Hello,

I'm considering painting my helmet and would like any advice the myArmoury community could give me. The things I specifically need help/advice on are:

- Whats the best type of paint to use?

- How many coats of said paint should I apply?

- Do I need a primer or finishing coat?

- Do I need to roughen up the steel before I paint? (it has a pretty shiny surface at the moment)

- Is there a good way to apply/stencil on designs? (I'm not too good at intricate painting :\ )

- Should the helmet have a glossy or a matte finish? What do historical helms have?

- Would it behistoricallyy accurate to paint the entire helm black with small white suns or something over the rivets?

- Any kind of simple design suggestions appreciated. :p ;)

I've searched the forums buthaven'tt really found anything on the best way to do this.

This is probably something pretty basic that most people know about, but I'm pretty clueless about this subject... :(

My dad suggested taking it to a body shop and having them paint it, but I'm guessing thats not exactly historically accurate. ;)

Also feel free to post any images of painted helms, museum peice,illustrationn or even you're own. :)

Thanks in advance for helping me out. :)

EDIT: Incase it's important, the helmet is a GDFB sallet. And it's for a 1470's WotR period kit.

Depends on what you mean by "historically accurate" and how "historically accurate" you want to be.

- Whats the best type of paint to use?
Depends. Historically, probably something akin to milk paints. Modern paints are likely more durable, though. Depends on what you want. Spraypaints give an even coat, but hand-painting can give a more "authentic" look.


- How many coats of said paint should I apply?
Depends on the type of paint. In general, the more coats, the smoother and more vibrant the finish. Follow the manufacturer directions.


- Do I need a primer or finishing coat?
A primer will make things easier. Fewer coats will be necessary to get complete and even coverage. A topcoat can improve the durability of the paintjob--handy if this is for reenactment or SCA purposes and is likely to get banged around.
If in doubt, follow the paint manufacturer's directions.


- Do I need to roughen up the steel before I paint? (it has a pretty shiny surface at the moment)
Again, depends on the paint.

- Is there a good way to apply/stencil on designs? (I'm not too good at intricate painting Worried )
Are you going for a hand-painted look? One thing you can do is draw or print out the design you want on a piece of paper. Use a hobby knife or razor blade to cut out the design to make a stencil. Tape to the helmet and paint. Or, get some carbon paper from an office supply store and use it to trace you design onto the helmet, then paint.


- Would it be historicallyy accurate to paint the entire helm black with small white suns or something over the rivets?
Historically accurate in the sense of "fits with the period" or historically accurate in the sense of "as seen on extant period sources"? I'd say it would fit the former definition just fine, so long as you use medieval-style sunbursts.

I think I'd like to handpaint it with something durable.

And as in "fits with the period", and thanks for answering my questions.

This thread http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=128157 over on the Armour Archive, about halfway down has some nice original examples of painted helmets.

Thanks Allan, some really nice painted black sallets there. :)