Sni9er
Active Hunter
Well after an amazing weekend last week picking up Grants Truly amazing ROTJ Fett I started scrutinizing what i could tweak and improve (as there's always something to be done!)
the few obvious areas were the waist (to fit my size rather than his) the RF stalk function and some other misc padding to suit my frame
one area I spotted last night was the MQ1 circuit on the rear of the helmet, as I was re padding the helmet I noticed the board was upside down and further more the wrong colour (painted ESB Red) and missing the Dental Files
So I set about making my adjustments, using some original MQ1 PCB shots as reference
I firstly removed the PCB Cast and began removing/smoothing/drilling out some of the imperfections in the cast
View attachment 2Y6QTcD.jpg
I also decided to remove the tantalum cap casting and replace it with a real one since i had a bunch of them to spare it was a super minor details but hey i had it so why not ^^
I also drilled out all the holes as mentioned but also drilled some half holes for my "Dental Files" to sit in, at this stage though i sprayed the board with Herron Black (like a dark dirty grey) it looks lighter on the image than it really is
As i didn't have any dental files to hand i did have a brain wave to use Electrolytic capacitors as a substitute they looked the same size and shape and only lacked the ridges on the outer rim, so not to be put off i grabbed my caps stripped the plastic marking coat and using a chisel notched in some ridges to emulate the Dental Files
they don't look as pristine as the originals for sure but from less than a foot away the effect is pretty good
next i took some of my wife's Red Nail polish and applied a thin coat
(painted then inserted)
View attachment j0v2OFe.jpg
It was a little bright and "In your face" so i remove the part and began some light weathering
As the capacitor was Metal i used a pin to scrape some of the varnish off to match the prop, i then used a soft HB pencil to darken the exposed aluminium
View attachment EyOzaAl.jpg
I applied a small amount of the herron black dry brushed onto the part just to take the sheen down a little, and now for the final look:
View attachment kUweI6U.jpg
Comparison
thanks for the great source of information TDH !!!
the few obvious areas were the waist (to fit my size rather than his) the RF stalk function and some other misc padding to suit my frame
one area I spotted last night was the MQ1 circuit on the rear of the helmet, as I was re padding the helmet I noticed the board was upside down and further more the wrong colour (painted ESB Red) and missing the Dental Files
So I set about making my adjustments, using some original MQ1 PCB shots as reference
I firstly removed the PCB Cast and began removing/smoothing/drilling out some of the imperfections in the cast
View attachment 2Y6QTcD.jpg
I also decided to remove the tantalum cap casting and replace it with a real one since i had a bunch of them to spare it was a super minor details but hey i had it so why not ^^
I also drilled out all the holes as mentioned but also drilled some half holes for my "Dental Files" to sit in, at this stage though i sprayed the board with Herron Black (like a dark dirty grey) it looks lighter on the image than it really is
As i didn't have any dental files to hand i did have a brain wave to use Electrolytic capacitors as a substitute they looked the same size and shape and only lacked the ridges on the outer rim, so not to be put off i grabbed my caps stripped the plastic marking coat and using a chisel notched in some ridges to emulate the Dental Files
they don't look as pristine as the originals for sure but from less than a foot away the effect is pretty good
next i took some of my wife's Red Nail polish and applied a thin coat
(painted then inserted)
View attachment j0v2OFe.jpg
It was a little bright and "In your face" so i remove the part and began some light weathering
As the capacitor was Metal i used a pin to scrape some of the varnish off to match the prop, i then used a soft HB pencil to darken the exposed aluminium
View attachment EyOzaAl.jpg
I applied a small amount of the herron black dry brushed onto the part just to take the sheen down a little, and now for the final look:
View attachment kUweI6U.jpg
Comparison
thanks for the great source of information TDH !!!
