Thorssoli's First Order Builds - Captain Phasma FINISHED on Page 21!

[thorssoli]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Like a BOSS......

Not so much. If I'd done it like a boss, I'd have hired some other guy and had him do it. Boss fail.

I know folks have said it before, but it's beyond awesome that you take the time to show us how you make things.

That's the whole point of the site, isn't it? The other option would just be me saying, "hey guys, look at all the nifty stuff I've got. Aren't I swell?" That's nowhere near as interesting.

That's as good a tutorial as one could hope for.

There will be more... Have I mentioned I'm writing a book? I even started a thread asking for content suggestions here: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=235598

Please tell me you are going to start the new TIE helmet next! eagerly awaiting that one!!

I guess I am, but there's a whole lot of other things to knock out before then (such as my Halloween costume). The good news is that it looks like the chest and shoulders for the TIE pilot are the same as the chest and shoulders for Phasma and the standard troopers. So I've got that going for me... Which is nice.

Not much in the way of updates to mention. I've been focused on a couple of things with paychecks attached to them, but in between all of the real work I've finally managed to break out the HVLP gun and put a clearcoat on three of these guys:


Of course, I'm an idiot and didn't think to completely clean out the gun before I started spraying. It turns out that whatever jerk used it last (probably me) left a bit of gunk in it and now one of the helmets has some interesting little speckles on the snout. It's actually not a bad look when you consider that these guys spend all of their time playing with fire, but it's not ideal.

In other news, I've made tiny bits of progress on the Snow Dome:


I'm waiting until I've got that molded and I can test fit it onto the rest of the helmet before I finalize the shape of the faceplate:


Hopefully I'll have an update on those guys soon. But first, let me take a selfie:


Stay tuned...

 

[ed209]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Amazing work, as usual. Love the way these are looking.

 

[pnag]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Can't wait to see more of Phasma!

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Can't wait to see more of Phasma!

Carved out the shoulder parts:


Probably sized them wrong though. I'll have a better idea once I've snapped the waste off and assembled all of the slices.

 

[Epona_Rhi]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

The acrylic is sucked into the hole, but only so much. The shop vac stays on until the plastic has cooled enough to keep its new shape. Then I shut off the vacuum, pop the lenses out, and stick them in a helmet. Then I take a selfie:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/570/21696952539_5a12ed2066_c.jpg

If you want the lenses to be more convex, it's just a matter of making the plastic softer by cooking it a bit longer.

And that's how lenses are made.

Most important step!

Thanks for the great tutorial for the lenses! Very informative!

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Thanks for the great tutorial for the lenses! Very informative!

No problem at all. I aim to please.

Tiny update, I've finally finished smoothing out the prototype for the snowtrooper dome:


Then I added a bit of clay around the edge:


Since the shape is mostly smooth with very few details to worry about, I'll be molding the whole thing in fiberglass. With that in mind, I sprayed on a couple of coats of PVA mold release:


By the time I left the shop last night, the PVA still hadn't dried. So on Monday morning I'll be building up a clay parting wall and get started on the mold for the first half of the dome.

So stay tuned...

 

[GUARD1AN]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

this is awesome !!!!

 

[dday]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

How do you mold in fiberglass? Doesn't the resin have a tendency to stick to this?

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Doesn't the resin have a tendency to stick to this?

That's what the release agent is for.

I'll be pulling the copies of the dome in fiberglass as well. It'll all become clear soon.

 

[dday]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

The only thing that really sticks to fiberglass is more fiberglass

Release agent indeed! I guess it will be cheaper vs fiberglass, then silicone.

 

[Celtic007]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

That's what the release agent is for.

I'll be pulling the copies of the dome in fiberglass as well. It'll all become clear soon.

Do you think the fiberglass only way will work for molding a Vader dome as well?

I can't wait to see most pics of that process.

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Do you think the fiberglass only way will work for molding a Vader dome as well?

Absolutely. It's ideal for anything that's smooth with very few (or very soft) details so you don't have to worry about the part locking into the mold. This is the same way I made all of my ED209 body parts and it's basically the same way that speedboats are made. You just need to pick line to follow for putting a seam in the mold and then spend a lot of time polishing things before applying a layer of release agent to keep the parts from sticking together. HERE'S HOW:

When I last posted about the snowdome, it looked like so:


The greenish tint is the PVA mold release that I've coated it with. The next day, after it had had more than enough time to dry, I built up the clay parting wall:


You'll notice that I added some zig-zags to it in order to make it easy to get the two halves of the mold to fit back together properly:


When I was satisfied that the parting wall was smoothed out, I applied a layer of gelcoat to one side:


"Gelcoat" is just another polyester resin product with a few things added in to make it more viscous than regular resin. It's also a bit easier to sand and polish and it's UV-stabilized, so it holds up to weather exposure. This is usually the outside layer you see on a boat instead of paint. I chose black because I'll be laying up the part in white and I want it to be easy to spot any "holidays" or areas that need more coverage.

