The weathering on the blue looks good, I'm not so sure about the black. This could just be my personal preference, but to me the black parts seem like they'd be made from a nonmetallic material, something plasticy, so the wearing on it wouldn't look the same. It might look more gouged and scratched while still having the same colour underneath. I'm not sure how you'd accomplish something like that without cutting into your helmet, but I'd hesitate to do so to a work of art like yours. And again, this is just a personal preference.
As for the technique on the job it's self it's very well done. Better than I could do.
Thanks Jonus, I actually agree with you on the black part. I looked a game reference pics and it would seem you are correct on the weathering. I appreciate the comment and will use the constructive critism on future paint jobs. Thanks again my man.
Dang the helmet looks awesome man, fantastic job and the weathering on it looks just amazing, great work =D
Thank you Road Kill, I appreciate the comment and that you are still following my thread.
Good work with this whole thread Blackula727! I haven't reached the paint step for my build yet and have never done the whole weathering thing but I think you've done a fine job with it. That said, I think the un-weathered look on this helmet is really great...with the clean edges and crisp colors I think it pops well. Either way it looks cool and congratulations on a great helmet.
I'm looking into doing some mold work with Rebound 25 and Smooth-Cast 320. I haven't been exposed to any of the materials before and after researching quite a bit I am wondering if I might pick your brain on how you approached a few items. Being that you were a noob in this arena and achieved what looks like great results I'm hoping to emulate you. My questions are below, any input you can provide would be appreciated (I read through your process in this thread and apologize if I simply missed something I'm asking about). Thank you and keep up the good work!
Thanks for the great comment Satchmo, I definitely was a noob to all of this when I started, especially the mold making and subsequent castings.
Now to answer your questions.
1) I'd like to use cut-up fiberglass mat strips for a mother-mold in lieu of Plasti-Paste. When using fiberglass for this purpose did you simply apply it directly to the cured Rebound 25? I've read that the resin won't bond to the rubber but for ease of mind I'm hoping to hear it from another member who's tried it.
That’s exactly what I did. But I also lathered up the rebound mold with petroleum jelly first, so that it would fill voids. When you coat the helmet with the rebound , you will end up with voids that resin can get into and I was afraid that it would harden and tear the rubber, so I took the advice of fellow 405thers and used the petroleum jelly and it worked great. Also, you’re going to want to use three layers of glass on each side. However, reinforce the areas where you would be prying the mold apart like the lip of the mold jacket (because these areas take some abuse/stress).
2) When casting did you wind up using a releasing agent or petroleum jelly or did you just pour the plastic directly in the rubber? Again, I've read where others do it either way but I'd like to know what your experience was.
I’ve done it with and without release agent when casting into the mold. I prefer to use the release agent because I’m too afraid that my detail print layer will tear when pulling the casting out. I use Ease release from smooth on.
Also, use two layers of rebound (w/o Thivex) for your print layer, You can get away with one, but I had certain parts of my current mold that ripped out towards the opening of the mold that I believe could have been avoided had I used two layers. Other than that my mold is solid.
One more thing, if you decide to create a parting line like I did in the back to allow your castings to come out easier, use cheese cloth on the top inbetween one of your last layers of rebound. I did this to stop the tear, if you don’t, there is a chance that the mold can rip up past where you want the parting line to stop.
Well, That’s enough of my rant. Keep building guys, Good luck!
