Airbrushing helmet advice

themyers

Hi

I have put this post on another forum so apologies if you read it twice!

I fancy airbrusing my aerohelmet. I have an airbrush and used to do a bit in the past on just paper and that.

Just wondering about advice regarding prep of the surface and paints to use including things like priming and adhension promtion,

Cheers

Andy

pete.whelan

Most manufacturers say not to, as the solvents in the paint can affect the shell and reduce it's protection qualities. It may even dissolve the polystyrene if it gets onto it.

djb1971

You need to use createx paints that are safe to use

you can get them from good airbrush suppliers or ebay

lae

^ yep those paints should do fine. Always a good idea to test it on a spare first though!

Surface prep should be - get rid of any stickers and glue residue, then just a slight rub down with some medium (say 400g) sandpaper or a fine scotchbrite pad. You don't need to 'sand' the surface so much as just key it slightly.

The last step before painting is to clean the helmet. Normally I'd use proper panel wipe, but that's a solvent and probably not a good idea on a polystyrene helmet. Just give it a careful wash in slightly soapy water, and then a VERY good rinse in clean water.

Then right before you paint, you need to use either a tack rag (available from motor factors, essentially just a slightly sticky fine cotton cloth that attracts dust and stuff) or a very clean old cotton t-shirt, just to get all the specks of dust off.

Then coat of primer (use createx primer, I think they do one), wait for an hour, another coat of primer, wait another hour, then another coat of primer, then leave it for at least 24 hours to cure properly. Leaving it to cure is very important so don't be tempted to rush. Several thin coats are better than one thick coat.

Then, using fine (1200g) sandpaper around a foam block, gently smooth the primer. Use lots of water with a little bit of washing up liquid to stop the paper clagging up, and rinse really when you're finished. Be extra careful not to rub through the paint, especially around edges - if you do go through you can always add more paint but it's time consuming.

Then once you're happy with the surface, you can apply colour. Same as before, three or more thin coats, wait 48 hours (longer this time) then colour sand (this time with 1500 or 2000 paper). If you want to add cool airbrushy things, you should do it before the colour sand but be extra extra extra careful not to sand through them.

You'll probably want to put a lacquer over the top to protect your art and to give a better finish, but I'm not sure if createx make a lacquer. At this stage the plastic of the helmet should have enough coats of paint on it to protect it from the solvents in ordinary lacquer, but I don't know how an ordinary cellulose or 2-pack lacquer would react with createx paints - it might be compatible, or it might ruin them completely. Best to speak to createx and see what they say.

Note that if you use metallic or pearlescent paints without a lacquer, the paint finish can be damaged very easily - the little metallic chips can swirl around if polished and actually oxidise very easily (when you see an old car bonnet that has bloomed and gone milky, that's what it'll look like). A good quality wax can help prevent this but lacquering is the only real way to stop it happening.

You can then get on to polishing. The last finish should be colour sanded with 2000g, whether it's lacquer or paint. You can either get proper compounds like G3 (available at automotive paint stores etc) or just use an ordinary very fine rubbing paste (T-Cut, for example which you may have lying around in the garage, works pretty well although it is a bit harsh). If you're doing it by hand, spray a fine mist of water over the helmet and apply a little rubbing compound to a damp cloth, and start gently rubbing (oo-er) until it's nice and shiny all over. If you're lucky enough to have access to a machine mop, then do the same, but use LOADS of water - if mops run dry then can quite easily polish all the way down through your paint!

Now that it's nicely polished, I'd leave it a week and then apply some sort of wax to protect the paint. A good hard carnauba wax is best, harder work to apply than liquid waxes but much better finish. Plain old Turtle Wax out of a tin is fine (unless you fancy spending £50 some of AutoGlym's finest)

Hope this helps, and show us some photos when you're done!

themyers

wow cheers that is a great guide

i will post a pic up when done here.

incdedntly re. ceratex does it matter what one? apart from the solvent based one obviously!

ta

andy

bompington

Here's an airbrushed helmet:

themyers

u have way too much spare time:)

bompington

themyers wrote:

u have way too much spare time:)

Wrong, I have so many things on my to do list that ignoring it is sometimes the only option