Han in Carbonite (Halloween Build)

So, I guess it's my turn to build and post about my Han in Carbonite. I'd like to thank Zenix in particular for answering a lot of questions and helping me track down others to order from. My build will be using the following parts:

Han Body Kit: King Jawa
Box Kit: Zenix
Panels and Greeblie Kit: Zenix
Hero Panel Light Kit: Modeljag

I'm still hoping to get a Panel #2 Light Kit.

My box kit came in and I started laying things out. I decided to do something similar to QCWolf, and build a lip on my front edge so I could construct Han on a carefully fitted front panel. It will be supported by 3 cross pieces.

Day 1

I started by gluing up the sides and then assembling the box walls. I reinforced the inside corners with metal corner pieces. I ended up with two corner supports per corner, though the picture shows only one. I was surprised that I didn't need to open up the 90 degree corner supports at the top but so far it looks fine.


After this was done, I decided I wanted to use biscuit joints on the front borders for extra support and strength. I lined up the edges with each front border panel, marked them, and cut out biscuit holes.


Then, I cut biscuit holes in each front edge corner where they attach to each other and then glued up the front edge. That's drying right now, so I will attach the front border to the box this evening.

 

Awesome, another build.
Looks like you're off to a good start. :thumbsup

I see that this is your first post.
Welcome to the RPF Forum.

 

Yes, first time poster and new builder. Thank you. Just biscuit glued the border to the box and it went smoothly. Going to add reinforcements tomorrow after it dries.

 

I love following a good HIC build. I'm looking forward to watching your progress.

 

Day 3

Today I cut, sanded, and fit the panel Han will be mounted to. It will sit on a lip around the edge and some cross supports for stability.



​I also cut the lip for mounting the Han Panel,on. I used 1x6's for this, so they would stick out enough to form a lip. I cut them "square" and biscuit joined the edges where they meet. I glued them down and put in about 8 screws on each side. I plan to add some angled brackets underneath for additional support.

 

Day 4

Today I finished the reinforcements that the Han Panel will rest on and that will keep the box structurally sound. Tomorrow, I plan to work on cleaning up the Han Resin cast while I wait for panels and such.

Peach of the supports is glued and screwed to the frame with drywall nails, countersunk to keep them flat.

so far, it's getting heavy, but not unmanageable and I know it will be sturdy.

 

Day 7

Yesterday and today I've been cleaning up the Han resin cast for mounting tomorrow. I plan to use a heat gun to give a little flexibility for gluing and * it down. I also used some plaster to fill in my screw holes from the supports and to smooth over the gaps in my sides and border. I've included some more in progress pictures, I hope I'll get to the bonds filling part this weekend.

Here is the trimming I did on the back of Han.



I'm not sure if it's canon, but I also cut out some of the flashing on Han's right hand to open up the fingers a bit. I need to apply a little bonds to smooth then out a bit after I mount the body.



Here are a few closeup so far the plaster for smoothing over the holes and seams.



More re to come...

 

Day 8 and 9

The last few days have been slow going. I did some cleanup on the Han resin kit and got the body glued down to the panel. I attached the panel to my frame and screwed it into the supports with drywall screws. This thing isn't going anywhere and its sturdy as it can be. I used liquid nails to glue down Han then I secured it in places with drywall screws. Some of the edges of the cast are raised up so I'll need to fill those with caulk and bondo when I'm done gluing. Overall, the resin cast was easy to work with, but I wish it had lain a little more flush with the mounting board. Here it is screwed down.


I followed KingJawa's instructions and cleaned it with soap and water and did a light sanding on the hands. I plan to touch up the fingers with bondo when I start to seal it.mI also used a quick bind epoxy on the feet to secure them. Tomorrow I plan to caulk the edges and maybe even lay down my first coat of bondo.

Question for the board...
I've reviewed a lot of builds and I'm curious why everyone uses gallons of glue? Is it for cost savings? Is it to get that texture? This seems odd as I can't imagine glue being easy to shape while wet. I've also seen people say "Go all bondo." I'm leaning towards this camp since I have only a little less than 1/4" to fill all over and it seems Bondo could get more accurate texturing.

 

Day 10

So, today was the day! I was going to start putting bondo down first. I used bondo to fill the gaps in the resin cast, thinking it would be better than plaster or anything. Then it was on to the Carbonite layer. had read the other threads of using glue, but I figured I would just use bondo. However, I see my mistake. Having not worked with it before, I thought bondo was more fluid that it actually was. Even using less hardener I had trouble getting it on smooth near the edges of the resin cast.

Here are some pics of the seams being filled and showing the (not good) results initially with bondo around the head. I tried to fix it with a thin bit of glue before deciding to go full glue.


Having read other people's horror stories around weeks of glue drying, I decided to go in thin layers and used a scraper to push the glue against the sides and against the resin cast. Using plaster to fill the screw holes, I was able to get a nice smooth layer of glue around the mold. I think his is going to work well for me, as the wood glue (Tite Bond II) seems to be drying well. I'll add a few smaller layers with some bondo for texture in a day or two.



