gauntlet construction

I just printed out the WOF templates for the gauntlets and was looking for advise. What is the best material to use: cardboard, sintra, metal?
I am a ceramic sculptor, and I can be patient, so saying that, what is the most ideal for look, feel, etc...I know opinions may differ, and I openly accept all of them. I was thinking sintra, then fill it with bondo to get a perfect finish. But if I use sintra, do I have to modify the templates, or can you heat and bend them at the fold points? I have made trashcan armor, and have used a heatgun quite a bit, just never worked with sintra. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Hi man. Check out stormtrooperguy's build HERE.
Good luck.

I'm personally using the cardboard method due to me being a cheapskate and I'm also a patient person. It is a WIP so I have no idea how they will turn out but bondo and fiberglass will be involved eventually. For the WOF Templates I recommend cardboard or sintra however I've only worked with cardboard.

Hope that helps

Thank you Korn3000. That thread was exactly what i was looking for. Lostdude, call some sign making shops in your area, thin sheets of sintra for a project like this are not expensive. I got enough for several sets of gauntlets for 18 dollars. I still cant say if the cardboard is easier or not though. I still havent ruled out trying it with sheet metal. Korn3000, you are making my metal divers buckle, do you have any thoughts on metal gauntlets? Thanks for the info guys, let me know how your projects go, and I will do the same. Anyone else have any thoughts/ideas?

No prob.
I know that some guys here have been using some autoweld to piece together metalsheets, but i haven't thrown myself into that endeavour yet. I think i will try the sintra approach first, since i have some laying around.
PS. expect to recieve the buckle soon(shipped out from Norway the 20th).

Originally Posted by dankenman

Thank you Korn3000. That thread was exactly what i was looking for. Lostdude, call some sign making shops in your area, thin sheets of sintra for a project like this are not expensive. I got enough for several sets of gauntlets for 18 dollars. I still cant say if the cardboard is easier or not though. I still havent ruled out trying it with sheet metal. Korn3000, you are making my metal divers buckle, do you have any thoughts on metal gauntlets? Thanks for the info guys, let me know how your projects go, and I will do the same. Anyone else have any thoughts/ideas?

Im gonna try the sintra first as well. Do you think hot glue is the stuff to use, or cyanoacrylite superglue? ...and thanks again for the buckle, I look forward to receiving it.

Busy with an armor project as well, so the gauntlets are on hold. I bought some sintra sheet and this is where i am at, but its on hold for a couple days. Still unsure of what glue I want to use?

A little trick I learnt when I made my upper and lower clams... is that the 1mm Sintra/foamex has got a grain! so I placed the template along the grain (parallel to the clams length) this actually helps in the bending of those parts.

Try using superglue, it worked great with some sintra-work i did earlier.

yea, I was thinking superglue because it dries quick and is strong. Thanks for the tip Mojo-Fett, I already put the stencils on the sheet, but I think I got lucky and laid them all out the right way. (or they are all the wrong way!) either way that is a very helpful tip!

can you send me the link to the wof templates?

Here ya go... also look under 'Armour' section

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f25/gauntlet-blueprints-9861/

pm replied to berravecal, good luck to you. The more I research and read about this, the easier it seems. Plus I think its really fun so that makes anything easier. More pics tomorrow...

Yeah, you just need to dive right in and start learning from mistakes. It takes a while but its a lot of fun. Just wait til you get to the jet pack

The helmet is like a lego model compared to that

A friend of mine in the prop business recommended an adhesive called DEVCON. You can get it at any hardware store. I've been using it on my EE-3 build and it's good stuff!

Humm I was gona try and make the gauntlets out of cardboard. You know that kind you get at a store you use for packing boxes lol. But I might just go ahead and buy some sintra for it might make the project easier.

Ok, I forgot my superglue at work and it was late, But I really wanted to start building, so I broke out the hot glue gun. A bit messy, clamping and oozing glue out the cracks, but I got one together. I had to adjust the temp of the glue. It got too hot and warped the bottom shell a little. no problem, a little bondo can smooth it back out. Now I will clean it up and start the bondo. Anyway, here is a pic:

I know its too late, but in my semi tired haze, I forgot these pieces.

Do they go inside the gauntlets? Or do the go in between the layers of the shell or? They clearly fit on the edges of the shells, but where? These are my first attempt, so it is more for practice, so I may not use them even if I sill can, but the correct use/placement would be appreciated.

Kinda part of the topic here but what have some of you found best to use to close your gauntlets? Noy on a permanet basis, just so you can open n close them.

I have piano hinges on one side and a thin strip of velcro recessed on the other side of mine. This seems to work fine. I've never had a gaunt fly off when waving my arms about.

Dankenman what you've done so far looks great.
you have inspired me to have to have a go

Dont suppose you have a pic so I can get an idea on how the set up looks? Did you use screws for the piano hinges or a glue? Thanks

Goop works great to hold those piano hinges on. I've built 4 sets of gauntlets and it works great every time.

Excellent progress on your gauntlets! Keep up the good work.



Do they go inside the gauntlets? Or do the go in between the layers of the shell or? They clearly fit on the edges of the shells, but where? These are my first attempt, so it is more for practice, so I may not use them even if I sill can, but the correct use/placement would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]


EXACTLY the question I have. Also, when I cut out the inner shells and taped them together, they didn't cover my forearms. They were long enough from wrist to elbow, but not wide enough to fit my forearms.

What gives?

The strips you have posted above are glued on the inside of the clams at either end... these are to give the impression of thicker material.

Goop? I am not familiar with Goop.

Thanks mojo. I asked that several months ago and thought I may never get a response. Info appreciated! I have not worked on these for a month now, life keeps getting in the way!
Southern Hunter: If you have long arms or big arms, you may need to extend the pattern a bit to get it to look better on your arm. Sometimes I think the proper ratio for your body is better than an actual replica. If it looks proportional on you to how it looked on Fett, then that is just as accurate, IMO.

Can I get a shot of those piano hinges by chance? PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEze

Originally Posted by brokenboba

Can I get a shot of those piano hinges by chance? PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEze

I second that request. I'd also love to see some pix of the underside (or inside) of the gauntlets.

Hey Hey I got myself the smallest piano hinge I could find. But its not exactlly the same size so I am going to experiment by cutting them to size of the gauntlets and lets see if it works I guess. Lets hope Ill post pics of the success or failure. Wish me luck.

good going dude.

I'm afraid I can't get a good and worthwhile shot of my hinge set up as I glued them in and then placed a strip of sintra over them and glued that down just to be on the safe side.
Can anyone else who uses piano hinges help out with a piccy?