Sea_Marshall: Captain Phasma TFA

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

Well. I've managed to find time in the doldrums of quarantine. I hope everyone is doing well and remembering to wear a mask. I found it amusing that I put on a mask to start sanding. I've decided to use Angle Gilding's Silvering kit and as such have sanded my helmet back to square one. It, and all the armor, is at 400 grit. I think I'm going to do one more layer of primer, then I can order the chrome. I'm thinking wet sand the finish to 1200 and that should be it. 

 

 

 

I still have to attach the belt parts, resin greeblies... And I need to sort out my gauntlets. I've heated them up and reshaped them for a better fit on my wrist, but my forearms require a modification of some kind to extend the width of the gauntlets. Bleh. There's a long way to go but its nice to have picked this up again.

[Sly11[Admin]]

Nice work chuck

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

Thought this was an interesting image of the boots armored up. Phasma Pheet. 

 

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

KB Props Gauntlets came in wicked fast once they were ordered! 

 

For those of you not keeping up, the T&A Gauntlets that came in the kit didn't quite fit my forearms, so I ordered a pair from KB Props, and here's the big diff: 

 

 

The extra inch or so at the front of the gauntlets allows for the back end to be wider. The tapered resin gaunts are great, but I couldn't do the size. Having both sets now, I've found that I can use the Resin top shell and the KB Props lower panel has enough abs on it to make a gauntlet mod. Likewise, the abs gauntlet can use the resin lower panel. Huzzah. I think I'm coming out of this with two functional gauntlets, where I only expected to get one. 

 

 

Here's the side by sides if anyone's interested at all. Really glad I don't have the modify the gauntlets beyond a simple swap of parts. 

 

I've pulled the blaster off the shelf and may start some work on that to pass the time. The next time I get to work on the armor, I hope its a three or four day stretch so I can do all the final prep and chrome the last day. So close, but so far. 

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

Onward! Prep is ramping up as I near the final stages of the build and prepare to chrome. Speaking of chrome, the basic chrome kit from Angel Gilding has arrived! I have yet to open it, but it's time will come. 

 

 

3D printed F-11D base coats are down and nearing completion. Probably going to give it another once over to really clean up the nooks. 

 

 

New gauntlets from KB Props were prepped and primed. They fit my forearms well enough to be slip on gauntlets once assembled. Gloves got a 2nd coat and are awaiting the Great Sanding Session of 2020.

 

 

Nice to have pieces out of the box for work! Not much more to report, but I'll get more bench time tomorrow. Got the torso and thigh greeblies glued and clamped down for the night. One more step finished. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Leaps and bounds, nice work

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

I got a jump start on my checklist. Final base coat is down, greeblies attached, and the great sanding of 2020 approaches. Next weekend will a long day of detail sanding in preparation for the Uni-Coat gloss base. Whoop whoop. Progress continues. 

 

These were the best clamps on hand, lol

 

Three cans of sandable filler primer about to go down

 

And now I wait for the day I can hunker down for surface prep and gloss coat. 

Edited August 16, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Getting closer, keep it up

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

This metal holster clip came with the Phasma kit from Shawn Thorsson. Super stoked to see that kind of detail on the costume. If I ever get a pistol, it should slot right in, and if it scratches, would just reveal the aluminum beneath. The screws and lengths through the metal and fiber glass is a little tight. I may just lock down a few screws and lock-tight the rest.  Got the holes drilled, filed, and did a test fit. 

 

 

Today was an 800 day! I used the entire pack of sheets but managed to sand everything except gauntlets, hands, and blaster rifle. Soon. I'll need another pack. 

I believe I spent at least 6-7 hours dry sanding the kit to 800. My next major session will be a wet sand at 2k. 

 

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Wow !! this is a really amazing work. keep it up !!

[Sly11[Admin]]

Some great progress Chuck.

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

woo. not much to look at here, but the 2k wet sand is done for most of the kit. 

 

 

Gauntlets, hands, and blaster will get the 800 and 2k treatment tomorrow. 

 

I'm glad I managed to get this done in small sessions instead of entire days, as originally planned. Each session has been 4-8 hours, so that's basically a full day... it really is a marathon. 

