Finishing Cyborg Ninja Helmet

I recently got commissioned to fully finish a Cyborg Ninja helmet so I was determined to make it the best possible. The final result was better than even my own.

I started off by casting another helmet using SmoothCast 65D.

 

Then there's the familiar process of body filler, sanding, and more filling and sanding. The green stuff is Evercoat Z-Grip body filler and the red stuff is Dynatron spot putty.

I picked up some stuff along the way including more grits of wet/dry sandpaper, Meguiar's Ultimate Compound, and Meguiar's Ultimate Liquid Wax.

 

 

After this there's some more priming and sanding involved.

 

And then the first coat of RustOleum Gloss White.

Before the final coat of gloss white I wet sanded it to 800 grit.

After a coat of RustOleum Crystal Clear I then sanded it down to 1000 grit to make it really smooth for the waterslide decals. The waterslide decals were drawn up in Illustrator and printed on waterslide decal paper using a laser printer. Make sure the printer matches the paper as there is both laser and inkjet waterslide paper.

 

 

 

 

I have Micro Sol and Micro Set from building scale models so I went ahead and used some of that here. It helps to soften the decal and make it conform to curved surfaces better.

 

 

While you can still see the edges of the decal here once you put a few more clear coats and then sand it down it really becomes nearly invisible.

 

 

Here you don't see the glossiness of the paint because it's been sanded down some. This is in the middle of working up to 2000 grit.

 

 

This is after polish and wax. I was really surprised by the results as it's my first experience with polishing and waxing. It takes some elbow grease but it really does turn out very smooth.

 

 

 

This is a closeup of the decal on the forehead piece to show that the edges become pretty much invisible.

 

I had some odd reactions with the clear on the back piece so I had to sand it down and restart from the white. It got really frustrating.

Another picture showing the final finish. You can read the words of the sandpaper in the reflection. Deep reflections don't show up nearly as well on white paint as with darker colors such as black.

Pictures of the final finished helmet. I added some upholstery foam on the inside of the cheek pieces where it attaches to the outside of the helmet in order to protect the finish.