C-3PO Build
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Hey all.. I started this project awhile back but recently decided to bring it out of the box and finish it up. What I plan to do is create the classic R2/3PO standing poses mounted to a piece of wood, but I also want them to be lit up. So here goes... First up, C-3PO
When you get this kit there's alot of little things wrong but the shape is pretty good. Here is my todo list:
- Fabricate new tranlucent eyes so that they can be lits from behind.
- Instead of painting, cover entire piece with gold leaf or bare metal foil to
get the shiny look of him out.
- Fix the rear head bump to be more movie accurate.
- Fix the provided hands so the fingers are separated to look more
realistic.
Not alot to do, but it is. First I started off by finding a way to fabricate the eyes. They provide a dark red plastic single piece for both eyes. Not a very good likeness at all. So I used that piece to create press mold in some clay and using hot glue, I fabricated my own eye peice. Behind each of the sockets I painted the back of them black and scraped away three areas on each socket to allow light to pass thru. The look is pretty close to the orignal.
I want this thing to shine. I looked into several different methods, even thought about having the parts professionally vacuum metallized in a gold color, but I ending up foiling it myself. The plastic is alredy moulded in a gold color but it just looks soooooooooooo nasty. So, after foiling for awhile here's my first test. Looks soooooo much better then the original plastic
After getting everything foiled, I began to look at the hands. The ones provided in the kit look like mittens. Not very realistic at all. So, I made a mold of each hand separately. I used some resin and before the resin cured completely, I took it out of the mold and cut the fingers apart. I foiled each one and painted the inside palms to match the screen and they came out looking AWESOME!
I placed a bulb behind his eyes and ran the wire down thru his body and out thru his left leg. I haven't glued him all together yet because I want to make sure I position him properly with R2 before securing him down for good. But all in all he's completed as far as I can go with him right now.
I dipped everything in clear acrylic to seal all the foil onto the pieces. I'm still debating on whether I should do the silver leg or not. I like it better in gold. What do you think?
Now onto R2-D2...
-----------
Hey all.. I started this project awhile back but recently decided to bring it out of the box and finish it up. What I plan to do is create the classic R2/3PO standing poses mounted to a piece of wood, but I also want them to be lit up. So here goes... First up, C-3PO
When you get this kit there's alot of little things wrong but the shape is pretty good. Here is my todo list:
- Fabricate new tranlucent eyes so that they can be lits from behind.
- Instead of painting, cover entire piece with gold leaf or bare metal foil to
get the shiny look of him out.
- Fix the rear head bump to be more movie accurate.
- Fix the provided hands so the fingers are separated to look more
realistic.
Not alot to do, but it is. First I started off by finding a way to fabricate the eyes. They provide a dark red plastic single piece for both eyes. Not a very good likeness at all. So I used that piece to create press mold in some clay and using hot glue, I fabricated my own eye peice. Behind each of the sockets I painted the back of them black and scraped away three areas on each socket to allow light to pass thru. The look is pretty close to the orignal.
I want this thing to shine. I looked into several different methods, even thought about having the parts professionally vacuum metallized in a gold color, but I ending up foiling it myself. The plastic is alredy moulded in a gold color but it just looks soooooooooooo nasty. So, after foiling for awhile here's my first test. Looks soooooo much better then the original plastic
After getting everything foiled, I began to look at the hands. The ones provided in the kit look like mittens. Not very realistic at all. So, I made a mold of each hand separately. I used some resin and before the resin cured completely, I took it out of the mold and cut the fingers apart. I foiled each one and painted the inside palms to match the screen and they came out looking AWESOME!
I placed a bulb behind his eyes and ran the wire down thru his body and out thru his left leg. I haven't glued him all together yet because I want to make sure I position him properly with R2 before securing him down for good. But all in all he's completed as far as I can go with him right now.
I dipped everything in clear acrylic to seal all the foil onto the pieces. I'm still debating on whether I should do the silver leg or not. I like it better in gold. What do you think?
Now onto R2-D2...
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