Acrylikhan

Hi Mike! The Story so far: I have two of my components at work ready for molding. It's been busy, so work as somewhat stalled getting the molds poured on these sections. Plus, I think I have to order more silicone, I might not have enough for these two parts. The two componets are the forearm armor and the thermal detonator box. The knee armor, I've had a revelation. After I attached the the top front section to the completed bottom section, I noticed yesterday that I had glued it at the wrong angle. I have to break it , or dremel it off, and reset it. Minor set back. I'm hoping to get that completed this week. Another revelation is with the thigh boxes. I need to make them a little bit bigger. This is more with scaling them to my height more than anything else. The good news is that I have the first model to work from, and I just need size it up slightly. Only a a half inch all around, and about three-quarters of an inch in depth. I am trying to make the boxes functional too... but that might have to wait. The belt! I am looking into making a proper belt made out of a urethane skinned foam. It's similar to what the Clone Troopers are using for their belts. I have an MDF blank made, but there might be some problems with connecting the foam belt to the three inch webbing. Riveting may cause a very bad dimpling on the facing surface, destroying the illusion. That's on hold... again. I haven't gotten the shoulder piece into CAD yet. Been busy at work, so I may try one or two more tricks to see it I can salvage what I have. The climax of the project will be the chest and back armor. I am still deciding how to best approach that part of project. I'll probably start making a mock up once I get the cummer vest. But I want to finish the arms and the knee armor first. And that'll take a couple more months. I am still working on the tank topper. It too is sitting on my desk at work waiting for me. It's almost done. I need to make some greeblie parts for it. Lastly, what I've been putting most of my time into, has been modifying the Rubies helmet. But that's a story for another time. I'll post some final pictures in the HELMET thread with a short description of the mods I did. I'll get some more pictures up soon. I'm heading down to my work shop later tonight to work on the knee armor. Thanks for dropping by!! Stay tuned! -fk

Thanks Denise!!!! I can't wait to see how all the pieces are going to come together once the armor pieces get finished. -fk

The answer: Why, Urethane Castings of course!!! Here, master pattern "Mom" takes a minute to pose with her Children. More like clones. A couple other snap shots: Also featured, my custom T-bits! They fit great don't they? Shoulder update: I am officially sick and tired of of trying to scratch build the shoulder armor. It's been coming out distorted every time, or it thins as it gets closer to the bottom. A phenomena I cannot quite explain yet. Time to break out CAD and make a machining file for the darn thing. I will machine the master, and then make a mold of it. I will be using my measurements and silhouettes I developed to fit my orangutan arms and monkey like features. (Ask TB-1020... I'm hideous.) More work done on the Rubies Modifications, but that is a posting for another thread.... Have fun at Celebration! I'll try to have more work done by then, and more pictures to show you. -fk aka Kamino Prime Minister Lama Su

Brain Teaser -fk

More work on the knee and the shoulder. I might be off a little bit, but I think I can resculpt a few areas to fit the profiles we've generated here. I'll probably use an epoxy putty instead of the bondo. It's a lot stiffer and will not crack or crumble under stress. It's either that, or I might start over. Not sure what to do yet. It looks right on my shoulder, but I may still have it too long. I'll have to double check the references to see where exactly the lower bottom of the shoulder should lay. Two of the photos I have contradict each other, so It's back to guessing. Oh, yeah... the "height" is about 2.75". Right on track!! The knee I've reworked the lower side panels. The top edge was too straight. I had to angle it down as the panel goes back from the lower front panel. Here's the new pictures so you can compare with the earlier construction. I still need to re-sculpt the loops for the webbing. Now the harder part. The upper side panels and then connecting them to the top front panel. Should be interesting. I'm working on the tank topper this week! I should have some progress photographs soon. I'm also putting the Rubies under the knife this week! But I won't be posting that progress here, as there's already some kick butt tutorials already posted. Have a good week, Scouts! Happy hunting. -fk

