Iron's ROTJ WIP

[Lazerjock]

Here is what I did for my thigh pockets. I split them down the middle to allow them to form to my leg better. Super light weight and gives the look I was after. The hip pouches use the same foam but one piece and I added a 1" x 1" down the center to give it a little more bulk. All easily removed if I want to carry a cell phone or other items.

 

[Irongladiator]

Lazerjock
This one's for you! It is hard to tell from these pics but the coating process with the XTC-3D solution went on great. It dries on Clear and glossy. So you can still see the Print Lines, but feel them.....you cannot.

I inspected it all it it came out great! There were a few bumps were the XTC-3D stuff kinda ppoled in an area and then dried. but it came off pretty quick with some 220 grit sand paper. I took 30 mins and sanded it all down. It was baby smooth at this point.

I'm just gonna give it a wipe down in the morning with a wet wipe and let it dry in the sun (Should be in the 90's here tomorrow) then once dry, hit it with some Primer and then really look it over for them pesky lines. I suspect if I see any lines or imperfections whatsoever they'll be tiny and in places and hopefully be hidden by painting. But we shouldn't see any lines in the major areas. Overall I'm quite satisfied with the product and have no issues recommending it to others. More pics to follow!

-Iron

 

[FettHam]

Totally non Fett related, but we need more Sunny the dog pics Lovely dog
Could make a little collie armour suit & jetpack

 

[Lazerjock]

Iron,
Thanks for the pictures. I always wondered about that stuff. Was it difficult to sand? If you only spent 30 minutes it must not be too difficult.
Of coarse you know you will need to continue posting pics as you go. I want to see after a coat of primer now.

And yes more Sunny pictures and side walk art are a must.

 

[Irongladiator]

Lazerjock
Was not difficult at all. Just trying to hit all the nooks and crannies was really the only difficult part. The scope rings and trigger guard are still some what tacky. I think I'm just gonna hit those with some XTC-3D (correctly mixed). If I wasn't such a perfectionist I'd say screw it and throw some primer on there.

Bout to sidetrack my own WIP again - but it's what y'all asked for. More pics of the dog, eh? Sunny is a purebred Border Collie, we got her back in May of 2018 for my Daughter Ally. We asked her what she wanted that year for her Birthday, a Pool Party with friends, pizza and cake and presents......or a puppy. She chose a puppy, I chose the breed. Even though we got Sunny for Ally's Birthday, Sunny landed on me as being "Her Person" - She follows me EVRYWHERE! As you may or may not know, this breed of dog is incredibly active and has a near endless amount of energy. I wanted a dog that would keep us all active. And she does exactly that! I've read tons of forums before landing on this breed and one of the most impressive things I read was when they compared a Border Collie to a Wolf. In that Wolves can run up to 60 miles a day before they hit exhaustion, and Border Collies can easily hit 120 miles before they go down for the count. There was one guy on one of the forums who rides his bicycle 50 miles daily and his Border Collie is with him - and his Border Collie STILL wants to play after they get home. You hear of horror stories of a Border Collie and most traits say that they get destructive when they get bored. And she was when she was a pup, but I think that's to be expected. They also say that Border Collies are one of the smartest dog breeds and highly trainable, and easy to train. I also think that its the owner(s) of a dog that craft it's behavior too. She is completely well behaved for a Border Collie, and I have her trained pretty good. After the first year we took down her crate for when we go out to run our errands. She doesn't do anything except chill and wait for us to get back home. The commands she knows are:
1) Sit
2) Lay Down
3) Up (Standing from a laydown position)
4) Shake (with Paw)
5) Speak
6) Dance (She gets up on hind paws and bounces around)

Here a favorite one of mine when we first got her at 4 months old in may of 2018....

...and a few days later after getting settled in our house.....

They grow up so friggin' quick don't they? (July 2018)

Sunny at the Dog park.....

Sunny gearing up for Winter....

Sunny attending my Daughters Unicorn Party!

...and contrary to popular belief a Border Collie can get exhausted! (It just takes forever!)

I often thought about getting a portrait done up of her kinda like this....

