Cylon armor

Red

Active Member
Hi all, it has been a long time since I posted anything haven’t had a lot of free time.
Our good friend and designer Bazookajo had asked if I could take some time and try some new parts he has made.
So here we go first up the battery belt or a part of it.
It is A little different than the metal one that I made from Scratch to feed a belt though.
It takes shape quick and easy and seems to be designed to go on top of another part most likely to come later.
20140828_191334.jpg 20140829_202750.jpg 20140829_203735.jpg 20140829_210011.jpg 20140829_210648.jpg 20140829_210756.jpg 20140829_210831.jpg :Bravo:
 

Rhaven Blaack

!!!THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!
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WOW, Welcome back!!!
I am glad that you could join us once again. It is always good to see old members rejoining once again!!!

It looks like you are off to a good start. I will be keeping my eye on this thread to see how it will turn out.

Once again, welcome back!!!
 

BazookaJo

Member
Great build pics there Red

Thanks again for doing the Beta's - I fully appreciate free time is a precious commodity.

And you are right, the Cylon buckles were designed to fit over a battery belt :-
http://www.byyourcommand.net/cylong...005/Cylon_Centurion_G___M_Battery_Belt_04.jpg

At some point I will try recreate the 'batteries' so at least there is something for them to sit on and stick to a belt :)

Shouldn't be too difficult (should be my mantra).

Very best regards

Paul.
 

Revell-Fan

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YAY!!!! The BEST update of today!!! The shape of the belt buckle looks top-notch. byyourcommand.net has become my primary source of information when it comes to prop making. Recently they have put up some hi-res screengrabs which help me update my previous prop replica kits. :)
 

zathros

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You made that piece out of tin?!? My hats off to your sir. You are a Tinsmith and we don't get many of them around here. I am a machinists of many decades, tool and dye maker, and programmer of CNC machines. The work that went into that piece boggles the mind. Great stuff!! :)
 

Red

Active Member
Back in 2004 through 2008 i was working in a aluminum weld shop and had access to the tools and was able to make the head, chess plat, back pack and battery belt all out off 1/16" aluminum.
Then the shop laid off Dec 2008 management changed and no more home projects.
but the Cylon head is a nice souvenir.
(I had not thought of using tin.)thumbsup
 

BazookaJo

Member
Looking good Red! I realise time is precious, so once you are happy that the kit makes sense I will build the piece in mirror card anyways as I will need to take pictures for my site.

The belt buckle is already printed and ready for a build this weekend, and now the left gauntlet is to follow.....

View attachment 136286 View attachment 136287 View attachment 136288
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lower forearm looks realy good and builds well.
I will have to do this in the silver card stock later.
 

zathros

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Well, that was a great job, and now that I know it was aluminum, I'm even more impressed. Have you ever considered just using a sheet of unidirectional fiberglass over the paper models, the paper works great as forms, and a layer of clothes pert near nothing. I use to make R/C sailboats like that, and they had an elastomeric quality, which a wooden frame took care off, but they were light and sailed good, and fast, on a reach..
 

BazookaJo

Member
Agree with Zathros - the rounding on that buckle has hard-graft written all over it.

I have to say that I have wanted to do strengthened product for a while, but Epoxy and Epoxy+Baby powder is as dangerous and smelly as I want to get :D In fact my first project was to be a Starwars ANH stunt Stormtrooper helmet, but the poor accuracy of the kit I downloaded made me put it on hold :(

Perhaps a BazookaJo version is on the to-do list :D

That said - the reason for doing the Cylon armor in mirror card is the simple fact that getting a highly reflective finish on plastic/fibre/bondo etc. is significantly more expensive and/or time consuming by comparison.
 
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bgt01

Exemplary Confidant
This looks like a really great project. You guys have a winner on your hands...or is it gauntlets?:droid: BY YOUR COMMAND!
 

BazookaJo

Member
Very nicely done! Also - how the heck do you work with superglue?! I need at least 30 seconds fiddling time before I get the tabs in the right position.....

You can see what I mean about mirror card - even compared to aluminium it's reflective quality rock...

Have you ever thought about having your aluminium suit chromed Red?

ok quick post with a picture paper silver card and aluminum
View attachment 136361
 

Red

Active Member
well I wont be able to complete the aluminum suit. :(
I did ask and was told no.
every now and then I take a little mag wheel polish to the old cylon head and shine it up for Halloween and it shines like the mirror card.
so no chroming it.:(
Every now and then I do Glue my fingers together or to the parts.:)
 

BazookaJo

Member
You'll have to take a few pics the next time you polish it up - shame about work, can't think there will be many other Cylon suits out there made of aluminium...
 
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zathros

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I don't know if it's still available but I used to use a product called "Simi-Chrome" to polish my motorcycle cases after I had glass bead blasted them. They shone nearly as good a as chrome, but everyone knows that ultra polished aluminum look, which personally I like. Only problem is if something is thin, this stuff does take aluminum off, as most compound polishing agents do. :)
 

BazookaJo

Member
I know when I looked into chroming some plastic some time ago everything hinged on the reflective quality of the surface e.g. in the case of plastic/bondo and similar, various coats of a gloss paint needed to be applied and polished till the surface looked like glass. This required a number of specialist sandpapers which went down to a fine grit akin to tooth polish. Rubbing compounds were a no-no as they would simply dissolve the primer.

With the finish done you then had a number of options ranging from the relatively inexpensive ALCLAD2 to spays costing over $100 an ounce...

Again - hence the mirror card :D



I don't know if it's still available but I used to use a product called "Simi-Chrome" to polish my motorcycle cases after I had glass bead blasted them. They shone nearly as good a as chrome, but everyone knows that ultra polished aluminum look, which personally I like. Only problem is if something is thin, this stuff does take aluminum off, as most compound polishing agents do. :)
 

zathros

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Yeah, you have to be careful what you use. The first Mercedes Benz I ever restored had some surface rust, so I eagerly proceeded to sand it down, right through the fender. Haven't done that in a while, and it means the Fender was shot in actuality. Waxing will prevent wailing. :)
 
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