ROTJ Gauntlet Hose and Connector Sizes

[Bob A Feet]

Hey everyone!

So I've been slowly 3D printing pieces for my Boba costume and am currently on the gauntlets. Unfortunately, I've realized I don't have "proper" models for the right gauntlet hose connectors.

I just so happened to find a McMaster-Carr catalog at my work yesterday, and noticed they have CAD models of their parts (which can be converted to STL). It looks like other manufacturers do this too.

I found a couple threads from here regarding the sizes of the parts:

Gauntlet hose connectors

Anyone found a positive match to the metal things that connect the two hoses to the right ROTJ gauntlet?

www.thedentedhelmet.com

ROTJ Right Gauntlet Hose Connector Parts Found

So this is interesting. As I await for the completion of my Jetpack to complete my ESB build, I happen to be passing time refurbishing some older ROTJ Gaunlets and helping out a buddy assemble and repaint his ROTJ Gauntlets. My living room is like a gauntlet assembly line: I am familiar with...

www.thedentedhelmet.com

This seems to be the reference image for the connectors:

To summarize what I've read, the coupler is 1/4" and the flare nut is 3/8". I would think the rod itself is 1/4". However, I found a post by Peregrinus that seems to suggest the coupler and rod are 1/8", and the flare nut might be 1/4":

Gauntlet hose connectors

Thought it would be similar to the sicde ones, just had to ask the dumb question though... Thanks...

www.thedentedhelmet.com

As far as the hose, I've heard 3/8" and 5/8", but according to RafalFett it's an 8mm ID with a 14mm OD:

ROTJ Gauntlet Hose

Hi, I'm at the point in my build where I need to get me some Gauntlet hose. I've been doing a bit of searching over the last couple of hours or so and from the various threads, I see lots of members using either 5/8" or 3/8". Now I'm no expert on these sizes and to be honest I just want to...

www.thedentedhelmet.com

That being said, I've been playing around with modeling the parts and it feels like something doesn't add up. Here's a pic of my WIP:

If anyone can help verify the measurements, I'd really appreciate it! I'll also share my finished STL so others can print them.

Thanks!

 

[RafalFett]

The info of the hose diameter is taken from the Supertrooper costume documentation sheets (at the bottom of the page):

 

[Bob A Feet]

Thanks RafalFett! Most places I looked showed 0.25" as the rod diameter, so I redid my model based on that. I did my best to measure, but in the end a lot of it was just based on what "looked right". You can easily scale it to whatever you want using 0.25" as the base measurement.

I might tweak it once I decide on the rod diameter and hose ID I end up using, but I think it looks pretty good! STL File is attached.

 

[Halo 1]

Looks great! Nice work on that file Bob A Feet.

 

[Peregrinus]

Late to the party, but wanted to add that the images I referenced for the connectors are here in the gallery, of the ROTJ suit on display, with laser calipers.

Makes pretty accurate measurements possible, thanks to that. And remember that the found parts I used are for pipe, where the 1/8" I gave is the inner diameter for the pipe the couplers are supposed to couple. Since I'm not going for exact recreation of the ROTJ piece, the brass pieces were close enough in comparison (the couplers were a fraction shorter, and the hex wrench-grip too long, compared to the originals, and are brass instead of steel), so the outer measurements are off slightly, but not by a whole pipe size. And the 1/4" flare nut was dead on to the 1:1 scaled photo. Not to mention the 1/4" copper pipe I flared and used with it fits perfectly in the accurate braided hose.

For what all that might be worth.

 

[Bob A Feet]

Late to the party, but wanted to add that the images I referenced for the connectors are here in the gallery, of the ROTJ suit on display, with laser calipers.

Makes pretty accurate measurements possible, thanks to that. And remember that the found parts I used are for pipe, where the 1/8" I gave is the inner diameter for the pipe the couplers are supposed to couple. Since I'm not going for exact recreation of the ROTJ piece, the brass pieces were close enough in comparison (the couplers were a fraction shorter, and the hex wrench-grip too long, compared to the originals, and are brass instead of steel), so the outer measurements are off slightly, but not by a whole pipe size. And the 1/4" flare nut was dead on to the 1:1 scaled photo. Not to mention the 1/4" copper pipe I flared and used with it fits perfectly in the accurate braided hose.

For what all that might be worth.

Thanks for the detailed reply Peregrinus!

I ended up tweaking my model a little and ended up with this:

It's on a 3/8 wood dowel from Home Depot. I chose that diameter based on what I measured on stormtrooperguy's ROTJ whipcord model, scaled to 103% (I actually used the whipcord from here since it has a hole for the hose connector).

If I were to print it again, I think I would use a raft for the bottom piece.

Overall, I'm quite happy with it!

 

[Peregrinus]

Your model does look very nice. And accurate within certain tolerances. The O.D. of that 1/4" copper pipe I mentioned is about 5/16", so a 3/8" dowel is easily close enough, especially as an anchor/fitting for the hose, which goes unseen. As for the tube forward of the fittings, here's my measurement of the 1:1 print of that picture, above:

Both tubes are dead-on 1/4" O.D. So that's what I used there. Too many people don't get that tubing is measured by outer diameter and pipe (and pipe fittings) is measured by nominal inner diameter. When the two are mixed, as in something like this, it can get confusing.

1/4" tubing for the tubes running through and along the housing. Back of that is more fudge-able. Everything on your model is accurate, proportion-wise. Certainly better than my first-pass found parts. The post of mine you mentioned from ages ago, used these, found at my local Ace Hardware:

Here are those pieces, rough assembled, next to the 1:1 photo:

Whatever manufacturing differences and varying tolerances between brass and steel, I stand by the pipe measurements of those fittings as 1/8" (for the coupler and nipple) and 1/4" (for the flare nut). They are definitely not the next size up. I thought about just using the brass fittings, as this was a custom Mando and didn't need to be 100% accurate to the original, but I wanted options, and have steel fittings now, too. I need to get pictures of those to post here, as they're even closer to the originals.

As for your model... If it looks right in place, that's all anyone can ask for. Print out that picture I posted in my last post and tweak the settings until you've got it at full scale (one inch between the centers of the two closer laser hotspots, and six between the two end ones) and check your model against the originals. If you're off at all, it's by the merest fractions, and your model should be easily scalable if you feel the need to nudge it down a skosh. I'm curious what one of those, printed in polished steel from Shapeways, would look like...

 

[Bob A Feet]

Thanks Peregrinus! I'm sure it's not completely accurate, but it works well enough for me and the models I used for the right gauntlet and whipcord.

Like you said, I'm sure it would make a decent starting point for someone else to work with.

I browsed the McMaster-Carr catalog to find parts that looked close enough to start with. On the Product Details page, you can download the CAD file, although it required a conversion to .stl. From there, I tweaked the parts until they looked close enough according to reference photos (I mainly used Magic of the Myth).

I know you didn't ask for that info, but it might be helpful to someone