ESB gauntlets,.... let's make 'em accurate

I'm in the final stages of my armor with assembly,and acquisition.I've begun alot of picture research with regard to the ESB gauntlets,to try and make them as accurate as I can.

The right gauntlet can be easily seen in the Action Figure archive for all pertinent details for replication.

However the left gauntlet can be seen in many different shots,BUT the *3* long rods of varrying length can be seen,but not from a good side angle.I've gotten it down to where I can clearly see the dental expander,the calc. pad,the rocket colors,although it's design seems a bit different from ROTJ,but I can't confirm it.AND protruding from the *3* long rods are 3 wires that attach to each one at the rear of them,and tuck into the gauntlet via. access hole.The top wire is WHITE,the middle wire is RED,the bottom wire is BLACK.The rods seem to be attached with a minimum of *2* brackets,one at the mid-point,and one at the rear.They are aluminum,but there seems to be something else around the mid-point that is attached to the gauntlet itself,and it/they are black.

***What is it,or what could it be????

The color of the rods varries also.There is a neon orange,black,and silver theme to each of them,which I have my theories on how it looks.All three rods look like they are 1/4" aluminum rods with parts slid down onto them,and painted inbetween.This is how I intend on replicating mine.

***Does anyone have any other theories as to the color scheme?

I know that I'm not alone in my quest to replicate an accurate ESB costume currently so perhaps some others who are doing so might be able to share any of their discoveries,or help fine tune some of mine. :)

Steve

Which ESB suit? The Green movie version? I know there were some additional parts on the left gauntlet , but I'm not sure I know what parts you are referring to.

That is the best pic I have seen!!! I am talking 'bout the last pic now...it does appear that there are three wires that extend out from butt end of the flame thrower. They do make sense as far as design, if you refer to the marmit fig you can see that there is a metal piece that finishes off the FT and also provides a connection to the three rods that extend forward as the primary design. I have finished my ESB flame thrower based on the marmit figure but NOW I need to go back and add the three wires...THANK YOU...THANK YOU...THANK YOU for the pic, Mesa so happy now:] I knew that there was something at the end but I just could'nt nail it down. Once I have added the wires I will post a pick for everyone.

mesaback.... do you have marmit fett?
if you have it, mind to post pics of left gaunlet detail?

thank you
rid

Hey Rid, Dustin Crops Boy helped me out a while back...I don't think that he would mind posting a pic of it on the board. I will drop him a line:]
Steve, can you be specific as to how you determined that there may be an orange color placed somewhere along these rods? To the best of my research I have figured the colors to be red and black.

As far as the color orange goes,in the bottom pic that "tyler" posted the color of some of the rod is orange in contrast to the clearly represented red on the cluster of three wires.However in some pics the color appears to be a reddish,but only in some.The color is more of a "Hugger Orange",.....can be confused as red,......kinda like the "General Lee #01 (OK corny example) where it looks more red depending on lighting conditions.In the Action Figure Archive it also appears to be orange,and black..........to me.

I was aware of there being a flamethrower on ONLY the Pre-Pro suit.?.?.?.?.......,and the double laser being on the ROTJ suit.That is why I'm trying to nail the ESB left gauntlet.If there is a traditional flamethrower on the ESB suit with the classic coiled wire up the rod then PLEASE let's see some pics,as I must have missed this pertinent detail.OR if the rods on the ESB suit are "supposed" to be a flamethrower,that I can live with ;)

mesaback,what exactly did DCB help you with? Was it the construction of your ESB suit,or some specific parts? Any word on how you got the decal he posted in the negative to print?

Steve

http://TK1028.homestead.com/files/LeftGreeblies.jpg
Man, Tylerdurden, you've almost pushed me back into ESB mode!
http://TK1028.homestead.com/files/LeftGreeblies.jpg

Oh yah, now I can pick out the orange hue near the front of the thrower. Steve, DCB made a print of his marmit fett's gauntlet on his scanner and that is what I have used as a reference. DCB pulled the Fett helmet image off of Brak's Fett cd and came up with the best graphic of it and made a print, then I just painted that graphic on my jet pack. As far as the ESB and ROTJ flame throwers being one and the same...I can find no sign of a connection. My guess is that they are completely different flame throwers...the ESB version does not have the coil action...thus a different design.

My thoughts exactly on the flamethrower :) I was beginning to think I had slept through an important discussion or something.

