Sni9er
Active Hunter
So .. back again working on my ROTJ Fett i decided to upgrade from the generic LED/holder to a more accurate incandescent part that fitted the measurements i'd found here on TDH
RS 576-478 (6V 40ma)
Unfortunately the old part was larger than the new which meant I'd need fill & repaint the area, i also wanted to replace the switch as it was a little difficult to operate i was almost put off doing the whole thing at the thought of having to re-do the paint part myself but after years of TDH lurking i felt up to the task haha
so here is the gauntlet without the LED fitted as you can see the side must've taken a little damage when it was fitted so it was good to patch that up anyway !
first up i removed the rocket and masked the area around the LED and the switch as well as removing the glue and switch from inside the gauntlet, I used Multi surface Frog Tape to mask my edges having used it for years for several house painting touch ups i was confident it would do the job (i NEVER use ordinary masking tape after several horrendous experiences with over adhesion or left residue.
Next up was the filling for this I used U-Pol STK/38 P38 Body Filler, which sets quick and leaves a great finish on cars so figured it would suit well on the fett! needless to say i cant stress the mix ratio enough golf-ball to pea .. I probably made about 3cm^3 and added way to much hardener resulting in having about 2 minute application time before it went off as opposed to the regular 5-10 mins, but it was a small quantity so i didn't mind to much
after this stage there truly was no turning back haha and so set in the anxiety :-O
anyway after 20 mins it was set hard and i started with a sharp wood chisel to take the faces down followed by some wet & dry, below you can see the part after cleanup with a layer of herron grey velspar all in 1 primer/paint as a base coat with 2 coats of Rustoleum Elegant Metallic Silver
the few pits you can see where the filler hasn't covered enough i wasn't too bothered about as i'd be re-drilling in that area, or would add some damage texture to the edge
anyway after it was finished i removed the masking looked pretty decent
Next i re applied my tape and also with 000 steel wool just flattened the metallic layer and applied Liquid Latex (works just like paint mask) to the edges & rims of the new switch/light locations i then applied a dab of water and sea salt, and left it to dry
once this was dry i applied 2 layers of Rusoleum Claret Wine which was a close match to the paint on my gauntlet however after applying I might later repaint with Tamiya Flatt red & Hull red (which i've seen is another common used combo here in the UK)
for weathering i used a pin to remove the salt particles and the liquid latex mask, i also applied a layer of tea water to add a rusted hint to the silver to match and lastly which i think was my own addition to dirty up the switch and the light/as well as the paint/blending i applied shoe polish brush (with black reminant on) to the whole area to dirty things up
and now for the results with the new 6V Incandecent wired up to a 9v temporarily while I work on my fett-lectronics (combined rf servo/motor/GOW bulbs & gauntlet light/switch coming soon)
thanks again TDH for being THE resource
RS 576-478 (6V 40ma)
Unfortunately the old part was larger than the new which meant I'd need fill & repaint the area, i also wanted to replace the switch as it was a little difficult to operate i was almost put off doing the whole thing at the thought of having to re-do the paint part myself but after years of TDH lurking i felt up to the task haha
so here is the gauntlet without the LED fitted as you can see the side must've taken a little damage when it was fitted so it was good to patch that up anyway !
first up i removed the rocket and masked the area around the LED and the switch as well as removing the glue and switch from inside the gauntlet, I used Multi surface Frog Tape to mask my edges having used it for years for several house painting touch ups i was confident it would do the job (i NEVER use ordinary masking tape after several horrendous experiences with over adhesion or left residue.
Next up was the filling for this I used U-Pol STK/38 P38 Body Filler, which sets quick and leaves a great finish on cars so figured it would suit well on the fett! needless to say i cant stress the mix ratio enough golf-ball to pea .. I probably made about 3cm^3 and added way to much hardener resulting in having about 2 minute application time before it went off as opposed to the regular 5-10 mins, but it was a small quantity so i didn't mind to much
after this stage there truly was no turning back haha and so set in the anxiety :-O
anyway after 20 mins it was set hard and i started with a sharp wood chisel to take the faces down followed by some wet & dry, below you can see the part after cleanup with a layer of herron grey velspar all in 1 primer/paint as a base coat with 2 coats of Rustoleum Elegant Metallic Silver
the few pits you can see where the filler hasn't covered enough i wasn't too bothered about as i'd be re-drilling in that area, or would add some damage texture to the edge
anyway after it was finished i removed the masking looked pretty decent
Next i re applied my tape and also with 000 steel wool just flattened the metallic layer and applied Liquid Latex (works just like paint mask) to the edges & rims of the new switch/light locations i then applied a dab of water and sea salt, and left it to dry
once this was dry i applied 2 layers of Rusoleum Claret Wine which was a close match to the paint on my gauntlet however after applying I might later repaint with Tamiya Flatt red & Hull red (which i've seen is another common used combo here in the UK)
for weathering i used a pin to remove the salt particles and the liquid latex mask, i also applied a layer of tea water to add a rusted hint to the silver to match and lastly which i think was my own addition to dirty up the switch and the light/as well as the paint/blending i applied shoe polish brush (with black reminant on) to the whole area to dirty things up
and now for the results with the new 6V Incandecent wired up to a 9v temporarily while I work on my fett-lectronics (combined rf servo/motor/GOW bulbs & gauntlet light/switch coming soon)
thanks again TDH for being THE resource
