New Airbrusher - Helmet Question

[monkeyspanner]

Hi guys, new to the site and new'ish to airbrushing. I have a question related to helmets. I have myself a couple of practice helmets and wanted to know the best method of preparing it for AB. They have no graphics on and are plain in colour, do i need to sand down the helmet, if so with what material? Do i then prime, sand again and then mark up for painting? What tyoe of paints are best used on motorcycle helmets? I presume then it is a case of clear coating a=for protection, but with what product?

Thanks

Want to get a couple done and posted so i can get some tips on improving.

 

[Madbrush]

Hi guys, new to the site and new'ish to airbrushing. I have a question related to helmets. I have myself a couple of practice helmets and wanted to know the best method of preparing it for AB. They have no graphics on and are plain in colour, do i need to sand down the helmet, if so with what material? Do i then prime, sand again and then mark up for painting? What tyoe of paints are best used on motorcycle helmets? I presume then it is a case of clear coating a=for protection, but with what product?

Thanks

Want to get a couple done and posted so i can get some tips on improving.

If you use the search function at the the top of the home page. you will see that there are several threads on this very question, including tips and info on legal and safety issues.

You will find all the answers you need and that will also help avoid the forum becoming cluttered with repeat questions and answers, simply type in your questions and be amazed at what comes up,

 

[Seamonkey]

Welcome monkeyspanner, meet the Seamonkey, !! I believe you posted this question on my YouTube video last night, the monster logo and skull helmet, I was going to answer you when I got home but this works too, !!. That's funny cause in my answer I would have followed it up with, you should come and join airbrushforum.org, !! You want to light sand before paint with 800 to 1200 grit before any paint. Any urethane paint or wicked is all I use on helmets. For that video I used Kustom shop urethane airbrush ready paint from tcpglobal.


Josh

 

[aircustom]

One thing I use is a Scotch brite pad it doesn't so much as sand as it finely scuffs up the surface the main thing u are worried about is the paint adhering to the surface u don't want to paint over anything that looks shiny so going over the whole thing with a scotch brite pad and then primer would give u a good starting surface.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jacksparrow]

I've been given a crash helmet to paint and want to do a similar design to this one, but i'm not sure how to tackle the visor.
Should I scuff the whole visor before blanking out the eye sockets, or if I blank the eye sockets first will my final clearcoat still stick to the shiny part of the visor.

 

[Squishy]

I would blank the eye sockets first, then scuff the rest. You still need it to be clear to see out of, and would be a pain to polish back later on.

 

[jacksparrow]

Thanks for the advice squishy,
i'll post up a pic if it turns out half decent

 

[Squishy]

Post it anyway and let us be the judge Lol! Seriously just post it so people can tell you how awesome it is, a bit of confidence boosting is always good for the soul, and maybe someone will have a few pointers to improve for next time, if you have areas for improvement. And if you smash it out of the park then tell us how it should be done!

 

[Sketchy Pete]

New helmets that don't need any repairs and have no graphics can just be scuffed back and worked. I use Auto air paints and lay a 3 coat sealer as the base coat. I go with auto air paints as they are water based and there is a good range of different paints to gain heaps of cool effects..

Good luck helmets can be/take a lot of work..plan your graphic first and have a good idea of what you want to achieve and the map of how your going to get there. Dont rush it (i have a huge problem with this).

Yes clear coat is a must and depending on your paint you use will will steer you towards a clear coat to use.

 

[jacksparrow]

Will do squishy, a boost to the confidence is always a good thing,
I suffer the same problems Pete, i'm always in a rush to see how it's going to turn out . I've done a cycle helmet, so realise how awkward masking up can be.
Everyone recommends removing the the air vents, but the one below the visor will be a big part of the artwork should I leave that in place, it would look well butchered if it didn't line up when I stuck it back on.
I'll be using Etac paint, if it turns out great i'll prob get it coated professionally, and if it's only average it'll be a can from Halfords,
thanks again for the sound advice..

 

[BUGSYMONTANA]

Im currently working on helmets i have 1 carbon fiber hjc 1 regular hjc 1 shoei thars pretty busted up 1 arai g.t. and a pretty good seven zero seven helmet. ALL of them need to be sanded down.... i want to use either the createx i already have in stock or some auto air from the local hoby shop..... my question is what kind of primer am i suppose to use went as low as 180 grit getting the arai helmet dentsscratchesand horrible imperfections together... went from 180 to 240 to 320 to 400 to 600 grit to smooth everythingout alongwith ading filler dduringthe180 grit phase.... I'll what kinda primer should i use... friend said use some spray can primer after doing all this prep work i will not go cheap SLAVING to get these darn helmets together....... p.s. the last 72 hours this is all i have been doing sanding sanding sanding i see why people who do bodywork stay in shape!!!!

 

[Sketchy Pete]

The few Helmets Ive done Ive undercoated with normal acrylic primer putty. Start with light coats and let dry well between coats, dont rush any part of the process with helmets they are very unforgiving. Especially if your going to be using fine line tapes and/or masking areas off. Remember with the auto air and createx very light passes with colour so it builds up and drys between coats or it will peel off with the tape and then back to square 1. Remember to use trans base over each section you do to help seal that in and it also allows a certain amount of overspray to be cleaned off without effecting the artwork underneath.. Goodluck

 

[BUGSYMONTANA]

The few Helmets Ive done Ive undercoated with normal acrylic primer putty. Start with light coats and let dry well between coats, dont rush any part of the process with helmets they are very unforgiving. Especially if your going to be using fine line tapes and/or masking areas off. Remember with the auto air and createx very light passes with colour so it builds up and drys between coats or it will peel off with the tape and then back to square 1. Remember to use trans base over each section you do to help seal that in and it also allows a certain amount of overspray to be cleaned off without effecting the artwork underneath.. Goodluck

Coool been takin my time think imma strictlyuse auto air... comparing prices on tcpglobal and ebay