Ord Mantell's PP2 Build
- Thread starter Ord Mantell
- Start date
Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
Ah yes, the blaster... I made some stencils for the main parts that are stencil-able, but got sidetracked by starting up the new helmet paintjob. Back in January. Oy. Time is going by so fast. I painted the helmet silver and then got mired down in researching colors. Now I'm doing my ESB gauntlets and I expect the new 'final' ESB armor to arrive soon. I want to get almost everything done except the helmet this summer, so when the ESB gauntlets are done, I will likely get back to working on the blaster paintjob. It should be fun but its always nerve-wracking to paint an expensive found part, knowing that you really have no room for effing it up. First decision is what color red to paint the trigger button. I still don't know what the metal greeblies are underneath either.
Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
One small but nice upgrade before getting to the blaster...
I'm swapping out the old Mojo-Fett stylus brush rods for a new set made by MachineCraft. He is making nearly perfect replicas of the Michell stylus brush rod that are great for the whipcord cylinder on the gauntlet, but he took the next logical step and is coming out with sets that work for the shin tool as well using the new more accurate replica. This new shin tool version set is not available yet, but will be very soon.
These are outstanding replicas.
Here is a set next to my original vintage parts shin tool.
Here is a comparison with the Mojo-Fett version from the olden days. There's a lot going on, but the most obvious difference is in the knurling:
The new rods are good enough you can put the old vintage parts on them to make a refurbished Michell stylus brush if you want:
On the original costume, the cylinders are in contact with one another all the way down, so you have to make sure you screw them together tightly...
then weathering by misting with Floquil Tuscan Red... which is one of several floquil colors that can match well for whatever was on the original pp2.
and here is the old with the new...
finished...
I'm swapping out the old Mojo-Fett stylus brush rods for a new set made by MachineCraft. He is making nearly perfect replicas of the Michell stylus brush rod that are great for the whipcord cylinder on the gauntlet, but he took the next logical step and is coming out with sets that work for the shin tool as well using the new more accurate replica. This new shin tool version set is not available yet, but will be very soon.
These are outstanding replicas.
Here is a set next to my original vintage parts shin tool.
Here is a comparison with the Mojo-Fett version from the olden days. There's a lot going on, but the most obvious difference is in the knurling:
The new rods are good enough you can put the old vintage parts on them to make a refurbished Michell stylus brush if you want:
On the original costume, the cylinders are in contact with one another all the way down, so you have to make sure you screw them together tightly...
then weathering by misting with Floquil Tuscan Red... which is one of several floquil colors that can match well for whatever was on the original pp2.
and here is the old with the new...
finished...
Slave1Pirate117
Hunter
Hell yea man. Looks awesome. You always take such good photos too.
Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
Color test for the helmet...
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Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
I'm cheating here, because this is not my helmet. Deancfh came over with his camera to take some pics of his new pp2 helmet paintup on my manny. I took these shots with my phone... It's both a joy and a curse to be able to take these pictures. The curse is: now I have to do the hard work to paint a helmet of my own to match it or I will be sad.
Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
yeah its just my garage. you can see why I can't take any low angle photos like the original photoshoot. For that, I will have to setup outside or rent a better space.
DennisFett1142
Active Hunter
For me, the PP2 look is all about the mannequin underneath. Yours is appropriately thin and lanky and looks awesome. I lucked out when I did mine as I had purchased a female mannequin for something else that I didn't use and was able to leverage the lower half of that with a male upper that really made the posing pop. Yours again looks like there's a guy in the suit. Amazing!
Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
I agree. As far as a display is concerned, the proportions and pose are as important as the suit itself. But I do secretly wish I was 6'1"-2" and skinny so I could wear it convincingly from time to time myself!
How it started...
how it's going...
Everyone on here wishes they had that body build hahaha
Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
A quick fix/upgrade to the rocket on the jetpack by Lou. It had the old version.
It's a little big. And the paint scheme is slightly off.
I'm rebuilding it using a print from RafalFett 's model, which was actually a leftover extra I had from when I re-did my esb jetpack rocket, along with Carbon Copy Studio's (deadFox ) metal kit. His kit is beautifully packaged.
After lots of sanding and primer layers, I put glossy white on it... which I sanded down a little so it's not too glossy to paint over...
took apart the old rocket and had to hollow out the base...
silver layer and masking...
