3rd times a charm: yet another ESB build with lots of scratching'!

[mainst69]

Hey guys,
I've been a long time lurker here, and joined up a couple of years ago. Back in college, maybe before this site was founded, I started a Fett build that never got much farther than rattle canning a Don Post and scratch building an EE-3 ROTJ blaster. Fast forward 13 years and I started again with an ASOK lid and various and sundry other bits and pieces. That one got stalled with a wish list in Excel with all the prices of things that I wanted to buy; which when you summed it up, the price was pretty staggering and somewhat inappropriate in these times. SO, I sold all my stuff in the cargo hold and moved on.
But it kept lingering... I'd make "drive bys" past the Dented Helmet just to see what some of the old dudes (and dudettes) were up to. Heck, some of 'em were banned! LOL.
Then one day I was surfing on the web and my daughter caught me looking (no, not at porn, well, Fett porn) ESB reference pics. And she asked me "Daddy, is that Star Wars?" (She's three, about to turn four). I said, yep, it sure it is. Then I got to thinking, maybe I could build her a mini-Fett costume for Halloween. I asked her about it. "Could it be pink?!" (Knew that was coming...) "It sure could babe, if that's what you want."
"That's what I want!"
great....
So now we are doing a father/daughter costume Fett style. (But wait, there's more!) Due to my daughter and I playing so much Star Wars Battlefront together, she now wants to be... wait for it...
a pink DARTH VADER!!!!! Yay!!!! Hey, less armor to scratch!!
So, she's gonna be Vader and I'm still gonna be Daddy ESB Fett.
We go to a Halloween festival in Independence Kansas every year (where daughter's mom is from) and this year I got to pick Star Wars themed costumes and so I get to build three of them! So mom is going to maybe be some sort of Mandolorian mom type person, and little bit is Pink Vader and I'm rolling the ESB Fett. So I'm going to scratch build as much as I can to keep costs low, lest I have another Excel scare again!
So, I'm starting my first ever build thread to motivate me, possibly inspire others to get off their butts and build something (like so many of your threads have done for me).
So... to start, I'm working on the ESB version of the EE-3. Scratchin' it from a Crosman pellet pistol. Started fabrication on the barrel, stock, and d-frame hootus. Got a cheap scope for it, gonna scratch the mounts, at least the ones around the barrel, got some Molex greebs, and started on a pine stock that might get scrapped before we get to the finish line for a hardwood version.
I was looking on Shapeway to see if Rafal had any resin V-8 connector rod greeblies (or anyone else) but didn't see any. I may have to PM Sidwinder/Stormrider/MLS and see if anyone would sell me a stock/V8 greebly kit.
So the goal is a workable Fett costume (it will be a work in progress even after Halloween) but I want it to be pretty close to being finished by then. I may not have cooling fans in the helmet, or a servo/light kit installed but it will be better than the store bought pre-made crap that we all see out there and kind of roll our eyes at.
So, all advice, constructive criticism is welcome. I may not be ready at this point to over think every small thing to the most minute detail, but I will welcome all input and file it for a later time when finances/time allows.
Cheers guys,
MainSt.

 

[mainst69]

Here are a couple of pics of the blaster in epoxy drying mode!

 

[Kokuma]

Well you're going to have your work cut out for you with 3 outfits! Looking forward to seeing the Pink Vader! The EE3 is looking good so far

 

[mainst69]

Thanks Kokuma, long day at work today so I'm not getting anything done tonight, but I'm off Friday. Feels like Fett Armor Friday. Got some 6mil Sintra waiting!

 

[mainst69]

Little update on the progress on the EE-3. Started fabricating mounts for the scope, beefed up the bracket mount on the pistol grip and installed mounting screws, layered the D frame.

 

[mainst69]

OK, I have been getting my shop (garage) all re-organized and everything hooked up. I built a table for my band saw and my scroll saw and got them squared away.
My daughter and I did a paint inventory of all my old testors model paints and low and behold found some zinc chromate! So, I've been chompin at the bit to pull out some sintra for some test runs. I cut a piece with a utility knife and with the 6 mil that was slow going. You basically have to keep scoring into it till you get through. I thought about trying the scoring/breaking method I use for kydex but I was worried about the more porous middle part breaking bad or flaking.
So, I decided to run some tests as I've never worked with the material before. I did some cutting on both 3 and 6 mil both with utility and exacto knives. I cut out a chest plate, then, going for that rounded edge armor look, used my router table and a 1/8th round bit with a guide bearing to see how this stuff would route. It went pretty well but you have to watch your corners! So that test went OK. Time to try molding it, so, using my heat gun (starting on low and working my way up gradually)I worked at trying to get it bendable. Remembering a youtube video I had seen where they used a metal plate to heat sintra on (the plate heating from underneath) in conjunction with a heat gun, I got out my old griddle I use for kydex work and I finally got the chest piece warm enough to mold to my chest. I got a little over zealous and kinda bent it down around my pectoral muscle and using reference images decided the curvature was too drastic. This may have been when I used this piece on the router on one of the flatter edges.
So, to get more experience working on the 3 mil, I decided to do the diamond. My plan was to cut the diamond out twice and then cut the rectangle out on one piece and then glue the two together.
That worked pretty well, but as you can see in the pics, had some corner issues on the router. But third time was the charm. I also did some paint testing with primer and usin CA glue to seal the edges to get that porousness under control.
Long story longer, got 2 plates and a diamond cut. I'm not totally happy with the cutting on the chest plates, so they might get redone.
Till later,
Main

 

[mainst69]

Starting paint on Darth Pink Vader's mom's armor. I'm liking the way this 6 mil is looking after routing and sanding.