Yes... that does look about right. Its more tightly rounded at the top then my prototype. I can easily fix it. The knee armor has been starting its headache rounds with my patience. After staring into the reference photos, More details are coming out. I keep forgetting that the perspectives are distorting some of the angles. Trail and error seem to be the only course for getting close. I'm work on the knee some more and see what I can come up with, and we'll go from there. Thanks for the drawings! -fk

Okay... new game plan! Still working on the shoulder armor. I am making a template of sorts to make sure that I stay in the correct general shape. Things keep getting distorted, so I am forcing myself into the proper silhouette. One of the referrence photos Madphisto post here gives a fairly decent look of the shoulder from head on (or from a side view of the shoulder, the widest part of the armor in full view, that is.) There will have to be some liberties taken, but I think that the template is close. Trouble with the knee armor, again! As if breaking the poor thing with my butterfingers wasn't bad enough, I made a startling discovery looking through the reference photos. The lower side panels of the knee armor are WRONG! Those side panels, the top edge of the panels angle backward toward the strap loops. There not straight across as I originally assumed. Again, the reference photos and test fitting it to my leg has shown me the error. I was wondering why the straps were not laying close to the back of the leg knee joint. It was because they are laying in the wrong position! Comments? Input? Cash? More to come... much more!! -fk

Yeah! I though the hardest part to create was the bicep armor, but I got that done in a week. Well, construction was easy, once the three months of researching and talking with Madphisto cleared a lot of stuff up. I'm glad we pessimists have a place we can hang out. BTW, that BARC trooper really KICKS @SS! Stupendous job, Mike! -fk

And it seems that I'm missing the mark just by a few inches! I'll get it very soon! Thanks for the comments! -fk

Thanks guys! As I always say, it's better to have a second pair of eyes looking over my shoulder. Phil, I have all the photos you posted a while back. They have been very very very helpful. It's just I want to get this right the first time. I some times fall back to old habits, so I like having a double check. I remember you said the depth of the part was good, so I am sticking to the depth I've got. That width is escaping my grasp! Army Scout had posted a picture of his shoulder armor with the bicep in a thread here about how to use snaps to attach your armor together. His should bell definitely has that square look. I've got that picture too in my reference file. The measurements I've got for the part so far is roughly 8 inches high by about 5 to 5.5 inches wide. I could slice it again down the middle, and add that two more inches and then re-pattern finish. I think I could probably get a way with 8 inches by 7 inches. Would be more squarish... I'll get to work again and see what I can do. The knee armor will be interesting. I hope the plastic will curve the way I want it to! I might mess with it that this weekend too. -fk

Thanks! Glad your enjoying the project! -fk

Went back to the shoulder armor. Added material, took some away, and then took some pictures. Still it's a bit twisted, but I think it'll do. I was using this screen capture to get my bearings again. I have long arms, so I needed to make the shoulder piece a little longer. I keep seeing the edges curve back inward, so I trimmed the bottom a little more. The back side looks a little distorted. Now for the some views of the piece And then modeling it with the bicep piece. Sorry if it's hard to see... the bicep armor's approximated on the same part of the body as the screen cap I posted above. I was going to try to machine this piece, but I'm getting closer to something I like making this pattern by hand. What do you guys think? Good, Excellence, Close,.... @#$%? Feedback is always welcome! -fk

