Life-Size Buzz and Neil (enlarged 1/4 Ken West "Apollo Astronauts on the Moon")

[Algebraist]

Dear all

...and so carrying on with Buzz's left thigh it is onto ring 4. This is the last complete ring of the thigh.



As you can see the depth varies from a few cm to about 15 cm. When joining this ring to the previous part of the thigh, it is fairly easy at the narrow end (even though most of one hand and forearm of mine is inside the thigh, the other hand can still span the depth between my thumb and index finger). However as I get round to the wider parts I am having to apply pressure by having the fingertips of one hand pressing on the fingertips of the other hand whilst the the thigh is covering from one of my elbows to the other (if you get what I mean). However it is possible to get a good join with patience I found.



The rest of the thigh is of parts that are incomplete rings. I found it easier to join all these parts to each other first



and then attach this to the rest of the thigh



I decided that I would have joining tabs on the part that goes between the legs, so needed to remove some excess tabs



It really is great how this model's parts join together so well "along the curved seams" to make this complicated curved surface. Of course this is all down to the great design by Ken West.

Finally I needed to put the former in the bottom of the left thigh. So here it is getting made




I have found that for the formers I need to "oversize" them by cutting about 0.5 mm outside the line in order to get a really snug fit. I think this is due to that fact that the enlargement is so great that "circles" ar clearly printed as polygons.

So the formers need to be cut very accurately and I found my usual scissors a bit cumbersome. So I read about another type of scissor that the person said were fantastic. I think it was an article by Alphonso (@axm61), with apologies if I have mis-remembered that.

These are the scissors



They are by Fiskers, see here for example https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiskars-Sof...611206&sr=8-11
I think they are brilliant. Really accurate, sharp and manoeuvrable.

Anyway after putting the former in I added a supporting joiner on the inside.



So this is the left thigh so far (one with Gene for scale)

.

Regards

Kevin

[cfuruti]

Originally Posted by Algebraist

I would have never thought of using mylar. Is it an easy thing to glue to itself and paper?

Well, I had thought of foils because it's hard to beat their opaqueness-to-weight ratio. But I should have thought twice because both materials pose their own challenges:

1. any light-blocking layer should be as outermost as possible, otherwise a glancing ray of light could defeat its purpose (any "bubbles" between the layer and the paper would make the problem obvious)
2. but metallic and metal-coated materials seldom adhere strongly to paper, even with CA
3. therefore, in a heavy model the foil layer should structurally be the innermost one, since a card + foil + card sandwich could detach at either side of the foil, turning the inner card from reinforcement to deadweight
4. mylar is tough and appropriate as the innermost layer for narrow, perfect cylinders: its own tendency to straighten out would probably keep it touching the paper even without glue
5. conversely, it would be hard to apply it to irregular places like a bent elbow or knee: aluminum foil would be much easier, since the metal can be burnished and stretched to perfectly conform; and since it tends to keep its shape, would keep well with little glue

But forget all about it, since I should have thought of a magic inexpensive self-conforming, self-adhesive opaque material: acrylic paint. Just by chance last week I had used a scrap of 75 gsm office paper as a mixing palette, and hadn't discarded it yet. I just tested it against a 3V flashlight; not as effective as I expected, but the (coincidentally, silver) ink had run quite diluted at the end, so a thicker layer could do the trick. You should test it.

[ShadowCory]

I tried using mylar on my own little Buzz models, and it was not a fun time. I think maybe spray adhesive would work, but neither Aileen's nor Super Glue would hold it in place very long. I ended up using a gold foil-sh coated card stock to make the visors.



Here's my low poly version of the famous Buzz photo:

[luro1964]

Have you considered this? Heat transfer foil -> https://youtu.be/g2ABXldEEv0

[Algebraist]

Originally Posted by cfuruti

Well, I had thought of foils because it's hard to beat their opaqueness-to-weight ratio. But I should have thought twice because both materials pose their own challenges:

1. any light-blocking layer should be as outermost as possible, otherwise a glancing ray of light could defeat its purpose (any "bubbles" between the layer and the paper would make the problem obvious)
2. but metallic and metal-coated materials seldom adhere strongly to paper, even with CA
3. therefore, in a heavy model the foil layer should structurally be the innermost one, since a card + foil + card sandwich could detach at either side of the foil, turning the inner card from reinforcement to deadweight
4. mylar is tough and appropriate as the innermost layer for narrow, perfect cylinders: its own tendency to straighten out would probably keep it touching the paper even without glue
5. conversely, it would be hard to apply it to irregular places like a bent elbow or knee: aluminum foil would be much easier, since the metal can be burnished and stretched to perfectly conform; and since it tends to keep its shape, would keep well with little glue

But forget all about it, since I should have thought of a magic inexpensive self-conforming, self-adhesive opaque material: acrylic paint. Just by chance last week I had used a scrap of 75 gsm office paper as a mixing palette, and hadn't discarded it yet. I just tested it against a 3V flashlight; not as effective as I expected, but the (coincidentally, silver) ink had run quite diluted at the end, so a thicker layer could do the trick. You should test it.

Thanks for that Carlos. Nice idea which I will check out.

Regards

Kevin

[Algebraist]

Originally Posted by ShadowCory

I tried using mylar on my own little Buzz models, and it was not a fun time. I think maybe spray adhesive would work, but neither Aileen's nor Super Glue would hold it in place very long. I ended up using a gold foil-sh coated card stock to make the visors.



Here's my low poly version of the famous Buzz photo:

Thanks for the heads up on trying to glue Mylar ShadowCory. Much appreciated. Nice models too

Regards

Kevin

[Algebraist]

Originally Posted by luro1964

Have you considered this? Heat transfer foil -> https://youtu.be/g2ABXldEEv0

Interesting video luro1964. Thanks for sharing.

Regards

Kevin

[Algebraist]

Dear all

So I have made a bit more progress on the above.

I have now managed to do Neil's left thigh. Making was exactly as Buzz's left thigh. So a few photos of construction






Then some of the finished thigh



And a couple with Gene for scale



So next to more onto the right thighs

Regards

Kevin

[Algebraist]

Dear all

So a bit more progress in that I have managed to do Buzz's right thigh.

So here are the first four rings (working up the thigh from the knee)




The the rings attached to each other



Then the top of the thigh which is made from two partial rings



and then added to the thigh



A former next for the bottom part of this thigh



and added



And finally I added an internal support for the former



So for Buzz the next step is to join the thighs and this should start to bring the model to life. Before doing this though I still need to complete Neil's right thigh.

It is feeling a bit of a slog but the end is in sight for this series of "rings and tubes". One more session and then should be completed.

Regards

Kevin

[VinceM]

If you're planning to paint the entire suit when it's completed, maybe coating it in paper mache would work? Strips of newspaper soaked in plaster of paris, or thinned out glue. The strips will come out wrinkly, but that's exactly the effect you want. It will probably still need an inner support, but paper mache (should) create a sort of exoskeleton.