DAY 43 - Mo' paint

One of the more fun "exclusive" collectibles from this hobby is the name badge.  Proudly displayed while at events or cons to further identify oneself as the uber-nerd in the hizzy.

I've got one of these for the 501st and now one for the R2 Builders.  These are made by a fellow 501st member in Las Vegas named Damien Metz.  Thank you again Damien for an outstanding tag !  (Even the main radar eye is raised and made of a transparent blue material)

After painting so much white stuff the past couple of days, I wanted to get some blue paint on.  Without going into all of the details, R2D2 blue paint methodology is as wide and varied as the opinions as to what, exactly, it is.  The blue paint looks different in all types of lighting conditions.  It is very difficult to get a good representation of what is on the part with a camera.  

I am not going to stress out about being fully "canon" with the paint color.  Picky builders would certainly disagree, but my thoughts are, as long as it is close, and all of the parts on the R2 unit are painted the same blue, it really makes no difference.  For the vast majority of the viewing public, the wonderment of the droid will not be diminished because someone thinks the blue is "all wrong".  My goal is to get a blue that I can easily recreate in case I upgrade parts or have to make some touch-ups along the way. 

Don't get me wrong, I think the blue can be done wrong, but I hope to get as close as possible without beating myself up and repainting 30 times.

First order of business, strip the old paint off of the aluminum parts I bought second hand.  I started with the booster covers, and wanted to wait on the utility arms until after I was satisfied with the blue that I was laying down.

Brainiac idea #223.  Instead of masking these difficult recesses, I decided to fill them in with plumbers putty.  It worked great, but once the paint dried, it skinned over and I had to cut the paint with a razor blade in order to remove the putty.  Removal of the putty was not the issue, it simply did not offer me the time savings I thought it would.

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Super shiny radar eye scuffed up a little with sandpaper to promote adhesion of the self-etching primer.

A myriad of test pieces with the self-etching primer applied.

First coat - Rustoleum Purple Metallic.  This is a good base coat, although it runs like a sum-bitch if you are not careful.  Note the piece on the right, it has a little goober about 2/3 the way up...   The second coat is a Ford Sonic Blue that has a nice metallic sheen and sparkle to it.

Radar eye with the purple base coat.

I was too concerned to get the parts inside and unmasked - that I did not really take any more photos, save the one below.  I wanted to illustrate how the recesses and inside edges on the shoulder horseshoe are left raw aluminum.  In turn, I got a little sneak of the radar eye with what is the final blue paint.  "Final" meaning done until I decide to try something else.... You can see the difference in my blue and the blue on the utility arms below.

Next week will involve re-assembling the legs and all of the freshly painted parts.  Scrapes, dings and  dangs are sure to be in order, but that will only add to his "character".   Keep in mind that George envisioned a "used future" for the Original Trilogy, one that things were not perfect, and certain got some wear and tear  along their lifespan.