Iron's ROTJ WIP

It is NOT PLA. It is ABS! AprilStormProps claims the print comes from a commercial machine (Not CR-10's - whatever that means). April said that being ABS Plastic, it is light and strong and it will NOT need any additional reinforcements like you might need on a PLA print. I was also led to believe that sanding ABS vs PLA goes much easier too. To be honest, I have not had any item that was 3D printed, this is my first. So I can't say really what the true differences between an ABS print job vs a PLA print job would look like.

Anywho, I plan on ordering some of this stuff and using it on my blaster......
View attachment 195925
I heard it works magic on ABS and PLA 3D prints. Anyone use this and have any opinions on it?

Thanks,
-Iron
Iron,
I do a lot of 3D printing.
To smooth ABS I use the acetone vapor wash method.
I put a small amount (about a shot glass worth) in the bottom of a large sauce pan. Place it on the stove. Mine is electric so no open flame. Heat up the acetone and wait until you see it condensating on the sides of the pan. It will slowly get higher on the walls as it heats up. When it is almost to the top turn off the heat.
Suspend your part using something like a clothes hangar in the pan without it touching the sides or bottom. Hold the part in the vapor approximately 15-30 seconds. You will see it smoothing out. Don't leave the part in too long or the plastic will form bubbles in it.
After you are finished put the part somewhere safe to cure. Treat it like you just painted it. Don't touch the part for 1/2 - 1 hr or you risk putting finger prints in it. The plastic will take about a day to fully cure.
Here are a couple parts I've done.

The cannon uses firecrackers and actually fires.
20200806_081934[1].jpg


20200806_082040[1].jpg
 
Iron,
I do a lot of 3D printing.
To smooth ABS I use the acetone vapor wash method.
I put a small amount (about a shot glass worth) in the bottom of a large sauce pan. Place it on the stove. Mine is electric so no open flame. Heat up the acetone and wait until you see it condensating on the sides of the pan. It will slowly get higher on the walls as it heats up. When it is almost to the top turn off the heat.
Suspend your part using something like a clothes hangar in the pan without it touching the sides or bottom. Hold the part in the vapor approximately 15-30 seconds. You will see it smoothing out. Don't leave the part in too long or the plastic will form bubbles in it.
After you are finished put the part somewhere safe to cure. Treat it like you just painted it. Don't touch the part for 1/2 - 1 hr or you risk putting finger prints in it. The plastic will take about a day to fully cure.
Here are a couple parts I've done.

The cannon uses firecrackers and actually fires.
View attachment 195933

View attachment 195934
Nice! I like the Megaladon tooth! (y) And I'm assuming once painted, you see no evidence of the "Print Lines" at all, yeah? That XTC 3D stuff looks pretty cool and easy to use. As it is explained in this video:

....and it was also featured on "Adam Savage's Tested":

Again, I've also heard good reviews on this product too. My intention is to use it as a filler and then sand it smooth.

-Iron
 
Nice! I like the Megaladon tooth! (y) And I'm assuming once painted, you see no evidence of the "Print Lines" at all, yeah? That XTC 3D stuff looks pretty cool and easy to use. As it is explained in this video:

....and it was also featured on "Adam Savage's Tested":

Again, I've also heard good reviews on this product too. My intention is to use it as a filler and then sand it smooth.

-Iron
I think you are right that XTC-3D is the way to go. I just wanted to throw out my method so you had options.
Please let us know how it works. I personally have never used it.
 
So my Machine Craft Flamethrower Nozzles came in today! (y) Special shout out to y2gabe2 for selling them to me via the Cargo Hold. He had an extra pair he was willing to part with! :)

BM and MC Nozzles.jpg


Now I'm tasked with putting these in my Boba Maker Gauntlets. For those of you that have a pair of Boba Maker's ROTJ Gauntlets and wanted to put Machine Craft Nozzles in, but didn't quite know how that could be done, then this is for you! As you can see from the above pic, Boba Maker's ROTJ Gauntlet's Resin Flamethrower Nozzles are designed with a screw in method, which is great if you intend to go with that solution, they are quite sturdy and hold in place nicely! But what if you REALLY want a set of those nice shiny Metal Nozzles that Machine Craft offers? As you can clearly see they are NOT the same size, in fact the Boba Maker ones are much larger! o_O

