Sea Marshall: ESB Fett WIP

[SeaMarshall]

Greetings TDH Community.

I've decided to put together an ESB Fett and have collected a number of items over several months and plan to knock out a lot of the build in what little free time that I have. I have already begun, but the progress has been slow. I aim to pick up the pace and hopefully suit up and approve by summer. I will be prepping and painting my own kit, and I hope to receive help and feedback from this great community of Fett Fanatics. I have already had the pleasure of speaking with several folks from the community and have had the honor of meeting a few in person.

My aim is to build the kit per the 501st CRL Costuming:BH Boba Fett-ESB - Databank and cross check it with the Mandalorian Mercenaries CRL Boba Fett (Empire Strikes Back) | Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club -- but I will not be following the strict "film accuracy/canon" build regarding parts, until I am able to troop with my standard build, rather I will upgrade over time and if I'm crazy enough, collect original 'found parts' over the years. I plan to attain a high quality status, but approval and troop status is the goal. I plan to at least have servos in the helmet, and LEDs in the Jetpack and Gauntlets.

Here is where I am as of 11.27.17:
Updated main thread items to include new acquisitions: 01.20.18

Helmet per Wasted Fett

"Hero" Armor per Wasted Fett

Jetpack per Man of War Studios

Soft Parts per Man of War Studios Gloves, Flight Suit, Rope Belt, Pockets, Cape, Vest (not pictured)

Gauntlets and Shin Tools per Man of War Studios

Chest LEDs per Fettronics

Boot Spikes per Evolution_Props (eBay) - Item to be upgraded with MachineCraft Replicas

Gauntlet Darts per Machine Craft Replicas (Updated 01/20/18)

Boots per Man of War Studios (Updated 01/20/18)

Items missing for completion:
EE-3, Side Arm, Holster, Ammo belt, Jetpack Harness, Wookiee Braids (horse hair)

In the comments I will update my progression as photos are taken of steps leading to completion of each item. Feed back is welcome, as are links to tutorials that may be helpful. Here are a few that I am following, or will at least keep an eye on while I work on this project - which you may or may not be able to access, but are here for my reference.

Wasted Fett Helmet Assembly: How To Assemble Boba Fett Helmet - WASTED FETT
Marie-Ann's Pro-Build: Login
Happy Trooper EE-3 DIY:

MachineCraft Replicas: For Sale - **MachineCraft Replicas Consolidated Sales Thread** (Boba Fett Metal Parts)

I will be happy to leave reviews of my chosen items and post requested photos of each item or stage of my progress - please leave a comment or request. Thanks everyone.

 

[SeaMarshall]

Gauntlets from Man of War come with instructions to dremel out the resin plugs and degrease the resin mold release off.

I soaked the Gauntlets, bits, and shin tools for about 30minutes, then scrubbed with a brush until the rough texture of the resin could be felt instead of the smooth mold release agent. If you skip this degreased step, paint will not cling to the surfaces. It can be argued that you could thoroughly sand the surfaces, but as a best practice, I recommend soaking the resin items in degreaser and scrubbing the surfaces.

I used 80 grit and 120 grit sand paper blocks to smooth out the surfaces. Also recommended by MoW is to lay a flat piece of coarse sand paper on a table and level out the rough edges of the gauntlet halves/seams. These particular gauntlets come with a hinge system to open and close the gauntlets. Flattening the surfaces is ideal to have a straight edge.

I have attached the hinges temporarily with Gorilla Glue to get the gauntlets fitted. I will be revisiting the hinges with a more solid adhesive, perhaps fiberglass, bondo, or other method. For now, it serves its purpose.

Flame Thrower Assembly: It is recommended to dry fit these parts as you put the weapon together. You may want to trim the tubes to fit your preference. Let the parts slide freely around as you determine the right length. It is worth noting that you may want to file the inside of the tubes and bits to make for a better fit on the pipes. It is also highly recommended to have a heat gun handy because in the case of a tight fit, you can heat the bits for a better shape on the pipes.

It is worth noting that the resin gauntlets from Man of War did not have a perfect fit. As with many resin products, warping occurs and you may need to reheat the resin and reshape. I spent the better part of three hours reshaping the gauntlets to a perfect fit, and even then, it's pretty snug on my right forearm. The left gauntlet is great, but the right side is uncomfortable to wear and I will likely replace these at a later date. For now, they will do. Getting the seams to match when closed took a long time.

