What goes into bringing a custom helmet design to life? If you’ve ever wondered this question to yourself, and you find watching artists work in timelapse video form fascinating, then you’re going to want to take just over 15 minutes and check this Arai GP 6S metallic design process video from AbsLee Design and Illustration out. 

Lee is an airbrush artist, illustrator, and designer based in Malaysia, where she both crafts and documents the helmets that she customizes on her YouTube channel. (She occasionally paints other items, too, but it’s mostly all about helmets.) 

Now, every artist has their own particular process, including preferred products, methods, and tools. As such, Lee’s process may not be the same as anyone else’s. However, if you enjoy seeing someone who’s undoubtedly very good at doing this work and how they go about it, then you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of this video—and probably her other videos, as well. 

Much like anything that needs to be painted, the job starts with taking things apart. Off comes the visor, the vents, and all the hardware on the helmet. She tucks it carefully away, so it’s easy to put back on the helmet when it’s time. The vents are carefully staged so that they can be painted separately. 

Then, it’s time to prep the outer shell of the helmet for paint. First comes sanding to rough up the surface, then cleanup, and then priming. After that is when all the truly intricate parts of the process start, as she builds the finished product layer by layer. 

Through an intricate series of steps involving multiple applications of masking tape, coats of different shades of paint, X-Acto knife stencil cutouts, and careful measurements, we get to witness every step of the way as the ultimate design unfolds. I’ve watched this video twice now, and I still can’t tell you everything I saw—but I can advise you to turn the closed captions on. Although it’s largely workshop ASMR with some cleverly mixed music here and there, the captions are both in English and fairly amusing. 

This isn’t any kind of tutorial video—but if you like watching people make art on camera, it’s a must-watch. Although Lee mainly offers her services to riders in Malaysia, her website says that she will consider international commissions as time permits. We’ll include a link to her site in our Sources so you can check it out if you’re interested.