MR720

RF topper, sans brown splatter:

Ears, free of paint

Whatever primer was on the ears did not dissolve in acetone. I had to break out that nasty stuff you use to get 200 years of paint off old woodwork... but they are perfect RotJ ears now!!

And here is the inner working of the RF stalk:

I'm actually really in love with this. I think it's great... the little spring that helps keep it in one position or another, the "switch" that makes contact when you put it down.

This is the original all coated up in dark grey auto primer.

The primer showed that I still had some sanding to do on the cut seam. This was cleaned up before the molding.

I left the visor area a bit thick... more room for resin later, and it's easy enough to sand it down.

Preping for the mold. The holes are all plugged with oil based (non sulphur). A skirt was added around the bottom, with a generous lip for the silicone to pour up around.

Here it is with a couple of coats of Smooth-On's REBOUND 25 silicone:

If working with this stuff, make sure that you get the THI-VEX 2 thickener agent. Brush on a couple of coats of the stuff straight, then mix up the thick stuff and spread it into any deep areas, undercuts, etc... it's a big help!

Once the mold was done, I had to make the shell. I used plaster of paris... heavy, but cheap and I had it on hand! First I built up a dividing wall with clay:

Then covered that in foil to act as a release.

Coated one side in plaster, let it cure, then pulled the clay off and did the other side. Here's the result:

Sadly, it was a failure... the silicone was too thin, which resulted in warps and lumps in the resin helmets. I did it all over again, but with more silicone. This is where the THI-VEX really came in handy!

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