If you have purchased our mask kit or want to make your own mask of the awesome sith Revan from the game Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), here are some tips and guidelines for completing it.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Due to the design of the Revan mask, the hole for the visor goes very far on both sides, making it fragile at those 2 points on the sides.
Please be careful not to drop the mask or squeeze the top and bottom together as it could break.
1. Base color
The mask comes already with primer and ready to paint. Choose your most predominant color and apply it first, usually in spray paint or with an airbrush.
Apply several light coats for the paint to dry faster. If you apply too thick coats it could become a mess and you will have to scrape the paint off, a very long and tedious process.
2. Secondary color(s)
First make sure the base color is completely dry ! It could take several hours to a full day, depending on the paint used and the thickness of the coats.
With blue painter tape, mask the areas where you want to keep the base color. Apply your second color and repeat the process if you want other colors. If you want to make patterns, you could make stencils to do so.
3. Weathering
This step is optional, depending on if you want your mask to look shiny new or used.
To make it look old, mix some dark colors with acrylics, apply everywhere and let it dry a bit. Before it is completely dry, wipe the excess paint with a rag or paper towel. The dark colors will stay in cracks, scratches and holes, making the mask look older.
Repeat the process for an older look.
4. Scratches and damage
If you want your mask to look like it has endured lots of battles, use a hobby knife to make scratches here and there. As time goes by, paint wears off at edges of forms that stick out, like the vertical line in the center and lines on the sides. Try to make this effect by scratching the paint lightly along the edges at these places. Finally, you can add some battle damage where you judge it appealing.
5. Cleaning the back
Once you are satisfied of your paint job, you can clean off the paint that got on the backside with rubbing alcohol, mineral spirits or acetone. Be careful to not get some on the front or it will mess up your hard work.
6. Setting the visor, straps and rivets
The holes for the straps are pre-drilled, so you just have to set the rivets. I recommend placing each rivet first and setting them all when everything is in place.
Take the top strap (the one with the loop on the bottom) and place a rivet foot on the back of the strap. It should be on the same side as the other rivet foot / rough side for leather.
Insert the rivet foot with the strap in the hole on top (back side of the mask).
Turn the mask over, place the rivet head on top of everything but don’t set it yet.
Take the strap with the buckle and put a rivet foot in the hole at the end. Pass it in the loop of the top strap.
Then insert the rivet foot with strap in the left hole of the backside of the visor.
For the visor there is a back and front. The front is where the window film is, it appears darker.
Make sure the back of the visor correspond to the back of the mask or the film could crack if it is on the concave side.
There is one spare visor if anything happens.
Place the rivet foot with strap + visor in the left hole of the mask (from the backside point of view).
Turn the mask over and place the rivet head.
Finally, take the last strap (multiple holes on the leather one / blank one for nylon webbing), pass a rivet foot on the hole and insert it in the other hole of the visor.
Place the rivet with strap + visor in the last hole of the mask and place the rivet head on top.
With your rivet setter and a hammer set the 3 rivets. Have someone hold the mask in place for you and use a table corner to make it easier. Don’t hammer it too hard and make sure the rivet is settled correctly.
Do a final cleanup on the backside of the mask with alcohol and you’re done !
COMMENTS
I understand that you want those how buy the Darth Revan Mask kit to paint it however they want but why isn’t there a color guide for those how want to paint is like the character of Darth Revan?
Just by searching pictures of Darth Revan you can choose colors that you think are best matched, it’s DIY kit after all. There is no point in recommending one kind of paint as customers come from various countries.