Why screw the ears on?

[NikTrooper]

I've looked at a couple of builds, and they've all screwed the ears on, and I'm just wondering why. They don't normally come off, do they? Why not glue them, except for the rangefinder part (which I was thinking of using magnets for anyway)? Just seems like a lot of extra work with drilling, countersinking and gluing in bolts and stuff. Am I missing something?

 

[intwenothor]

You could if you used a 2 part epoxy because that stuff never comes off and if you don't ever plan on taking the ears off then no reason not to. A lot of people paint the ears separately before attaching them so there's an argument for what you're saying. IIRC the originals were actually painted with the ears on.

 

[superjedi]

Using screws or bolts is very secure. Two part epoxy is excellent stuff, but if the helmet takes a good enough jolt, it could potentially break the bond.

 

[clmayfield]

Yes. In general, I prefer bolts as an attachment method for two reasons: 1) If done right, it is extremely strong. 2) It is reversible.

I have had everything from epoxy to superglue (cyanoacrylate) come off. Bolted on items rarely come off unless I strip out the hole. In the case of the ears, I have the bolts being held to the ears by two part epoxy and the ear then bolted to the helmet. The reason I do that is more for reversibility than strength, but it is pretty strong. If an ear gets too damaged, I can buy a new one and bolt it onto the same helmet rather than trying to repair it. Probably won't happen. But it might.

 

[VIARPE]

Well it depends on what kind of glue do you use. In my experience (not so much with Boba costume but rather in model making and even building), most 2 component glues are extremely strong. There are some that can even glue steel. "Plastic welding", it's called.
It has to be a gap-filler in this case since you'll never have perfect contact between the two surfaces. Even when cyanocrilate sometimes says "gap-filling" in the box it doesn't work well like that. It has to have some flexibilty.