Could you email me a pic of the jet pack decal?? smr6971@prodigy.net

Steve

Sure thing Steve...I will talk to Dallas 'bout bring my jet pack by his place and he can take a shot of it and either send it your way or post it on the board. I was just over there last night adding the wires to the back side of my flame thrower...looks real nice:]

Man if we got all our stuff together we'd have a slammin' ESB costume,your armor,and all my soft part details,belts,sidearm,boots,etc. :lol

We'll get 'em done eventually ;) I'd greatly appreciate it if you could indeed get me a nice pic of that decal.Have Dallas shoot a couple of extra shots of your gauntlets too,for further reference :)

Steve

This is the next project I've been kicking around now my calc pad is finished. The idea I have for this component is to take 3 1/4" aluminum rods of varying lengths. Then, machine the various sections out of seperate pieces of aluminum and brass with a 1/4" hole through the center. Next, slide the sections onto the rod and securing them in place with a set screw. In other words, the rods are the spine and the various sections are vertebrae. The sections or vertebrae are adjustable and removable. Obviously this is going to be a hard section of the suit to nail down because of lack of pics/info. A certain degree of improvisation will have to be done. But, with the method I propose you can switch it around or rework components as needed or if new information comes down the line. What do you think? -Mark

I think that is exactly what I had said I was going to do in another thread somewhere else :) I already have the 1/4" aluminum rod,and the bracket aluminum I'm going to use for attaching it to the gauntlet.

I was going to use 1/4" brass plumbing fittings of various styles to achieve the particular look I'm after.It'll be infinitely cheaper than having the pieces machined since I don't have a metal lathe at my disposal :(

The love/hate thing about the ESB suit is that it leaves a little room for creativity,but only because of lack of good enough reference pics.In any case it's still my favorite version.

Who's interested in making this an active project? This weekend I'll make some preliminary drawings and post them. I'll try to make them as close as I can to the above photos and what is on the Ref CD. I'll be making the items based on the concept I mentioned in my earlier post. But I would like some feedback on my drawings and additional ideas or drawings of your own. In the end if you don't want machined components due to price or whatever, you can at least have some drawings to find comparable plumbing fittings.

Left Gauntlet Side Detail Inventory:
3 appx 1/4" dia rods of various lengths (spines)
2 mounting blocks with through holes for mounting rods
1 endcap not yet determined origin
Sections of wire in red and black
Various segments to fit over rods. Size and quantity to be determined (vertebrae)

Any other components to add to the list

These should be sweet,since the jet pack is phoenomenal!!

Steve

Thanx for the kind words Steve:] I am real happy with the way my ESB pack has turned out. It is NOT as heavy as I had mentioned earlier but it is much steardier than most, Richie has re-enforced the interior with a wood frame and combined with the fiberglass it is very comfortable and has a beautiful shape.

Quote:

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Quote:Man, Tylerdurden, you've almost pushed me back into ESB mode!
http://TK1028.homestead.com/files/LeftGreeblies.jpg

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Yes, yes, come back to ESB- muhahahahahha....

Wow, I didn't check back on this thread and there have been interesting developments!

Hey Steve,
Even funnier, is that I based my model off of the estimation that the center rods (spines if you will) are 1/4" in diameter just like you thought.
If you have any more info on the brackets, I'd love to add them to my model and pump out some more images (with dimensions too for those who want to construct some that look like this)

-Dana

I think the alignment of the spines,and overall shape give a perfect representation of it personally.There looks to be the right amount of room for the larger peices to be slid down onto the spines that will reveal the final shape.

As for mounting holes,as long as those who got one of the brackets had a drill press they could punch in the holes to correspond to their individual gauntlets since their are sooo many different ones that have been made over the years.I for one would rather have it with the holes made for only the spines just to be safe.

Steve

How about cross-drilled holes to tighten a set screw against the spine rods on the mounting side of the bracket? And you can put in your own holes for mounting to the gauntlet. If the only holes you want are through the bracket for the spines that is no problem :D.

A perfect solution :)

Her are some pics for the Rods I'm designing. I included the bracket, calc pad and glove for scale. The thinnest section of rod is 1/4" the thickest is 3/4" most are around 5/16" to 1/2". The tip of the longest rod to the top of the bracket is 5.5" long. I am working on the three cylinders behind the bracket and am figuring 1.5" for those and another 1" for the endcap. In total the overall length will be 8.5625" or 8 9/16". I'll update the pics when I get the back cylinders drawn up.There appears to be some conflicting things in the various pics so I tried to homogenize what I thought the discrepncies were into this design (they could be just shadows and what not).Suggestions how about porportions etc.? -Mark
http://home.mindspring.com/~skdmark/sw/grod1dwg.jpg

Here is the same drawing as above with the middle rods endcaps and some extra detail. Obviously the extra detail is made up but I tried my best to replicate what you can see in the pics. Total length is 8 9/16".What do you think? I need some feedback. -Mark
http://home.mindspring.com/~skdmark/sw/grod4.jpg

Mark,I think you've gotten what NO ONE else has ever acheived with regards to the ESB flame thrower assembly!!!! I've seen alot of ESB Fetts in 2 years,and NONE have gotten this important detail done well enough to my standards.While I've been doing yardwork by daylight,you've done the hard work for us all :) The last thing is the rear bracket.In the pics I have it looks like it might be 1 1/2" angle aluminum,but then the top section has what appears to be a 45degree angle on it.I know that might sound like greek,.....maybe I'll have to email you what I mean by outlining in on a pic in red.