Worked some more on the knee armor. It's kind of funny that I'm trying to imitate a vacuformed piece by building a very tight model for urethane casting. Strange, no? Okay, so I started with getting the "shelf" feature on the lower front and sides of the knee armor. I used a styrene cement to bond them together. Afterwards, I ran a bead of super glue down the back of the trough to make it a little more stable. Bondo will be used for final shaping and make it look nicer. Getting jiggy with it, I set up the front and one of the sides to glue the proper angle. I used a .25" strip of styrene to fill the gap. Again with the styrene cement, and then a bead of heavy super glue for strength. Not bad. I'll need some repair work where the super glue seeped through. Easy to fix. I repeated the process for the other side. The gap spacer was a little off this time, but that should add a little character. I can fix it, if it looks too "off." Top view of the bottom front and sides. Looks pretty consistent. I will have to curve the sides back and inward toward the calf. A little heat and use an acrylic cylinder for the task. And a front view too. Not bad. I set the jig for the angle for the top front half of the armor. Again, using a .25" spacer, I linked the bottom to the top. First with styrene cement, and then a bead of super glue to add reinforcement. And look at that. It's starting to look... like... something... A front view, again. The top sides are a bit tricky, so I'm letting the whole piece rest for a couple of days to finish curing. I'll cut new sides for the top. Those pieces are like right angle triangles. I will have to attach those first to the bottom half. Heat and form the sides so they curve back. After that part is settled, I can heat and angle the sides of the top front and attach them to the sides of the top front piece. I have to bend them at about a 35-degree angle. Lastly, it will be putting backside of the indent for that top front section. The shoulder armor is progressing too. very slowly! I am fixing some facets that appeared while I was sanding the alteration. I need to add some styrene to the bottom of the bell to straighten it, and lengthen it by a little. My arms are a bit long so I am compensating for that genetic disorder, so that the bicep armor piece will lay in the right area. More to come... as always! -fk

Worked some more on the knee armor. It's kind of funny that I'm trying to imitate a vacuformed pieces by building very tight models for urethane casting. Strange, no? Okay, so I started with getting the "shelf" feature on the lower front and sides of the knee armor. I used a styrene glue to bond them together. Afterwards, I ran a bead of superglue down the back of the trough to make it a little more stable. Bondo will be used for final shaping and make it look nicer.

Cut the "jigs" I will be using to keep the angles perfect while I start bonding everything together. Using the cardboard mock up I made a few months back, I started cutting the plastic for all the sides. The top front of the knee armor will need to be heated and bent to the ends stretch back at the proper angle. The lower front and sides will be first to be glued together. Then gently heated and curved back slightly to hug the leg better. I may glue the top sides as well, just to keep the curve consistent on both sides. The top front of the armor is the tricky, as the bottom that connects to the bottom front needs to be straight, but the back side ends up angled to 35-degrees to both sides. I may make a special jig to heat and form the plastic on both sides to the correct angle, and then allow it to cool. more to come. -fk

We'll be getting back to the project soon, Hopefully, before Mid-April. My weekends have been surrendered (involuntarily of course!) to the grind stone. I miss my weekends. It is not wise to use any power tools when sleep deprived. Okay... what's on that agenda once my life is given back to me? First and foremost... the knee armor. Then get on the computer and design that shoulder armor piece for machining. I'll try to post stuff as soon as I am able. -fk

That's a good idea... my melon's about 23.5 inches. The Rubies is a tight fit as it is. A little more room would make for better air circulation too. What size would you be looking for?? This would be a very interesting project for me to start in Solidworks as well. The bucket part would probably would be be machined in three sections then glued. The faceplate and the cowl would be two separate pieces. The master pattern would be completely out of RenWood For molding: The bucket would be completely assembled, pattern finished, and shot as one part. If I knew someone with a roto-caster, and I could do it no problem. If not, I's just shoot the part in the system we have at work. It would save a ton of silicone in the mold making process if I could find a roto caster. The faceplate and cowl could be assembled together and the molded as one part. It would be a tricky to pull without tearing silicone with the undercuts. I could use a tin silicone which is more flexible, but I like the platinum better. Gah... did I just start another project??? -fk

I wish I had more time to exploit it!!! Seriously! As for a helmet: That has been my objective all along. I just need to get on the workstations and get started. Rubies for now.... "Acrylikhan" for the future! (with a MC Snout of course!! ) -fk

Alright, that sounds good. I still I need to make the thing a bit longer. Maybe another two-inches (5-centimeters) longer down the arm? I think I might have had the bicep armor too low when I took the reference shot. From the ROTJ stills you posted, compared to what I have so far, I think I will go into some heavier reworking. BUT... I will keep the depth. I am going to put some more serious time trying to get a CAD file going, and see about machining the part out of some old Resin we have in the shop, or if I can super-glue enough scrap pieces of RenWood into a sizable form to machine the pattern out of. -fk

Agreed.