I used Floquil Rock Island Maroon for the red, and engine black for the black at the base...
then weathering
before and after...
It's a little big. And the paint scheme is slightly off.
I'm rebuilding it using a print from RafalFett 's model, which was actually a leftover extra I had from when I re-did my esb jetpack rocket, along with Carbon Copy Studio's (deadFox ) metal kit. His kit is beautifully packaged.
After lots of sanding and primer layers, I put glossy white on it... which I sanded down a little so it's not too glossy to paint over...
took apart the old rocket and had to hollow out the base...
silver layer and masking...
I used Floquil Rock Island Maroon for the red, and engine black for the black at the base...
then weathering
before and after...
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Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
Back to the blaster. First phase was building the scratch built parts and assembly, then upgrading to the orange button version and fixing the telescope barrel length.
This next phase is to complete the assembly and set it up to look like how it did when it was sent to Daydream Studios.
From this:
to this:
1) trigger painted red
2) tape over logos with runes
3) metal greeblies under the receiver
Easy enough!
1) Red button
ConvergenceProp feels this red is probably regular old Testors red and I agree. Except I had a spray can of a very similar red already on the shelf so I decided to give it a shot and I'm happy with it.
My plan was to open up the handle grip and paint the trigger button without having to mask, but for the life of me I could not get enough torque on those little screws to take it apart. They were starting to strip so I gave up and just masked it off.
2) tape with runes
We have a better than usual blurry shot of the Kaiser logo on the shoulder sling with a strip of tape over it with some kind of markings...
Then the grip also has tape over it but the markings are even more unclear...
almost looks like regular black marker that got wet and blurred up in purplish hues.
But the ST/PP1 appears to also have regularly spaced markings for this part...
the PP2 here looks blank at first but I feel like there is a faint hint of markings there that could be similar.
Both instances on the grip and shoulder sling look like the same sort of style markings on the jetpacks and the ESB helmet made by combining letters off a letraset sheet. I have no confirmation that's what this is, but it seems the best explanation I can think of, so I am going with that. I happen to have a letraset in Folio Condensed Bold 14 pt, and it is just about the perfect size for both set of markings, so this is what I'll use...
I thought tennantlim made an excellent guess at the markings on the sling area (his post).
I'm gonna take my own guess at it and say it could also be something like this:
It's anybody's guess and no one is right or wrong. I was a little sloppy on the transfer of characters. My first time doing a letraset transfer. I just want to emphasize, with both of these labels I am making a fiction. It's just a guess at something that might be similar to what was on the real prop. No confirmations or indications of correctness here... for one, the markings are a tad too small...
For the grip label, I feel like the original got a lot of the markings rubbed off, smudged or covered up by the paint job and weathering, and it's extremely difficult to even tell what is there at all with the photos available, so it's even more of a guess than the sling...
Hopefully with paint and weathering I can get that to look a little more like those blurry reference photos. That's the idea anyway.
3) The metal greeblies underneath
I spent some time trying to find something for the complex one on the right. It has a feel of some kind of valve, especially the triangular shape in the middle with its airflow form for a sealing gasket sorta vibe.
Here's an old Schrader valve. Not the same obviously, but just has that same sort of look. Could be something similar to this, just maybe something more specific-use and most probably rare. These schrader valves are ubiquitous...
I estimate the part to be about 22mm long for the portion sticking out of the gun, and somewhere in the ballpark of 5mm wide or so. I haven't found anything that matches it yet, but I do think it's a found part.
So I decided to make a stand-in until the part is discovered or revealed. I went with some brass valve cores. These are the short type.
I just cut them up and rearranged the parts. They have a central rod that holds the assembly together with a spring inside. This ended up about 5mm wide and 22mm long.
For the other part, the plain rod, I estimated that to be about 3mm wide and 18mm in length. You know what else is 3mm wide and is just a plain stainless steel rod? The cutoff from the Pulce 40 speargun trigger rod.
I cut about 30mm off the end of the Pulce 40 trigger rod so that left about 18mm of plain unthreaded rod to leave sticking out of the blaster.
And that's all, except one more consideration.
I do think it's very clear the blaster was delivered with the grip handle on backwards.
This might seem innocuous, but I don't have any reason to believe the team at Daydream would've reoriented the grip before painting it. For those unfamiliar, the modular nature of the sling attachment and the grip make it possible to reverse the grip orientation so the button can be facing forward or backward.
