dv8r’s Boba Fett ROTJ Work in Progress

I had a 6S battery. I can't remember the other details but the smoke only ran for 4 minutes. I recently switched to a 2S and while the smoke is much thinner, it runs for 40min.

I'm very interested in how you added the flame. I like that there is no lighter fluid involved :) I've worked with flash paper before in theatre, so I'm curious what is igniting it and how it's all rigged up. Are you planning on making it more accessible for reloads? One shot is cool. More than one shot is cooler :)


Hey DP, the charges are fired from these little dolls, https://www.amazon.com/HOODDEAL-prin.../dp/B01EX5F6WE called electric matches. I made a bundle of flash paper wrapped gun cotton with one of those at the base which then slip into the flamethrower nozzles. You can see two primed for loading in this shot:

gaunt left wiring.jpg

The wires pass through a home made cork that seals the back of the nozzle (that's the real secret to not setting my arm aflame), then the ends clip to alligator connectors inside the housing to deliver the power. I have the circuit "armed" when the red light on the gauntlet is activated, but I'm currently stuck launching both since I wired them to fire simultaneously from both of the switches on the housing (need to press both down to fire, a "safety" feature). So the charges can be premade and carried for reloading, but then the wires need to be passed through the corks, and that requires complete removal of the gauntlet and removing the housing's bottom to access the corks in the backs of the nozzles (at least until I can train my handler properly ;)).

When firing, I found in several tests before my final assembly that the effect is super dependent on the packing of the gun cotton. Loose, even without the flash paper sleeve, gives a nice flame burst from the nozzles, but it's pretty short. Very tight, using probably double the amount as seen in the video above, and the charge actually shoots out quite a ways (maybe 6 feet) before combusting, but it's much less like a flamethrower at that point.
 
Hey man. A few more questions.

I don't really know how electrical matches work. Are they one time only use? That's why you need to take apart everything to reload?

Is there not a way that you can attach some cables to the insides of your flamethrower nozzles (through the back), do the same deal with the cork for protection, and just stuff the nozzles with flash paper from the front end to reload? That would save you having to take everything apart. When you push the buttons the cables would make a small spark...nothing massive, but enough to ignite the paper. Like a BBQ igniter.

I love the idea...but there has to be an easier way to reload.
 
Like...why not take one of these apart...looks like it would totally fit in the housing.

 
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Hey man. A few more questions.

I don't really know how electrical matches work. Are they one time only use? That's why you need to take apart everything to reload?

Is there not a way that you can attach some cables to the insides of your flamethrower nozzles (through the back), do the same deal with the cork for protection, and just stuff the nozzles with flash paper from the front end to reload? That would save you having to take everything apart. When you push the buttons the cables would make a small spark...nothing massive, but enough to ignite the paper. Like a BBQ igniter.

I love the idea...but there has to be an easier way to reload.

Hey, sorry for the delay in getting back to this. I think any of the ideas you suggest would likely work to ignite the guncotton, and not needing the match would make them easier to reload. However there is a component added by the match (yes, they are one-shot), accelerating the guncotton out of the nozzle (I had actually considered using only the electric matches at one point) which would then be absent. As a WIP, I may go back to this and do some testing with different mixes of the flash paper and guncotton density. I'll get back and update this when that's done. Thanks again for your interest, and let me know if you make any tests!

- - - Updated - - -

Most impressive build. Great work!!!!!

Thanks very much! Very much a labor of love, and completely due to the excellent folks here with their support; I'm just trying to give back a bit now.
 
You should have been able to submit ONLY an interior shot of your helmet and received immediate approval! "Wow, look at the inside of that helmet! You know the rest of his costume is gonna be crazy cool!"

Nice work and congrats!
 
Hello, I'm new around here and just wanted to thank you for your build thread. It's nice to be able to see all that goes into building a Fett and the level of detail and explanations you use are also very user friendly. So, thanks!
 
Hello, I'm new around here and just wanted to thank you for your build thread. It's nice to be able to see all that goes into building a Fett and the level of detail and explanations you use are also very user friendly. So, thanks!

Thanks Greedo! My hope is to give something back to this great community, I'm glad you're finding it useful. It's a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. Good luck with your build!
 
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