 

On another related item, the black canvas for the Captain's cape has arrived. Same stuff as Kylo's tunic and sleeves! I'm going with this Colonial Red for the stripe, painted on and decorative stitching to be added. 

 

 

My wife is a seamstress wizard so I'll be following her work on the cape and will do my best to document the process here as well. I found the patterns on the Phasma builders group on Facebook via Geeky Pink. Weehoo. Getting to the fun stuff. 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

Here's the gauntlets, gloves, and blaster at 2k wet sanded. 

 

 

Here's the new garage config for the gloss uni-coat sessions and chrome. I found a lattice thing that should work well for the run off into the bin. 

 

 

Cracked open the Angel Gilding box and read through the detailed instructions for mixing and application. I'm going to need another hardware store run for a few things before the next session. 

 

 

 

If you are at all interested in watching the box opening and some commentary, here's a link to my Facebook Live recording: 

https://www.facebook.com/chucketh/videos/10219012606327343/

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

I spent the first part of today's session using the concentrated cleaner and some water to sponge down the armor surfaces in preparation for the Uni-coat base coat. Following that, I prepped all the parts on red cups or bungee cables suspended from the garage door rails. I thought I was clever using kabob sticks  to arrange my finger armor and stabbed them into a cardboard box. 

 

 

 

I mixed the Uni-coat for the first time. Easy enough. That respirator is pretty much required to do this, but at least there was a minty scent from the resin. The Spra-Tool is awesome. It's a can of air and the uni-coat solution goes into the bottle attachment, then press the trigger and you're good, no shaking required. I used 5/6th of the can on everything EXCEPT the helmet, chest, back and thighs. I've decided I want to revisit them for another pass of wet sanding. I have one more can to revisit my errors and finish off the helmet, chest, back and thighs. I'm going to order one more can as back up for the final coat and it should arrive in time once chrome is down. 

 

 

 

Alright, so there were some successes and failures. The Spra-Tool can is finicky and has to be upright at all times. Moving it even at a slight angle causes it to sputter. You have to find that sweet spot distance to prevent it from misting, but prevent it from glopping. You either get a bumpy or runny texture if its not in the sweet spot. I really think I'd have benefitted from better lighting for inspection. 

 

Here's a sweet spot finish: 

 

Too far causing misting: 

 

Too close, causing a run: 

 

I didn't look at all the parts in detail, but its more successes than failures. I think I saw 4 or 5 items I will need to sand down either mist or runs, and will then reapply the uni-coat during the remaining armor session. I started on the feet and posterior to figure out the sweet spot, but looks like I got too close trying to achieve a glossy coat that wasn't misted. 

 

Glad I got a jump start in the week. Not sure how this weekend session is going to go, but I hope to see it ready for chrome Sunday or during the week. I have a three day weekend coming up next week -- which happens to be the cancelled Celebration Weekend. I did mention in my original post that I wanted to get it done for Celebration, and I think its fitting to be working on it that weekend. 

 

I'm so close, but need to take the time to dial in the details.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

Dropping this off as a reminder of my goal and a bit of motivation. At the get-go I knew the chrome would be a challenge to maintain, so weathering is my answer. In this image I can see all sorts of blemishes and scratches which gives it a nice gritty feel. In either case, the mirror finish has to look good as a base to pull it off. 

 

Click into the image to magnify details

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

Back in the garage today for some fixes, re-coats, and finishing the rest of the armor's Uni-coats. 

 

Got some closer looks and found a few things under better lighting, like this area I completely missed on a bicep. Wet sanded it down and reapplied the uni-coat.

 

Last night while staring at the Phasma image before this post, I noticed that the chest ovals were cut out. To note, the CRL image isn't cut out and the wording says recessed ovals. So I cut and filed them out while waiting for the other bits to dry from cleaning.  

 

 

I had three items that had runs in the coat, so I took some ...400?... sand paper followed by 2k wet sand to clean it up. Here's the shoulder before and after. The other parts followed the same fix. 

 

 

Pretty happy with the new coats and I finished off the rest of the large armor pieces. 

