Helmet Padding & Backplate Finished

Hey, folks! Here's the latest.  I've added the padding to the interior of the helmet.  I bought some foam from a fabric shop, trimmed it to size and super glued it in.  The brow foam is 1" thick.  All other pieces are 1/2" thick.  It's snug but comfortable, and I won't need a chin strap.  The helmet doesn't wobble when I turn my head. For the record, this is NOT movie accurate.  But no one is ever going to see the inside of the helmet but me, and I opted for comfort. (The real movie props used a chin strap and a liner similar to what you see inside a hard hat.)

And with that, the helmet is 100% DONE!

I've also finished the back plate.  This piece of armor will never really be seen by anyone since it will be beneath the jetpack, but I wanted to give it as much attention as the rest of the armor.  Since it was already primed, I sprayed it with Rusto Aluminum, then buffed it with 0000 steel wool, and added liquid mask for the "metal" that will show through...

Then I hit it with Rusto Line Painting Yellow, and a mist of flat black. When that dried, I peeled off the liquid mask...

I added another layer of liquid mask, and then sprayed the final Rusto Hunt Club Green, and a mist of flat black.  After that dried, I peeled the liquid mask, gave it one more misting of flat black, and then scratched the hell out of it with a screwdriver and gravel from my driveway.

Here's the final back plate:

This weekend I also went for a test fitting for the flight suit and the armor vest.  Some adjustments needed to be made, but we're on the right track.

Next up: The knee plates.

More after I come back from New York Comic Con this weekend.

~N

Chest & Neck Finished!

After the yellow layer, the next step is to do a layer of Rustoleum Spruce Green (misted with black) on the left side of the abdominal plate.  The butt of Boba's blaster has rubbed against this area in the movie armor, and scratched it down to a lighter green.  No other plate has this treatment, so I only had to do this for one piece...

Once that was done, I added the "scratches" to all the pieces with liquid mask, and sprayed everything with the top coat of green (Rustoleum Hunt Club Green, misted with black. This is a darker green than what was used on the helmet, per movie photos.)

Once that dried, I picked off the liquid mask, and added the vinyl decal to the upper right plate.  Then one more misting of black, and some scracthes with a screwdriver and some gravel.

Here is the final right chest plate.

And the final left chest plate. Note that the display holes here will have a piece of the same material I use for the visor on the helmet.  So it will look gloss black.  That' will be taken care of before I attach the armor to the vest.

Here is the final abdominal plate. Now you can see the light green scratching from the stock of Boba's blaster...

The final neck plate...

And the whole set assembled together with the small center piece... I made this photo extra big so you can see more detail.

The vest that these attach to hasn't been made for me yet, so in the mean time, I'm moving on to the back plate and the knee plates.

More soon!

~N