Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build thread

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 27, 2015

• #1

Hey guys,
Decided to start my own thread for my build.

I decided to build a HIC in september 2014 .. and it hit a wall when I first saw the price of the panels. I wasn't planning on paying that price at the time, thinking, what the heck, there's almost no plastic in there!!! Well, one year later, with my run of panels still going strong, I realize that the original price was much justified, they are a pita to cast and molds deteriorates really fast due to the mechanical nature of the volvo part.

That being said, I finally had time to cast my own set a couple weeks back. And most parts made it. Here's my material:

- Han: Darthchromer full rubber front (was Kingjawa 3 parts)
- Box: Zenix MDF box
- Panels: My casts (check my sale thread)
- Hero #1 Electronic : Darthchromer
- Hero #2 Electronic : Warpcell
- Greeblies :
grill and clips: Zenix metal set
hero panel machined parts: My parts (check my sale thread)
all the rest my own casts of screen used parts (check my sale thread)
- Stickers: unknown but not really accurate. Looking for a better option right now.

Without much more delays, here's the pics:



Original panel fitted in the Zenix box. Nice fit!



Molds for the panels, and my cast

 

Last edited: Mar 24, 2016

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 27, 2015

• #2

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Study of parts

T-levers cast from an original, test for cold casting



Panel greeblies being cleaned and separated by panel ready to be painted!

 

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 27, 2015

• #3

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Study of parts

********************
HERO PANEL MADNESS
********************

That panel is gonna kill me .. not because I don't know what to do, but because here, in Canada, it's pretty much impossible to find parts!!! Or shipping is impossibly expensive!!! I've spent hours of research on this thing .. and I've asked around .. and after scouting the internet, I came to the conclusion that for some reason, nothing is available in Canada!!!

 

Last edited: Dec 8, 2015

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 27, 2015

• #4

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Here's the first painted panels, I also drilled all the panel screw holes since I blocked them for casting purpose. I thought it looked much better for a 2 minutes job.



Hero panel prep:
- Drilled out electronic button switch in alignment with grill.
- Dremeled some plastic from the backing to have a better fitting of the pulsating screen and the switch

 

Last edited: Nov 17, 2015

GF

Sr Member

• Oct 27, 2015

• #5

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

With all the quality parts you have this will be top notch!!!

GF

 

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 28, 2015

• #6

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Built a platform to work on the box. I've read tons of threads, most people aways complain about 2 things ..

The carbonite waves are supposed to be flush with the box border/frame.
The filling material (glue/blondo) takes a lot of time to do properly.

So I figured that I would save myself some time and back Han with 1/4 to 3/8 mdf sheet or plywood, whichever is the lightest. My idea is to not have braces across the frame under, and the thinner backing over it.

That would leave me between 1/8 to 1/4 of carbonite material to build .. which is much better then 1/2". And that will also give me the insurance to come in flush to the frame.

Another advantage of this method is that I will not cover 1/2" of the sculpt because I would lose too much details!! If you look at the KingJawa Han, the borders to which most people either bolt in, glue down or caulk, they're really what should be the surface of the carbonite, not 1/2" under .. I really want to lose a minimum of the sculpt detail.

Idea of the fitting / sculpt over a 1/4" mdf height boost = almost no material to fill!

 

NeoRutty

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 28, 2015

• #7

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Ha... Same boat. This was my plan. Why fill all that depth when you can make it almost flush from the beginning?

Beat me to it!

 

QCWolf

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 28, 2015

• #8

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

I love it! Thanks for putting all of this in one place. Great job so far.

Subscribed for sure!

 

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 28, 2015

• #9

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Thanks guys!
Feel free to contribute on what you used! I juste learned that work wants to have it for our Christmas party which will be december 18th. Also learned that because of my star wars contribution at work (video games company), I might get pre-premiere tickets on dec 17th to see EP7! Ha!! Now, I have no choice but to do this build, and do it fast!!!

QCWolf, thanks for the PMed info!
GF, can't wait to show you progress!
NeoRutty, can't believe I'm the first one to do it this way!

More pics tonight, I might just finish the box structure if everything goes as planned!

 

QCWolf

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 28, 2015

• #10

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Keep it up! I can't wait to see more.

 

_Lee_

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 28, 2015

• #11

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Looking good bro love the framework. Ive just started planning my HIC build. Could you provide exact dimensions of the box please.

I wiah someone here in the UK would sell Han Carb casts too.

 

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 28, 2015

• #12

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

_Lee_ said:

Looking good bro love the framework. Ive just started planning my HIC build. Could you provide exact dimensions of the box please.

I wiah someone here in the UK would sell Han Carb casts too.

Click to expand...

I got Zenix box .. but here are the official measurements from the HIC club.

 

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 30, 2015

• #13

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

What did you guys use for the white/plexi material of the Hero panel?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

kurtyboy

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 30, 2015

• #14

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Opal off-white perspex sheet. If you want to go super accurate ask for samples of ALL the opal whites as there are different shades.

I would recommend replacing the resin 'ring' greeblies with sections of aluminium tube. Much nicer.

The lines on the hero panel screen are far too thick. They should be about half that width. They should also be lighter in color and I found regular cream masking tape was perfect.

 

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 30, 2015

• #15

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Thanks for chimming in Kurtyboy!
I agree with you now .. those lines seems a big on the thick side!! Are you talking regular paint masking tape? I gotta say, you might be just right!

I'll check for those tubings!

 

kurtyboy

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 30, 2015

• #16

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Yes I used regular paint masking tape which I cut into (I think) 1mm strips. But you can also buy 1mm masking tape for fine modeling detail work.

It hasn't peeled yet in four years but there are some bits missing from the real prop now.

The rings are mostly 20mm but there are a few 19mm as far as I remember. I will check mine tonight.

 

kurtyboy

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 30, 2015

• #17

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Get some aluminium sheet to back the panels with and definitely try to get one of the Bronica viewers.

 

Bigturc

Sr Member

• Oct 30, 2015

• #18

Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Definitely! Got that done yesterday!

Instead of getting them cut much larger like I've seen here, I had them cut tight to the windows inside. So I won't need to cut all those curves for fitting! Size was 3-3/8" x 12-1/2" (disclaimer: don't use those numbers without testing first! )

 

Last edited: Oct 30, 2015

kurtyboy

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 30, 2015

• #19

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Have a look at my panels build thread here and ask any questions you might have:
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=113003&highlight=Kurtyboy+carbonite

Also a couple of updates here:
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=225591&p=3519282&viewfull=1#post3519282

And here:
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=225591&p=3672327&viewfull=1#post3672327

 

QCWolf

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Oct 30, 2015

• #20

Re: Han In Carbonite in Canada - Build and Research thread

Bigturc said:

What did you guys use for the white/plexi material of the Hero panel?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I got a sample of 20% sign white from TAP Plastics. It might not be exactly screen accurate, but it was inexpensive. It comes in a 4" x 4" square.