Introduction: Custom Skateboard Helmet

By
About: Lifelong DIY'er, Battling the tyrany of overpriced brand products one trinket at a time.

As a skater (or longboarder if you will...), and Eskater I rarely go anywhere without my helmet. For riding my electric skateboard FAST I have a fullface mtb helmet, but when I just wanna cruise and feel the wind on my face that is obviously a No-Go.

But I couldn't find a normal skatehelmet I liked, so I decided to design my own.

Supplies

  • A helmet for customising
  • Spraypaint
  • Painter's tape
  • A Very sharp knife
  • A sharpie
  • And anything else you might need to create your design

Step 1: Clean Your Helmet

To make sure the paint sticks to the helmet, and that there won't be any dirt in the paint. I cleaned my helmet using a rag and water, for better results soap or rubbing alcohol may be used.

Step 2: Cover the Helmet in Painter's Tape

Because I didn't have a specific vision for my design I decided to just cover the entire helmet in painter's tape and go from there.

Step 3: Draw Your Design

Then I drew my design on the helmet.

Step 4: Cut It Out!

Using your Very sharp knife cut out your design from the painter's tape.

Be very careful doing this, not only because it is very easy for the knife to slip cutting on a curved surface, but also because if you cut too deep you risk scoring the plastic of your helmet compromising its structural integrity.

Step 5: Wrap It!

Cover everything you don't want painted, this goes for both the helmet, and the environment in which you plan to spraypaint...

Additionally you can at this point lightly sand the helmet to give more surface area for the paint to stick to, but again, don't scratch the helmet too deep.

Step 6: Paint!

Disclaimer: I am in no way a professional painter take your own safety precautions and follow the instructions on the can.

That being said:

  1. More light coats are better than one thick
  2. Start and stop the spray away from the target
  3. Raise the target to better cover the entire thing

Step 7: Remove Painter's Tape

Remove the painter's tape to reveal your masterpiece.

You could call it a day here, but my design has one more step.

Step 8: Highlights!

I highlighted the edges using the sharpie to cover that the edges of my painting wasn't perfect and also to reveal the design.

Step 9: Reflections

  1. Most importantly: Paint OUTSIDE!
  2. Sharper knife, less force
  3. Raise helmet to better cover the entire helmet