need my crash helmet spayed

[manic]

I am looking at getting my crash helmet sprayed.
looking in to designs and prices. has any one got any designs or ideas. as its the end of my season i dont need it now for a couple of months

manic

[paulc]

PM Jon miller (RCS Graphic Worx) think he doe's crash helmets

[metalmickey0]

Is that a good idea? I`ve heard that painting them weakens them and as such is not recommended. That what my old boss told me when he got a new one from a local motorcycle shop.

[bigred5765]

we use water based paints now which don't harm them,and before someone jumps in yes they need to be finished with clear coat but thats on top of the water based paint so doesn't affect the helmet

[DCM]

Depends on what the helmet is constructed from to be honest...

[i4n]

It must be safe, otherwise they wouldn't let them do it in motor sport (especially F1 and moto GP). I mean, Vettel had LEDs in his helmet for Singapore!!

[jake1*2011]

Most crash helmets are made from fibre glass, it will be fine to paint. The paint will effect polycarbonate helmets,vstickers will too because of the glue they use

Plus he does hnow what hes talking about otherwise he wouldnt be asking

[TARTMAN]

years ago..... the old helmets were made of stuff that glue, paint etc would eat into them and weaken them...

Now, just about all of them are OK to be painted with the modern materials and modern paint/stickers.

So nowadays, its OK, althou playing safe and checking with materials is always best. As always...

[eyeayen]

As long as your crash helmet is constructed from a fibreglass / carbon composite type material it will be okay to paint. You said your season is over so I'm guessing you use high end race crash helmets which will be fine for this.

The main thing is to use someone who you feel confident using, crash helmets are a safety device, it's therefore vital that the person doing the artwork and also the clear coating is aware of how critical is it to handle them properly.

Depending on your budget I would highly recommend Mike Fairholme who is a personal friend http://www.fairholmedesigns.co.uk/

If your budget won't extend to his expertise I would also recommend Jo and Mark at Aerograffiti - http://www.aerograffiti.co.uk/

Or Skin at Airyarts, I taught him everything he knows about crash helmet painting so you're in safe hands http://www.airyarts.com/

There are plenty of professional crash helmet companies. All I would say though is talk to other people you race with, ask where they get theirs done. Looking at pictures on the net are fine but they also hide a multitude of sins. As I said about crash helmets are a safety device, if they need to do their job and protect your head in the unfortunate case that you do have an accident it needs to have been done properly and not by some muppet who's damaged the structural integrity of it that won't show from the outside, it will only show when it hits something with your head inside it, and then it's probably too late

[GRIFF55]

D-zign and jlf designs used to do some real sweet helmets when I used to race mx.
I think there is something to do with the gold stamp when painting, no matter what the helmet construction is made of.

[jake1*2011]

The gold stamp is to prove thats its passed the saftey standards, thats why you only find them on full face helmets

[GRIFF55]

I know that mate, but I thought theRe was an issue that painters have with this as it's not tested after custom paint

[eyeayen]

I don't think the Gold ACU sticker is that recognised any more after MCN tried it and had someone in China order 1000 one and got them without any approval. This sort of blew the ACU's ethics out of the water.

It then changed to an EC020 or something like that, this was brought in late 2008 / early 2009. I don't know what the current standard is.

The Gold ACU and the EC020 are bike helmet standards which also changed to a SHARP recognised certificate but I don't know if this is still running.

Paint does not degrade the outer shell as long as it's of a carbon composite / kevlar / fibreglass construction, if it's a cheap polycarbonate helmet it might do depending on how it's prepared, the real issue is people who don't know what they're doing having a go.

Unfortunately there is no policing of people painting crash helmets which is where the "Fred in his Shed" people cause problems. They don't mask the helmets correctly.

The main problem as I mentioned previous is painting getting into area's it shouldn't. The inside protective part of a crash helmet is made of polystryrene type materials, if paints of a solvent nature get onto these it will destroy their structural integrity, they might still look okay but they won't perform correctly in an accident, they're just crumble and disintegrate meaning your head will take the impact.

The actual job of a crash helmet is to slow the brain down if there is a sudden impact. If you image a train hitting a solid wall with a load or people stood up in it, all of those people will have momentum that will take them forward and they will fall over.

Now imagine same train but with a big spring on the front, the train will hit the wall but the spring will soften the impact, this is what the structural integrity of the crash helmet does, it slows your brain down.

That is why I posted above it's import to go to a recognised company and get it done. You can't spend enough protecting your head. The trouble is if you spend near on £2000 on a full spec car type race helmet and then give it to fred in his shed to paint it as he's £100 cheaper than the proper people who do it every day there is every chance he will mess it up, so you save £100 on the paint and either get brain damage when you crash or you don't pass scrutineering because someone is fully trained in what to look for and you have to buy another crash helmet.

Hope that clears it up for people.

[furball85]

try nippydesigns he is a helmet specialist and decent prices as well