To give you some perspective on how the Boba Maker Resin Nozzles look installed, here is a pic....
Photo Aug 06, 2 25 00 PM.jpg


And now down to business.....It pains me to have done this. but I measured 4 or 5 times to make sure I had it correct. The Larger Boba Maker Nozzle measured at 9.925cm and the short one at 8.89cm. and the Machine Craft Nozzles came in at 7.55cm. Knowing this, it was time to make my cuts. :oops:
Photo Aug 06, 7 01 07 PM.jpg


I Dremel'd the screw tips off and sanded them flat! You can also see I drilled the center of the Boba Maker Resin Nozzles. I then used a #8 Hex nut and wedged it the Machine Craft Nozzles. (I'll follow-up with some JB Weld to fully secure the Hex Nut later, but it was a tight fit! (y))
Photo Aug 06, 2 36 17 PM.jpg


**UPDATE PIC**
Using some putty from JB Weld's "Steel Stik" I was able to get it in between the Nut and Machine Crafts Nozzles. Hopefully this stuff should secure the Hex Nut a bit better, but again it was a tight fit from the beginning. (y)
JB Weld Steel Stik and MC Nozzles.jpg


Using a couple screws I was able to secure the Boba Maker Screw tips to the Machine Craft Nozzles! (y)
Photo Aug 06, 7 03 00 PM.jpg


And The End result........?
Photo Aug 06, 6 58 09 PM.jpg

Photo Aug 06, 6 58 37 PM.jpg


Not too bad eh? Let me know whatcha think?

Thanks,
-Iron
 
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So over the weekend I got my Armor mounted on my Arkady vest. I opt'd to do the Grommet and Screw method. Here is what I used....
Keep in mind I'm still waiting on my left shoulder armor from Boba Maker.
Qty - Description
21 - 3/8" Grommet (I got 6 in the kit - so I got two additional boxes - from Lowes)
21 - #10-32 X 1/2 Inch Flat Phillips with Nuts
21 - 1/4 Inch Flat Washers

Tools Used:
Arrow Grommet install kit
Hammer
Hobby Blade
Hot Glue Gun
Gorilla Brand Hot Glue Sticks
What I used.jpg


Now originally I bought some E6000 adhesive to secure the screws to the armor. I did the Collar Armor first and had the idea of simply hot glueing the screws temporarily while I marked out where to place my grommets. I then found out that removing the screws was incredibly tough, I attempted to remove them with a considerable amount of force and they would NOT budge one bit. That was all the test I needed. So I abandoned the E6000 idea.
Screws Placed and Hot Glued.jpg


With all the screws set in place I layed them all out and made my marks on my Arkady vest. (See the below post for a quick tutorial of how I did that.) Once completed I started the process of installing the grommets. I will say that this was more or less eyeballed and went off reference pics. But here is what I did:
Step 1: Hammer on the grommet cutting tool, which doesn't cut Arkady's material by the way.
Step 2: You can see the circle indent it makes.
Step 3: Using a hobby knife, cut out the hole.
Step 4: You'll also have some padding to deal with underneath, so make sure to clean that out.
Step 5: Using the Grommet Cutting Tool Hammer the hole again. (This is for the reverse side)
Step 6: Flip the Vest over and you should see the indent, Using a hobby knife, cut that piece out.
Step 7: Put on the Grommet.
Step 8: Pound on the Grommet.
Grommet Procedure.jpg


Once this was complete (and I have two left to do - Left Shoulder Armor) I was treated with this.....
Vest Grommets.jpg


And my Armor mounted on it great I thought!
Mounted Armor.jpg


That procedure took a few hours and was a very monotonous and tedious task indeed. Just glad it's over. Just a note......but a couple of the Grommets may interfere with the inside pocket that Arkady sews on the inside of the vest.
1) One grommet for me, landed on the inside of the pocket.
2) Another Grommet had me cut the bottom seam of the pocket.
Screw Inside of Pocket.jpg

Grommet on Pocket.jpg


Other than that, this procedure wasn't all that hard, just takes time in getting everything right. I will say that the Fettronics battery pack fits nicely on the inside of that pocket and is NOT noticeable at all. (y)

Gonna attempt to do my Gauntlets next.

