.

I’m sure you’ve already seen this, but, I discuss the painting in this video;
 

 

 

The finish on this one was purely spray paints - no clear lacquer, no sanding etc. :-)
No

 

 

You know, I have not seen this video - I will check it out tonight when I get home.

 

The bonding/etching primer was based on something Simon at RS mentioned on FB - the bucket was hard to strip the paint off (if I read his post correctly).  I got the feeling he suspected the studio applied some manner of etching primer. So I did the same.  I also didn't want the paint coming off if I had to so some masking for the traps/tears details and tube stripes.  

 

The ears are based on the "stop that ship" bucket images.  I am of the school of thought that the buckets were painted by AA with the ears off (Maybe some on? mix match?).  Then they were stripped at some point.  Studio (?) re-applied paint - I assume red oxide primer followed by white (I just went with the gloss over the primer) - with the ears on.  I can't imagine the "stop that ship" bucket being done any other way.  Mind you, It's possible that some buckets didn't have the ears on, so... I'm not convinced any one way is the gospel at this point.

 

As for the drips, I intentionally went for it.   I had a nice even base coat of white - and I must admit it was a bit painful to deliberately add the drips.  But now that it is done, I love it.  The whole idea with this build is to show how rough these helmets were up close and in person.  This is why the dull finish is confusing to me - the paint is on fairly thick.  Anyway, I will try a "whiter" paint tonight and see how it goes.

[wook1138[TK]]

Hey @CableGuy, I think I got it sorted. 
 Performance White by Duplicolor seems to have the right balance of the creamy color.   And I got my gloss back. Crappy colour in this pic now that I look at it. Oh well, looks better in person. 

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by wook1138

[CableGuy[TK]]

Nice, Greg. (From the photo) that colour and finish looks much better. :-)

[wook1138[TK]]

Some minor paint chips.  The paint is a bit thicker than ideal and still a bit soft - so I'll have to go back and make the chips look more natural at some point. I'll also take a wire brush and try some finer scratches too.

 

 

I'm not going for an exact replica, but I'm using this bucket (Tantive IV) as reference.

 

He's the one on the right of the image below (sorry Leia, sort of has that crazy ex-girlfriend-from-The Blues Brothers-look going there)

[CableGuy[TK]]

Nice work.

The low brow makes sense now.

[wook1138[TK]]

So, I've been trying to figure out the right color of the helmets.  White paint is not white paint.  If they used automotive paint in the 70's for these buckets, the whites had a yellow tinge due to the limitations of the paint production at the time (it was very hard to make durable true white paint that wouldn't yellow due to sun light).  So knowing that I wanted to prove that the buckets are more yellow than the ABS armour.  I've grabbed some screen shots - I tried to color correct as much as possible (the color is greatly affected by lighting, filters on the camera if used, the Kodak film stock, color timing during film processing, and digital post production shenanigans that have happened over the years).  The images then had the saturation dialed up a bit to help show the difference. It is impossible to know how much more yellow the paint was than the ABS, but it was very likely a lot more than what we normally see on screen.  Also, the paint is likely more reflective than the ABS, giving is a stronger value or brightness in some lighting cases.

 

No, I didn't alter the buckets in any way.

 

 

 

[CableGuy[TK]]

Exactly right, and excellent to see how far you’re looking into it. :-) There was definitely a colour discrepancy on screen.

Here’s Ford Diamond White against ABS in natural light. Very close to those images you shared. :-)

[wook1138[TK]]

The "painted with the ears on after botched paint job with ears off" reveal.

 

 

 

Inspiration

http://www.starwarshelmets.com/2009/ANHstunt_2005.jpg

 

[CableGuy[TK]]

Lovely work so far. :-)

[Archer1210]

Sorry for necroposting....

 

I can't find neither of above mentioned colors in Austria. 

Is there a RAL code I could use?

 

[Archer1210]

Edit: just found it on eBay.