This and more Star Wars animal pics can be found at Iconic Paws Website (Link below):

Force Collection

We're proud pet owners, so we understand how important it is to preserve cherished memories of your pet. Being happy with your pet portrait isn’t good enough for us; we want you to absolutely love it! If you don’t love it, just let us know and we’ll reprint it for you. It’s as simple as that.

iconicpaw.com

Anywho.....back to Fett Stuff. Hope you guys enjoyed!

-Iron

 

[Lazerjock]

That made me smile! Thank you.
On with the show.

 

[mattman1138]

Hip pouches look great! Stealing that idea

 

[Irongladiator]

Hip pouches look great! Stealing that idea

mattman1138
I'm actually gonna do foam for my pouches. Lazerjock kinda talked me into it. I also felt like they were a bit too square and as Lazerjock put it...."Too Perfect". I bought a sheet of 1.5" thick foam a bit ago that I'm going to be using for my Gauntlets. And now it seems for my pouches as well.

-Iron

 

[FettHam]

Ahh the Unicorn had me floored! They are wonderful dogs, mine was a cross lab/collie and lived until she was 14. Thanks for the pics and smiles

Fett, I've also used the buckshee foam from the gauntlets. I used a piece and also piece(s). Still not sure which I like more, the pieces looks more natural. So maybe try some off cuts you end up with.

 

[Lazerjock]

I looked up buckshee foam. The returns were very interesting.
Are you sure that is what it is called? Maybe misspelled?

 

[Irongladiator]

Update on EE-3
It is still incomplete, but here are some updated pictures of it primed and my base coat of flat black paint on it....

As you recall this EE-3 that I got from AprilStormProps off of Etsy was a kit that was 3D printed with commercial machines in ABS. I used the stuff known as XTC-3D to get rid of those 3D print lines. Here is an example of those 3D Print lines on the scope that I will not be using, as I have purchased a real scope to use instead.

Here some pics of it primed (Post XTC-3D).....

....and here's a few pics of it painted up in the flat black.

My thoughts are that this stuff actually works and offers that quick solution in getting them 3D print lines smoothed out quite nicely. This being my first time even doing this, I didn't think it turned out that bad! I know there are a few print lines that are evident, and some inconsistencies in some spots, but I think it actually adds to the over all condition of the weapon, which is....well.....really worn! Going back to my US Army days, when thinking about the M-16A2 and it's stock (as well as other weapons), and how they can get pretty dinged up and the stock on the EE-3 reminded me of exactly that.

I'll be working on my Jetpack after I get the painted scuffs added to the EE-3. So I'll be using XTC-3D again on that.....More to follow. Stay tuned!

-Iron

 

[Lazerjock]

Wow!! Impressive results. It looks as good or better than if it were acetone washed.

Thank you for documenting the process.

 

[Irongladiator]

Lazerjock
Thanks! This is just a temporary EE-3, I’m in the talks with Sidewinder for one of his. I’ll probably scoop it up after the new year. I’m told his versions are stunning and absolutely amazing!

-Iron

 

[Lazerjock]

I have a Sidewinder. You will not be disappointed.

 

[Boochman]

I also have a Sidewinder with EFX! It’s awesome, and one of the items that friends always ask to see...hahahahaha!

 

[mattman1138]

Just got a look at your EE3. Actually most of it doesn't look bad at all! A few spots obviously still need work, but since you're going with Sidewinder the work needed is a moot point lol

 

[Irongladiator]

Just got a look at your EE3. Actually most of it doesn't look bad at all! A few spots obviously still need work, but since you're going with Sidewinder the work needed is a moot point lol

mattman1138
Yeah, It'll just be enough to get me past Halloween this year, but Halloween in 2021 will be epic, with upgraded stuff!

....d a m n this hobby is spendy!

-Iron

 

[mattman1138]

mattman1138
Yeah, It'll just be enough to get my past Halloween this year, but Halloween in 2021 will be epic, with upgraded stuff!
View attachment 198238

....d a m n this hobby is spendy!

-Iron

Yea I just paid my credit card bill for the last month of going full bore into getting everything else I needed. All I can say is OUCH LOL

 

[Irongladiator]

**UPDATE**
Just filling you guys in. As you know I said I was gonna get my Jet Pack done this week. I totally forgot about how I was meant to attach the Jet Pack to the White Straps. I quickly found that full metal fett is the undisputed king for that solution, so I turned to him....