I do think this matters, because if it was painted with the trigger facing backwards, then I would want to paint it that way, too, and re-orient it forward afterwards.
I'll look more into that for the next phase, which is painting it -- finally. For now, it's ready for delivery to Daydream Studios...
This next phase is to complete the assembly and set it up to look like how it did when it was sent to Daydream Studios.
From this:
to this:
1) trigger painted red
2) tape over logos with runes
3) metal greeblies under the receiver
Easy enough!
1) Red button
ConvergenceProp feels this red is probably regular old Testors red and I agree. Except I had a spray can of a very similar red already on the shelf so I decided to give it a shot and I'm happy with it.
My plan was to open up the handle grip and paint the trigger button without having to mask, but for the life of me I could not get enough torque on those little screws to take it apart. They were starting to strip so I gave up and just masked it off.
2) tape with runes
We have a better than usual blurry shot of the Kaiser logo on the shoulder sling with a strip of tape over it with some kind of markings...
Then the grip also has tape over it but the markings are even more unclear...
almost looks like regular black marker that got wet and blurred up in purplish hues.
But the ST/PP1 appears to also have regularly spaced markings for this part...
the PP2 here looks blank at first but I feel like there is a faint hint of markings there that could be similar.
Both instances on the grip and shoulder sling look like the same sort of style markings on the jetpacks and the ESB helmet made by combining letters off a letraset sheet. I have no confirmation that's what this is, but it seems the best explanation I can think of, so I am going with that. I happen to have a letraset in Folio Condensed Bold 14 pt, and it is just about the perfect size for both set of markings, so this is what I'll use...
I thought tennantlim made an excellent guess at the markings on the sling area (his post).
I'm gonna take my own guess at it and say it could also be something like this:
It's anybody's guess and no one is right or wrong. I was a little sloppy on the transfer of characters. My first time doing a letraset transfer. I just want to emphasize, with both of these labels I am making a fiction. It's just a guess at something that might be similar to what was on the real prop. No confirmations or indications of correctness here... for one, the markings are a tad too small...
For the grip label, I feel like the original got a lot of the markings rubbed off, smudged or covered up by the paint job and weathering, and it's extremely difficult to even tell what is there at all with the photos available, so it's even more of a guess than the sling...
Hopefully with paint and weathering I can get that to look a little more like those blurry reference photos. That's the idea anyway.
3) The metal greeblies underneath
I spent some time trying to find something for the complex one on the right. It has a feel of some kind of valve, especially the triangular shape in the middle with its airflow form for a sealing gasket sorta vibe.
Here's an old Schrader valve. Not the same obviously, but just has that same sort of look. Could be something similar to this, just maybe something more specific-use and most probably rare. These schrader valves are ubiquitous...
I estimate the part to be about 22mm long for the portion sticking out of the gun, and somewhere in the ballpark of 5mm wide or so. I haven't found anything that matches it yet, but I do think it's a found part.
So I decided to make a stand-in until the part is discovered or revealed. I went with some brass valve cores. These are the short type.
I just cut them up and rearranged the parts. They have a central rod that holds the assembly together with a spring inside. This ended up about 5mm wide and 22mm long.
For the other part, the plain rod, I estimated that to be about 3mm wide and 18mm in length. You know what else is 3mm wide and is just a plain stainless steel rod? The cutoff from the Pulce 40 speargun trigger rod.
I cut about 30mm off the end of the Pulce 40 trigger rod so that left about 18mm of plain unthreaded rod to leave sticking out of the blaster.
And that's all, except one more consideration.
I do think it's very clear the blaster was delivered with the grip handle on backwards.
This might seem innocuous, but I don't have any reason to believe the team at Daydream would've reoriented the grip before painting it. For those unfamiliar, the modular nature of the sling attachment and the grip make it possible to reverse the grip orientation so the button can be facing forward or backward.
I do think this matters, because if it was painted with the trigger facing backwards, then I would want to paint it that way, too, and re-orient it forward afterwards.
I'll look more into that for the next phase, which is painting it -- finally. For now, it's ready for delivery to Daydream Studios...
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Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
Loving every update here. I dig your interpretation of the markings and greeblies on the blaster.
Ord Mantell
Well-Known Hunter
Thank you! Your blaster build serves as my guide and inspiration.
