SPUMONI

I finally finished my custom paint job on my scooter helmet. I had an idea that I wanted to paint the helmet the colors of Neopolitan ice cream, which is chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry colors. When I told my friend Kyle about this, he reminded me of the old Italian ice cream flavor, Spumoni. After searching online quickly to clear up the question of what the exact flavors for Spumoni are, I decided that was the pattern for me. Chocolate, Pistachio, and Cherry.For a very short explanation about Spumoni ice cream, check the Spumoni Wiki page.

I decided to go for the Spumoni colors, since I was going to get the green color for my milk crate anyways(see an earlier post for info). Here are the photos, and I'll get to the process explanation after them.

I started by removing everything possible from the helmet. This meant the visor, the front air vent, and the plastic grommet/seam. Once I had all this removed I taped up the remaining visor snaps and the 4 rivets. These were a little difficult, but that's because I was being too much of a perfectionist. Next I taped up the inside lining of the helmet using a cutout piece of a poly bag. After everything was taped up nicely, I used #400 sandpaper, and I sanded off the clear coat that was already on the helmet. I wasn't trying to sand deep into the helmet, but just take off the clear coat, so I could have something for my base coats of paint to stick to.

After sanding, I measured the helmet and divided it into thirds, one section for each color. Then, with more of the poly bag, I carefully taped off the two outer sections. The first color I put on the helmet was the pistachio(really more of an avocado, but in talking about the Spumoni, it's pistachio). I put on 4 coats of the base coat paint, with the intention that I was going to put on a clear coat at the very end. Then I repeated the steps for the cherry (pink) and chocolate (brown) colors. Each time, I just carefully taped off the sections I didn't want to get sprayed. Actually on the brown, I messed up, and got lint in the first coat, so I had to use paint thinner to remove the first coat and start again. I recommend you don't do that. Just a suggestion.

Finally I got the clear coat with hardener. This stuff is only good for about 12-24 hours in the spray can, so you have to use it the same day. I gave the helmet a medium first coat, and then waited about 30 mins, before putting on a nice thick full coat.

The whole process only took my about a week to complete, and that was mostly waiting time for each coat to dry. I love the way it turned out. For such a simple paint job, I think I came out with a great final result.