My new custom helmet paint job

[gravitysucks 0]

So about 2 weeks ago I bought an old Mindwarp online. When it got here I thought it looked like crap so I decided to paint it myself. Well, easier said than done. The first try looked like a middle school art class project. I was so embarrassed I didn't even take a picture. So for round two I took my time and ended up with something that looks like, well, hopefully at least a high school art project.
Mr. X

[Jeff.Donohue 0]

First off, it looks nice. In fact, it is infinitely cooler than my helmet (a fire engine red Parasport Evo open faced helmet).

Here's why...

Without thinking about it, I agreed to let my four year old daughter decorate it.

I now have "My Little Pony", "Cindarella", and "Dora the Explorer" stickers randomly placed on it... You should see the looks I get on the lift...

You wouldn't believe how often, in my short career, I 've heard "umm.... hey.... your helmet is.... different...."

[StevePhelps 0]

Nice job, I tried painting a few helmets. Very hard to do right.

[bob.dino 1]

Pictures please!

[freeflyflunky 0]

I think it sucks...


Just kidding, although I think you might want to throw some props to the girl who:

A. Had the "cojones" to tell you your first helmet wasn't exactly as cool as you thought it was,

B. Helped you create a far superior design, and

C. Put up with her entire house smelling like freakin' paint for, um, FIVE days now!

It is pretty cool though

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Oh, and one more thing...Ninjas ARE way cooler than pirates.

[deltablue 0]

Nice man !

~He who looks outside his own heart dreams, he who looks inside his own heart awakens - Carl Jung~

My Space

[bodypilot1 0]

Quote

The only big mistake I made was a smudge in the clearcoat.

This can be sanded out with 600 grit wetsand paper.
Make sure to add a couple drops os dish soap in the bucket when ytou do it, and make sure it cures all the way before you sand it.
Dont sand through the clear coat though.
After your done sanding you can buff out the helmet with alittle elbow grease and a good swirl remover or carnuba wax.

Quote

Theres one spot thats a little duller than the rest, but hopefully most people won't notice.

This is probably over spray, and can be sanded and buffed the same way.

Good luck.
Ed

www.WestCoastWingsuits.com
www.PrecisionSkydiving.com

[FlyingRedneck 0]

if you wanna see custom paint jobs on helmets, check out www.ezairfx.com he painted my motorcycle helmet. tres awesome

[skymama 35]

Quote

This can be sanded out with 600 grit wetsand paper.
Make sure to add a couple drops os dish soap in the bucket when ytou do it, and make sure it cures all the way before you sand it.
Dont sand through the clear coat though.
After your done sanding you can buff out the helmet with alittle elbow grease and a good swirl remover or carnuba wax.

Oh, that's way to time consuming. He should just cover it with a sticker!

Edit to say: I think it looks great!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[gravitysucks 0]

Quote

Quote

This can be sanded out with 600 grit wetsand paper.
Make sure to add a couple drops os dish soap in the bucket when ytou do it, and make sure it cures all the way before you sand it.
Dont sand through the clear coat though.
After your done sanding you can buff out the helmet with alittle elbow grease and a good swirl remover or carnuba wax.

Oh, that's way to time consuming. He should just cover it with a sticker!

Edit to say: I think it looks great!

Hmmmm.. I think I'll just live with it. I'm done with this project! Besides, apparently "somebody" is tired of me spending all my spare time on a skydiving helmet. Jeez, you'd think I'd married a friggin whuffo!

[newshooter12 0]

that's kind of cool... looks like a coral reef with the blue colors.

[chileanXaos 0]

here you can have your helmet paint job , they really paint good , but they can be expensive .

www.troyleedesigns.com

[gravitysucks 0]

Ok I've been getting some PMs about how I did it, so here are the steps I took:

1. Remove everything you can.
2. Sand off the old paint with a large grit like 100. I used an electric pad sander and hand sanded the difficult parts. I had to go all the way down to the carbon fiber shell. Once its nice and smooth, go over it again with a finer grit. Then using a diluted citrus solvent cleaner I wiped it off and made sure it was dry.
3. Mask anything you don't want to get painted
4. Primer at least two coats. Not too heavy, and a light sanding between. Once the primer dries, another light sanding and then wipe that off with a rag, but don't use any solvent because chances are it will affect the paint.

Here's the fun part. Make sure you test all your different colors to see which order they need to go on in. In my case the silver was the dominant color so I saved it for last.

5. Apply several coats of the base color. Allow plenty of drying time in between. You can sand any imperfections with a very fine grit like 600 dry/wet, and always clean off the dust before painting!
6. To mask off the pattern I used an adhesive paper for airbrushing. They have them at art stores like Dick Blick (Now called just Blick. I asked and they said that after Dick Blick died they renamed all the stores for obvious reasons. But I still call it Dick Blick because its fun to say). With this paper you can draw your design on and cut it out with an x-acto knife. Be aware though, you are putting a flat design on a round helmet (duh) so expect to make changes. Put it on in small pieces.

7. Once it is masked, paint your pattern on
8. Let it dry. In any places where the paint bled under the masking I used a very small brush to cover it up. When you are happy with how it looks, and any blemishes or uneven spots have been lightly sanded as above, you are ready for the clearcoat.
9. Apply clearcoat evenly as it tends to run. You can also sand between clearcoats but only as needed. Be patient and use lots of coats, I ended up with 7.
10. Don't get anxious. Wait until its all dry then put it back together, and then you can buff and polish it, as described in the post above.

Hmmm I think thats it. The paint I used was Testor's Model Master's Lacquer from a hobby shop. The clearcoat was an ultra-gloss lacquer. I wouldn't go with an enamel but if you can find a urethane based paint that would work. The model paint is easy to find, cheap, and supposed to exactly replicate auto paint so its good for our purposes. Any more questions drop me a line.

Mr X.

[freeflyimpaired 0]

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I took my time and ended up with something that looks like, well, hopefully at least a high school art project.

mmmm......Freshman in High School at best.

j/k

can't wait to see it in action.
Joe

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."

[popsjumper 2]

...uh....you do realize that there's a big target on the back of your helmet for the FS'ers to aim at?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239