I have been working on putting together my costume for my friend Nikki's annual Halloween party, and since I am going as Ms. Captain America, I needed a helmet! Take a look at my DIY version...

My inspiration for the look of the costume came from Pinterest. I am going with more of the WWII Pin-up style Ms. Captain America. I wanted to make my own helmet because I wanted to try to match the blue to the top & bottom of my costume. So I started with a basic kid's plastic army helmet from Nick Nackery.

Captain America Helmet
Kat Mykals
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I will tell you this was my second attempt at doing this. What you see above is the helmet after I stripped 4 coats of white paint from it. I forgot a key step when I painted it the first time...

 

Captain America Helmet
Kat Mykals
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I forgot to sand the plastic. So for my second go around, I sanded the crap out of it, really roughing up the surface so the paint could adhere well. Also, I wiped it down really well to remove the dust from sanding. I've been told you can use a 50/50 mix of water & rubbing alcohol to do this, but I just wiped it down with a dry paper-towel.

 

Captain America Helmet
Kat Mykals
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Next up, I painted on about 3 coats of an off white acrylic paint. This would be easier to spray paint, but 1) I didn't have spray paint but did have acrylics and 2) it's been raining and spray paint doesn't like high humidity.

 

Captain America Helmet
Kat Mykals
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Once my last coat of white was dry, I hit the helmet again with a very very fine sand paper, just to smooth out any brush strokes that I had left behind. Again, I wiped it off with a dry paper towel. Using a low-tack painter's tape, I applied my "A" for America. It took me 2 tries to get it even & centered. I overlapped at the top & then cut off the excess in a straight line. Rub the tape down really really well to make sure the edges are sealed before you start with the blue.

 

Captain America Helmet
Kat Mykals
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The first coat of blue left quite a bit of white peeking through, but that's ok. Multiple light coats are better than heavy thick coats of paint that are going to leave runs. I used a slightly stiffer brush too. I noticed with the first failed attempt that my softer bristled brush applied thicker coats of paint.

Captain America Helmet
Kat Mykals
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After 4 coats of blue, I was finally ready to peel off the tape. I will tell you that if you are impatient like I am, you can use your hairdryer between coats of paint. It worked really well to dry the paint so I could add the next coat sooner.

 

Captain America Helmet
Kat Mykals
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I did have a little trouble with the paint pulling off clean. I'm not sure if I needed to let the paint dry overnight or if it's because I was using acrylics, but there are a couple of snagged places in the paint. All in all, I think it turned out really well. Especially for my first time trying to do something like this.

 

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