Sideshow Fett, broken hand need repair advice

Halliwax

Legendary Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Hey guys. So my friend collects side show life size figures. He's had his fett for a long time, he had his Han in carbon delivered Thursday and while he was setting it up had a accident, and broke Fetts hand off.

He glued and epoxied the wrist to the hand, but now we need to come up with a plan to mount the hand back to the arm...

The gauntlet is not removable, if it were my plan was to fiberglass it back together

But now our new plan is to drill a hole down the arm and epoxy a threaded rod in it

Then fill the hand (which is hollow see pics below) with resin, before it cures insert the arm with the rod and let the resin harden, capturing the rod inside the hand?

I wanted to ask here if resin is a good idea, I don't want to pour resin in there and it have a chemical reaction (with what ever fett is
Made out of) and damage the hand, or expand and shatter it

Below are some pictures, we are a little lost and appreciate any advice

He put a email into side show asking what the figure is made out of so we have an idea of our options. But we haven't heard back yet.. another thing he said was his fett is from the first generation so even if they do have extra parts for sale he doubts the new parts would fit since the stance is different..
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Thank you all for your time
 
Pu resin? Polyurethane? Since the arm is solid and the hand is thick do u think this was a giant air pocket in the wrist?

I'm trying to figure out how it was cast? Is this a roto job?


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Would smooth-cast 300 be safe to use?

Michaels has a small kit, if we bought 2 or 3 kits tonight we could tackle fixing this tomorrow. I just don't want to hurt anything...


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In my opinion, I think pouring resin is the way to go. It kills me to see Boba Fetts poor hand dismembered, Good luck.

He feels sick to his stomach over this... he has a HUGE fett collection which takes up his second floor (2 bedrooms) of his parents house, and 3 rooms in his apartment..

He ordered some smooth on off amazon, and he's going to pour it in the hand once he gets it.

U think we should insert a rod as well?
 
this will all depend on the skill set. I have repaired a few sideshow pieces from lord of the rings. bought them cheap off ebay already broken.

I would first see how the broken parts match up with a dry fit before I did anything. then I would see how I can glue them back together. I have drilled rods in but I use a finger powered drill. its nothing more than a drill bit holder and you control the spin with your hand. use paper clip parts if possible. sideshow used to have a section dedicated to repairs. I think they recommended using elmers glue. I use the crazy glue version. matching the paint will be your hardest step. I recommend reading up on dry brushing seeing how that will be your best results in paint matching.

Edit

Scratch that. Didn't read it was life size. My advise was geared toward the small scale repairs.

I do know for a fact they use wires in fingers and other areas like legs and arms for strength because I had to fix some of mine and the wires were hanging out.

I believe they use a polystyrene resin however, I wouldn't add any because you can't control it and you will make a mess.

I would use a dowel or rod but not sure if I would go metal because of the weight. Plastic or light weight wood would be my attempt.

I definitely see an air pocket there.

Still have the paint issues to deal with but now on a larger scale. Use acrylic paints and dry brush them in. Most likely many coats to get the colors to match.
 
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this will all depend on the skill set. I have repaired a few sideshow pieces from lord of the rings. bought them cheap off ebay already broken.

I would first see how the broken parts match up with a dry fit before I did anything. then I would see how I can glue them back together. I have drilled rods in but I use a finger powered drill. its nothing more than a drill bit holder and you control the spin with your hand. use paper clip parts if possible. sideshow used to have a section dedicated to repairs. I think they recommended using elmers glue. I use the crazy glue version. matching the paint will be your hardest step. I recommend reading up on dry brushing seeing how that will be your best results in paint matching.

Edit

Scratch that. Didn't read it was life size. My advise was geared toward the small scale repairs.

I do know for a fact they use wires in fingers and other areas like legs and arms for strength because I had to fix some of mine and the wires were hanging out.

I believe they use a polystyrene resin however, I wouldn't add any because you can't control it and you will make a mess.

I would use a dowel or rod but not sure if I would go metal because of the weight. Plastic or light weight wood would be my attempt.

I definitely see an air pocket there.

Still have the paint issues to deal with but now on a larger scale. Use acrylic paints and dry brush them in. Most likely many coats to get the colors to match.

We aren't really worried about the paint, the gauntlets cover the entire thing, thankfully

The problem is this life size holds his blaster. I'm afraid of just glueing it back together. That's why I figured a thread 1/4 or 3/8 rod

A dowel would be lighter

There is no way of attaching the rod to the hand because the hand is hollow, that's why I need to come up with a way to hold the dowel in the hand

At first I was thinking foam it afraid of it expanding and re cracking all the pieces we glued together
 
Definately drill a hole into the lower arm and insert a rod, reaching out into the hollow part of the hand.
Drill another hole through the attachment point at the thumb going all the way through into the hands cavity.
Align the broken pieces and use contact cement to glue them back together.
Pour resin into the hand through the thumb pour spot you drilled, fill up the hands cavity.
Done.

