Fett Style Gaunts WIP (A sneak preview)

[Jagen Ordo]

That's what I call gauntlets!

[randall ace]

amazing .... i like the plastic ya pulled my cod out of , thatd be fine for mine , and i kinda dont want a flame thrower box on mine .... like the shells just as they are , that way i can customize as i see fit ....

[redkraytdragon]

Thanks guys! Yeah randall I can do that for ya too, no prob. I don't think I'll be pulling these out of 1/8" inch though ...well I CAN, but the detail is probably going to be pretty soft. I'll need to get the high vac pump installed first and do a test pull to see how well the 1/8 pulls. I'll let you all know.
You all will be able to purchase these any way you want as far as accessories and clamshells go too

[redkraytdragon]

Here's a couple more pics of the test pieces fitted to me so you all can see them for size reference. I added extra plastic on the sides for people with bigger arms. If your arms are small and skinny like mine then you can just trim off the extra plastic
Left Gaunt -






Right Gaunt -

[randall ace]

yes!! ... lookin awesome ....    ..... i guess i could live with them thinner..LOL,,,,,as long as they are black plastic ...

[Raltho Valmas]

Nice!

[Ajax Kaal]

Pretty cool lookin'...keep it up!

[redkraytdragon]

Thanks guys!  I got another update for you all.
Well, I was messing around with the vac table and decided to change a few things with the shop vac. Long story short, I'm now getting much better, quicker pulls. I may still try to go with a high vac source via a pump to see what kind of results I can get. But anyway, I did a LOT of pulls today and threw away a lot of plastic...unfortunately that's the nature of the beast in this hobby.

 Below are some pics of the test pulls I did in black in .060 and in the white styrene .030. The .030 came out great, but well...it's .030 (and styrene - which is crap for costuming..in my opinion), way too thin for our applications, but it was helpful in pulling final masters for pouring replacement bucks later down the road. The bumpiness is from the haircell texture underneath (ABS is unavailable to me right now locally in smooth/smooth) Personally it makes no difference to me. I think it kind of makes it look like metal, however I know that there are going to be people who will want it completely smooth. What are your thoughts??? I need a general consensus so that it gives me an idea of what type of plastics I can go with. Here's some pics (along with a side by side of the .030 so you can see the difference in detail sharpness) so you can all see what I'm talking about:













I tried pulling a set in 1/8" inch and it damaged one of my molds (I was able to repair it no prob). However, that was very informative for me because it let me know that the 1/8" inch is too thick for these molds (pulling it was no problem even without a high vac source) because it doesn't flex enough to release from the molds. It's too bad too because the 1/8" inch stuff is TOUGH. Because of the nature of the design of these gaunts, the undercuts are pretty severe, hence I'm gonna need to go with a thinner plastic. The .060 isn't bad but I know the .090 will be better, HOWEVER, I can only get the .090 in ABS with haircell on one side..I imagine the bumpiness will be slightly less than the .060 and maybe even close to completely smooth. As soon as I get a chance I'll get some and let you all know. Let me know your thoughts on this. Thanks everyone!

[randall ace]

dude ...box them up !! ...love the black ones with the texture to them .....LOL

[Raltho Valmas]

I personally don't mind the texture of them, plus the glossiness of the plastic is probably making it more noticeable.  I'd love to see the .090 pulls when you get the plastic.  My current vacformed gaunts are pretty sturdy, fairly certain they're .060, but the sturdier the better.   

[Dar'manda]

Love it!

[redkraytdragon]

Excellent!  I'm glad there is a favorable response to this so far  I'll try to pick up some of the .090 next week and do some pulls with it and post pics and let you all see it. In the meantime, I'll be getting started on the flamethrower on the left gaunt and the small tube housing for the right one

[Ajax Kaal]

Personally, I like rigid and tough, not thin and flimsy. So, the black in .060 is fine by me, and I don't mind the textured look as it does look like metal and it's not big deal to me. Obviously if you get the other plastic and it pulls clean and smooth, that would be good as well, but maybe offer them in the different kinds at different prices as a way to offer the most options to the most people. Again it all depends on your logistics and what you want to do.

I love them in black, by the way.

Also, they look good like this and you could offer a set as is, without the further mod of the flamethrower and small tube housing, and you could also offer them with those mod's. Either way is going to be a win for a lot of people.

Now, it comes down to price...what is your pricing going to look like, if you have had a chance to think about it.

Also as a last note, I will be leaving for two weeks tomorrow so I won't be able to check back in until then, so it will be nice to see where these are at when I get back at the the end of the month.

They look great and should do well. Keep up the great work!

[redkraytdragon]

OK everyone, I've got some more progress pics for you all. I went to the plastic supply place today and picked up the new plastic that I am looking at (here's the pdf file link - http://boltaron.com/films/PDF/1165.pdf) and I have to tell you that this stuff is AWESOME!!!! I love the way it forms and it is baby smooth. I pulled the set below out of .090 and it worked like a dream! The only downside to this plastic is that it gives off some really nasty fumes so I'll need to make sure I start wearing my respirator.
At first I was expecting it to droop the same way as the ABS, and at first it did. Then I left the room and came back only to find that it had actually flattened back out! I was thinking, "What the...?" So naturally I turned up the heat and put it closer to the heating element...still no major droop. I touched it a few times to do a bounce test and it was definitely pretty bouncy. I let it droop some more and then decided to pull it. Needless to say, I'm very happy with the results. This plastic has little to no droop but the flexibility on it is fantastic!...what does that mean to a vacuumforming guy?? Well, the less the droop and more stretch means not only better pulls but also I can now do much deeper, larger pulls on a small table and my webbing woes are all but nil...anyway, enough of that boring stuff. On to the pics: Let me know your thoughts









And here is some texture comparison shots of the haircell .060 and this new boltaron acrylic pvc blend (pulled in .090) It's also much glossier which is nice, but extremely smooth too!


I'll likely be offering these in the .090 boltaron once I get the bugs worked out on the molds and do an adhesive and paint test on it to make sure it is good for our applications. I'll keep you all posted

[Jagen Ordo]

Oh... shiny...