Star Wars The Force Unleashed II - General Rahm Kota WIP
- Thread starter Koda Vonnor
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Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Since today was supposed to be cooler and no wind or rain (10%) I decided to lay up the fiberglass hard models for the R handguard and the shoulder bell. Right now it's 10am EDT and I should be doing the bell, but even 10% hits the dice roll once in a while. It's raining steadily and while I wait for the unforecasted rain clouds to go somewhere else, I took a couple pix of the handguard layup.
This is a homemade gel-coat of 50% bondo and 50% resin dabbed in the mold (after mold-release applied to the mold) with a brush and kinda rolled the mold around so it didn't pool in any particular spot. The gel-coat kinda rounds off the hard angles a bit and helps the cloth fit into corners. After the gel got tacky (about 10 min) I brushed in some mixed resin/hardener (I used about 6 drops in one ounce) and pushed in a scrap of fiberglass cloth. Continued laying in the cloth pieces overlapping the previous piece a bit and overlapping the edges as seen. Did only three layers total as this is just a hard model and will not be used in production.
Lesson learned: I first tried to push in a big piece of cloth but it was too hard to press it into the corners without pulling it away from an opposite corner. Luckily the resin mix was "cold" (slow-set / less drops of hardener) on the first layer so I had time to rip out the big mess and cut smaller cloth pieces before the resin got goopy.
After three layers of resin/cloth I mixed a little more homemade gel-coat and brushed that into the edges and back, to kinda reinforce the model. Notice the big glob in one spot? That's 'cause I mixed that coat "hot" and it started to harden before I was finished brushing it in.
Hopefully the rain will let up and I can do the shoulder in a few minutes.
~ Vonnor
Since today was supposed to be cooler and no wind or rain (10%) I decided to lay up the fiberglass hard models for the R handguard and the shoulder bell. Right now it's 10am EDT and I should be doing the bell, but even 10% hits the dice roll once in a while. It's raining steadily and while I wait for the unforecasted rain clouds to go somewhere else, I took a couple pix of the handguard layup.
This is a homemade gel-coat of 50% bondo and 50% resin dabbed in the mold (after mold-release applied to the mold) with a brush and kinda rolled the mold around so it didn't pool in any particular spot. The gel-coat kinda rounds off the hard angles a bit and helps the cloth fit into corners. After the gel got tacky (about 10 min) I brushed in some mixed resin/hardener (I used about 6 drops in one ounce) and pushed in a scrap of fiberglass cloth. Continued laying in the cloth pieces overlapping the previous piece a bit and overlapping the edges as seen. Did only three layers total as this is just a hard model and will not be used in production.
Lesson learned: I first tried to push in a big piece of cloth but it was too hard to press it into the corners without pulling it away from an opposite corner. Luckily the resin mix was "cold" (slow-set / less drops of hardener) on the first layer so I had time to rip out the big mess and cut smaller cloth pieces before the resin got goopy.
After three layers of resin/cloth I mixed a little more homemade gel-coat and brushed that into the edges and back, to kinda reinforce the model. Notice the big glob in one spot? That's 'cause I mixed that coat "hot" and it started to harden before I was finished brushing it in.
Hopefully the rain will let up and I can do the shoulder in a few minutes.
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
I had a window from 10am to 12noon in which to do the shoulder bell, as once again the skies opened and clear odorless liquid fell.
This is the same method as the handguard above:
- Gel-coat (50/50 Bondo/resin - "Rondo" in some circles)
- 3 layers of fiberglass cloth
- Gel-coat
Was a little bit harder to get the initial gel-coat to stay up in the undercuts, but I can always do some edge filling after I crack it out later tonight.
~ Vonnor
I had a window from 10am to 12noon in which to do the shoulder bell, as once again the skies opened and clear odorless liquid fell.
This is the same method as the handguard above:
- Gel-coat (50/50 Bondo/resin - "Rondo" in some circles)
- 3 layers of fiberglass cloth
- Gel-coat
Was a little bit harder to get the initial gel-coat to stay up in the undercuts, but I can always do some edge filling after I crack it out later tonight.
