Slave1Pirate's Aluminum ROTJ Hero Level 2 Build PIC HEAVY

[Slave1Pirate117]

Hello everyone! Today I began working on some of the pieces I cut yesterday.

At first I wanted to test the stencil I made and printed on the helmet. I am doing the helmet face different this time so I will make the cut outs AFTER the face is shaped. I cut along the lines with a razor knife to score the aluminum for me to follow after the paper is removed.


After that, I moved on to some armor parts. The first I did was the kidney plate. I started with the largest bends first.

I then began bending the small tabs

Then it was time to shape it to my waste

I moved on to the cod piece. The first thing I wanted to do was put the offsets in before bending the hems that way the hems didn't interfere with the bead roller.

A bead roller is a manual or motorized machine the puts beads or offsets in sheet metal. Changing the rollers on the end makes different shapes. In this case I wanted an offset on either side of the central cod piece as it should be. Doing this allows less material while providing the same shape.



After that I moved on the bending the hems tabs. Btw, the point of the hems is to make the metal look heftier than it is and to provide softer edges that won't cut cloth or skin.

I then started shaping the central cod area to be more bowed out and shaped to my waste.

So I was able to complete these two pieces. I will need to weld all the seams so they look as if they are solid and of course the dents that make it Boba's armor.

Thanks for following along!

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

So today I wanted to finalize the cod piece. I got pretty dang close! Here is the lower section that needs to be shaped and welded to the cod piece.

While I started on that, the wifey was bending tabs on the other pieces and cleaning the dross of the parts from the plasma cutter.

I began shaping the lower piece and gave up and welded and shaped it along as I welded it.

Now for dents. I used a piece of wood in the vice at an angle and drilled a hole to except the largest dent.

Wifey kept bending tabs and feeding me parts to shape.

The final pics for the day.

 

[ShortFuse]

So today I wanted to finalize the cod piece. I got pretty dang close! Here is the lower section that needs to be shaped and welded to the cod piece.
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While I started on that, the wifey was bending tabs on the other pieces and cleaning the dross of the parts from the plasma cutter.
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I began shaping the lower piece and gave up and welded and shaped it along as I welded it.
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Now for dents. I used a piece of wood in the vice at an angle and drilled a hole to except the largest dent.
View attachment 228133View attachment 228134View attachment 228135
Wifey kept bending tabs and feeding me parts to shape.
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The final pics for the day.
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Awesome work!

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

Awesome work!

Thanks Fuse!

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

I worked on the abdomen panel and left pectoral panel today. Made dents, drilled holes, welded seams and ground them down. I'm getting there!

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

Today I worked on sealing up the hems by welding them and grinding them in to make them all uniform.

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

Today wifey and I cut the aluminum blocks, surfaced them in the milling machine, drilled and threaded them and then put on the tapers. I also finished welding and grinding the kidney plate.

 

[PinkFlamingos6]

Looking really great so far! I love how all the dents came out and your fabrication skills are awesome!

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

Looking really great so far! I love how all the dents came out and your fabrication skills are awesome!

Thanks Pink! I've been machining and making star wars toys for myself since I was 12-13 although I've never done this intense of sheet metal work before.

I know! The dents are my favorite parts! I got all giddy when I put the first dent in lol.

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

Yesterday we couldn't work long. We traced the template that I had glued on previously with a razor knife, peeled off the template and traced the cuts with sharpie. Wifey cranked the handle while I guided the helmet wrap through along the lines. By using the step dies, it created the recessed sections on the helmet without forcing me to make layers in turn making the helmet heavier and more work making the layers look as if they were one piece.

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

So we went in today to work on the last few armor pieces. Wifey began bending tabs on the back plate while I worked on bending tabs on the left knee and shaping it.

As I began shaping the knee, the 2 ears were acting funny. I ran the flat knee through the bead roller to put in the step down which I had NOT done on the other knee until after I had shaped it. This created a weak point and both ears snapped off. I had to weld them back on.

Wifey was done with the tabs on the backplate so here it is.

I toiled over the angles until they looked right. This piece of armor had me very stressed to get it right even though you won't see most of it.

The 1st 2 bends were a success.

After this, I stressed like crazy trying to get this right. Here are the first adjustments.

After awhile on beating and smacking and bending, this is where I ended up and called it quits. I'm not happy with it and it requires more tlc to get it right but it should work out.

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

Ok......I have put some serious time into this backplate. I have been shaping this thing for days. My main issues were the stress points. The metal has many bends in opposing directions. When a bend is made and another bend must be done perpendicular to that bend, it doesn't cooperate. The metal tries to correct itself so there must be some relief between bends. I contemplated cutting it a few times to give the metal relief but I was afraid I was misunderstanding the metal and the relief I cut would be a waste so I kept at it. Once I had the majority of the bends close I decided to lock it down by welding all the hem tabs to make it a bit more rigid. Here are the images before welding and grinding.

Then some more shaping and dialing it in closer. Here is where I am at now. Please be honest. How does it look? I'm actually quite happy with it.

 

[Irongladiator]

Slave1Pirate117
Every time you post work about what you do to create this metal masterpiece, and you involve your wife. I kinda think of this....

I picture an anvil, a furnace, and a tub of water.

Seriously though, pretty inspiring work. That back armor is legit. Just out of curiosity, is your plan to get those rectangle holes (The raised portion) where you feed the straps through with another piece of metal and shaping it and welding it on?

-Iron

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

Lmao it's not that intense! That's funny.

Thanks! I kinda feel like it's right there too. Yes actually I am working on those now. I just made the cuts for the recessed strap trough, bent and welded them. Now I am working on cleanup.

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

And here are the recessed strap troughs.

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

Here is one of the strap louvers. It's a bit rough but it'll clean up.

Welded the 1st louvers.

Blended in the 1st louver and welded the second.

Looking snazzy!

And here is where I left off today. The right one needs a little more tlc but I'm almost there!

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

I needed to trim the collar on the inside a bit to get the collar plate to match up. I welded it up shown below.



And here it is! What a ride to get this done! I'm so excited to see these two pieces together!

 

[Slave1Pirate117]

So today I did a little welding and some grinding and some touch ups to a few pieces. I made a few adjustments and drilled holes for mounting the cod piece and kidney plate.

When I got home I donned on the jumpsuit and mocked up the parts I had to double check fitment. Wifey helped me suit up. Please give me your honest opinions! Does anything catch your eye that needs fixing? I am aware that I need to bend the collar down a wee bit.

The kidney plate requires adjustment as it is too loose.

 

[BudaFett]

Dang, that's coming along! Awesome!

 

[Irongladiator]

Slave1Pirate117
Lemme say that, that looks awesome man! Great job for simply using reference pics and eyeballing it.


-Iron