! Thanks, Madphisto. I do have some of these screen captures, but there are a few newer ones. Thanks for dropping them in on the board! -fk OH! I'm sorry, I forgot to mention the first referrence photoes I was going from were from the Star Wars Chronicles. Not the best photos to work fronm, but they were a start. -fk

Here's my original master pattern pictures, with the armor pieces in the positions most commonly found in the movie: The updated photographs: I was originally using the Chronicles as my base for all my referrences. Madphisto re-directed me to the MoM pictures in the gallery. From what I can gather now, it looks like I need to be at least another inch or two lower toward the elbow, and expand the sides toward my torso by about another 1/2 inch to a full inch. I should draw a line where the chest armor should rest. Lady Ghost, What ever help you can give me, I'd greatly appreciated it! I would rather get it right the first time. If you would like large stand alone picture of teh shoulder piece with a grid on the back, I will post it here. These will not be a vacuformed piece. All parts I am creating will eventually be resin castings. thanks! -fk

Yeah, I think your right. I'll double check all my photoes again. I still need to expand the edges out a little more to. I could still square it up. I did force it back into a cylinder, but I can correct that now. Great eye there Madphisto! -fk Oh.... that would be sweet!!!!! I need to get time on the computer and that has been very difficult with the extra work we've been hauling in this week. If you'll be at ACME in March, I'll try to bring my stuff in. This and the lightsaber I've been working on. -fk

Started the shoulder modification: Here's the shoulder as it started out last year: And now with the widening adjustment: I got another styrene elbow and sliced about an inch wide strip. I took the original armor piece, and cut it directly in half. I styrene bonded the pieces together, and the used thick superglue and cure accelerator to fill any gaps. I did a test fit and it feels more comfortable, and sits better. To combat the warp-age from heating and rechaping, I am using polyester resin (bondo) to fill gaps and then sanding with a medium grit sanding pad for now. I still have more applications to do, and then a coat of primer to find the "invisible" gaps, dips, dings and what-the-f***s? I will do a little more of the shaping, and the start expaning the sides to cup around the shoulder a bit more, probably about a 1/2-inch. Then extend the botomm down by at least one whole inch. My boss proposed that I build this part in CAD, and then we could machine it. But we've been busy and I haven't be able to get on a computer at all these past few weeks. So I'm resigning back to my warped plastic and good ol' elbow grease. I stopped work on the knee for the moment. I need to get more plastic to restart the project. Plus I got another photo to work from. More adjustments! Back to the shop! -fk

When I was hunting for parts, I tried every hardware store in the area... more specifically the mom and pop ones that are still alive and kicking in my area. No luck trying to find a light gray/primer gray colored hose. The hose I now use is from our very own Arcturus. It's a charcoal grey sump pump hose. I used that for sizing my template for the detonator, after I found out that my original detonator was too small. I should be able to paint it with a latex or an acrylic. My tests this week point that it should work, and probably will stay on for a while before needing to be repainted. Good to have you back Mazik, and thanks for the compliments! I am still reworking the shoulder armor. I almost got a break a few weeks ago to draft the shoulder armor in SolidWorks and then machine the pattern on a CNC. We were slow that week at work when my boss looked at my stuff I've been working on, and suggested it after seeing what I've been doing to the current armor piece. So... I've cut the original shoulder armor length wise down the middle, and inserted a plastic strip to make it wider. I've bonded it together, and resin filling the gaps. Now it's files and sandpaper smoothing and shaping now. I have to increase the bottom by about another inch, and the sides by about another half inch. I'll model it again and see what you guys think. I've been talking with my boys at work and then agree it fits better on the shoulder. It's getting there. I have production pictures but I need to get them off the camera and on my computer and processed for posting here. Going back to work! Wish me Luck! -fk