Note that the hinges are on the inside of the gauntlets. The outside of the gauntlets fortunately come with greeblies that cleverly disguise the seam.

Regarding the gauntlet closures, I have decided to use heavy strength magnets acquired from a Home Depot. These magnets are bulky, but cost $2.50 per pair and are ridiculously strong. They caused blood clots on my fingers when they snap shut. If you choose to use magnets, be aware they they can shatter if you snap them together too hard. I have heard of other closure methods, but I wanted something easy and I'm a big fan of magnets. Keep in mind that I plan to replace these at a later date for something more comfortable for my wrist size.

There they are. Prepped for paint. I will be priming in gray, base coating in antique nickel, top coating in hunt club green, and hand painting everything else. I have yet to finalize colors.

Feed back is welcome on your preferred methods of gauntlet closure, what gauntlets you have, and choices of colors.

Thanks for following along.

 

[Fett 4 Real]

Off to a good start. Those spikes/darts aren't the most desirable.... check out machinecraft for parts that have been replicated from the found parts.

 

[SeaMarshall]

Off to a good start. Those spikes/darts aren't the most desirable.... check out machinecraft for parts that have been replicated from the found parts.

Outstanding! I have that noted and thank you for that tip. Looks like a lot of really good upgrades there. Reminded me to get collar studs.

Looks like I just found a Christmas list to send to my folks.

 

[Evan1701]

Awesome gauntlet build! I have my MoW gauntlets all sanded and bondo'd with some silver on the flamethrower, but I have yet to assemble them and I don't have any hinges. I'll definitely be coming back here when I get around to building them!

 

[droidbait]

Great job so far!

 

[BudaFett]

Gauntlets came out great, looking forward to seeing them painted!

 

[haribon72]

And subscribed to here too!

 

[SeaMarshall]

Hey folks,

I managed to get a few hours in on the build - this is the dull, boring, same-ol'-stuff, but a crucial step to proper paint prep. I've found that doing these steps in one sitting is a good armor session to prep for the next phase: sanding.

Here's the Man of War Jet Pack in all its individual parts glory.

As with all resin casts, you're going to want to degrease the release agents off the items. Soak in warm water for 30minutes and scrub until you can feel the rough texture of the part. Soak longer and scrub again as needed, then let dry. Everything's drying so - you fine folks get a WIP update.

Here's the assembly process on the instructions provided by Man of War Studios

Not included in the kit are the pvc pipe fittings to connect the jet pack thrusters on a swivel, instead of attaching them individually. I'll have to swing by a home depot to pick these up before my next step.

In the next phase, I'll be sanding the resin to get rid of mold lines. Resin casts will always have these and it's worth the time to clean them up, otherwise they'll show up in your paint and looks like amateur hour. Other options will be to bondo the surface to balance the lines, then sand. I'll be sanding first and if the groove is still too deep, I'll clean it up with bondo.

What jet packs do you folks have? The Man of War pack seems a bit heavy. I will be ordering MachineCast Replicas metal parts for the beacon and stabilizer at least. Those two parts looks like they can attach and detach easily. The greeblies look like permanent fixture and I'd want to finalize my jetpack before making those purchases. Does anyone have the NME Jetpack? What are your thoughts?

 

[Ghost_Fett]

Looking like a great start. You will also need a jetpack harness. I didn’t see it listed.

I’ve got the man of war pack and it can be hefty. With the right harness though it’s not that bad.

 

[Evan1701]

It's nice to see so much detail in a WIP thread. I try to do this in mine as well, but you seem to know what you're talking about, whereas I'm just fumbling in the dark. I'm really excited to see the jetpack stuff, I'm getting a DVH in the next month or two and it's probably the thing I'm most nervous about building, next to the helmet (which I am deep in the middle of).

 

[ShortFuse]

I have the MOW jetpack. Instead of using the PVC pipe setup for the thrusters, you can attach eye bolts to the ends and use a bungee cord to attach them together. The PVC will need to be glued together to avoid losing a thruster on a troop. You will want to be able to remove the thrusters for storage and to avoid breaking them off. As far as the weight, it doesn’t seem too heavy. I am a firefighter and it is much lighter than a SCBA. Lol. The only problem is the jetpack harness. It is setup so the majority of the weight is put on your shoulders. A SCBA pack is setup to put the load on your hips, which is much better for you. The jetpack harness waist straps sit much too high to take much of the weight.

