work in progress: WoF gauntlets

[stormtrooperguy]

I smashed up my left MoW gauntlet pretty badly. Cracking a bullwhip in a Fett suit can lead to the gauntlet flying off your arm and hitting the pavement several feet away! I patched it up, but it inspired me to do something I'd been meaning to do for ages.

I'm making my own gauntlets, using the WoF templates handily linked in this forum.

Me, some paper, a couple of For Rent signs and some hot glue. There's a party! I'm going to mold this and make the wearable one out of resin/fiberglass/something, so I'm not worried about how sturdy this is.

Lots of sanding/filling/priming/repeat left to go, but it's shaping up pretty well!

 

[GCNgamer128]

Keep up the great work Brian! I can't wait to see the end result, I know that they are going to look awesome.

 

[Chewcy]

Thats looking great already, nice job

 

[webchief]

Man... that looks incredible!!!

 

[Gator Fett]

That looks great Brian, but why isn't it metal.

 

[Mojo Fett]

Very nice start Brian...

 

[Ripcode]

Knowing how fast you work....

We should see the completed gauntlet say...... tomorrow!

Nice work as usual Brian!

 

[stormtrooperguy]

That looks great Brian, but why isn't it metal.

hahaha! i thought about it, but this will just be the master that i make a mold from, not an actual wearable piece.

though cold cast gauntlets have a certain appeal...

 

[stormtrooperguy]

more sanding and priming last night. i think one more round of that will make this nice and smooth.

 

[GCNgamer128]

Very nice Brian. Have you started on the right gauntlet at all yet?

 

[stormtrooperguy]

Very nice Brian. Have you started on the right gauntlet at all yet?

nope... i'm going to get this one 100% molded and done before i start on that. my right mow gauntlet is fine. my left one took the hit when it fell, so that's the one i want to replace quickly.

i'm pretty sure it's structurally sound, but my repairs were all just painted silver, so that one looks a bit funky right now. not like anyone would notice... just more damage.

 

[BobaFettSlave1]

coldcast dose indeed sound good. cant wait to see it finished

 

[stormtrooperguy]

i started the lower shell and flame thrower housing tonight.

shaping the lower half stinks! it took about an hour of heating, bending, repeating to get them right. i rigged up that little wood structure on the inside to help encourage them to keep the right shape. but now it fits in pretty close to perfectly.

i made sure to make the wrist opening bigger than my current gauntlets. i always have deep red indentations from them, since they are too tight on me even when open as much as the can go.

the top is just about ready to call done. i just need to prime it one last time and give it a 600 grit wet sand.

i've also got to sort out how i'm going to mold the flamethrower.

i got a different resin... "shell shock", which is a brushable one. i got the shell shock fast, aka 3 minute working time. i think that will be too quick, so i may need to get the shell shock slow (8 minutes)

but i think this will be the way to go for the gauntlets, rather than slush casting.

 

[Mojo Fett]

Man Brian.... do you sleep??

Looking good! I've never worked with for-sale sign material does it have a grain like Sintra does?
When I did mine I made sure that the lower clams had the grain running lengthways so that when heat was applied it curved very easily...

Keep it up. 8)

 

[LadySewforus]

That is just amazing work!! Can't wait to see more progress pics!

 

[stormtrooperguy]

no grain, but it does have a super special trick to it that i learned last night.

the red is paint on the white plastic. when heating it, the paint will crack just before the plastic would start to warp. so if you warm it up just to where the red starts cracking, you won't cook the plastic.

i'm not sure how i would have done it if i had planned to make this wearable, but for a master sculpt, the wood frame was awesome.

and sleep... nah, not so much. i got to bed at around 3AM, and was up at 8:30AM.

 

[gbeef]

did you try boiling? i know with sintra you can either bake or boil it...

 

[stormtrooperguy]

did you try boiling? i know with sintra you can either bake or boil it...

i don't have the patience to let water boil

seriously.

 

[wizardofflight]

Excellent job! looking very good! keep on posting those updates.

Alam

 

[stormtrooperguy]

first prototype is assembled

the piece of wood glued into the flamethrower housing was because the side walls are WAY too thin on this one and it needed extra support. the more i think about it, the more i think this might not be a bad thing. i'll have to see what the weight is like when they are thick enough to not warp, and compare that to thinner with reinforcement.

overall it's a bit heavier than i'd like. not bad, but not great either. it was my first time using the shellshock resin, and i put it on WAY too thick in some spots, but too thin in others. that will improve with repetition - my first few helmets were terrible!

i'd like to see about 1/8" thickness all around. I've got 1/16 in some spots and 1/2 in others.

i reinforced the resin with fiberglass strips. so if it should crack, it shouldn't come apart completely.

i'm also going to pick up some of the smooth-on featherlite resin next to see how that works out. it's light enough that it floats, so that should be fun.

these are the 2nd pulls. the first were with shellshock fast (3 minute gel time). that was just too fast... i made a mess of them. they came out ok, but the lower shell is about 1" thick

i think now that i know better what i'm doing i could handle the fast.

the shellshock slow was much easier to work with (8 minute gel time).