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
~ Vonnor
I tried that on the first Rahm Kota armor project with less than good results. The gel-cote set up too fast and shrunk away from the mold, causing bad ripples that I had to bondo-fill after the demold. The only piece I used the "rondo" on was the bell and it came out real nice. I guess I just go with what works for me. :cool
~ Vonnor
Zaxmon
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Absolutely, but I like to share techniques and learn what other do
Absolutely, but I like to share techniques and learn what other do
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Here are the rough break-out hard models for the shoulder and right handguard. I will clean them up today at a 501st armor party.
~ Vonnor
Here are the rough break-out hard models for the shoulder and right handguard. I will clean them up today at a 501st armor party.
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
I ordered a pretty close match for the kama fabric today.
I ordered a pretty close match for the kama fabric today.
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Not to be told by the photo, I actually did a lot this weekend. I reinforced the inside undercuts on the bell with bondo, finished shaping the shoulder bell and right handguard hard model and primed it for polishing, did the rough clay-up on the left handguard, filled in some low-spots on the bell, ground a flat edge around the bell for the half-round edging, and last but not least, ran out of time. :unsure
More later...
~ Vonnor
Not to be told by the photo, I actually did a lot this weekend. I reinforced the inside undercuts on the bell with bondo, finished shaping the shoulder bell and right handguard hard model and primed it for polishing, did the rough clay-up on the left handguard, filled in some low-spots on the bell, ground a flat edge around the bell for the half-round edging, and last but not least, ran out of time. :unsure
More later...
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
This is my idea for adding the edge bead to the handguards. Something that will be very easy to sand down on the production pieces. I will have to scrape off this first go-round and slope the edges down a bit more before I add the clay bead, so I can better recreate the look of the CG model.
I also sanded the bell down to 600 grit. It's not perfect curves but it's closer that the TFU version. With the weathering on it will look OK. I was going to use clay for the edge bead on the bell too, but decided it would be too hard to get it uniform width and thickness. I have a piece of acrylic half-round bar 1/2" dia. coming this week. I will take a mold of that and cast a 40A urethane rubber bead and glue it to the hard model, using clay to fill any gaps. I'll make an interim clamshell mold of the edge-beaded bell and pull two castings. These I'll do the corner cuts to and make two more clamshell molds for the production pieces.
And yes, I bought a gallon of Rebound25.
More stuff next week.
~ Vonnor
This is my idea for adding the edge bead to the handguards. Something that will be very easy to sand down on the production pieces. I will have to scrape off this first go-round and slope the edges down a bit more before I add the clay bead, so I can better recreate the look of the CG model.
I also sanded the bell down to 600 grit. It's not perfect curves but it's closer that the TFU version. With the weathering on it will look OK. I was going to use clay for the edge bead on the bell too, but decided it would be too hard to get it uniform width and thickness. I have a piece of acrylic half-round bar 1/2" dia. coming this week. I will take a mold of that and cast a 40A urethane rubber bead and glue it to the hard model, using clay to fill any gaps. I'll make an interim clamshell mold of the edge-beaded bell and pull two castings. These I'll do the corner cuts to and make two more clamshell molds for the production pieces.
And yes, I bought a gallon of Rebound25.
More stuff next week.
~ Vonnor
Last edited:
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Between earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and other assorted family responsibilities, I didn't get much done this week. Here is the (almost) completed sculpt for the left handguard, shown against the right for reference. The symmetry is not perfect as the hand positions were somewhat different during life-casting.
If you look closely at the right hard model you can see a pencil line along the edge.
Having failed to accurately account for the thickness of the leather gauntlets, I will need to take off some of the handguard thickness. I made the left a little thicker as well to allow for that. I'm not overly concerned that the two handguards will be 3/32" different in thickness. It won't be noticeable in production.
More next week...
~ Vonnor
Between earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and other assorted family responsibilities, I didn't get much done this week. Here is the (almost) completed sculpt for the left handguard, shown against the right for reference. The symmetry is not perfect as the hand positions were somewhat different during life-casting.
If you look closely at the right hard model you can see a pencil line along the edge.
Having failed to accurately account for the thickness of the leather gauntlets, I will need to take off some of the handguard thickness. I made the left a little thicker as well to allow for that. I'm not overly concerned that the two handguards will be 3/32" different in thickness. It won't be noticeable in production.
More next week...
