Ord Mantell's ESB build

[Ord Mantell]

After looking at blurry pics of the ESB right gauntlet for weeks I decided to put the white 'chip' at the front of the whipcord housing on my gauntlet.

this is the best pic I can find of it. It's the white area in front of the whipcord tip.

My first attempt revealed to me that the tip on my whipcord housing is not quite right.

Actually for PP1, the copper does seem to be right at the end like this:

But the ESB has the copper tip a little more recessed:

I cut into the tip with a dremel another mm or two to create the recess

Then I cleared out a bigger white spot on the gauntlet by just removing the paint. To me, the spot looks like it could be one of two things. Maybe the whipcord housing was already attached when they painted the gauntlet green and did the weathering washes and they simply made a masking error on the front and the spot came out as clean white plastic, or perhaps there was a greeblie attached to the tip that fell off somewhere between painting the gauntlets and getting on set for the first photos of it. In both of those scenarios, the white would be the raw plastic of the gauntlet, so I opted to remove the paint and show the raw plastic for the spot just like in the area in the middle (indeed, I now suspect the entire area underneath the whipcord was probably unpainted).

I could be wrong, but going by the blurry photos, this is what I think is going on:

 

[Ord Mantell]

Summer and it's attendant obligations of fun and tomfoolery coupled with pandemic restrictions easing up has taken a toll on progress. A number of interesting things have developed since my last update, but I'll have to save those for later updates.

For now, it's time to do one last wafer-thin tweak to the helmet before sending it off for the ESB paintjob: I wanted to redo the mq-1 board and visor material over the keyslots. The first attempt was not entirely successful. The visor material cracked in two places while it cooled and also didn;t have enough curve to it. My attempt to replicate the look of the gunky adhesive didn't quite look right either:

Attempt #2:

I experimented with more adhesives, from amber epoxy resins to pipe dope, and in the end I felt "shoe goo" with tint worked best.

Then a quick mockup of the interior components waiting for install... still need to wire up the electronics, and will need the gray and black duct tape, but will wait on all that for after the exterior paint job.

 

[Ord Mantell]

This came today... the Clothears ESB bonnet/cowl:

It's beautifully done. Made from the same lighter material as the neck, as seen in the photos of the PP1 fitting session (but not the one used in the fitting):

It's kind of messy up in there under the helmet for the moment, but will get it fixed up later:

I didn't really capture it very well in the photos but I like how the helmet sits on the head now. I think it's better than before. A little more natural to the look of the on-screen presence. This is why, even though it's not a visible part of the costume, its sometimes worth it to pay attention to what you can't see, because it might have an effect on the things you can. I'll do some real screen comparison shots at some point soon.

 

[SPY007]

Your attention to, and level of, detail is unreal. Wow.

 

[Ord Mantell]

I wanted to tackle what I call the "tea stain" on the right glove. It's not probably truly a stain, as it looks like it might have been lightly brushed on, but hard to know for sure. It's very subtly splotchy.

exaggerated color:

could be the poor grain of the available photos, but the color seems to spill over to the gray on the glove around the thumb, too.

to get a better sense of the placement:

I made a "stain" from woodland scenics yellow ochre liquid pigment. I built it up in layers but still overdid it in spots, which I corrected with some spot remover.

There is also the additional small detail on the right glove in scene 371, where the stitching ripped and the pad is coming off:

But I'm not sure if I want to go quite this far. I think I'll leave out this unintended costume glitch.

Your attention to, and level of, detail is unreal. Wow.

Thank you, sir!

 

[SPY007]

where did you find the flexible hands?

 

[Ord Mantell]

where did you find the flexible hands?

I bought the arms/hands off ebay 10 or 11 years ago. Foam covered wire from shoulder to finger tip. They were made for a specific brand or model mannequin so I had to modify the shoulder joint on my existing manny to accomodate them. I *think* they were made in Canada, but I'm not sure I'm remembering that correctly. I've not seen them anywhere since. It's a bummer because I'd like to get more.

 

[Ord Mantell]

So of all the reproduction parts of the costume I bought in my original spending spree ten years ago, the only one I remain happy with to this day and will never need to upgrade or replace is the V2 jetpack harness made by Mojo Fett (Gav) and Bobby Fett UK (Rob, now of RS Props fame). The original run is explained in detail here by Gino and one of the best updates with looks at the process is here. I'm not sure if more runs were ever done of this, or if RS Props now makes a descendant of this version or what, but it is truly a superb reproduction.

Although the super trooper prototype seems to use scuba gear style nylon straps, the versions on display have paneled seat belt style straps with four panels, which I imagine was probably the standard of the day:

the weld points at the bottom are the same on the supertrooper prototype (red arrows) but it seems to have an extra hole at the bottom (green arrow) not seen on the other harnesses.

I haven't seen anything to know for sure which of the harnesses were actually used on ESB... whether it was the ST version or the ones seen on the ROTJ exhibits is not terribly clear.

---

I painted the US Divers buckle ten years ago. I went with a dark bluish gray based on screen caps from the dining room scene.

with exaggerated color, you can tell how the greens got greener but the buckle didn't. If anything, it got bluer, similar to the suit or gloves:

We do have this continuity shot, and the buckle appears a grayish green here but I don't trust the colors here at all.

