I hope I’m not boring people with my helmet painting posts! I am really enjoy learning how to do this stuff whether it be trial and error or from info from TJ. This will not ever be something I do as a paying job just enjoyment and satisfaction (plenty of frustration too).
I recently acquired a used helmet from Chris Kutscher a member on here in reply to my wanted ad and this is the helmet I am now playing with.
I am just trying some different colors and trying to improve my masking techniques. The checker mask I made all freehand and I had to do it in two halves so matching up was a bit tricky.
I am making the plunge and going to start spraying clear coat with a gun instead of using the 2k Glamour rattle cans on this one.
The sketch is just a very rough guide, I’m basically making it up as I go along:)
Well done with the warp on the pattern!
Glad to see the helmet is going to a good cause!
Ok so here is the frustrating part! This is actually by far the biggest issue I have ever had. For some reason the magenta didn’t adhere to the base white in this area. The vinyl mask is super sticky but I’ve used it many times before. Luckily this is just on a practice helmet. This kind of thing is why I wouldn’t want to do this for customers 
I won’t be re painting it as it is just an old helmet that will never be used. I will finish off the rest of it though.
Did you get allllll the rubber coating off before painting? Those rubber helmets need to be fully stripped of all the black before painting. How many layers are you doing for coverage with the paint? What are you cleaning with before you spray?
Pretty sure this one didn’t have the rubber coating on it. I sanded it to remove all of the clear coat which was flaking in places. I went down to the actual fibreglass in some areas. Before I did the base coat I washed the helmet with soap and water then just water. Lightly wiped over with a tack cloth before applying the base coat. I have now ordered some pre paint wipes that Createx recommend to use with their water based paint. For the base I did three coats but I think that I was dusting it too much. What i mean is I didn’t have enough paint mixing with the air. When I was done it looked like when you get overspray in areas but this was mostly all over. I guess I am just being too cautious of laying down too much paint on each coat.
The strange part is that the magenta which was the second color is fine in the other areas aside from the checkered pattern. I try to do the least amount of coats possible but the magenta was three as well. That Oracel vinyl is really sticky but I’ve used it before with no issues.
I’m going to continue with the helmet and not worry about the checkered are being as it will never be worn. I am waiting to hopefully get three more old helmets from another member on here to practice with.
Still plugging away although feeling a bit despondent as I spent a lot of time making the mask for the checkers 
I’ve still got lots to learn, would love to spend a few days with someone that is an expert at spraying the Createx acrylic paint.
That part looks great!
I totally understand the waning desire to finish a project when something has gone wrong…
Use a mid tone to cover that, then some light intercoat for extra adhesion, then paint as desired again.
Sometimes if I have something that is continuously peeling or doing something funky, I’ll sand it down, clear the whole helmet, and come back to it after. Sometimes there is contamination on the surface that you can’t see or remove easily for whatever reason and starting over that area with a fresh base of hardened clear will seal in whatever bullshit is sitting on that layer.