~ Vonnor
Last edited:
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Small update:
I made the junk mold for the left handguard hard model, seen behind the mold for the shoulder bell edge bead. I got a piece of half-round 1/2" acrylic rod (shown), taped it to the edge of a level and made some posterboard walls. I put in some Rebound25 mold rubber and it's now setting up. I used the level to be sure the mold comes out level for the urethane rubber pour, plus it was the perfect width and a guaranteed flat surface. :cool
Not sure what happened to the photo, but the Rebound25 is bright orange.
~ Vonnor
Small update:
I made the junk mold for the left handguard hard model, seen behind the mold for the shoulder bell edge bead. I got a piece of half-round 1/2" acrylic rod (shown), taped it to the edge of a level and made some posterboard walls. I put in some Rebound25 mold rubber and it's now setting up. I used the level to be sure the mold comes out level for the urethane rubber pour, plus it was the perfect width and a guaranteed flat surface. :cool
Not sure what happened to the photo, but the Rebound25 is bright orange.
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
I'm glad you asked. :cool
This shows more the sequence of casting the flexible edge bead for the shoulder bell. I used Smooth-On Reoflex40 urethane rubber for the castings. I might have used 60 as the 40 is still VERY soft and flexible. One thing I found is that plain old superglue (cyanoacrylate) is the schiz for sticking flexible urethane to plastics like the Bondo. Also note while pouring I left a bit of a meniscus (concavity) on the surface to help the edging pull down flush on the model. Finally a mock-up of the soft edging idea. Way better edge than I could ever sculpt. Again this is only for building the left/right hard models which will be cast resin. I will cut the respective rear corners off each resin hard model and build the edge back up, then take final production molds.
Yada yada blah...
~ Vonnor
I'm glad you asked. :cool
This shows more the sequence of casting the flexible edge bead for the shoulder bell. I used Smooth-On Reoflex40 urethane rubber for the castings. I might have used 60 as the 40 is still VERY soft and flexible. One thing I found is that plain old superglue (cyanoacrylate) is the schiz for sticking flexible urethane to plastics like the Bondo. Also note while pouring I left a bit of a meniscus (concavity) on the surface to help the edging pull down flush on the model. Finally a mock-up of the soft edging idea. Way better edge than I could ever sculpt. Again this is only for building the left/right hard models which will be cast resin. I will cut the respective rear corners off each resin hard model and build the edge back up, then take final production molds.
Yada yada blah...
~ Vonnor
Last edited:
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
I primed and polished the bell down to 600 grit, and added the soft urethane edge beading. I have to say it's not that easy to superglue a flexible piece to an edge and get it perfectly straight. The glue sets up too fast. Also any variance in pressure as I held the edging down caused some ripples in the edge contour.
After looking at it though and comparing it to the CG model I think it may be better a little crooked. Plus, whatever corrections I cannot make on the final hard masters I can blend in with the weathering.
It's finally starting to look like something. :cool
As always, more views at the bucket.
~ Vonnor
I primed and polished the bell down to 600 grit, and added the soft urethane edge beading. I have to say it's not that easy to superglue a flexible piece to an edge and get it perfectly straight. The glue sets up too fast. Also any variance in pressure as I held the edging down caused some ripples in the edge contour.
After looking at it though and comparing it to the CG model I think it may be better a little crooked. Plus, whatever corrections I cannot make on the final hard masters I can blend in with the weathering.
It's finally starting to look like something. :cool
As always, more views at the bucket.
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Here is half of the shell mold for the shoulder hard models. The three layers are the model, Rebound25 mold rubber from Smooth-On, and Hydrocal plaster. The rubber is thick only around the edges. Most of the mold lining is about 3/16" thick. I left the top pour area without a plaster backing. You can't see them but there are tiny air holes to either side of the pour hole. Registry key number four was a casualty of the brush-on. Should be OK with three given the shape of the shell.
I am still struggling with how to make the shell molds for the handguards. :confused
More sometime soon.
~ Vonnor
Here is half of the shell mold for the shoulder hard models. The three layers are the model, Rebound25 mold rubber from Smooth-On, and Hydrocal plaster. The rubber is thick only around the edges. Most of the mold lining is about 3/16" thick. I left the top pour area without a plaster backing. You can't see them but there are tiny air holes to either side of the pour hole. Registry key number four was a casualty of the brush-on. Should be OK with three given the shape of the shell.
