ESB Gauntlet Scratch build

Hello all. After getting my helmet built (http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/malaxors-esb-fett-helmet-build-up-50100/), I've been diligently working on my ESB gauntlets. I have been working on these for a while, so I thought I'd go ahead and start posting my approach. I am taking the same approach as the helmet using 2mm cardboard and the gauntlet templates as a starting point. I know those templates are really for ROTJ, but it’s a good enough starting point that can I modify as necessary. As a helpful hint to anyone who is going to use the templates: build them with plain old paper first with a picture of a complete gauntlet in front of you. It really helped me understand how the templates work before I started cutting cardboard. Here’s where I started with the templates and the initial cut-out for the right gauntlet:



To get the curves right for the upper and lower halves, I used the outer edge of the provided curve for the back (largest) part of the curve and the inside of the curve for the front. I made my own curve for the middle by using the midpoint between the two.



To get the curve, I lightly wet the cardboard for the upper and lower curved pieces and gently bent them into shape. As I got them wrapped around the guides, I taped them together to hold them in place. Then I used a brace around the outer border to help it keep its shape. Now, as the cardboard dries, it had a tendency to warp so I had put some light weight on top ( a couple of short 2x4 wood pieces) which kept the edges square to the table while it dried.



Because the upper and lower curves are double-thick, I had to mold multiple pieces this way this way and glue them together. Like my helmet project I just used gorilla wood glue.

For the detail pieces on the upper half, I laid out the templates and drew new cut lines to make some of the pieces smaller (2mm) to account for the width of the cardboard when it is actually glued together. As I am a full believer in measure twice, cut once…I still cut out the pieces full size and only cut them down the extra 2mm after I could place them together and verify I was trimming where it really needed to be. Needless to say I had more than one re-do. Here's the template for the housing at the back of the right gauntlet, followed by the piece glued together. I apologize as the picture quality is low on some of these.




Here’s more of the top part of the right gauntlet using the same process:



Continuing on:



With the final part for the top:



I'm trying to organize all my pictures for the next steps, so I'll post those soon.

Continuing on, I super glued some screws underneath the top section and then fully secured them with a large amount of JB weld. I spread the JB weld over a large surface area to keep the screws from pulling out once they have are secured to the upper curve. I have also shaded out regions on the upper curve where I cut-outs are planned so that I can have better access for the switches, etc. later on in the build.

Next, I added a threaded rod to the housing at the rear of the gauntlet (to secure the hose later on). I just used a plain bolt and used a dremel cutting wheel to cut off the head. To make this work out, I cut a hole in the back of the housing just large enough for the bolt. I then used JB weld to secure two nuts inside the housing itself. One of the nuts was just inside the hole, and the other was farther into the housing:



After this was done, I could thread the hold through both nuts, and then glue the bolt in place. It was solid as a rock after this.

I unfortunately forgot to take a picture, but I also added three screws on the underside of the housing, secured with JB weld, that will be used to bolt the housing to the upper curve. You’ll be able to see the end result in a future post, but I forgot to snap a pic of this part.

Before I went any further, I went ahead and constructed the whipcord assembly. Because these templates are really for the ROTJ version, I modified the templates to more closely match the ESB version (the ESB version is less “tall”):



In order to attach these to the gauntlet, I used the same technique of using screws, secured with a liberal amount of JB weld, that can then be bolted to the main part. In this picture, I have already added a thin cardboard piece at the bottom:



To complete the whipcord, I cut pieces of thin cardboard to provide the raised details on each side. I also fashioned a couple of dowels to replicate the dental parts (not shown in this picture, although their location is identified)

Now, that the basic parts are in good shape with cardboard, it’s time to make them solid. Rather than going with fiberglass / bondo, I decided to use wood filler to harden all the parts. It actually worked out pretty well so far. Where I wanted really solid parts (like the upper and lower curved portions), I used thin layers of Elmer’s Wood Filler Max, sanding after each application. This stuff cures really, really hard. Almost too hard as it took a lot of sanding to smooth it out. But, I have no worries about these being durable pieces. Here you can see the upper curve, after several layers, with all the cut-outs along with mounting holes for the housing at the rear (three holes in a triangle pattern near the back) and two holes for the upper detail part. The lower curve was done the same way.



After attaching the rear housing and the upper detail part:



With that done, I began the job of merging the top detail piece to the upper curve. For this I used Elmer’s Interior Wood Filler. It doesn't get as hard as the Max variety, but it is very easy to work with:



By continuing this all over the upper detail parts and sanding smooth, the upper half is starting to really take shape. Below are a couple of pics with that effort complete, with some holes drilled for the switches and darts, along with a test fit of the whip cord assembly. This also shows the oval piece with a cross shape embedded as well (I created this piece using a dremel to shape a dowel into an oval and then used carving attachments to create the cross shape):

Fantastic.

Look excellent dude.......

Absolutely brilliant. Thanks for posting this, it is a HUGE help.

Wow. Beautiful job!! Thank you for sharing.

Awesome. I will be looking to this when I do my gaunt build.

