Ravenwing Stencil

I was painting up some Ravenwing speeders and wanted to do something extra for the flying base. I could add some texture or sand to the base, but Sammael's speeder should have a bit more. So I added the ravenwing symbol to the base.

I found a simple Ravenwing symbol online and added several of them to a word doc and printed out a page. I tested it out by taping it to a plastic top and cut out the shape with a sharp exacto knife. An example can be seen below.

It came out a bit fuzzy as the paint was able to get under the paper. So I then laid down a couple strips of 18mm Tamiya tape onto a ceramic tile and cut the symbol out onto that. I then transferred it to the bottom of the clear base. I could have just as easy used a cutting board instead of the tile. Here you can see what was cut out and tape that was used. 

Spraying the base white first puts the symbol onto the base. As you want to see the symbol coming up through the base, you must do this first. It's opposite of what is normally done, ie. spraying a design into a finished product. The top of the base was masked off and then black was sprayed onto the rest of the base. Give the finished bottom of the base a coat or two of gloss coat to protect it from the scraping it'll receive as it's moved across the tabletop. 

You could do the same for others too such as Battle Fleet Gothic, assault troops, Tau Drones, or anything else using a flying stand. 

Side Tracked

I got a bit off hobby last week. I had a track day planned for Roebling Road in Savannah, GA and wanted to paint up my helmet. I'm tired of the basic black, white, or silver. So, I attempted to paint mine up similar to my car color.

If you ever plan to do this to a helmet, YOU MUST mask everywhere the spray may get to the liner. Else, the spray will eat away the styrofoam liner rendering the helmet useless. 

Starting with my silver Stilo Rally Helmet, I sanded it down, masked off the rubber trim and padding, and primed it white. Letting it sit overnight I then used Tamiya 3/4" masking tape. I lined up three rows and marked it every 3/4" with a vertical line. I very carefully laid each one down onto the helmet, beginning with the middle piece as shown. The Tamiya tape is the savior here. It is just tacky enough to stick, but not too much where it will peel the paint off.

Using a flexible metal ruler, I carefully cut the tape along the vertical lines I made and removed every other piece. After that step, I sprayed it black, added an extra 1/2" piece of tape to the sides and masked it all. 

That is when I proceeded to paint the helmet the main color. Using Tamiyas Racing Blue spray cans, I went through 3 of them to get a thorough coat. 

I let that sit untouched for an hour before removing the centerline of tape that you can see at the top of the helmet above. 

To protect the helmet, I gave it acouple coats of Testors Gloss and then several more coats of Krylon Polyurethane to protect it. Word of caution with the Krylon spray: you must be careful to not let it build up, it must be thin even layers. Otherwise, the colors underneath will yellow. Nice if you want something to look antique, not if you want a sharp white. 

The final outcome. Once I precut the masking tape away from the helmet, there was still some spots where you can see the white primer. This can be fixed with a slight black edging to blend it with the rubber border. I should have done this a month ago, not three days prior. It came out nice and many thought I used a sticker for the checkerboard.

Oh yeah, here's my ride!