Full Metal Fett says: "You will not laugh, you will not cry, you will learn by the numbers, I will teach you!" Sorry I couldn't resist - I used the White Fett helmet as is on his profile pic!

But these arrived at my doorstep a few days ago.....

Outstanding work sir! I salute you! Can't wait to get these attached to the kit! As for the kit, I intended to get something on the cheap end yet still look good as I went a bit over budget - hehehe! For that I landed on a seller from Etsy called Coz3D who was selling this....

After reviewing the kit, I figured for $275.00 (Which included Shipping) and being here in the states, not to mention the positive reviews on it. One of which was VutycFett (Thanks VutycFett for your feedback!) I decided to get it. I know this is NOT 100% accurate, but as with my EE-3, I intend to get a better kit in the near future. For now, this will do!

Here is how my kit came.....

My first impressions, was that this isn't a bad little kit for the money. (Never mind the Plastic Colors it was printed with - Hahaha!) It has potential. The parts seemed to line up and go together quite easily. The plastic Jetpack Beacon and Stabilizer are to be replaced by Quest Design Canada's parts . Here is a comparison of the two. (or I should say....no comparison)

Something just has to be said about metal parts....they REALLY do take it up another notch! Speaking of accuracy - Does anyone know how to go about getting Brass to look more like that Brushed Aluminum? As you seen, I was able to darken the Rocket for my Gauntlet, but this is taking it into the other direction. My thought was to leave it for now and darken it up with soot/black effects to hide it a bit. I did spend a little time in figuring out how I wanted my QDC Electronics to be installed in the pack and found a solution. Using some Velcro I was able to get the battery/electronics box mounted and installed in the pack. My LED Beacon is capable of doing a pulse and solid option. (and of course "Off") It took some finagling But I'm pretty happy with the result, it is quite solid and sturdy too!

Also modified were the mounting options for QDC's Metal Beacon and Stabilizer. I'm not 100% on why the pack was designed with them so close to the edge. The screws that go underneath would have interfered with the plastic parts. You can see here that they do in fact interfere - unless of course the plastic beacon and stabilizer were meant to get glued on instead and the holes are markers for where they go....

I also modified the way the Thrusters go onto the kit too. I'd like to think I improved upon the design a bit. Here is what they gave you to accomplish this.....

They expected you to use the little plastic piece and some glue to hold it together. After looking at the parts, here was my idea....
Step 1: Go to a hardware store and get a 5/16" furniture Dowel Nut and a 5/16" Bolt that is 2" in length and some Lock Washers and Fender Washers.
Step 2: Carefully (I cannot stress that enough) drill in a bit further as the dowel nut will need the additional room.
Step 3: If need be - and it was in my case, ream the hole out a bit so the dowel nut fits.
Step 4: Insert the dowel nut.
Step 5: Using a long screwdriver gently snug the dowel nut into place.
Step 6: Drop in the Fender Washer, Lock Washer and Bolt into the Thruster piece.
Step 7: Using a Bolt Driver, get it screwed into place.
Step 8: Enjoy a more secure Thruster!

Here is the kit all put together (Minus the QDC components )......

Tomorrow I'll get some XTC-3D slapped on it and then about 4 hours later, after a light sanding, it'll be time to Prime!

....More to follow - Stay tuned!

-Iron

 

[Lazerjock]

The fist thing I thought when I saw your 3D printed pack was...RafalFett is going to be very upset that someone is printing and selling his stuff in Etsy. Looking closer though I can see that they didn't use his files.

I can also see that it was printed using PLA. While PLA prints easier and looks a little better, it melts at a much lower temperature that ABS. This means if you leave it in a very hot car for a couple hours you may come back to a very soft pack. I've seen this happen on several occasions in Florida.
Just an FYI.
As you saw with my build, ABS tends to warp especially when printing large flat parts. My parts didn't fit together well at all. Lots of filling and sanding with ABS.
The good news is that a 3D printed pack is very light. I think mine come in at 3 lbs.

I love your solution for attaching the thruster nozzles. Very creative.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how yours comes out.