 

[mainst69]

Laying some gold undercoat more primer and first shade of pink. This just feels so wrong! Oh well, I tell myself that by doing hers first I'm getting great experience for mine! Speaking of mine, got a little more bondo on the EE-3.

 

[mainst69]

Not much to report other than a lot of sanding on bondo....

 

[mainst69]

And the bondo sanding continues...BUT! I've thrown in some wood putty too! I didn't have a router bit for my dremel so I used a zip bit. It got away from me in a few places and it wasn't as clean a route as I would've liked.
Oh well, making progress nonetheless.

 

[mainst69]

OK, scope mount rings are about done as far as fabrication goes. Almost ready to start primer. Got the stock mostly done except for maybe some clear and the greeblies. Epoxied a block of mdf on the back of the pistol grip. Gonna try to fabricate the back of the receiver around the hammer. I'm torn between cutting the hammer down and scabbing something on there to make it more closely resemble the Webley or just leaving it because I like the look of it. In the end, I'm going to end up with a pasable blaster that looks good from a distance but you can see the flaws up close. I noticed from a different angle that my barrel is not plum on the Crosman! Oh well. My goal long term is to purchase a sidewinder or stormrider or mls kit, but this is going to have to get me along for a little while. I'm now at the point to where I'm analyzing the point of diminishing returns, or to be blunt, how much more turd polishing am I willing to do!
I was trying to build a jig for drilling holes in my plumbing pipe. So far I have too much play in my pvc pipe and I'm having trouble getting my jig setup the way I like it. I used some scrap pvc pipe and drilled two holes in it, then slid my chrome pipe in there to give it a shot. Too much wiggle room.
Oh well, back to the fab table to work on the receiver.

 

[BobasDent1138]

Looking good so far!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A

 

[mainst69]

Had a new helper fabbing armor tonight. Got shoulder bells, collar arm cut. Did some painting and weathering done on pink fett.

 

[mainst69]

Getting close to paint and I just had to mock it up just to see what it looks like. I know it's not as cool as a Sidewinder or MLS resin kit, but or now it will hold me until I can get one of those. I mean for the thirty or forty bucks I have in it, it's not terrible.
Hopefully I can get some greeblies in from DVH and get it painted and weathered and put this thing to bed.

 

[Gregory]

Looking good! I am also going to use a chrome tailpiece for my muzzle. But, that's a bit far off. Looks like 1-1/2" is the size to use. How is yours attached?

 

[mainst69]

Had this long explanation about the things wrong with this and my plans for fixing it, but my page had to reload it and I lost it. Aint retyping it!

 

[mainst69]

Looking good! I am also going to use a chrome tailpiece for my muzzle. But, that's a bit far off. Looks like 1-1/2" is the size to use. How is yours attached?

Well, this the mock up trial tube is just held in with some duct tape wrapped around it. When I do the real thing the duct tape will get epoxied in there. This gun is mostly duct tape, bailing wire, and bondo. I think there may be some chewing gum somewhere in the mix as well!

thanks for commenting and when you get yours in the works, send me a link so I can check it out.

Main

 

[mainst69]

OK guys, this was my prototype pipe that I was learning the best way to do holes on. I bought another to use for the real thing (and a backup, in case I screw up again), I was unsure about how long the tube should stick out of the Webley barrell, so I sent a PM to our resident Yoda, Rafal, and he lined me out. The concensus if I interpreted it correctly was 120 mm out the end of the old flare shooter. How I've been doing the mock up with this tube stuck in the end was the duct tape covered part fits in the pvc pipe, and the rest hangs out. I did this by eyeballing it just for the mock up. End of the barrell to the begginning of the duct tape was, you guessed it, exactly 120 mm! The Force must be strong in my garage or me or something! Lol. Thanks for the help Raf!

 

[RafalFett]

Be aware that the clamps are not positioned right, because the first one should be mounted at the base of the Heiland tube:

 

[mainst69]

Be aware that the clamps are not positioned right, because the first one should be mounted at the base of the Heiland tube:

View attachment 97550

thanks Raf, there are a lot of things incorrect on this one. I wrote a long discertation on it explaining how this blaster was to just get me by until I could afford a resin kit from one of our suppliers on here. Then my browser screwed up and I lost it all! So with this iteration I'm just gonna live with a few inaccuracies. But I feel it's better than using a Hasbro ROTJ with an ESB costume! But I probably will work up another ring since they're not too hard to scratch build.
appreciate all the help,