While I was working on some preliminary sketches, a TV commercial caught my eye. The ad featured a pick-up truck grill pressing into a sheet of metal. With this in mind, I set out to recreate a similar effect using a skull on the helmet.

After being disassembled and primed with Standox prime, the helmet is prepared for a base coat with a gray Scotch-Brite pad and water by my colleague Mark Boggs.

After the helmet has been properly sanded and wiped down with silicone and wax remover, I apply two medium wet coats of Standox brilliant silver base coat with my Binks HVLP spray gun.

After allowing the helmet to dry for several hours, I begin to sketch in the skull using my Iwata HP-C and a catalized mixture of Createx tinting black and pthalo blue, a 50/50 mixture at 30 psi.

With the initial sketch of the skull complete, I lay out the overlapping metal plates, using 3¼4 inch masking tape. Using the same mixture I used in Step 3, I spray a drop shadow along the edge as I go. (Notice the distorted corner on the skulls forehead– this will help add to the illusion of a skull pressing through metal.)

With the edges of the metal plates unmasked, I define the shadows even more with a straight mixture of catalized tinting black and my Iwata HP-C.

Along the non-shadowed edge of the metal plates, I use a circle template, going back to the black and blue mixture, to depict the rivets that hold the plates together.

Now, switching to a hand-cut stencil that looks like a half moon, I render the rivets on the bent corner. Keep in mind the corner should look as if it has been bent upward by the skull, so the half moon shape will resemble the side of a rivet instead of the top.

Still using the same black-blue mixture, I tighten up the detail on the skull and add drop shadows where letters will be placed later. Adding a few more drops of pthalo blue to the mixture, I spray some streaks to give the metal a worn, weathered appearance.

Putting my airbrush to the side for now, I pick up a lettering quill and a mixture of Createx opaque purple and chameleon purple to apply the letters "Hate to Lose!". (I find it useful to keep a note pad close by to write down special mixtures such as this one, for future reference.)

Switching back to my airbrush, I use the circle template again for the addition of a few randomly placed bullet holes.

Using a Q-tip lightly dampened with Createx airbrush cleaner, I wipe out details and highlights in the design. This is a trick I use sometimes instead of using white, which may have a dark appearance on the silver base in direct light.

With this part of the design complete, I now heat set the entire helmet and cover it with two-inch masking tape, after it cools completely.

Now that the flame design has been drawn in with a marker, I use a #11 X-Acto knife to cut out the design. (Be extremely careful not to cut too deep so you don't cut the painting underneath.)

Mixing up a batch of Createx iridescent scarlet and a dash of chameleon purple (again writing down the mixture in my notebook), I spray the unmasked area, using my bottle-feed Eclipse, in thin overlapping coats.

Switching back to my Iwata HP-C, after the flames have been unmasked, I use a reduced mixture of transparent black and orange to drop shadow the flames. Using orange in this mixture helps to give the silver surface a color-reflective quality, like metal.

With the same purple mixture used earlier for the lettering, I use a lettering quill to add pinstripes to the edge of the flames.

After the helmet has been heat-set, it is ready for two good coats of Standox 2K MS VOC clear coat, applied with my Binks HVLP spray gun. The helmet will be allowed to dry for 24 hours, then it will be buffed to a high gloss and sent off to the customer.