My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)..FINISHED! See post #19!

Thought I'd post my HIC build just for fun...my Facebook friends don't get it. Comments like, "You have too much time on your hands" irritate me...people don't understand that things like this are my interest, not hockey or football. Might be better to share with the fine PPL here.

I HAD a HIC before with an aluminum frame, but when my wife left me I sold off most of my collection. When my town flooded last summer I lost a lot more (including all my tools which will make this new build a bit tricky). I have always missed my HIC and when I saw King Jawa's run of body castings..I had to dive in. I need HIC back to heal some emotional wounds.

I debated just having it hang on a wall as a panel, but I redrew all the pieces for a formed box and one thing lead to another. I have the location of Han etched in a few key spots to help locate the casting later.





Then another day I had them formed. Unfortunately the bending distorted a bit because of the cutouts for the side panels. I had to try to hammer them flatter. I countersunk the holes in the top so I can hide the bolts later. Unfortunately that means with bondo (for the corners also) I HAVE to repaint the frame. Otherwise, all aluminum would look pretty cool. I could have had the corners welded and ground smooth at work, but then I had to now way to get them home so I took it home in pieces and assembled it.



The sides are a bit flimsy so I am going to glue in some aluminum angles or pipes in a few spots later. I am going to have to do my best to make side panels out of aluminum and use glue to assemble at home. It won't be prefect as I no longer have a dremel, grinder, etc etc etc. I started a thread looking for anyone's old Illusive Conceopts panels..just in case. I can't afford castings of Volvo dashboards, and you can see my workspace is not ideal. I have no garage and it's -30 outside.

Thanks for looking! By the way..I have the ONLY replica I know of..of the slab that was made when Luke escaped the freezing chamber.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

I don't post, but it sucks having to go through what you did. Add to that "friends" that don't get it. Apparently, I have struck a strange chord with the guys at the hobby shop near me. They gave me sideward glances. Lol

as for your build, super ambitious. I like it. I'm not a huge SW fan but this would be cool attached to the fridge. Good luck and keep the updates coming.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Fantastic work! Keep posting more pictures.

I guess we all have similar issues with our IRL friends.

Mine thought I'm mental when I told them that I'm making a life sized Han Solo frozen in carbonite

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Where did you get your han solo molding? ive been looking everywhere... Thanks

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Thanks guys!

Karnesguy...KingJawa was doing a run here..but he may be done with it..

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Wow, it is amazing what people can do without a shot, or all the fancy tools or even the money to get that "perfect" part. This is strong work! Cant wait to see how this turns out.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Looking good buddy !

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

I'm thinking of doing similar, I'll keep an eye on your progress!

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

looking good, gonna keep an eye on your build. Good luck

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

A bit of progress to report. I have my sunken side panel perimeter pieces plasma cut and have been using PL Premium to glue them in place (each of the 8 are in 2 halves..because wasting 3/4" thick steel plate for the whole shape was a large waste of material!). Each half gets lined up with the hole and glued in place using clamps. Then the aluminum cutout from the frame is glued into the shape from the back..at the proper angle. The first few I did were quite messy and I fear having to sand/scrape the exposed surfaces. The seam where the 2 halves meet will need a bit of filler. Each side panel takes 2 nights for the surrounding piece to dry solid, then another 2 days for the backing plate (I'm doing one outer shape and the previous backing plate every 2 days). It is taking a while!!!

My body casting arrived last night (thanks King Jawa) so I can't wait to get the side recessed panels done so I can turn it over and get working on that part! My resin side panels arrived last night as well. I got a set from someone's IC Han in Carbonite as a start. I may clean and improve them someday, but for now I'll use them as is.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Ok..had to flip it over and try out the Han casting to see. You can see 4 of the side panel recesses are glued (not cleaned up yet but in place).

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Looking forward to your progress on this build- have you considered any side panel animation (status lights, etc.)?

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

SithApprentice2 said:

Looking forward to your progress on this build- have you considered any side panel animation (status lights, etc.)?

Click to expand...

Not likely....electronics are not my strong suit..and using the Illusive concept solid resin castings makes that tricky. You never know though. This is just my starting point.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

awesome man! another future dream of mine... Han in carbonite it looks great wit the alu look.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)



I'm still in the tedious part of prepping the side panels, before I turn it over and work on the body panel. They are all glued now, so just have to fill gaps, corners to make them look better. I chose a graphite color for the sides. It's dark in my basement but hopefully the pictures is ok. I took it with a flash but it looked horrible (I really had trouble cleaning up the PL Premium glue off this panel. Thank god I did a much neater job of all the other panels..and this one will be covered by the control box anyways. WHat I am pleased with is the 'real' look achieved when I sand the edges to reveal the actual aluminum underneath. NO need to dry brush the edges later when sandpaper can reveal REAL aluminum.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

I'm finally done gluing, and filling (mostly) the side recessed panels..at least enough that it's time to have it right side up to start work on the body panel. I have some corner and seam filling at the top to do, and the Elmer's pooling to start soon.

I haven't screwed down the Han Body pieces, but I couldn't resist a light coat of paint to see how it will look. I also sprayed a couple of my recessed panels to see how they look after the gluing and filling. I think I'll use this color as a base (charcoal wheel spray), the mist a lighter metallic on the body itself, then a black wash.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

I'm getting pretty feed up with this. I added lots of Elmer's but it wasn't thick enough to blend the edges of the body casting so I added plaster of Paris. It worked ok for the top portion but the glue at the bottom half began lifting off!!! What a mess!!!! Now I have to wait for it to dry then start scraping it off. I'm getting very fruystrasted. I guess I'll have to waste MORE money and try plaster directly on the aluminum without Elmer's underneath.

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Re: My Han in Carbonite build (Aluminum Frame)

Finally done! I had to redo the bottom puddling with Elmers....many areas lifted off the aluminum when they dried so I had to inject glue underneath...that lead to bubbling and wrinkling. AFter a couple weeks of that I finally got to a point where I was ready to paint. I taped drop sheets all around it and sprayed primer, then a Graphite colour all over, then a lighter colour (after masking) for the body panel). A couple coats of black wash (windex with acrylic black), then washed the excess off last night. Mounted my IC side panels..and DONE!

Looking forward to getting it upstairs this weekend.

Wow, That is awesome. Congrats. I so wish I could build something like this. My only shot is to buy it completed( not likely going to happen) or to purchase a casting of the whole thing including the box...also not likely. Kudos to you. This is really a great looking HIC!