Din Djarin Build!

[Captain Void]

Nice I tried doing graphite power for when I did Din. Never quite got it to work, Pretty sure I didn't buff it out enough, Best of luck!

Yeah it definitely seems like it'll be a bit of a challenge, but I think the right base coat and top coat makes a big difference

 

[BrokenHawk]

Yeah it definitely seems like it'll be a bit of a challenge, but I think the right base coat and top coat makes a big difference

What top coat are you planning on using? I tried 2K gloss clear coat and it did not work for me

 

[Captain Void]

What top coat are you planning on using? I tried 2K gloss clear coat and it did not work for me

I'm honestly not sure yet, still researching. I plan on doing a gloss black base, clear coat, then graphite, and another clear coat

 

[SgtSaint]

I'm honestly not sure yet, still researching. I plan on doing a gloss black base, clear coat, then graphite, and another clear coat

I think its pretty well established that clear coating a graphite rub is going to turn it to flat gray. Can hundreds of Mandalorian be wrong?

But if you decide to try it... Grab yourself a 100 pack of plastic spoons to test on. Beats using your helmet as your test part. That way you can rub them all, then do a different clear spray on each one. Marker on the other side which you used and you have a set of sample swatches for life.

 

[Captain Void]

I think its pretty well established that clear coating a graphite rub is going to turn it to flat gray. Can hundreds of Mandalorian be wrong?

But if you decide to try it... Grab yourself a 100 pack of plastic spoons to test on. Beats using your helmet as your test part. That way you can rub them all, then do a different clear spray on each one. Marker on the other side which you used and you have a set of sample swatches for life.

Thanks for the advice, definitely plan on testing my stuff first. I did actually see quite a few people using clear coats on graphite, I think it should be okay but I'm really not fully done figuring it all out yet anyways. As long as it's possible I'll try to use a clear coat because there is just no way I'm gonna be walking around with straight graphite exposed. that just sounds like it's gonna be messy

 

[SgtSaint]

Thanks for the advice, definitely plan on testing my stuff first. I did actually see quite a few people using clear coats on graphite, I think it should be okay but I'm really not fully done figuring it all out yet anyways. As long as it's possible I'll try to use a clear coat because there is just no way I'm gonna be walking around with straight graphite exposed. that just sounds like it's gonna be messy

If I were considering doing this, I'd go audit the Mandalorian boards and builds. Those guys have done it for years. There's no reason to re-invent the wheel when they've done every kind of experiment and combination possible. I know one recurring comment I've seen about it being 'messy' is that if you truly grind it in to your part, then it doesn't come off easily, and conversely if it comes of easily or 'messily' then you're just applying it to the top and its just laying there not really ground into the gloss black below. I get the impression they're aiming to practically embed the graphite into the gloss black and not just ride on top.
Oh - another video I saw on YouTube was someone graphiting a sword - so that might be another search path for you to see other people's techniques and results.

 

[Captain Void]

If I were considering doing this, I'd go audit the Mandalorian boards and builds. Those guys have done it for years. There's no reason to re-invent the wheel when they've done every kind of experiment and combination possible. I know one recurring comment I've seen about it being 'messy' is that if you truly grind it in to your part, then it doesn't come off easily, and conversely if it comes of easily or 'messily' then you're just applying it to the top and its just laying there not really ground into the gloss black below. I get the impression they're aiming to practically embed the graphite into the gloss black and not just ride on top.
Oh - another video I saw on YouTube was someone graphiting a sword - so that might be another search path for you to see other people's techniques and results.

Yeah I've been watching all kinds of videos, saw some of swords, saw some mandos, saw one guy using different base coats as an experiment to see how it looks... So I do have a general idea of how it's done and how I'm gonna do it, mostly wanna look into it more so I can be more confident in the process, then I'll test it on some of my failed parts/ plastic spoons

Also the fact it works as well as it does for swords is so cool, I eventually wanna do a Dark souls cosplay so it gave me some ideas LOL

 

[Clarkusmc]

I did a high gloss black rustoleum and graphite rub on my pieces. I tested a clear coat of high gloss clear rustoleum on the backside of a bracer to see how it went. I've also seen that some people do the clear coat followed by another graphite rub, so I might do that. The graphite rub itself stays on pretty well, only in spots where there might be rubbing will it start to come off. But the fix for that is just another spot of graphite rub on the area and its good as new

 

[Clarkusmc]

How do you plan to attach the pieces to the undersuit?

 

[Captain Void]

I did a high gloss black rustoleum and graphite rub on my pieces. I tested a clear coat of high gloss clear rustoleum on the backside of a bracer to see how it went. I've also seen that some people do the clear coat followed by another graphite rub, so I might do that. The graphite rub itself stays on pretty well, only in spots where there might be rubbing will it start to come off. But the fix for that is just another spot of graphite rub on the area and its good as new

Thanks for the advice! Gonna likely be a while till I'm back on this project, I'm gonna be working a lot more on my Rakshasa for now just bc its what I'm feeling more atm. Once I get back on the Mando grind I'll keep that in mind