Malaxor,

Where did you get the templates for the upper and lower curves?

I only have one in the template PDF for the "lower half curve"

the upper curve template is on the same page as the upper most top part of the gaunt and the hose connector thingy.

Darth Voorhees said:

the upper curve template is on the same page as the upper most top part of the gaunt and the hose connector thingy.

Click to expand...

Man, you guys REALLY are making me feel retarded. =(

I've gone through this template PDF TOO many times, and I don't see anything labeled upper curve, or anything remotely resembling one.

Triton said:

Man, you guys REALLY are making me feel retarded. =(

I've gone through this template PDF TOO many times, and I don't see anything labeled upper curve, or anything remotely resembling one.

Click to expand...

For the right gauntlet look at page 3 and 5

- - - Updated - - -

Triton said:

Malaxor,

Where did you get the templates for the upper and lower curves?

I only have one in the template PDF for the "lower half curve"

Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay...yes as others have said. For the right gauntlet, it's on page 3 and 5. For the left gauntlet, there is only one curve for the lower half and it's on page 3. I'll hopefully get to posting on the left gauntlet as well very soon.

Malaxor said:

Sorry for the delay...yes as others have said. For the right gauntlet, it's on page 3 and 5. For the left gauntlet, there is only one curve for the lower half and it's on page 3. I'll hopefully get to posting on the left gauntlet as well very soon.

Click to expand...

Oh...THAT is where the confusion came in. I'm starting with the left gauntlet. LOL

Are the curves the same for each?

Triton said:

Oh...THAT is where the confusion came in. I'm starting with the left gauntlet. LOL

Are the curves the same for each?

Click to expand...

The curves are not identical between the left and right gauntlets. In fact the bottom half curve on the left gauntlet is actually asymmetrical (when viewed from left to right) with one side virtually flat and the other side with a strong curve. The right gauntlet top curve is not the same as the bottom curve either, but at least they are symmetrical...so I thought they were a little bit easier.

Malaxor said:

The curves are not identical between the left and right gauntlets. In fact the bottom half curve on the left gauntlet is actually asymmetrical (when viewed from left to right) with one side virtually flat and the other side with a strong curve. The right gauntlet top curve is not the same as the bottom curve either, but at least they are symmetrical...so I thought they were a little bit easier.

Click to expand...

Yes I see that...shame he didn't include all the curves for the left gauntlet. I think I'm going to start on the right, and follow along with you.

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone.

I thought now it would be best to show some of the initial build-up of the left gauntlet.

The left gauntlet is a bit different in that there is only a curved section on the bottom half to which the upper part attaches. Again, laying out the initial templates for the bottom curve, I used the same concept of making a front template (using the inside of the provided curve), a large back curve template (using the outside of the provided curve) and a middle portion by making a template with the mid-points and then wrapping the inner and outer shell pieces :



Now, because of the asymmetry in this lower curve, it was harder to keep the curve to the right shape as the moistened cardboard dried. Putting weight on top resulted in a tendency to collapse, so I had to brace that side a bit. If I wasn't clear before when I was posting the right gauntlet, I approached all these curves the same way: I molded the inner shell first, and then separately molded the outer shell. Once both were approximately the right shape, I glued them together. I think in both cases I had to re-moisten the double-thick shell one last time to get the final shape correct. Once the shape was right, I used a couple of thin layers of the wood filler max and sanded them smooth. After it was all said and done, here’s how the bottom curve turned out. The camera angle was tough, but you can see the “straight” side on the left and the much more curved portion on the right.



Now, moving on the top section, where we largely have straight lines to deal with, you can see the initial layout of the side sections along with large flat portion assembled with the bottom rear piece:



Using the rectangular cut-out at the back of the large flat portion as a guide, I began the build-up of the upper deck by attaching one side:



For the remaining portions, a whole bunch of additional parts are needed. I went ahead laid them all out and then cut them out as needed.



One of the challenges is finding a way to fit all the pieces together where they can be securely glued without blocking the ability to glue in the next piece. My approach was to add the ends for the rocket cradle, then complete the stair-step-like pieces on that side. I also added the right-hand side to the lower portion:

The next piece I worked on was the rocket cradle. The template comes with a piece that could be cut out with cardboard, moistened and the coaxed into shape. However, this just happened to be the perfect size to just re-use a cardboard tube I had on hand. I think this came from an aluminum foil dispenser, but any tube of this approximate size will work. A paper towel tube might be a little flimsy, but it might work. The real trick is getting the angle cut just right on both ends:



Cutting off the top leaves a really nice pre-formed shape that I only had to distort slightly to make it fit:



Now maybe there was a better way to put all the pieces together, but the problem I ran into next was the piece that covers the currently open side next to the rocket cradle. I couldn't make it fit as a whole piece as the angled parts on either end kept me from being able to fit it in. As a result, I cut the piece and put it in as two separate pieces. I did a miter cut to make it as seamless as possible. You should be able to see the cut I had to make here once it was all put in place:



The rest of the top is relatively straight forward: