"Help!" for: Painting

[rasendori04]

Hey, I have a question about sealing foam then painting it. I live in Canada, can't order things from online and need something to seal foam so that I can paint it. I can't find any plasti dip here, and was wondering if Mod Podge was a sufficient sealer for a suit of armor for me to paint over.

 

[LoneHowler]

Hey, I have a question about sealing foam then painting it. I live in Canada, can't order things from online and need something to seal foam so that I can paint it. I can't find any plasti dip here, and was wondering if Mod Podge was a sufficient sealer for a suit of armor for me to paint over.

Try auto parts stores. In Alberta AutoValue carries it. If not keep trying local hardware stores

 

[Memebr]

OK, i have an question that wasent even asked here till now:

after you finish sanding and detailing your piece, it will be all covered with bondo dust, like everywhere, inside, outside of it, dirty with some body greases.

-How do i prepare the Piece (bondo surface) to start my painting job?

we all know that to achieve a decent quality painting, you need a super clean surface, thats the question, how to clean a bondoed piece to prepare it to receive the 1st primer coat?

 

[coldevil123]

I have used an air compressor to blow it all off. You could also try washing it with water (eg. hose, sink, bucket) but I'm not sure how well that will work. My suggestion is just to use an air compressor if you have one.

 

[Memebr]

i did a lil research and i find out that for surfices treated with bondo we can use thinner PU in order to clean all the grease out of the piece!

and cold, thank you for your answer.

 

[Psquiddy]

Is there any type of sealant I can use on EVA foam that is not glossy? I have been shopping, and most results are very glossy D:

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

Is there any type of sealant I can use on EVA foam that is not glossy? I have been shopping, and most results are very glossy D:

Spray on Plasti-dip is a commonly used sealer for EVA foam armor and weapons and is a bit textured.

 

[Sves]

Regarding colours, is it acceptable to use the "custom" colours from Reach? I'm not sure if there is any general protocol regarding that, whether it is looked down upon or not.

 

[Katsu]

The 405th is far from a rigid, imperialistic, controlling group. It seems to be a lot more loose and chill, especially with customization. I've seen people put two different parts of two different helmets together, and do all kinds of random colors, there are even people here who theme their armor off other franchises. I wouldn't worry too much about your color choices, so long as you don't do something obviously bad, like theming the armor off real world dictatorships or other things that are in bad taste...

 

[dirtbikeman]

if i painted halo reach commando helmet red, would it look nice? if so what type of red spray paint? if not any recomendations?

 

[Katsu]

whether it looks good or not is up to you. There is no table or rule saying what colors look good with what helmets, it's all opinion! If you like it, do it.

What paint you use depends at least partially on what you want out of it, and what surface it's going on. Did you bondo the outside? Plastic the outside? Is it just bare resin or paper? Do you want it to be strong, or cheap, or sandable? There are more questions I am sure also, to ask when picking a paint! It all depends how hardcore you want to go on painting.

 

[dirtbikeman]

im about to put resin over the paper then fiberglass on the inside then painting. i guess ill do red and black. then instal the visor

 

[Disturbed Shifty]

Has anybody ever done white armor? I plan to make me a set of Mark VI armor but with my Spartan's paint job from Halo: Reach. And the colors I use are white and cobalt, with white being the primary color. I did a quick search with the search function, but didn't turn up anything and I didn't see any when using Google either.

 

[Katsu]

There are several white suits out there. Hyokenseisou's stands out:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/32849-Hyo-s-Female-Reach-Build-Finished/page14

Not sure if there are any white mk6's, but here are some more:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/32249-Sepheus-13-s-Foam-and-Pep-Halo-Reach-armor-WIP

partway down:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/29498-How-many-completed-halo-costumes-on-the-405th/page17

 

[Disturbed Shifty]

There are several white suits out there. Hyokenseisou's stands out:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/32849-Hyo-s-Female-Reach-Build-Finished/page14

Not sure if there are any white mk6's, but here are some more:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/32249-Sepheus-13-s-Foam-and-Pep-Halo-Reach-armor-WIP

partway down:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/29498-How-many-completed-halo-costumes-on-the-405th/page17

Awesome. Thanks for the links. I was worried that white wouldn't look good. I will just have to weather it just right to give it some depth.

 

[higdog827]

Awesome. Thanks for the links. I was worried that white wouldn't look good. I will just have to weather it just right to give it some depth.

Yeah, white armor is a tough thing to pull off. But if you do it right, you can get some pretty amazing results. You should also check out Hyper's Hyabusa build HERE, its a great example of just how good it can look.
Good luck!

 

[Toymakerkarl]

I am painting my M6 SOCOM, and I am trying to figure out which colors would be good to paint the weapon, magazines and bullet in the top of each magazine, both bullet and casing. I am guessing a really dark flat grey for the lead bullet, unless it is a special hollow point or steel round. The brass shell casing would be a bright brass, unless they don't use brass shell casings in the future. I need to make the magazines look like they have been used and loaded repeatedly as well. Trying to duplicate a metal that has been heat blued in paint will be a challenge. Any ideas ?

 

[Katsu]

If you're going with the socom, it's supposed to be that black polymer look, but if you're going to do it in the electroless nickel look of the M6G, it's really tough to get a color match on that blueish gray they use. I mixed a pinch of blue, with german gray, metalic gray, gunmetal gray and varied levels of white and black until it looked right. I was working with limited supplies, and kind of poured what I had left of my two metal paints together, and then fudged the rest. But the colors turned out beautifully Different surfaces and different undercotes call for different mixes, and you have to kind of experiment (I used the inside of the smart scope of mine, since it's hidden when on in case I couldn't get the paint all the way off) until you get a color that is right for you.

The color shown in my buildlog is not the color I settled on, it was the primer coat with a bit of black to test it out.

I have the bottle of what I mixed sitting next to my desktop, the new pistol should be coming in the mail soooonnnn...

I am partial to this guy's paint job, personally, but it's all personal preference:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/33960-Halo-Reach-M6-Pistol-(Pic-Heavy)

Edit: Oh, here's a socom painted with the electroless color, forgot who made it though:
http://wake.drmcawesome.com/images/405th/pistol/M6C SOCOM 07.jpg

And here's the bullet! Looks brass to me? I dunno..
http://wake.drmcawesome.com/images/405th/pistol/M6C SOCOM 07.jpg

 

[Pink Punnisher]

Sounds dumb i know but what about spraying a matt helmet with laquer, would that just defeat the point of using matt paint?

if yes, then

what products are a good alternative to laquer (protecting the helmet) but keep the matt look of the helmet?

 

[Katsu]

If the matte lacquer works, then it works. It's always hard to say that something will always work, because the canvas material, and paint type can affect it a lot. You could slap some bondo on a piece of cardboard and test gloss paint with matte lacquer and see if it works. If it does, go with it if you want.

The paints I use are readily available in flats, so I don't risk it.

The whole process is trial and error on what works, because we all live in different areas, and the above mentioned differences in what types of paints and such you use. Don't forget to primer the helmet also.