1.
The raw resin fibre glass reinforced casting, take care with the casting rim and use wet and dry to soften and smooth the edging all around the cast. |
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2.
I always cut my eye visor areas out, here I use a DIY drill with a 6mm drill bit to drill holes around the inside of the area to be removed, once I’ve finished drilling I break out any large areas like the eye area to the right, once that's done I finish off removing excess with a dremel and sanding drum and files, this helmet also needs the laser housing entrance cutting out. Always use goggles and a mask whilst working with resin dusts and be careful of friction fumes caused by blunt drill bits and worn sanding drums. |
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3.
The areas removed nicely, where ready to move onto painting. |
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4.
Tip...Polyester resins employed in allot of garage kits can sometimes have a shiny surface that's not desirable to paint on, to remove it simple pop the casting in hot water for a few minutes then remove, drain and let dry. |
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5.
Hunter Bio 1 with eye visors and bullet hole removed, a 5 mm drill bit was used to drill holes into the laser targeting mechanism that holds the 3mm LED diodes. |
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6.
The Hunter 2 with eye visor areas removed and LED diode holes drilled. |
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7.
A good paint job deserves primer, here I used grey auto primer sold in The Pound shop :) |
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8.
The Hunter 2 bio with its base coat of gloss black mixed with bronze. |
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9.
Once primed I start adding dark areas following the natural lines where shadows would lie. |
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10.
Darkening the new AVP style helmet with shadows. |
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11.
Highlighting with silver enamel, I tend to spray the silver lightly all over but in one direction downwards over the surface to try and keep some of the greys, I spray heavier on the muzzle, cheeks and top cranium areas. Once the silvers dried I go back in with some more shadows in the cheeks, eye lids and around the mask edge. |
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12.
The AVP silvered all over, I used enamel applied with a rag clothe over my finger tip to rub the silver in. |
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13.
The second colour to hit the Hunter 2 bio, I mix gold, bronze, brass, copper or any other metallic I have individually, the paints thinned and splashed on with a hog haired brush that holds fair amounts of paint. |
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14.
Once I’ve applied about 4 different metallic colours in this manner I gently blend the colours all over the mask with a sponge. |
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15.
I now hit the mask again with more splashes of paint only this time I don't thin the enamels so as not to have the paint run and keep its intense shine. |
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16.
You can see the separation of different metallic that make up an unearthly mix, its not exactly Predator 2 but I really like the finished look and it displays very nicely
this way. |
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17.
The Predator Deluxe helmet here is cast in a resin metal composite, this is real aluminium mixed with resin and once buffed to this stage looks exactly like metal, it’s also cold to the touch and scratches like metal does. It’s an expensive process and not the way the helmets are normally cast. The helmets no longer offered in this state but I’ve been asked to put up a paint process so here it is. |
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18.
I air brush flat black around all the separation lines, eye lips and cheeks, over spray is easily removed with a damp cloth. |
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19.
Flat black acrylic watered down and dripped onto the mask from above, I continue with the drips till it builds up in lines flowing down over the mask, I later splash black all over lightly to create a contrasting weathered effect, splashes and drips. |
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I'll get the rest of the process done ASAP along with some places that supply visors.
any questions feel free to email
info.mysteria@ntlworld.com |
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