Steve

Just thought of it as a block with some nobs on top similar to the collar ones. It looks like there are 4 slots near the top of the block and 1 large keyhole directly in the back. Send or post pics. How about my interpretation of the rods with the different grooves? And can you compare the length of the setup to a set of gauntlets. Remember to leave room for the three wires out the back. -Mark

Mark,did you get my email yet? That pic I sent you was huge,but gives great detail,especially of the left gauntlet at the rear most part of it.


Steve

Pm'd ya at the RPF site. I got the photo and that is one I've been working off of. All tolled there is only 4 pics of any use for this. Most are at the beginning of this thread too. If there were two black brackets the cylinders behind the silver stepped bracket would have to be shortened and that contradicts the other pics. As well The silver/white buttons/caps that are similar to the collar studs are elongated and go almost the length of the endcap. If there were another black bracket they would be bridging the endcap and bracket. That and there appears to be a white stripe on both sides of the endcap in the pic that we are discussing, what's up with that? Let me try to highlight and make some diagrams as well using the other pics in conjunction with yours. -Mark

I think I figured it out DL44. What you are seeing is a protrusion from the side of the endcap and not a seperate bracket. The angled section you highlighted in the pic is a shadow created by the protrusion. It's kind of a tab sticking out from the side. More than likely used to help mount it to the gauntlet. You can barely make it out in the B&W production stills from the same day of shooting on the Star Destroyer bridge. I'll try and update my drawing to reflect what I'm talking about. I've tried highlighting it in Photoshop but it is so small and blurry it's hard to make out.-Mark
http://home.mindspring.com/~skdmark/sw/grod5.jpg

Hey guys...this stuff really looks great! Looking at the drawings I noticed that the very tip portion looks like something I have found while building mine, it's clear and has a small pointed cone in the center...very cool and flame thrower like. I have 'bout a dozen of these little things...I will bring them alone with me to SWCII and any one who wants them can take one. I will be heading over to DCB house tonight I will see if he will post a pick of it for me...I don't have my own stuff to do this with so bare with me when it comes to posting pics:]

WOW!I have been kinda ignoring this thread (with it being ESB and all.. ;)) but I've gotta say that y'all are making some VERY cool progress here! Heck, I might even be up for a set of ESb gauntlets at this rate... not that I would WEAR them or anything but they would be ultra cool to display!

Quote:

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Brak's Buddy wrote:WOW!I have been kinda ignoring this thread (with it being ESB and all.. ;)) but I've gotta say that y'all are making some VERY cool progress here! Heck, I might even be up for a set of ESb gauntlets at this rate... not that I would WEAR them or anything but they would be ultra cool to display!

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That's why I'm gathering enough parts to make 2 Fetts :) I'm doing a ROTJ version now, but I just know that I'll get hit with the ESB bug down the road.

Watch out Braks,........you know how addictive this hobby can be.Before you know it you'll be knee deep in plastic,aluminum,and fiberglass :lol


Steve

Nice to see all the hard work you guys are doing.
i to am planing to make a ESB version (THE BEST)..lol

and with all the info and mock-ups,it makes it easier for every one.

i really like the pic that shows the rear of the left Gauntlet.. but i feel a couple of the wires are of a FLAT type.. like ones used on phone lines! just me but what do you all think..

"ESB gauntlets,.... let's make 'em accurate"


Sixx

"Ribbon wire" is what I too think that was used,especially for the red.Have to do some more deliberations before any final decisions are made. :)


Steve

I can make metal prototypes. Actually I was thinking about this yesterday. The metal prototype is nice because is very durable.

My experience as a historical armourer is helpful making the vambrace part (the metal sleeve that goes around the wrist..technically Fetts gauntlets arent really gauntlets by definition, they are vambraces.

Alf

Vambraces would be nice,but knees are where the action is at ;)


Steve

Ribbon wire was the first thing that came to mind when I saw those wires in the gaunt pics. As I said, it makes think of an IDE cable, but whatever the flat colored 80's equivalent would be.

BTW here is a photo from the Marmit Fett of the "Mini concussion rocket," as the gauntlet device is called in the "Field Guide to Boba Fett's Mandalore Armor Poster."

http://tylerdurden.digitalrice.com/gaunt.jpg

The last of the machining is done. So I applied a couple coats of paint in the appropriate spots. Which I'm letting cure overnight. All that's left to do is some charcoal weathering and clearcoat. -Mark
http://home.mindspring.com/~skdmark/sw/ga9.jpg

Here is a comparison of my latest flamethrower design to the real deal. The positioning of my 3D model is a little off (my first real attempt at the photoshop stuff). -Mark
http://home.mindspring.com/~skdmark/sw/ft3compw.jpg