Yet Another Han Solo in Carbonite WIP - Update 11/28/2012

Looking really good! I recently finished up one of these too so I appreciate the amount of work that goes into it.

I like that ESB poster in the background, don't think I've seen that one before?

Lookin' good in front of the man cave my friend!!

-Ss

Thanks Al,

Tell me about it!
I'm on my 5th paint job - took me that many tries to get the look I wanted.

The front panel is a rubber Stormrider casting, and the box is made from MDF.
I made the box the old fashioned way (no CNC) so it took quite a while to get it "perfect". Just need to start on the panels now (great timing!)

The poster is the ESB rerelease onesheet from 1982. I had the same one on my bedroom door as a kid until it was tattered and torn, so when I was setting up my new office, I got a new one.

ssdesigner said:

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Lookin' good in front of the man cave my friend!!

-Ss

Thanks Scott! You should come over again sometime soon and see it in person

hey Chris,

Wow, it looks great!

I'm right in the thick of building one now too!

I've spent the whole week, but I about have the "box" done.

Questions...

Did you use bondo to fill your seams?

What did you use for primer and how many coats?

What brand and color of finish paint did you use?

Did you spray everything on?

Did you seal the MDF somehow first?

thanks in advance!

brad

Looks great. Nice paint colors as well.

Thanks Guys,

Yes, I did use bondo to fill the seams, but make sure your box is really solid around the joins on the inside, or just moving your box around will cause cracks. I haven't really found a solution for this, but you have to look really close to see the cracks.

I used a spray-on schelac (two coats sanding in between).
I used 3 cans of primer (Krylon).

After that I tried a bunch of different paints and techniques until I settled on this paint scheme:
The Han section -
The base coat is Tamaya gloss aluminum (took 3 of those little cans).
Then black acrylic paint to darken the low points.
After that, a wash of thin black acrylic paint to bring out the details.
Finally, silver Rub N' Buff on the highest points
The box itself is painted with Krylon stainless steal.

After the whole thing was nice and dry, I used funiture polish to give it a nice luster.

One of the best I've seen.
Nice job. Great color.

As a child I loved Star Wars; never been much into the prop collecting from the movies but if I could get my hands on one of these I'd probably star to add to my sons Yoda statue. Where can I find one of these bad boys??? This piece looks great and your work is superbly done! It looks great; keep up the good work!!!

Thanks Guys,

I have some updated pic to show off

First off, I've been working on the side panels - still got a ways to go there, bit they are there in the pics. Also, the finish was starting to bug be because it just seems a bit too silver, so I gave it a new wash. I found this great acryluic paint at Michaels made by Folk Art. It's #667 Metallic Gunmetal Grey. I applied a heavy wash over the entire han section, strategically wiping it away. Anyway, the amount of detail I managed to bring out was incredible, and the overall finish looks very realistic. After the new wash, I went back over the high points with silver rub n buff.

Enough out of me, here are the pics:

Also, the finish was starting to bug be because it just seems a bit too silver, so I gave it a new wash. I found this great acryluic paint at Michaels made by Folk Art. It's #667 Metallic Gunmetal Grey. I applied a heavy wash over the entire han section, strategically wiping it away. Anyway, the amount of detail I managed to bring out was incredible, and the overall finish looks very realistic. After the new wash, I went back over the high points with silver rub n buff.

hey Chris,

It really looks great!

I've been really happy with your choice of colors as I've used them on my HIC...

As much as I do love the colors, there is quite a contrast between the Han panel and the box.

Has this new wash blended the two at all? It sounds like you just applied the new wash to the Han panel only? Did you have to go back over with a black acrylic wash again after applying the new Gunmetal wash?

thanks for sharing the pics!

brad

That looks wonderful. Well done.

Hi Brad,

No - I didn't add any more black, but if it had not been there, I don't think the gunmetal would have looked as good over top.
For the record, I think the original prop was painted all one color, and the differences in tone are all due to the various weathering techniques used. I'm thinking about adding some weathering to the "box", but for now it's just on the Han panel.

Thanks for your compliments guys I'm really pleased with the progress so far.

I was thinking ooooh thats got a lot of detail in the carbonite, then you said its a stormrider front panel and i was pleased as thats what i have

how was it attached to the box? i mean how did you get it to lay flat properly? how to you attach it, glue ?

-z

Thanks for the info, what did you use to blend the edges with the wood? you did a good job, hope mine turns out as good -z

zorg said:

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Thanks for the info, what did you use to blend the edges with the wood? you did a good job, hope mine turns out as good -z

Thanks Zorg - I used Bondo

Doooood, that looks great! Last time I saw Han, he was all rolled up and had to be laid down on the floor! Looks great!

I haven't used the stuff much (if at all), but would vinyl spackle work on the MDF joints? Would it have a little bit of flex, where the Bondo has a little bit of brittle? I'm a big fan of Bondo, but yeah, if the base flexs, it's not quite as wonderful.

OB10 said:

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I haven't used the stuff much (if at all), but would vinyl spackle work on the MDF joints? Would it have a little bit of flex, where the Bondo has a little bit of brittle? I'm a big fan of Bondo, but yeah, if the base flexs, it's not quite as wonderful.

not to jump in on Chris' thread, but here's my $.02...

I'd never worked with bondo before, but I used it on my HIC joints and it worked great.

Just make sure you overbuild your box and you'll be fine. I've moved mine back and forth from my garage to my basement twice, hung it on two different locations on different walls and moved it on and off saw horses several times with absolutely no cracks.

I think the key is a strong structure and lots of wood glue!

HTH,

brad

Hell ya... Fantastic!!!

You did a wonderful job. This will be a future project for me.

Allan

Thanks again guys,

Here's another update.

1. I got some more work done on the side panels - I'm just waiting for the decals and 2 chrome second panel knobs to arrive from Darth Chromer. I also had to get a friend in the UK to pick up some 8mm colored dot stickers for me. Once I add all of these I will have all of the non-hero panels completed.

2. I added a support structure to the back of the box to both allow me to hang it from the wall, and keep the sides from flexing.

3. I fixed the cracks on the sides of the box I mentioned earlier, put down another coat of stainless steel, and weathered the box. I almost didn't do the weathering, but I am SO glad I did. It just ties the whole prop together and gives it an extra bit of realism.

Anyway, here are a few more pics so you can see where my project stands at the moment:






Thanks for looking

Excellent. The Paint choice is great. Could you share again what MDF is? Thanks, I am very new at Prop making. While I am wating for mine to get here I need to collect supplies.

MDF= Medium Density Fiberboard
Medium-density fibreboard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Available anywhere lumber is sold.