 

[SeaMarshall]

It's nice to see so much detail in a WIP thread.

Thanks man. It's also a pseudo tutorial thread for reference (if it helps anyone). I have a background in painting and am familiar with resin prep work. I too am figuring it out - I'm looking for lots of tips and tricks as well because this is new to me and I know there's a wealth of knowledge to be tapped here.

 

[SeaMarshall]

I have the MOW jetpack. Instead of using the PVC pipe setup for the thrusters, you can attach eye bolts to the ends and use a bungee cord to attach them together. The PVC will need to be glued together to avoid losing a thruster on a troop. You will want to be able to remove the thrusters for storage and to avoid breaking them off. As far as the weight, it doesn’t seem too heavy. I am a firefighter and it is much lighter than a SCBA. Lol. The only problem is the jetpack harness. It is setup so the majority of the weight is put on your shoulders. A SCBA pack is setup to put the load on your hips, which is much better for you. The jetpack harness waist straps sit much too high to take much of the weight.

I've seen the harness on Man of War but hesitated in buying one. Ghost Fett reminded me that I need to get a harness too! I guess in the back of my mind I figured I'd get everything ready and then sort that out, haha, see what others have done. I saw the canon dive harness rig and want to do it, but I'm sure there are other options available.

The bungee method sounds solid and Level3Fett has also recommended that method on my instagram. I like the idea of removing it, but having the flexibility of getting thrusters bumped is a great pro tip. I do want to leave room to possibly add smoke effects similar to JC Fett. There are so many possibilities to achieve the same ends and I'm not sure how to reach it, but will figure it out in my own way. The support and comments are greatly appreciated.

 

[ShortFuse]

The harness is fairly easy to scratch build. I made my own. I don’t have a build thread, but there are a few on here that I used as a guide.

 

[ShortFuse]

Here is mine. I plan to replace the shoulder webbing with white. If you decide to go this route it is fairly cheap and easy. Like I mentioned earlier, there are several build threads showing how to do it. I can help with questions if needed.

 

[TK50175]

If you go with the screen used harness here is a great thread where the strapping is shown:

http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f20/hard-harness-strapping-boba-fett-esb-52297/

Here you can see how I did the bungee cord connection for the thrusters:

TK/TS/DZ-50175 Boba Fett ESB WIP

 

[SeaMarshall]

Here you can see how I did the bungee cord connection for the thrusters:

TK/TS/DZ-50175 Boba Fett ESB WIP

Thats a great WIP. I will be checking in on it for sure. Gave it a quick read. I didn't look for a bungee tutorial, rather I figured out how it would work and picked up some mini bungees and two eye screw things. It should work. On my next armor session I'll be sanding down the jetpack and affixing all the parts. Just have to find some free time!

 

[Ghost_Fett]

I have the MOW jetpack. Instead of using the PVC pipe setup for the thrusters, you can attach eye bolts to the ends and use a bungee cord to attach them together. The PVC will need to be glued together to avoid losing a thruster on a troop. You will want to be able to remove the thrusters for storage and to avoid breaking them off. As far as the weight, it doesn’t seem too heavy. I am a firefighter and it is much lighter than a SCBA. Lol. The only problem is the jetpack harness. It is setup so the majority of the weight is put on your shoulders. A SCBA pack is setup to put the load on your hips, which is much better for you. The jetpack harness waist straps sit much too high to take much of the weight.

Your a firefighter that’s awesome. I’m in paramedic school then after that I want to go into fire. No derail intended haha

Everything is looking great man!

 

[SeaMarshall]

No real progress report here. Just acquired a few more items. Got the eye hooks installed, waiting for a good armor session to dremel out the jetpack and sand it down. Then I can pop in the thrusters and glue in the bits. Think the only metal parts I'll be adding on this one is the beacon and stabilizer.

The momentary switches arrived for the gauntlets (yay!) and picked up the braided vinyl tubing in 1/2inch, eye hooks and mini bungee cords.