Big update today. Work finally slowed down enough for me to get some work done. So I completed the main shell for the left gauntlet. There are still little things to do here and there, but I am very happy with how it turned out and how quickly I was able to get it done.
What I used:
- Sintra (3mm thick)
- Razor Blades
- Hot Glue Gun & Hot Glue
- Heat Gun (Harbor Freight)
- Dremel
- Templates (WoF, TheDentedHelmet.com)
- Straight Edges
- Pencils
- Various Clamps
- Sand Paper (220, 500, and 1,000)
- Extra boards to keep edges from bending and set up the bottom template
- Magnets (6x rare earth strong magnets I had laying around)
- Cordless drill and drill bit
Steps to make the Gauntlet:
Step 1: Look at the reference photos and save some to you device so you can look at them while working
Step 2: Print out the Templates (Save them after you cut them out, do not lose them like I did)
-- Make sure to print them the right size
Step 3: Transfer Template shapes onto Sintra
-- I found a pencil to be more than adequate here
Step 4: Cut out Sintra (rough cut then smooth)
-- This could be done with either razor blade or Dremel
-- Dremel is MUCH faster, but causes a TON of dust
-- After the rough cut make sure and clean up the edges with sand paper and razor blade
-- The clean up cuts can be accomplished by taping the saved templates back to the table and laying the rough cuts on top (or laying the template on top) and cleaning up all the cuts with sand paper and razor blades
Step 5: Bend Sintra into shape
-- I did this using a heat gun, and straight edges such as wood to give clean bends
-- Reference photos come in VERY handy at this step
-- I always cut small recess cuts on the back side of a bend to make the bend more square I don't know if it actually works but I think it does
Step 6: Start attaching the bent pieces to each other
-- There will always be trimming that needs to be done in order to get the parts to sit right
-- I had to do quite a bit of trimming to the valley piece that the rocket is to sit in on the top of the gauntlet
-- I just used hot glue to attach all of the pieces
Step 7: Trim all edges and remove excess glue
-- I didn't do this for the last gauntlet before I primed and I could IMMEDIATELY tell where the glue was and had to overcome all the misjudges edges with bondo
-- I didn't get video of this I instead sat down and watched an episode of the X-Files season 1 while doing this part I took a picture of all of the pieces I trimmed off of the gauntlet
Step 8: Add Bondo, let dry, and sand
-- Lather, Rinse, Repeat as necessary
-- I estimate that to get a good part I have to do this step at least 3 times
-- I hate sanding
Step 9: Bend bottom section to flushly connect to upper section
-- Don't forget there will be a flame thrower to attach so give yourself some mounting room.
-- I made a jig to help with the bending it helped quite a bit
-- I let the part get very malleable before I started trying to shape it as the sintra was 6mm thick
-- I heated both sides of the part I was going to bend because it was so thick
-- Getting this to sit right takes time, patience, and a plan going in
--The jig was made by using the WoF templates for the bend then suplementing them with measurements on the inside of the upper portion of the gauntlet so the outer edges would align
Step 10: Add the hinge
-- The hinge was recessed into the bottom part of the gauntlet not the upper part, and was secured with hot glue
-- The hing was purchased from Home Depot it was their 2 or 3 foot hinge, nothing special about it was hanging on the wall beside all their specialty hinges
-- Ensure you measure the length you want the hinge to be before cutting the hinge down
Step 11: Adjust the other side's flushness now that the hinge is attached
-- I had to bend the bottom portion out to give a flat surface, and had to remove some material to allow the gauntlet to close flush with the upper part across the length of the gauntlet (this took many attempts on the right gauntlet)
Step 12: Add Magnets for closure
-- I sunk the magnets using a drill and drill bit slightly larger than my magnets
-- I added an extra square of sintra at each mounting point because it cause a slight warping on the outer layer of the right gauntlet and I wanted to give myself a margin on this gauntlet
-- After gluing the extra sintra square in place on the bottom part of the gauntlet I added the pilot hole for the magnet, placed glue in the hole, added the magnet
-- Added the magnets to the top portion sintra squares, taking care to drill my hole directly into the center of the squares
-- Checked polarity of magnets and marked the side that would be inserted into the pilot hole
-- Glued magnets into upper sintra squares, after drying set them on the bottom part, and closed gauntlets to see how close they were (very close)
-- Open back up gauntlet add glue to the upper squares one at a time, close gauntlet and clamp squares in place, allow glue to set (repeat 2 more times)
Step 13: Enjoy wicked cool Gauntlets!
So I still have to make the flamethrower, figure out what I am doing for the keypad, one more round of bondo most likely, and paint, this is still a long way from complete but hopefully this will help someone, someday.
Video:
Photos:
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5 & 6:
Step 7:
Step 8:
Step 9: (Not a lot of action shots taken here)
Steps 10-13: