Han in Carbonite H.I.C. Resto-build

[Redman2187]

*This project is being conducted by RPF members kenblomi, Hanamaid & myself *

CONTINUED FROM: Original Illusive Concepts makeover by DarthChromer Thread here:

Han Solo In Carbonite prop… going under cover...

Hi friends. As some of you know, I’ve been searching for an Illusive Concepts Han Solo in Carbonite 1:1 prop to strip the paint from for sometime now. Jeff “Gotmagic” on the Yahoo Han in Carbonite builder forum, took me up on my offer. He sent me his #345 Illusive Concept prop with the body and...

www.therpf.com

Please take a moment to go back over DarthChromer’s original project at the link above. This build goes through all the alterations and fixes he did to this Illusive Concepts HIC and his mold making and subsequent rubber castings he offered nearly a decade and a half ago. It then goes into my acquisition of the original mold and first gen rubber casting and our initial fiberglass casting from that.

We initially took a couple archival fiberglass castings, and the mold has since DIED. RIP. We did get a few castings out of it before its demise, so we have a couple for archival purposes.

So here we are today... I had hinted at the plan of going even further with the casting to bring back a few details that were overlooked, not deemed as important or whatever, but were VERY important to us and our OCD. So that is exactly what we have been doing over the last year.

The box itself is our own design that started with 15+ years of research and sketchup work by Kenblomi with further refinements to match the original prop and to be as lightweight & functional as possible.

Here are some photos of our fiberglass master of the DarthChromer and our raw box together before we started the project.

Initially we made a list of all the things we wanted to rework and accomplish with our new iteration of this cast. At the same time Hanamaid was commissioned to build a HIC for a friend, so he used one of our boxes and Han castings for that commission. He used that Han as a warmup and to do an initial rework of all the areas we identified for our final makeover. Here are some photos of how that turned out.

Here are a few comparison images to show the original prop against DarthChromers IC sculpt and what our goal is with the final sculpt based on photos of the first one-off by hanamaid.

So, the plan moving forward is to build out our box to as closely match the original. To sculpt all the identified areas on Han. To integrate Han into the box and sculpt in the transition between them. To make a mold of the entire HIC, box and all. From that we can cast a full light weight HIC shell from fiberglass which will be easier for us to hang on the wall. After we succeed in that we will move onto Phase 2, the panels and electronics which we plan to get from Todd Blatt's 3dstuff.com.

Here is a comprehensive list of the identified areas of work:

-Nose width and shape need minor adjustments.
-Enhance areas where pores and wrinkle details are faded.
-Re-apply carbonite texture on fingernails.
-Enhance minor hand wrinkle details.
-Restore hip scar that was smoothed over during IC’s run of HiC’s.
-Sculpt collar tip back on and thread textures that are missing in IC HiC.
-Sculpt carbonite texture in both top corners where the carbonite meets the box. This was a detail that we assume was altered during the IC cast.
-Sculpt box edge carbonite texture transition with high accuracy.
-Other misc. details.

We have already progressed through most of this work but ill space the progress out in some separate WIP posts.
-Dan

 

[jtalaiver]

Stunning!!

Happy to say I was the recipient of the "warm-up" commission and it is phenominal.

 

[encased]

Love how you handled the paint. Been trying to figure out how to approach it. May I ask what colors you chose? You seem to have nailed how the body panel differentiates from the box in certain views. That's what I'm going of as well.

 

[Hanamaid]

I used Glidden shining armor for Han and Glidden Phantom Hue for the box. I then did a lot of weathering using some alcohol and some various acrylic washes using earth tones and avoiding any black. Lastly I did a good amount of the painting by hand using various colors to get the rust/dingy look. It took me about a week. I practiced a ton with these various steps to get the right look before applying it to the jtalaiver HIC. It was a ton of fun.

 

[Redman2187]

THE BOX

So here is a brief history of the box that brings us to 2024:

2007-2022

Our replica of the Han in Carbonite (HiC) Box has been a passion project of Jeremy’s for over 15 years. It all started back in 2007 when he randomly purchased a fan made replica of the front plate on eBay. Having that panel in hand, he originally planned to make the box himself by just manually cutting all the pieces from MDF with power tools and so started the deep dive, researching photos, references and measurements online. Then eventually stumbling upon the infamous blueprints that most everybody uses, (The ones posted by "miqt" on the dented helmet in 2009, where he states that he didn't know where they originally came from)

Using those blue prints, he first attempted to hand cut all the panels with a jigsaw (which was all he had at the time) but the cuts didn't turn out as well as hoped, so being a graphic designer by profession and working at a sign shop at the time, Jeremy figured he could recreate all the panels in vector format to have a machine cut thru his job, so that’s what he did. During this process, because of all the research he did, he also realized how inaccurate the fan made front panel was that he purchased on eBay, so he ended up selling that and the project got put on hold for quite a while.

He never assembled the box since the front panel was sold and the box panels became lost in the mix of scrap wood in the shop, lost or thrown away. Fast forward a few years to 2013, Jeremy stumbled upon a rubber casting of the front panel made by "Darth Chromer" here on the RPF, which was beautifully reworked from an Illusive Concepts HiC, so he bought one, then stumbled upon the Zenix box kit around the same time on the RPF as well which used the same blueprints he originally started with, so he considered going that route for the box for a bit. Now not to say that the Zenix kit isn't outstanding (because it is), Jeremy was ultimately turned off by the puzzle piece side panels, the fact that they would still require the purchase of additional material for supports and such, and the fact that he had the means to create the panels himself the project was put on hold yet again where it would stay in limbo for the next 10 years.

Fast forward to 2021 when he started working here, with me, a good buddy & fellow costumer/prop maker the project was given new life. The two of us set out to review and perfect not only the accuracy of Jeremy’s drawings but the functionality & integrity of the design. So began another deep dive into research and development. Together we refined several elements in regard to the accuracy of size, angles & details. We developed an attractive internal support structure that not only served to add rigidity but also kept weight down and was aesthetically pleasing when viewed from the reverse.

In the end as we built the 3rd box with all the modifications, we also made some dummy end caps (Seen in below photos) to add some detail organic to the panels.

2022-24

After it was built, this latest version of the box sat here in the shop for quite a while as we contemplated our next steps and found time to jump back in. When our new friend Hanamaid joined the crew and brought with him a newly found DEEP obsession with the prop our motivations went into overdrive, and we found time to get things moving again.

We made the final decision to mold the box rather than to keep making them from MDF for a couple reasons. We knew we would be making several more for ourselves and friends and a mold would save LOTs of time on any future builds, they would be very light weight in comparison, and we could do them 100% in house as we don't have the large CNC for the MDF.

Once we made our mind up, we decided we wanted to go as far as we could with perfecting the details, so we combed it over and made a few notable changes as we got it ready.

1. The height was off a 1/4" or so in our determination so we added 1/8" of balsa to each end. We Also closed in the top and bottom recesses rather then add the detail cutouts. This allows us to do various things with them on each build like adding the cups or NOT adding them or adding details etc.
2. We rounded ALL the edges of the box. Each edge rounded to best replicate what we feel we see in the original. This included all the inside edges of the panel cutouts on the sides and more drastically on the ones on the top and the bottom.

3. We added a piece of balsa inside each panel opening at an angle to mimic the real prop design. (See photos)
4. We had to re-shape the panel cutouts on the side of the box. This was a big deal and a bigger decision to make as it would lead to a lot of extra work, but we felt it was important enough to us to do it. The shape of the cutout was just a bit off, and we solved the issue by drawing up some VERY fine shims that could be laser cut from some balsa and glued into the corners of each panel (See photos). From there we could fill all the gaps and seams with filler and sand smooth. Considering we would have to do this all around it was just more of the same... but a lot more.

4. We added a 1x strip of wood around the bottom/back edge to raise the box for molding.

After we made all the changes we got deep into filling and sanding everything. all the corners, wood seams and nail heads etc. as well as all the panel recesses. This was no small feat.

Finally, we glazed the entire box and sanded her down smooth and added some details along the way. After that we primed the whole thing, but I'll drop those pix once we get through the Han panel work and the phase when we actually marry them together.

These couple photos include some sneak peeks of Han that would get posted later on in the WIP but I wanted to include them here. ENJOY.

 

[encased]

Wow! You guys are killing it. I have a Zenix kit I'm about to build for a Darth Chromer panel but I also have the panel I got from you that I will need to do another box for. Does this mean you'll be offering these?

 

[Redman2187]

We just aren’t really sure what we could commit to right now so if we did it would likely just be one here or there as we are making ours and can do an extra. The Han panel alone exhausted a LOT of resources of which we are still recovering from lol. This box will likely be double that, so we’ll see what we can do when that time comes.

I’ll surely try to help you out though Brother.

 

[Hanamaid]

Post 1 of 2

We’re getting back into this awesome side project after being away due to work and personal commitments. However, throughout that time we’ve been shooting ideas back and forth and it’s poised to be better than we anticipated. Initially we wanted to put the Chromer HIC cast into a box and make a giant mold and with it, cast a few full-sized lightweight fiberglass HICs for us in the shop and a couple friends. But as it’s progressed, it’s morphed into a bit of OCD to get this thing as close to its origin ancestor as possible. we’ve gone into virtually every detail and tried to bring him to life in a way we haven’t seen. Sculpting things back in like his “hip scar”, repairing his worn down collar, some details on his hands and face, etc, it’s been a real undertaking. We accomplished everything we set out to fix except for one major area — his face. The face looked great but just wasn’t giving us the gut feeling like we were looking at the real deal. Our conclusion was that It really comes down to getting his smug mug dialed in.

What started as a lifesize HIC project for a family member 3 years ago, turned into an obsession. Along the way, I met Redman who had recently purchased the Chromer mold. So I dropped the cast I had and from there we all set out to make this holygrail prop. I’ve combed through everything Han in Carbonite for years and want to share what I have discovered and what is going to separate this from a standard IC HIC.

This really comes down to opinion. Some folks only want an official product even if it’s flawed.. and some just want to replicate every detail of what they see on the big screen. We’re lucky we have a little bit of both in this project.

As mentioned above, the thing that matters most is Harrison’s face. This makes or breaks the HIC. It’s the entire reason you believe he’s actually frozen in there. You can have all the greeblies, electronics, perfectly shaped box, as accurate as you want but, If it doesn’t look like Harrison, it’s hard for the die-hard fan of this prop to get past that.

I’ll lay out two different avenues of influence for our work and it will help illuminate why we’re going the obsessive route we are.

-First I’ll start with Illusive concepts, since that is our base, along with comparison pictures of the original prop next to a collage of various IC version issues.

-Second I’ll lay out the movie prop and the differences between them and our desired outcome for our Hic.

So our foundation is an IC HIC with some repairs done to his face and hands by DarthChromer (link above in original post by Redman). Illusive concepts did a bang up job getting everyone as close to the original prop as an average joe can get. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to make this happen. Over the period of time they were pumping these out however, their casting process appears to have had some issues. Most all of the IC versions out there were heavily touched up by the company. —This is very important and helped guide our decision to tamper with the face. bc no matter how you feel about lineage, the fact is almost every IC has been doctored after the casting process either because of poor casting technique or deterioration of the mold. We’d rather we do the doctoring instead of holding onto something merely bc it has provenance. We just want it to look like the real deal when it hangs on the wall.

The earliest number I could find any documentation for online was number 61 of 2500 and even that one appeared to have a number of issues just at a glance like the replaced pinky and pitting on the face:

It’s pretty clear they had several molds made out the gate. That’s why you can have a 66 of 2500 like this:

And it looks closer to the original than the number 61 of 2500. So the numbers mean almost nothing. I’ve also seen one numbered in the 1000’s and it was one of the best looking ones I came across. Point being, it is almost impossible to know you have a solid IC HIC and how close its ties are to the original prop unless you have studied the prop. As stated before, our goal is making one that is as prop accurate as possible and not merely hanging onto an arbitrary number. Below I have some examples of the many issues with the IC HICs and why they don’t pass the sniff test for us.

1: Sunken/flattened/deformed face: this is most apparent from the side angle. It also enlarges the rest of Hans dome to where his head looks very large compared to his body. Pictures further down highlight this. What its supposed to look like: noticeably the upper lip sits slightly further in front of the bottom lip and the chin sits a little further back from the bottom lip and is well rounded. Here’s a few pics of the original prop:

2: Teeth: his teeth are one of the first things you’ll pick up on. They are virtually never the same in any casting I’ve seen. There are only 4 visible teeth and they are shaped very specifically with slight angles in each tooth. Even with castings with the 4 teeth, I’ve only seen a handful that aren’t grossly exaggerated due to poor casting. This is one of the primary characteristics we took issue with on our cast. This was an IC flaw where his teeth were individually shaped beautifully but the row was heavily misaligned. What they’re supposed to look like:

3: Sunken in chin: this kinda falls in the flattened face category but it is very rare to find Hans chin in good condition. Most are overly widened and ultimately because the rest of the face flattens, it causes the chin to protrude in a pointed fashion and gives his side profile a “wicked witch” look:

4: Lips: Most lips are missing all of the original detail and some have been completely reworked to where they are unrecognizable. Some are pretty egregious, with a very pointy philtrum or an extremely hollowed out mouth with thin lips. What it’s supposed to look like: His lips are pretty full and his top lip somewhat flattens on his left side while his right has a distinctive scar which gives that portion of the lip a very, rounded look. There are two distinctive triangular indents in his upper lip and his lower has indents that ride the outer edge of the lip. The philtrum is pretty rounded and there is a small dimple just below his left nostril.

