(Forewarning: This is gonna be long, so if you're a TL;DR kinda person don't bother.)

So I bought a DIY dip kit from Camo Dip Kit. Got their $99 "pro" package that came with 2.5 meters (thats about 8.2 feet in freedom units) of Multicam film. Bought it primarily to dip an ACH helmet. Why my ACH? Because it's got this fugly greenish paint on it that looks like shit and blends in with fuck all. So I bought one of those stupid fucking helmet covers that attach with those velcro straps on the inside of the helmet and it pissed me right the fuck off. What a PIA those things are.  So I ripped that stupid cover off, shoved it in a drawer somewhere, and said "fuck it, I'm doing this right", and bought a dip kit. 

So, I've got everything I need (I think...) to start dipping stuff in Multicam. One small problem however. I've got no clue what I'm doing.  

Where to begin... Well, first thing is do I need to spray a base coat or not? I see people dip stuff seemingly without a base coat on it and it seems to work out ok, but I don't know. In terms of my ACH, will the paint already on it work as a base coat or will it need to be sprayed? The paint is pretty rough with some speckle or spread out sandpaper like texturing. Sorry, not sure how else to describe it. 

Second thing is how much material do I need? I meased around the top of my ACH and got a measurement of ~18 inches going "ear to ear" and ~17 inches  front to back.  Note that this was not a "flat" measurement, I rounded the tape measure around the top of the ACH to get the dimensions. With that said, is about 18"x17" in material what I need to cover the outside of my ACH, or am I wrong? How do you figure out how much film to use?

Third, can I leave the hardware bolts in to plug the holes, or should I take the bolts out and just plug the holes with something or... what? I'm obviously going  to remove the chinstrap itself and the pads, just wondering what to do with the bolts and the holes they're plugging. 

Fourth, the plastic tub I'm currently planning to do this in is roughly 17.5 inches by 28 inches near the very top, but it tapers down (read: the walls aren't straight) so the measurement gets smaller the farther down in the tub you go. Is this tub big enough for what I need to do, or will I need something larger?

Fifth, do I actually need to tape the edges of the film? I see plenty of people on youtube dip stuff into film without taped edges and it always seemed to work as long as they were timely with getting the object into the film. Does this depend partly on the size of your container or...?

Sixth, rinsing. I know the dipped object needs to be rinsed after dipping, but how careful do I need to be? Does water temperature matter for this part (I know it needs to be warm in the tub) or will it not make a difference? 

Seventh, clear coat. A spray can of clear coat came with my kit, and I was wondering how many coats I should do? I want the dip job to last and be tough (its going on a combat helmet after all) so I just wanted some general advice on not fucking this step up. 

Eighth, (last thing, I swear) dipping angle. How should I angle the helmet for the dip? General advice for other objects? Does this even matter that much? Should I stop asking so many damn questions? 

I'm planning on dipping one or two other small things first (a cheap knife blade I don't care about for example) to get the hang of it 'cause I want to get my ACH done right, but I figured Arfcom would have some good info, especially since I'll be dipping something (read: my ACH helmet) that there isn't a lot of info about dipping on the internet. Plenty of stuff about deer skulls, car parts, shit like that but no info about ballistic helmets. So Arfcom, school me on hydro dipping. 

Might post pics too, we'll see. 

No one? 

*sigh* I'm going to have to edit down the OP to less than 20 words, aren't I? 

Try the refinishing forum------------------------------------------------>Refinishing forum

Whoops. Didn't even know there was one. 

Could I have this thread moved to there? Do I just contact a mod or site staff and request a move? 

9:30 in this video:

The material will shrink some, so start with more than you think.  If it was me, to practice  I would get a couple small round bottom bowls from Dollar Tree.  Something with the similar shape as your helmet.  I would do the tape.  When my brother and I dipped his pistol, it took us 3 tries to get the film to lay down correctly without wrinkling up.    As for hardwares, I would remove it if you don't want it coated.  If you do, then leave it on.  

Can you get your helmet into the tub fully submerged without hitting bottom or the sides?  

Base coat.  Did your kit come with a base coat color to go with the multicam?  Usually dip has some pigment spots left clear, so the base coat shows through.  So I would paint your helmet a solid color.  You need to look at the film and see which color might be missing in the camo pattern.  

Go slow.  Once we got the film to lay on the water, the rest was easy.  Figure out how you are going to hold the helmet so you can make slow and steady movement into the water. Do a dry run practice with no film so you don't mess it up by dropping it or finding out your grip needs to be adjusted halfway through.  Post a pic of your helmet now the post a pic of your practice pieces.  Water temp seems to be the most critical, so you have to either pour hot water in the tub, or I've seen folks use an aquarium heater to maintain the temp.

As for clear coat, my brother thought using engine clear would be a good and durable option on his pistol. We dipped it in a black and white pattern.  Problem is the clear coat turned yellow and looks like shit now.  So just use the clear that came in your kit.