Ferrari Helmet Painting

Here's the latest one I've done, and it happens to be for one of our FChat members here and will be shipped out to him in the next day or two. What's especially unique about this one is it has Ferrari's 50 Years in USA logo (painted, not a decal). For other examples of helmets I've done, including the now well-known pink pearl "race kitty" helmet, see www.helmet-painting.com
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And I also just finished a Schumacher replica...
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That one was $470... the logo was quite difficult and tedious!

 

Yes, that's a "chameleon" type of paint. There are two major types; one is a "highlight" chameleon pearl, which on a black background shows up only when light hits it, and reflects one color (such as red, green or blue). The other, more expensive and exotic chameleon is a "color-shifting" paint which against a black background reflects a continuous shift in colors as you look at it from different angles, going from copper to green to blue to red. To do a car in that is big bucks, but you don't have to use much of it to do a helmet.

That's got to be Tommy Cosgrove, the FCA Alabama Chapter president, and a real Alabama University "nut"... I did his Schumacher-style helmet with "Roll Tide" instead of Marlboro. See below.
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Hey, I do it as a hobby, not as a living, so I'm glad to share all I know about it. There are many options, but the color paints and primer I use are from Createx in their AutoAir series. You can see info at www.autoaircolors.com. If you don't have a shop locally, you can mailorder it at a variety of places, such as www.dixieart.com/CreatexAutoAir.html. For clearcoat, I use a catalyzed urethane from DuPont.

Feel free to ask any technical questions you might have.

 

Sorry, I've been out all day... I'll call you tomorrow morning.

 

I don't use it often and don't have any pictures, but it's quite striking. I bet you've seen it used on cars, though. For example, the Lexus sports car is often done in a white pearl with a gold chameleon highlight over it. Looking straight at the car, it's white pearl, but where the sun reflects directly off of it, it will look gold. I personally also like a blue or red highlight over white. On a black background, it's not as obvious, but is still quite striking and almost causes a double-take (was that reflected color I saw really there?).

 

I guess flames are still "in". Here's a finished helmet I just shipped off today...

You can't tell it from the pictures, but the red has a light dusting of a gold sparkle flake over it -- only visible in direct reflection or bright sunlight. The pinstripe around the flames is a chameleon color-shift pearl.
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Mark, all modern/new SA-rated helmets I've seen say that you CAN paint them with proper paints. For example, from the Bell Owners Manual (identical in the SA95 and SA2000 helmets I have here):

PAINTING
Because the outer shell of the helmet is constructed of thermoset composite materials and finished with a polyurethane coating, it can be easily repainted with most high quality paints. Contact Bell's Consumer Services Department if you have any questions.

and from the GForce SA2000 Owners Manual:

PAINTING THE G-FORCE RACING GEAR HELMET
All G-Force Racing Gear helmets use a special primer to help the multi-layer finish adhere to the composite shell. This primer is not compatible with standard lacquer and enamel paints. Care must be taken not to expose this primer when sanding the finish to apply a custom paint job. For this reason, it is important to only lightly sand the clearcoat of your helmet prior to painting.

So... it's not a problem. The automotive paints I use for primer and color coats are water-based and fully compatible with the factory helmet finish. The catalyzed polyurethane I use for clearcoating is essentially the same as the factory uses.

Of course, if your *insurance company* says don't do it (that's a new one for me) then that's a different issue. It may also be a different issue with lower end DOT-rated street helmets that is not an issue with SA-rated or M-rated track helmets that people send me to work on.

 

Sure, look for it in a PM. Or you can always contact me through my helmet website at
www.helmet-painting.com which shows in my FChat profile.

 

Maybe it's a cultural thing... you wouldn't see that kind of thing at an F-car event here in the US. Most folks are more towards the classy color patterns similar to Formula One style rather than trying to look bizarre. However, a helmet like yours might go over very well in the motocross (offroad motorcycle racing) or teenager go-cart/snowmobile crowd here.

Nice bit of artistry though. Very creative and definitely nice work and very striking!