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.
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.