I am still struggling with how to make the shell molds for the handguards. :confused
More sometime soon.
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Vision degradation complete...
The contacts allow extremely limited vision, appearing as if in a heavily smoke-filled room. I got them with my normal prescription which helps a little bit. Quite fun though. :cool
I also finished up the clam shell mold for the shoulder bell hard models. I will pour two castings next weekend, since the weather will be much cooler and dryer.
Stay tuned...
~ Vonnor
Vision degradation complete...
The contacts allow extremely limited vision, appearing as if in a heavily smoke-filled room. I got them with my normal prescription which helps a little bit. Quite fun though. :cool
I also finished up the clam shell mold for the shoulder bell hard models. I will pour two castings next weekend, since the weather will be much cooler and dryer.
Stay tuned...
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Today I pulled the final hard models for the left and right shoulder bells. I used Smooth-On Feather Lite® urethane resin, which is what I will be using for the production pieces. It yields very good results with very little bubbling and ample time to mix and pour before it starts to set up (about 4.5min - published pot life is 8.5 but I call foul on that!). De-mold time was about 60min at ~80°F (my AC is on the fritz - likely effected pot-life too).
The second pull is pictured below. There were a few (4-5) flaws in the casting, all where the rubber keys were placed in the lining (see pix). They look like dents and are nice and smooth. I may leave them in for a bit of character.
I will cut off the opposite (rear) corners of each bell and build the ridge back up, then do final shaping/sanding/polishing and make the production molds.
I decided I will need to make two-piece rubber block molds for the handguards. The box will be irregularly shaped to conserve rubber.
Be back when I got more.
~ Vonnor
Today I pulled the final hard models for the left and right shoulder bells. I used Smooth-On Feather Lite® urethane resin, which is what I will be using for the production pieces. It yields very good results with very little bubbling and ample time to mix and pour before it starts to set up (about 4.5min - published pot life is 8.5 but I call foul on that!). De-mold time was about 60min at ~80°F (my AC is on the fritz - likely effected pot-life too).
The second pull is pictured below. There were a few (4-5) flaws in the casting, all where the rubber keys were placed in the lining (see pix). They look like dents and are nice and smooth. I may leave them in for a bit of character.
I will cut off the opposite (rear) corners of each bell and build the ridge back up, then do final shaping/sanding/polishing and make the production molds.
I decided I will need to make two-piece rubber block molds for the handguards. The box will be irregularly shaped to conserve rubber.
Be back when I got more.
~ Vonnor
Koda Vonnor
Well-Known Member
Re: Rahm Kota TFU2 - WIP
Showing the rear corner build-up on the right shoulder bell. The Smooth-On Feather Lite resin is a bit soft but the ease of sanding/shaping more than makes up for it. I sanded it to take down a few surface ripples and get it ready for priming.
For the corner build-up I poured a half-round bead using the mold shown a couple pages back and Smooth Cast 300 instead of the rubber used before. Matching 22.5° angles were cut and the piece fit in place. I had to use slow-cure epoxy as it was all I had on hand. The red marks are from the spring clamps.
Note the image naming convention, I can now differentiate right from left shoulder bells. (Sorry, I'm geeky like that )
Also since the corner build-up is looking quite clean, I have decided to wear these bells rather than go to the time and expense of another two shell molds. I am anxious to get started on the arms.
Stay tuned.
~ Vonnor
Showing the rear corner build-up on the right shoulder bell. The Smooth-On Feather Lite resin is a bit soft but the ease of sanding/shaping more than makes up for it. I sanded it to take down a few surface ripples and get it ready for priming.
For the corner build-up I poured a half-round bead using the mold shown a couple pages back and Smooth Cast 300 instead of the rubber used before. Matching 22.5° angles were cut and the piece fit in place. I had to use slow-cure epoxy as it was all I had on hand. The red marks are from the spring clamps.
Note the image naming convention, I can now differentiate right from left shoulder bells.
(Sorry, I'm geeky like that )Also since the corner build-up is looking quite clean, I have decided to wear these bells rather than go to the time and expense of another two shell molds. I am anxious to get started on the arms.
Stay tuned.
~ Vonnor
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