Once the gelcoat had cured, the next thing was to lay up three layers of 3/4-oz fiberglass mat:


After the glass had cured, I flipped the whole arrangement on its side and peeled off the clay parting wall. Then I put a bead of clay around the outside edge of the resulting flange. This will make it easier to pry the two halves apart later. Then I added more PVA onto the flange itself:


Once the PVA had dried, I layered on the gelcoat for the 2nd half of the mold:


As deja-vu began to set in, once the gelcoat set up, it was time to glass the 2nd half:


After the glass had cured for the second half, I drilled a few bolt-holes along the flange. Then I pried the mold open and removed the prototype. Once that was done, the mold was cleaned out, polished, and bolted back together:


The inside was then coated with more PVA release agent, then after it dried, I layered on the gelcoat:


Then the fiberglass:


Then the waiting:


After a bit, the fiberglass had cured solid and I got to pry the two halves of the mold off of the part:


Then the mold was cleaned, polished, and bolted back together ready to be used again:


Meanwhile, I rough-trimmed the dome, stuck it on the helmet and took a selfie:


Once I trim the edges properly, it should look about right:


The faceplate needs a lot more work, but for now it'll sit on the shelf while I focus on the Phasma build:

 

[cayman shen]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Impressive. Most impressive.

 

[Celtic007]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Awesome job and description. This will help me out a ton! Thanks!

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Thanks!

I aim to please. Bear in mind that the surface of the mold will determine the surface of the part. Since I was planning on sanding and painting these guys anyway, it really didn't matter all that much, but if the mold was more polished, notionally I could get away with just buffing a shine onto the white gelcoat.

 

[Celtic007]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

I aim to please. Bear in mind that the surface of the mold will determine the surface of the part. Since I was planning on sanding and painting these guys anyway, it really didn't matter all that much, but if the mold was more polished, notionally I could get away with just buffing a shine onto the white gelcoat.

Is there a specific brush on gel coat you use?

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Is there a specific brush on gel coat you use?

I use whatever ends up being cheapest. Something like this: LINK. Whatever you use, just know that the hardware store stuff usually contains a wax additive. This is because the polyester products are air-inhibited, which means they won't cure properly when they're in contact with air. With the wax additive, a barrier layer will rise to the surface to keep the air away. This means that you have to do all of the layup (gelcoat and fiber-reinforced resin layers) before the stuff has cured all the way through. This is called "hot layering." If you wait until a layer has fully cured, the wax will rise to the surface and prevent the next layer from forming a strong chemical bond with the layer below it. The best you can do at this point is to sand the previous layer and hope for an adequate mechanical bond.

All of these headaches go away if you use wax-free versions of these products, but that means getting them from somewhere other than the local hardware store. Then you just need to remember to include a surface curing agent when mixing the last batch of fiberglass you lay up.

UPDATE: I'm back to work on the Phasma build. I've got a handful of helmets prepped. This started by sanding the shine off of the castings:


Then smearing some filler putty over a few tiny pinholes along the bottom edge where the two mold parts come together:


Once that had dried, I sanded it smooth and gave the lot of them a coat of black primer:


Later that evening, I gave them all a glossy clearcoat:


Then I took a selfie:


Next up: CHROME!!!

Stay tuned.

 

[arcee360]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

can you please message me prices on the flametrooper and snowtrooper helmets? I am very interested in getting these for my nephew. He is autistic, and for some reason really takes to collecting Star Wars helmets. Thank you.

 

[usajdm]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Blown away..... as usual.

 

[thorssoli]

Re: Thorssoli's Episode VII Builds

Blown away..... as usual.

But it gets better. Today I got a chance to test some chromes:


The first one is ChromeFX from Alsacorp:


The second one is Spazstix Mirror Chrome:


The third one is Krylon Looking Glass:


I'm liking the Mirrorchrome the best. It's the one in the middle:




The ChromeFX and the Mirror Chrome both need a clearcoat in order to protect them from handling and the elements. So they'll end up being a bit less shiny and a bit more blue tinted. Then I'll be adding some weathering. So the jury's still out, but I prefer the middle one.