How To Paint A Metallic Silver Helmet

One of the more common paint colors for a helmet is silver. There have been a bunch of teams that have had silver helmets over the years . The Raiders, Seahawks, Cowboys, Lions and Panthers all have silver helmets. Historically, the silver helmets were not really metallic, but most every team in the league today has a metallic or pearl shell. If you are going the spray can route, just remember, getting a perfect match of what is used on field may not happen. The on-field helmets are professionally painted and you just don’t get the flexibility and choice of colors with rattle cans as you would if you mixed the paint yourself and sprayed it with a professional paint sprayer. As I am a DIYer and don’t have the equipment or facilities to get a pro paint setup, I have only used spray cans and have painted all of my helmets myself. I have found that if you can get a color close, you will be okay.

I have used a few different metallic paints, for both gold and silver helmets, but I prefer this Krylon Metallic Shimmer. It goes on real nice. Just keep in mind you should have a primer coat below, because metallic paint is essentially just clear coat with lots of metallic flake. Which is why I use it to give non-metallic paint a metallic look. The other thing to keep in mind is that this paint is messy. You will have metallic falke everywhere in your paint space, so I would not recommend painting with it in your garage next your wife’s car or in your basement. Here is a gallery of my silver metallic helmets:

Unwrapping: 1991 Score Pinnacle Pack

Here is the first of my Unwrapping series. The first pack I opened was this pack of 1992 Score Pinnacle cards. This set was a slick looking set of ultra-glossy cards with some cool non-traditional cards and the players were actually on the field in their helmets! I also love the little team helmet on the back. A nice little touch. if you want to get your own packs, here is where I got mine: Lot of New Unopened Cards. Tell’ em Helmet Addict sent ya! Just kidding i have no affiliation with that seller.

The Art of The Media Guides

In the era before the digital revolution, teams would release (some still do) hard copy media guides. Media members and fans alike could get an updated record and fact book for each team. The great part of these books in the 60s through the 90s was some of the great cover designs. The great thing is that there are a ton available on eBay! here are a few cool ones I saw recently:

This Saints media Guide lot is not cheap, but it is extensive. Plus the covers are just plain amazing.

This 1969 Rams Media Guide is a simple beautiful design.

Really Love this Falcons Cover.

Bills 1973 media Guide, featuring their wordmark and an illustration of their new stadium on the cover.

Inaugural 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers Media Guide. Nice design touch, using sketches and the final color version of their helmet.

I’m a big fan of this 1984 Vikings cover, which features the equipment room.

Great illustrations on this 1974 Eagles guide.

This 1974 Packers guide has an awesome bench shot on the cover.

Design-wise, this 1972 Oilers cover isn’t the best, but I would never complain about a guide featuring the columbia blue Oilers helmet!

T-Shirt Art

There comes a time when even the best t-shirts have to retire. Many of my football and band t-shirts over the years have met their fate. Not all is loss though, because when a shirt is just no longer useful as a garment, it can still be repurposed as art. Many of the craft stores sell frames specifically for this purpose. I recently bought one for this Bills T-shirt my fiancée found in a box. I immediately questioned why she ruined a great retro shirt with all those autographs. I might have still worn this shirt. Now it will adorn our wall instead.

What I Watched: 1981 Lions Vs. Packers

This game was the final home game for the Packers in the 1981 season. a season in which they would go 8-8, splitting the season series with the Lions. As old as the footage of this game is, it still looks pretty good, even on my 4K TV. Love the both uniforms, especially the Lions who should be still wearing that uniform. the Packers of course looks great and timeless as ever even in the lean times of the early 80s.

Helmet Of The Day: Oakland Raiders

I have loved the Raiders since I was a little kid. Like many, I was drawn to the colors, logo and mystique of this legendary franchise. Their uniforms and helmet haven’t really changed in well over 50 years and that is the way it should be. Here is a game used 1980s Marcus Allen helmet Raiders that was auctioned off a few years ago.