 

 

I used the whole Spra-Tool can and the refill to get the base coats down (+the re-coats). I used some lacquer thinner to clean the Spra-tool and nozzle last night, but not good enough it seems, and I threw away one of the nozzles this morning. I replaced it with another one and began to spray. At some point the can started getting cold because it was just pushing out the air, and NOT the resin, because I guess some residue was in the bottle and it got into the hose. Bleh. That caused some issues but I was able to revisit the base coat without issue. I did notice, however, that when I did the chest, it sputtered... so now I'm typing this up waiting for the resin to harden so I can wet sand the splatter and do the fix. Hopefully it'll settle, but I doubt it. After that fix, the day is done until tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure chrome is going down. Shaking the can or tilting it at an angle causes it to sputter, so orienting the parts for the spra-tool was critical to success. The next steps of chrome etc will be using a hand pump and I should be able to spray at any angle so long as the fluids can get into the tube. 

 

I've got a new Spra-Tool and refills on the way from Angel Gilding. This will be for the top protective uni-coat, and whoo boy, I hope the practice I've gotten in the past two days will guide my decisions when the time comes! On a downside, I need to wait for these replacements to come in and rework the chest and helmet, but everything else looks great! Everything's on a hard stop as I sand down the helmet and chest. Bleh, you know, just the two most front facing parts... this spra-tool thing... it works best on a full can and when it gets to about 15%, its better to just toss it than risk the sputtering of a low tank and used nozzle. Man, what a bummer. Lesson's learned. 

 

Guess I'm working on the belt, gaskets, and cape until I get refills. 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

I've enlisted my wife to take care of the captains cape, because I can't cut a straight line or spool a bobbin. We're following Geeky Pink's pattern from the Phasma's Facebook builder's group. The measurements on the diagram are a bit confusing with the lengths. I suppose so long as the left side lands near my ankles, we're good.

 

We ordered 7 yards of fabric, about 5 was used on these three cuts with enough to rework the longest panel in case we come up short. We'll be referring to the CRL Level 2 for the construction, pocket sizes, straps...  and I picked up some plasti-dip to achieve the thin rubber-like medium. I should have a test swatch up soon with fabric, coating, and red stripe. 

 

 

 

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

This is one EPIC build, Chuck!  Your attention to detail is phenomenal, and I appreciate the fact that you have gone the extra mile by posting all the comments and photos.  Outstanding work, sir, and I can't wait to see the end result!  

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

Got a little progress on the belt and it's awaiting a clear coat and chrome. Another reason I went with T&A's Phasma kit is because he also provide the belt material, pouches, and boxes. I believe its just a ribbed rubber floor mat that is cut to size. The boxes are resin blocks that were trimmed and sanded. The two pouches on the left hip are a canvas fabric sewn to size. The kit was missing the covers for the pouches but fortunately I had some 3mm komatex plastic from a previous project. I measured the pouch flaps and cut out the lengths, rounded out the corners, and took a file to the long one for that line across the upper portion. This will get chromed and then attached to the pockets. I'll likely grab a bit of foam to fill out the pouches for shape. Maybe pop trading cards into one of them. 

 

 

Alright here's a DO NOT DO: Plasti-dip and rattle can red for the cape? Nope.

 

Observe. 

 

The plasti-dip and aerosol paint just absorbed into the fabric. You can see the left side has rubber and paint, the right side is paint on fabric. This method is useless. The paint also soaked through the fabric to the other side. Some of you may have already known this, but news to me haha. 

 

I reached out to the Phasma builders and was tipped off that this was a route to take to get the rubber-like medium on the cape: 

 

Liquitex Professional Acrylic Mediums, Gloss Gel -- I got the 16oz bottle and arrives later this week -- this will be the rubber like medium

Jacquard Textile Paint 122 Black -- I believe I can add a bit of this to the Gloss Gel to keep the black color on the cape.

Jacquard Textile Paint 106 True Red  -- This will be hand applied for the stripe.

 

I'll get a test swatch going once this arrives next week. There are splatters of the gel coat on the cape. Should be fun to replicate. 

 

Pockets and straps are cut! Sewing to commence through the week. I've seen a bunch of folks, even the crl images, where the straps are a leather like material. Double checked the D23 images and pretty sure its the cape fabric, coated. The others may be TLJ, which I just noticed specifies leather straps... Bummer that the strap lengths are not mentioned, but their widths and locations are. TLJ's CRL does mention them, so we'll use those lengths for now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

T&A was a one stop shop for a lot of the items in the kit, including rubber gaskets. I was referred Geeky Pink on Facebook for cloth gaskets but I'm going to give what I have a go before buying into other items. T&A's is a one size fits most. I used some CA glue on the ribs and bound them together. The arms were a good fit, but the knees are a tight fit. At this point, I'm not sure about the shoulders, I need to research how they're worn. 

 

 

I'll be adding a strip of nylon down the seam of the gasket to help secure the bond. It's pretty solid as is, but reinforcement isn't a bad idea. The knees, when wrapped, don't fit up my knee/thigh, even though tapered. So, I'm attaching a section of black elastic to help fill the 1.5 inches I need for a good fit -- this means the gasket won't be a complete wrap as far as the ribs are concerned, but elastic at the back will be out of sight and covered by the cape. If this proves to be a CRL issue, I'll hit up Geeky Pink for a set of gaskets since she will build them to size. 

 

 

The Liquitex gloss gel and black paint showed up. Red for the stripe will be end of week. Here's a test swatch with the gel alone and with black paint added, with D23 references to the cape. The gel goes on white and dries clear. Not a huge difference, even when light hits the gloss coat. 

 

 

 

I'm going to go with adding black paint because there are parts of the cape where it appears glops are on the finish. Having the black color should help achieve the glops. Thinking about the size of the cape, I hope this 16 oz tub of Liquitex will get me there. I didn't need to coat it too thick for this result. 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

Can't stop won't stop! The cancelled Star Wars Celebration weekend approaches. 

 

I believe I mentioned in the early stages of the build that the thigh armor was too small and I was hoping to drop some weight... but I like food way too much. So, I reached out to Shawn at T&A and inquired about cutting the thighs open and how to go about repairing it. He was great help and (Krennic voice) "let me share with you, some details."  

 

He advised that I should do a zig zag square cut down the flat side of the armor, facing the back. He sketched up a quick diagram and explained how the cut would assist with the fiberglass repair. Basically, cut it so it can touch the adjacent side, space the top and bottom, tape off the center, and fiberglass the interior (after rough sanding it). Looking at his diagram, I asked him to check my work and confirmed I was on track. 

 

 

Given the green light, I made the cut with a dremel diamond blade, and was pleased to find the parts separated without issue, and would lay flat when I move to bondo the surface.

 

 

This next bit of resizing required my wife's help to position the thighs and mark the gaps I needed to create. It worked out surprisingly well, and I asked her to just mark up the armor with measurements since I was going to repaint anyway. It was a snug fit, but the gasket worked out and I got what I needed. You can see where the dremel skipped and dinged the armor. Whoops. Easy fix. 

 

On another note, you can see the rear of the gaskets! Even with the elastic, the gap is pretty well closed and I hope to have the cape disguise it further if the boot and thighs don't cover up most of it. 

 

 

Next was the fiberglass work. I've only done this once before and it didn't really work out the first time, but here we go anyway. I put on my trusty breather mask from Angel Gilding, but neglected to close my balcony door... and well... I (Rey voice) "flooded the house with poisonous gas!" ...so I accidentally drove my wife and child out of the house while the fiberglass is drying. 

 

 

Once this center mat is solid, I can remove the spacers (paint stirrers), and fiberglass out to the edges. In the same session I'll shim up the spacers for the 2nd thigh, glass the center. Last session will glass to the edge on both and let dry. Once dry, interiors will get a plasti-dip job and I will proceed to bondo the surface to fill the zig zag and prep it for paint. Then fresh primer, sand to 800, wet sand to 2k, wash surface and Uni-Coat -- back where I left off. But this time, the thighs will fit, lol. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Sea_Marshall

[Sly11[Admin]]

Wow, nothing you cant overcome is there Chuck, your detail is awesome, nice work sir.

[Sea_Marshall[TK]]

1 hour ago, Sly11 said:

Wow, nothing you cant overcome is there Chuck, your detail is awesome, nice work sir.

Doing my best! I'm getting pro-tips here and there from a number of folks. Everyone has been supportive and are as excited as I am to see this thing come together. It's been an enormous undertaking but gratifying with each new step. WIPs keep me engaged and focused and I'm so stoked I've been able to keep this momentum going after a 5 month hiatus. Can't wait for the weekend!