-Iron
 
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Thanks for posting this tutorial, Iron. Installing the hardware on the vest is one of my concerns in doing a Fett costume. Making sure the armor is in the right place before installing the hardware so that it will look correct with the flight suit and vest on is what is giving me pause.
 
It is NOT PLA. It is ABS! AprilStormProps claims the print comes from a commercial machine (Not CR-10's - whatever that means). April said that being ABS Plastic, it is light and strong and it will NOT need any additional reinforcements like you might need on a PLA print. I was also led to believe that sanding ABS vs PLA goes much easier too. To be honest, I have not had any item that was 3D printed, this is my first. So I can't say really what the true differences between an ABS print job vs a PLA print job would look like.

Anywho, I plan on ordering some of this stuff and using it on my blaster......
View attachment 195925
I heard it works magic on ABS and PLA 3D prints. Anyone use this and have any opinions on it?

Thanks,
-Iron
I also built 2 AprilStorm EE-3's and used glazing putty on the larger areas and then lightly sanded once dry. Used high build primer afterwards and then paint. For mine, I added grips (found on ebay cheap) and tried to recreate the "block" on the brace using JB SteelStick. One came out better than the other. Here are some pics- still need to make it more silvery though.
 

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Thanks for posting this tutorial, Iron. Installing the hardware on the vest is one of my concerns in doing a Fett costume. Making sure the armor is in the right place before installing the hardware so that it will look correct with the flight suit and vest on is what is giving me pause.

sandtrooper8867 - You are right to have a bit of pause.....I also felt queasy in potentially wrecking my $100.00 Arkady Vest. Especially working with some of the armor that has large curves to it (Like the abdomen armor piece), so you know automatically that the screws are gonna sit funny. And actually holds true with any of the props I have. Trust me, that Machine Craft Metal Flame Thrower Nozzle conversion was about as far as I was willing to adventure, hahaha! Them Boba Maker Gauntlets are a $380.00 prop that I was hacking up. o_O But the vest and grommets actually wasn't too bad. Again, I eyeballed this and when done - it turned out great I thought! Here was my process in getting the positions of them grommets just right.

Step 1: Place your armor with flat grommet pieces under it, and adjust where needed to get the armor looking right.
Step 2: Using something long and skinny (I used a long scissors) maneuver the grommets in a way that they'll seat the screw just right. Also go under the fabric and gently lift it to see if the screw will land correctly in the grommet.
Step 3: Do Step 2, for all other grommets.
Step 4: Very gently lift the armor leaving the flat grommets in place and then with a sharpie, put a dot in the center of the grommets.
Armor Placement.jpg


Hope this additional information helps. (y)

Thanks,
-Iron
 
I got around to finishing my Cape. I forgot to mention earlier that I got this off of eBay for $15.00, it is a genuine US Army Half Shelter! (y)
Half Shelter.jpg


I saw that the stitching was not correct but I have a local alterations gal that does my fine tuning. We have good rapport, but she laughed at what a dork I was for bringing this and asking. Hahaha! :lol: I had her complete the stitching (as I'm not comfortable working a sewing machine myself) and another $20.00 later I had this!
Front of Cape 1.jpg


I thought she did a great job on it. I know it looks long in this picture and I had her do it that way cause I didn't know how it would looked on me when attached to the armor. (Thus I had to wait a few months for the armor to get to me). But, now that I have it I can finish it! I did my trimmings and cut out the holes and using my airbrush, misted on my black burn and soot markings. when done, I was treated with this.....
Iron's Cape.jpg


I'm 6' 2" tall and the cape measured out at 28 1/4 inches wide and 41 1/2 inches long. As a former member of the US Army (1994-2004 - Combat Engineer) I couldn't help but feel somewhat bad about doing this to this poor half shelter, but then I remembered it's going to a good cause. :lol: I also wanted your guys thoughts on should I look into removing the US stamp on the back side of the cape?
Back of Cape.jpg


In addition, I also took it upon myself to make that little piece that also attaches to the cape. This was also before I had my airbrush so I used rattle cans and dry brushing on some silver and some nuts and washers I found at my local Lowes.
ROTJ Cape Parts.jpg

Paints.jpg


Using my Dremel with a cutting wheel bit and round sanding tip I was able to create this......
Cape Accessory.jpg


Whatcha guys think?

-Iron
 

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