At at the end of the day! I got a thin layer of glue around the whole thing. It should dry by tomorrow evening, and I can do some additional layers.

 

Very nice, this is a very interesting build to watch

 

I loved the way glue worked...it gave amazing definition and building several layers overlapping some gives it a really cool look.

 

Obxfett,
That does give a good look. I was just worried that everything I read was people pouring a gallon of glue and waiting 2 weeks for it to dry. I needed to have a shorter work time, so I think the layering and spreading around small areas will work better for me. But you are right the glue works nicer. Yesterday's gluing is dry this morning so I can do another layer today.

John

john

 

For your seam filler get some epoxy putty.
Plumbers putty that comes in a stick that you cut off a piece and kneed into a uniform color.
It can be smoothed with water.
Don't get the Marine or steel versions.

Commercial brands that come in two tubs (part A & part B) are Aves, Magic Sculpt and a few other brands.

 

You're definitely booking it faster than me, nice stuff. Just hard to make myself go out in the garage and work in 103+ weather.

 

I hear that! I live in Phoenix and it's been an average of 110 here lately. I timed my build during the winter for that reason.

 

Wish I'd thought of the epoxy ahead of time. I'll have some sanding to do on the seams.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't have a choice on my build since it had to be done by October I'm also going to be working on a tardis at the same time.

 

Day 10

Today was a short day, but things are looking and going well. My first coat of glue dried pretty well and now I'm adding small pockets of more glue to form areas of interest. I have been able to use a putty knife to add some texturing, but I need to do it as it dries more. This should account for most of the Carbonite texturing, but I think I'll have to use some bondo for details. Here's some more work in progress pics....nothing interesting yet but gives an idea of what I'm doing...

 

I also had issues with the Titebond II drying..maybe I did it too thick. I ended up covering it with Bondo and I really liked the effect it gave.

Bits that need work I sanded more.

.

 

Josh
I think I will bondo thin texture layers once I have a solid glue foundation. Might do a thin layer of glue over the bondo to smooth it out a bit as well. Your texture looks great and is what I'm going for. I will go for a lot less hardener though next time.

John

 

Use Rondo instead.

 

What is rondo?

 

Bondo thinned with polyester resin.

 

Day 11

Thank you for the Rondo tip. If I need to apply that, I'll look into it. Right now, the glue layering is working well to provide texturing. Maybe those who've finished can tell me if the glue dries hard enough to paint over or if something needs to go over the glue. I have discovered a few tips for successful glue texturing

Tips for Glue Layering
1) Use TiteBond Wood Glue - This has a short work time and dries relatively quickly
2) Use shallow/thin coats - I started with a thin coat over all the wood mounting board. I applied in small areas and used a spatula to spread it around. This dried within a day and provided a good foundation for further coats. The rest I've done in small (6-8") areas and I always use a putty knife to feather the edges and give it an organic look. Here are a couple before and after spreading pictures. The left shows the pools just squeezed from the bottle and the right is the spread out areas.

3) Use a fan. I have a floor fan that blows on setting 1 (slow) and oscillates over the entire construction. The layers dry within 6-8 hours so I can do some glue in the morning and it's dry when I get home from work and can do some at night and it's dry by morning. I don't let each one completely dry so there will hopefully be some curing benefits.

So far, things are going well, and I hope to be done with my Carbonite in the next day or two. After that, I'll be sanding the seams and getting ready to use some automotive primer on the whole thing and cover the panel holes with cut sheets for support.

Thanks to everyone who's gone before and added their tips and tricks.

John

 

Looking good John. If accuracy matters to you, the carbonite comes level to the "frame".
I notice you still have a lot of room there, I'd hate to see you go all the way, then realize it like many others in here.

Keep up the awesome build!

 

I received my panels this week, so will be continuing my posts. In the meantime I constructed a life size TARDIS and a couple UFOs for my decorations.

Triton, I'm not worried too much about accuracy. I did add a bit more but it doesn't go flush to the edges.

 

John - you're doing great...as someone who has been down this road take your time. BTW, the pic in post #11 is mine...built back in 2011/12...happy to assist in any tips I can pass along or answer questions.

My HIC wasn't flush intentionally and while not screen accurate I believe it makes it 'pop' more to the eye. It made it's public debut at Celebration VI.

 

Thanks! I've finished my build last week for my party, but I need to make some fixes for final show. One thing I was having trouble with is mounting the hero panel light circle onto the panel in the right location. I tried a small metal bar and glue gun but that's not holding well.

john

 

Happy New Year! Did you get to finish your HIC?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hey Harli .. we would like to see pictures of your final build! Also, if you didn't fix your hero panel problem, maybe we are gonna be able to give some advice! :thumbsup

 

In case people aren't aware, bondo is just polyester resin (like for fibre glass) with talc powder mixed in, aka baby powder. So you can thin bondo with PE resin, or if you need it really thin you can just add baby powder to the resin until you have the viscosity you're looking for.

hope it helps

Sabs