The rod will secure the lower and and the hand together, the pour spout is covered, once the thumb is reattached. Glued area/ seam is covered by gauntlet. ;)
 
Resin is easy to use but it's like pouring very thin maple syrup. You definitely need to make sure that whatever you are pouring it into will not leak. You only have about 5 minutes or less before it turns into a solid mass. It will also get very hot as it cures.
 
this will all depend on the skill set. I have repaired a few sideshow pieces from lord of the rings. bought them cheap off ebay already broken.

I would first see how the broken parts match up with a dry fit before I did anything. then I would see how I can glue them back together. I have drilled rods in but I use a finger powered drill. its nothing more than a drill bit holder and you control the spin with your hand. use paper clip parts if possible. sideshow used to have a section dedicated to repairs. I think they recommended using elmers glue. I use the crazy glue version. matching the paint will be your hardest step. I recommend reading up on dry brushing seeing how that will be your best results in paint matching.

Edit

Scratch that. Didn't read it was life size. My advise was geared toward the small scale repairs.

I do know for a fact they use wires in fingers and other areas like legs and arms for strength because I had to fix some of mine and the wires were hanging out.

I believe they use a polystyrene resin however, I wouldn't add any because you can't control it and you will make a mess.

I would use a dowel or rod but not sure if I would go metal because of the weight. Plastic or light weight wood would be my attempt.

I definitely see an air pocket there.

Still have the paint issues to deal with but now on a larger scale. Use acrylic paints and dry brush them in. Most likely many coats to get the colors to match.

I agree, A light weight rod is definitely the way to go in my opinion. If you decide to go that route good luck. ;)
 
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Alternative idea is to attach a rod through the arm, itself, then pour in some expanding foam, creating an air hole where the thumb is and create a base on the inside of the hand' to attach the rod through.

Though I'm not familiar with this statue, and if it's got to hold any particular weight, that needs to be factored. But there's a lot of ways to fix it
 
Like I mentioned before, sideshow, used to have a page dedicated to repairs. I would seriously think about sending them an email for advise before I did any repairs. The page is old School, back when it was sideshow weta and the statues were much smaller and scaled. So it might not exist anymore. They should reply if you send an email.at least they used to.

Also mind what clutch stated. Resin gets pretty darn hot while curing. I thought mine was going to catch on fire in the cup the first time I used it.

Still, I would definitely do everything possible to fix it. Good luck
 
Like I mentioned before, sideshow, used to have a page dedicated to repairs. I would seriously think about sending them an email for advise before I did any repairs. The page is old School, back when it was sideshow weta and the statues were much smaller and scaled. So it might not exist anymore. They should reply if you send an email.at least they used to.

Also mind what clutch stated. Resin gets pretty darn hot while curing. I thought mine was going to catch on fire in the cup the first time I used it.

Still, I would definitely do everything possible to fix it. Good luck

I've only had that happen, or at least get close to, when using epoxy resins. The culprit, however, was it was reacting badly to the adhesive used to hold the brush bristles that I was using to apply it.
 
That sucks! I really feel for them because I usually break something (GG mini busts are apparently my favorites...) whenever I clean not matter how careful I am. I have three mini busts waiting for repairs. So I hope that gets fixed!

I have no expertise for something on this scale, but what about some type of expanding foam? Attach a rod like you mentioned to the hand, spray foam in there and then shove them together. I would think the foam would hold the hand on.
 
Like I mentioned before, sideshow, used to have a page dedicated to repairs. I would seriously think about sending them an email for advise before I did any repairs. The page is old School, back when it was sideshow weta and the statues were much smaller and scaled. So it might not exist anymore. They should reply if you send an email.at least they used to.

Also mind what clutch stated. Resin gets pretty darn hot while curing. I thought mine was going to catch on fire in the cup the first time I used it.

Still, I would definitely do everything possible to fix it. Good luck

sadly we have sent 2 emails, and have heard nothing back..... i am hoping he's able to just buy a new arm. i doubt it.. but i also sent a email asking what the figure is made out of in fear of chemical reactions.

i tell ya, after seeing this and how theres really no help in fixing something thats broke. i dont think i would ever invest this kind of money in a side show life size. buy it once and your on your own.... he's got over 25 grand in life size figures, not even including all his other side show stuff, and they can't even return a email?

very poor customer service, and very poor product control
 
I would drill and epoxy two rods into the stump in the gauntlet, then use plumber's epoxy to mount those rods into the hand, after scuffing up the inner surface of the hand part. Hold or strap it in place while it sets.

Pouring any kind of material in something like this would make me very nervous.
 
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