5: Nose: His nose has so much complexity, it’s hard to go through all the details, but like the other issues, somehow his nose appears different in almost every cast but overwhelmingly, his nose is usually too thin and his nostrils are not lined up properly. This was the only other major issue we identified in our cast. His nose was too thin and didn’t have Harrison’s distinctive curvature and his right nostril was lower than his left when it should be slightly higher.

6: Skin texture: you can see remnants of skin texture from the original prop in many versions but they are heavily faded or distorted. I haven’t seen cases of IC trying to hand sculpt skin details back into the face (but they have done them on the hands). Most of the time it appears that IC just smoothed over rough spots. Some versions weren’t even smoothed over so it’s common to see heavy pitting as was the case for Chromer before he touched it up.

Here are a few HIC’s with a quick google search to illustrate my point along with a couple pics of the original prop for comparison:

Onto the original props…
This is only in reference to the body of the prop, not the panels/lighting sequence. There are clearly three different versions of the Hic (two full-size and one partial) that are used in the movies. In ESB, it appears the same one is used throughout:

But in ROTJ it looks like they used the same one from ESB for the initial shot when Jabba mentions his favorite decoration to 3PO but for all the other shots (with the exception of the close up thaw shot), the new version appears. You can tell by the 3 distinct globs of carbonite on his head that are present:

Something interesting I never noticed was that the close up of the thaw was done on a stand alone piece for the head. The pic below of the 4 faces seems to show some application testing on a couple sample faces and all of them have the carbonite globs. I think this was possibly something they were doing for the thaw scene in ROTJ. As you can see in the close up thaw shot, the Carbonite texture is not the standard texture around his head.

So with all that said, our original attempt involved hours of hand-sculpting the repairs into our cast but ultimately, we were unable to get it to our liking and so we decided the only way to get our cast where we wanted it was to have the face scanned and then sculpt the repairs in software. This afforded us time, was forgiving with mistakes and was a better means to view the face at various focal lengths to try and emulate what we’re seeing in the photos/stills of the original prop. It also allowed us to put in details so small that were next to impossible for us to do by hand.

 

[Hanamaid]

Post 2 of 2

So without further ado, here’s where we are so far with our repairs to our scan.

You’ll see the original scan of our cast on the left and it’s new and improved brother on the right:

Here, you can see how in depth we went to get the smallest skin details sculpted into him:

And some different angles to highlight the face shape:

And finally, here is a comparison picture to show how we attempted to replicate every detail, down to every wrinkle in his lips, nose, and eyes. Original prop on the left, our new face on the right:

Plan of action is to SLA print this face, cut the old one out and merge the new one in. Stay tuned!

 

[Hanamaid]

Some additional close ups at various angles:

 

[Redman2187]

Quick back track to fill the gap with our work from the Box post and Hanamaid's Face post.

1. The carbonite texture transition line from the panel to the box. We actually did a lot of sculpting to the transition line which you can see in the earlier post of the merger complete and HAN in the box (Red box) but I guess we didn't get pix or something, I'll dig more. Here are pix of actually glueing him into the box and filling the seam with epoxy putty and an earlier photo of me priming the cast just before we laid him in. Finally, a photo of the MOLD MASTER after we did all the work and were ready to start working on the mold before we decided to 3d scan and go a bit further. We'll get back to this point soon enough and be much happier. or not, it's never ending.


2. Here is some rework done to the fingers. HM can chime in with more detailed info but basically the nails and carbonite texture was removed on the original IC and DarthChromers rework. It's been addressed here.

Three pix. Fingernails removed because they were jacked. Fingernails resculpted. Accurate Carbonite texture added back.


3. Alot of resculpting was done to the face by hand before we ultimately decided to 3D scan it and go even further with the detail but I wont post any of that as it was pretty well documented in HM's post.

4. RETURN of the Hip Scar. This is a detail that IS on the prop in the movie and is always overlooked by people building a HIC and even IC on a particular amount of their castings and we really wanted it back into our sculpt. I'll add a separate more Indepth post about this process, but HM sculpted in clay a scar based on the available reference, we molded that and cast a fiberglass one that we merged into our casting.

 

[cyberfez]

Amazing attention to detail. Congratulations!

 

[Hanamaid]

These pics highlight the righthand details a little better. Don’t mind the dust.

 

[Hanamaid]

Face is done. Got him cut out and print ready.

Big thanks to TheDragon for providing a scan of one of the original props for us to cross reference. Unfortunately, the scan was in rough condition but the image laid over the scan helped us feel better about the accuracy of our hip scar. The image angle and lighting isn’t spot on here but they are close enough to give us an idea of how we did: