My Star Wars BB-8 build progress

[Jadriancz]

Well so far I have worked on this a couple hours over the last 2 weeks and here is the progress I have made so far.
Not quite finished and not as round as I would have liked. Not sure why some of the sections on the lower ball portion seem flat or depressed.

 

[Dagger]

This model is nice, but shaping a sphere is not so simple. There are many experts who will give you better suggestions than me. In my case I try to shape it with something before I go closing, there are tools for this, I use capes from brushes, then I'm closing. Once dry, inside I return with the brush to improve by pressing gently on the palm of my hand. They never stayed perfect but I improve the final finish a lot.

 

[Gandolf50]

Well so far I have worked on this a couple hours over the last 2 weeks and here is the progress I have made so far.
Not quite finished and not as round as I would have liked. Not sure why some of the sections on the lower ball portion seem flat or depressed.

This is another case of...TABS getting the better of you...
If the tabs were removed and replaced with strips of card you could match the edges and stop the height difference between parts, it would then be a smoother surface and also rounder.

 

[lyter1958]

that and water forming works good at making round shapes.. on my Discovery build i used those clear round balls and balloons to make the shapes..got the balls from a online crafts place. came with 5 different sizes, and can use either inside or outside to make the shapes

 

[Revell-Fan]

The original unfold of the body sphere was something I have never seen before. Prior to this I was used to the traditional unfolds like a number of curved strips or a petal pattern. This one is some kind of alternating petal pattern to make a sphere with very few cuts at strategic points. When I was making my version I pre-shaped the petals horizontally and then vertically. Then I put them on a soft cloth and rubbed it gently with a spoon. I used some water but very sparingly in order not to smudge the texture. I cut off all the flaps and used strips of left-over paper to glue the petals together from the back side. Closing the sphere was extremely fiddly though.

 

[Jadriancz]

This is another case of...TABS getting the better of you...
If the tabs were removed and replaced with strips of card you could match the edges and stop the height difference between parts, it would then be a smoother surface and also rounder.

still working on not using tabs but usually keep em on for the first time I build something.

 

[Jadriancz]

that and water forming works good at making round shapes.. on my Discovery build i used those clear round balls and balloons to make the shapes..got the balls from a online crafts place. came with 5 different sizes, and can use either inside or outside to make the shapes

havent even messed with water forming yet. maybe one day when I get more skilled.

 

[Jadriancz]

The original unfold of the body sphere was something I have never seen before. Prior to this I was used to the traditional unfolds like a number of curved strips or a petal pattern. This one is some kind of alternating petal pattern to make a sphere with very few cuts at strategic points. When I was making my version I pre-shaped the petals horizontally and then vertically. Then I put them on a soft cloth and rubbed it gently with a spoon. I used some water but very sparingly in order not to smudge the texture. I cut off all the flaps and used strips of left-over paper to glue the petals together from the back side. Closing the sphere was extremely fiddly though.

closing the sphere was difficult especially with my big hands and fat fingers

 

[zathros]

This model only works with water forming, or petals, with strips, and the inside of the sphere burnished with a round steel sphere on the end of a rod, to smooth out the now dried glued interior surfaces. There is ow way you could obtained a sphere with that template design. Maybe if it was aluminum, and you hand an English Wheel. The problem is the design of the model. It would have been better done with conical strips. Someone tried to take the easy way out, and the problem with that is they waste your time. The results aren't your fault, it is a poorly designed model.