Head modifications for paint

Well last night I began studying how I was going to modify the head to separate the face and eye pieces from the helmet so they can be painted and assembled separately. The directions call for the helmet to be snapped over the chin/eye/mouth pieces and then attached to the neck. This is problematic for airbrush painting because the eyes and chin are so small and intricate, even the world's greatest masker would have a hard time getting clean color lines and separation. So the only way around this is to modify how the head is put together. The modifications on this particular helmet all come in the face combo. I snipped the large clear camera lens away from the eyes so the lens can be inserted separately and the eyes can be inserted while joined to the chin/face pieces.I also snipped off the connecting posts on the back of the chin piece and the top corners so it could clear the receptors for the neck joint. Now these pieces can be inserted after the helmet seam has been filled and the pieces have been airbrushed separately for a clean paint job with NO MASKING!!!

So to fill the helmet seam I used some thin Tamiya plastic glue on both sides of the helmet and squeezed the 2 pieces together until the plastic ooze filled the seam. I let the helmet dry overnight so the bond was strong and would not shear during sanding.

After it dried, I carefully sanded the seam with 400 grit sandpaper and then with 600 to remove any deep scratches. The seam disappears with the exception of one small pock mark on the left side which will get a dose of putty and another sanding. Now the helmet is seamless and will look infinitely better.

Then, to test the assembly I slid the face combo into the helmet just to double check my mod. Worked like a champ! Onto the rest of the build......