Finished C-3PO (RotS) - Pic Intensive

[Tea]

I am very excited and I thought I would share.

I have been working on this project for about a year, and just got it back from the vacuum metalizing place last month. I am very happy with the finished product! It's all finished except for a few missing parts (Arm/Hand Greeblies). I have a progress blog at http://www.mr-tea.com/

I'm happy to answer any questions!

The hand plates may look a little odd in some pictures, this issue is being addressed:

Thanks to:
Vacuum Metalizing Co. Inc. (Rancho Cucamonga)
Chris Bartlett - Fiberglass Parts
MonCal - Brass Head Greeblies, Eyes
Russ - Leg Pistons, Chest Greeblie
Jerry C - Brass Arm Pistons
Fenixprops - Arm Greeblies
Jörg S - Chest Pistons
Jim (starbuckcylon) - Shoes, Arm Greeblies

Special Thanks to:
RBJ, John S, Mike S, SoCal Garrison for you continued help and support!

I will post more photos later.

 

[allosaur176]

Beautiful droid!

 

[Sevv]

Gorgeous!

 

[propcollector]

what did you use for the chest greeblies? and also when you had it vacuum metalized...how did you do the arm pistons to get the silver on them and keep them from getting plated?And did you have the moncal brass eyes plated to?

 

[Tea]

what did you use for the chest greeblies? and also when you had it vacuum metalized...how did you do the arm pistons to get the silver on them and keep them from getting plated?And did you have the moncal brass eyes plated to?

The smaller chest greeblies are gold 'earing backs', I thought they looked great! The larger part was machined.

The VM place was ok with me taping off certain areas. So I just taped over everything I didn't want plated. I did not plate my eyes, I don't suggest you do either

 

[propcollector]

can you tell me where you got the backs and the larger one machined...lonepigion says he knows what that large piece was....I would like to get one for my suite.

 

[sithlord23]

Awesome set of droids!

 

[AJK001]

WOW! Really nice.

 

[ColeHorton]

Thats one beautiful droid! Great work. :thumbsup

I love the pictures on your blog too!

 

[Whiskey]

That looks flippin sweet!

Forgive my ignorance on droid details, but were what are the differences in the 3PO in the movies?

 

[Tea]

Thank you all so much for your compliments!

can you tell me where you got the backs and the larger one machined...lonepigion says he knows what that large piece was....I would like to get one for my suite.

Earing backs can be found at most craft stores. I got mine at a local store called "Joann". A quick google search brought up many online dealers. The larger part was machined by 'russrep' here on the RPF. I'm not sure if he is still making them though.

Forgive my ignorance on droid details, but were what are the differences in the 3PO in the movies?

No problem! Besides the obvious drastic changes in the prequels, 3PO went through a number of minor changes in the OT as well. The most noticeable change you will see are his belly wires. They go from being chaotic in ANH and ESB to being straight and organized in RotJ.

His eyes seem to change slightly in tint as well, they seem to be more of an orange tint in RotJ and RotS.

He changes in "shinyness" too. In the OT, he usually looks like he's covered in soap scum except at the end of ANH, and the end of ESB, where he is very shiny. You will also notice for much of ANH, his head and his right chest are dented.

The parts themselves don't change too drastically. In ANH he had ABS shoe covers, which were later replaced with rubber shoes. Same with the hands, which are rubber in AotC, RotS, ESB and RotJ but not ANH. The shorts change as well in ANH they us both ABS and rubber shorts, and in the rest of the films they are just rubber. His right leg is silver throughout the OT. His neck is also silver throughout the OT.

While it seems 3PO builders don't care much as too the "style" they pick, I decided to remain as true to the RotS suit as I can. Obviously I'm limited as far as accuracy because my suit is a hybrid of the Disney Walk-around suit and the Don Post statue (although both have lineage to screen used suits). I believe the RotS 3PO is how most people (especially the general public) imagine C-3PO. In RotS, 3PO does not have a silver leg and is a brilliant gold shine. I wanted to avoid the "why is your leg silver?" question that I would inevitable get constantly (and not be able to answer while in costume ). The neck is gold as well and the belly wires have a distinct style which I tried to replicate.

Here are some more pictures:

The back plate attaches with magnets so you can access the electronics, I have a bluetooth audio receiver that can receive audio clips wirelessly from a nearby laptop.

 

[MattMunson]

Stunning. Great work.

 

[KramStaar]

This is terrific work mate.

Terrific finish, attention to detail and all in all, a comprehensive 3PO experience!

My warmest congratulations

 

[redeye]

That's alot of work you put into your C-3PO costume. Looks fantastic :thumbsup

 

[Firespray]

BEAUTIFUL!
From the pics I gather it's posable.

 

[Jarvis B]

Fantastic

 

[Montagar]

Excellent! ...and he plays Guitar Hero as well?!? :lol

 

[wannab]

BEAUTIFUL!
From the pics I gather it's posable.

It's a wearable suit fully articulated.



As I said on the 3PO board, primo job! Hope when I finish mine it turns out as nice!
I forgot to ask how much the vac-met cost?


Doug

 

[xeno]

that is just awesome, the finish is really smooth, how and what was the surface finish you had before metalizing ?

and if you're looking for hand pistons I have a set available
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=59572&highlight=hand+pistons+c3po

.

 

[Stilgar]

Oh boy, that is looking so freakin awsome! Beautiful finish!

Very well done! Congratulations!