It would be great if there was a better reference. I certainly wouldn't declare gray the definitive choice for the color. For sure the ROTJ exhibits have a desaturated, high value green on the buckles, and so did at least one of the touring suits (might be the same buckle):

I'm going to stick with the gray unless better references of the ESB buckle turn up. Maybe the release of 4k80 will help resolve the issue.

 

[SPY007]

I assume every one knows this, but the Bespin guard w/his hand on the Solo Carbon block is the same guy wearing white super trooper trooper costume in black and white costume fitting photos AND he was Bossk. Also, wasn't a woman in the Fett suit in the dinning room scene? The costume fits her very differently.

 

[Ord Mantell]

Yes, I imagine a lot of ppl here know that's the actor Alan Harris. He was also the body of Han Solo in the HIC. So in some sense, he is escorting his own body cast. Never heard about the woman in the suit story, though. It's not a complicated scene. I can't imagine they spent more than a few hours filming it and we have pictures of Bulloch in costume on that set, so that would seem unlikely.

 

[AlphaCloneFett]

I assume every one knows this, but the Bespin guard w/his hand on the Solo Carbon block is the same guy wearing white super trooper trooper costume in black and white costume fitting photos AND he was Bossk. Also, wasn't a woman in the Fett suit in the dinning room scene? The costume fits her very differently.

now that think about it, the dining room scene, boba's movements are more on the feminine side, interesting!

 

[RamSkirata]

Yes, I imagine a lot of ppl here know that's the actor Alan Harris. He was also the body of Han Solo in the HIC. So in some sense, he is escorting his own body cast. Never heard about the woman in the suit story, though. It's not a complicated scene. I can't imagine they spent more than a few hours filming it and we have pictures of Bulloch in costume on that set, so that would seem unlikely.

Chiming in on the woman in suit story...
I remember an interview where Bulloch talked about how he just had to look cool and professional with minimal movements, which fitted him quite well that day as he was dead tired. I THINK that he was talking about the Dining rooms scene as I seem to remember that he mentioned the cowboy-spurs sound in the same interview as well, which is a big part of the dining room scene.
I could be mistaken though.

 

[KaanE]

The dinning room scene wasn't him IIRC. I cannot remember who was in there, but it was a man definetly. RafalFett will throw some light for sure.

 

[RafalFett]

The only other scene in which Jeremy wasn't in the suit is the torture chamber to the elevator scene. It was John Morton, who was also Luke's gunner known as Dak.

Here's the info from my ESB chronology thread (The Empire Strikes Back - Boba Fett's on stage chronology.):

May 15, 1979
Scene 371 is then filmed on Stage 2, with Lando getting a “bad feeling” about Vader and Fett, mid-May 1979. (Notice the new paint job on the Cloud City corridor, which is now a red-brown instead of white—the art and camera departments continually relit and redecorated to make a few Cloud City sets into many.)

Extra info:
'Dak' [actor John Fass Morton] donned the costume of Boba Fett when actor Jeremy Bulloch, who played the beloved bounty hunter, couldn't be there... The scene with Morton inside the historic Boba suit is the one where Fett confronts Vader over Solo's impending carbon-freezing and says, 'He's no good to me dead.'

Scott Chernoff and Jon Bradley Snyder - Star Wars Insider #34 (Spring 1997)

 

[RafalFett]

The spurs were added in post production by Ben Burrt.

 

[KaanE]

The spurs were added in post production by Ben Burrt.

Maybe that's what I have mixed in my head.

 

[Ord Mantell]

These keycaps/studs are from the Royal 242PD printing calculator found by sutt_hero_rotj discussed here. I went with M5 nuts and screws, though M4 could also possibly be on the originals. Sanded the tops flat. While I believe these keys are the correct size and mostly the correct shape, there are lots of brands and models which had keys of this style, so the actual found part for these may never be known for sure without some insider info.

I used GI Red from Testors for the red top. Whatever the red they used on the original, it may or may not be the same bright red they used on the flamethrower. Just so happens I used a fluorescent red on my thrower but its very close to the GI Red:

 

[sutt_hero_rotj]

These keycaps/studs are from the Royal 242PD printing calculator found by sutt_hero_rotj discussed here. I went with M5 nuts and screws, though M4 could also possibly be on the originals. Sanded the tops flat. While I believe these keys are the correct size and mostly the correct shape, there are lots of brands and models which had keys of this style, so the actual found part for these may never be known for sure without some insider info.

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I used GI Red from Testors for the red top. Whatever the red they used on the original, it may or may not be the same bright red they used on the flamethrower. Just so happens I used a fluorescent red on my thrower but its very close to the GI Red:

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They look great !

 

[SPY007]

Your posts got me tinkering with my own build, Did you put as much research and time into your ESB knee armor? I am working on mine to make them more accurate, and am not finding much on TDH. Please post a pic or two if you can thanks.

 

[Ord Mantell]

I'm putting a lot of time into the armor so it can be more accurate. Which is why it's not been painted yet. There is an effort underway regarding the armor which I plan to post and discuss when I can make a thorough presentation. Sorry to be so vague, but hopefully the post will be of some value to you when I eventually get to it.