You Seek Yoda

On this page I will show and explain how I made the accessory bits that go on my armour. Where possible I do like to make stuff from scratch, but every now and then model kits are used for very fine detail. While I made them all, I did have help from fellow biker scout enthusiasts to make sure as much correct detail was added as possible. Without there help nothing would have come out quite so well.

This was perhaps the best of all the bits I made. The reason I feel, is because at the time of making it, nobody really knew what the model kit was used for the two cylinder bits and the large round button. Now it is common knowledge but at the time, I had to make the bits to look as close to the screen used ones as possible.

As you can see, the prototype was made from clear acrylic sheet, and machined resin detail bits. The hardest part was getting the size and shape right. As there are no actual pictures of this bit looking straight at it, luckily for me I know someone who is a whiz on computers and has access to a awful lot of very expensive machines and software, who very kindly extracted the picture and rotated it so it was flat, not at an angle. I will add while this method is very good, it still cannot guarantee the layout is perfect, so I don’t make any claims it is. I was happy with the finished item, and so has everyone that has had one off me.

So with the basic shape done, I had to add the detail bits. All the resin parts were made by me on my milling machine or lathe, all except the tiny grey bit, which is a small section off the side of a Imperial Star Destroyer kit I had knocking around. I just thought it added the finishing touch.

The first thing you will see is I made it to narrow, so hence the band of pin filler to correct that. A lot of the time, you can only see where you have gone wrong, when it’s finished, then you have to go back and correct it.

Like most things I make, if possible I try and do as much of the work as I can. All the following parts come cast in pre coloured resin. They look better and it’s far more durable than painting.

The rivet was easy as was the finned section. The button was slightly harder as it had to fit in the recess while overhanging slightly all round. Both this and the slot took a couple of attempts to get it looking right. The two rounded cylinder bits were more trial and error than anything and the first attempt was far to curved which was pointed out to me, and hence the new ones were machined up. The large knob in the middle apparently on the original was a fireplace turning on knob, but not knowing what it was from, I made one. It was a simple disk of acrylic, with a straight bit stuck to the top side and a tiny groove machined in the edge. The bottom plate was then laid flat on the worktop, and a large thick washer placed in the hole, and the new knob sat on that. By doing that it gave the knob the lift it needed, and once the correct height filler applied and the knob pushed down.

This part which is often referred to as the T-Bits, there are no clear pictures of what it really looks like. The top bit, is off the wing panel of Darth Vader’s tie fighter model kit, which is still easily available. The bottom is my interpretation, with aid again from fellow biker enthusiasts.

The best part about this bit is you know the size of it, as part of it is a model kit. The lower bits size was then calculated from measurements taken from the top bit. It was then how to interpret it. There are always those people that make parts like this that claim theirs is the proper detailed bit, but making claims like that when nobody really knows what the real film used part looks like, just makes you look a pratt.

So after reading many posts on biker message boards, the most common assumption was it had a sort of grill section, with a little knob top and bottom, so I set to work.

I took a small slab of resin and machined it to shape, than carefully sanded the edges. I then milled one side down to make a small plinth for the grill bit to sit on, and two slightly deeper recesses for the little knob bits. While this part is only small, I like to add as much detail as possible, without over doing it. Any less than the bits down the side, tends to make it look to bare, anymore I feel would look to crowded.

As for the little detail bits, I was unsure what to use, until I had a close look at the Death Star base that comes with the two tie fighters in the Ertl model kit. There among dozens of tiny detail bits, I came across the bits I decided to use. It seemed quite appropriate that I use star wars model kit pieces to complete this part of a star wars costume. I then got the silicon out and made a mould of the bits I wanted, and then cast them in resin. It was then a case of just gluing them on. I think it came out rather well :)

This is the scout helmet nose detail section. While I was told ages ago that is was the Tamiya XS1100 Midnight Special motorbike kit, it took ages to find, and then I got several. It seems while this kit is no longer being made, most model shops in Japan still have stock of them. Again some other people that make bits like this seem to claim they are the only ones that knew what this kit was so everybody else must have copied them. Not true, when you consider how many star wars fans there are around the world, if you ask enough people you can find anything. Anybody can make this part, just buy the kit and you will instantly see the part used. The bottom bit is then up to you.

So out of the whole kit, you only need half of one side of the engine block, so as I also wanted to build the kit, I made a cast of this part, and kept the original for the kit.

I decided to get the bike kit bit done first, making sure it was angled just enough, to match the proper one.

There are several very good shots of this section, so it’s quite easy to get it right with just a bit of time and care. However it’s not just a case of taking the model part and copying it exactly. If you look closely, there are minor changes to the exhaust pipe outlets, which need careful attention to match the original.

As for the lower section, out came another block of resin, and it was fixed in the lathe. The basic shape was easy, but it’s not got straight sides they are slightly curved so a bit of hand turning was involved to get it just right. There is also a very slight lip around the base, which needs to be just right, or it looks odd.

The middle was machined out ready for the grill section to be added. I did try to bend the mesh to fit, but it looked dodgy at the edges where it curved down, so in the end I pressed a piece of mesh into some sculpy and then poured resin onto it. It actually came out really well, giving good depth and nice detail. It was then just a case of machining a small disk to fit the hole I had drilled out previously.

With that done, the two just needed joining together. So the bike kit bit was placed on the milling bed and a recess taken out to accommodate the mic bit. Close inspection of the pictures of the film used bit, show the bike bit and mic bit are angled, but not both the same angle. The mic is on less of an angle than the bike bit.

In those few frames you get the light glint off two flat buttons, and then a round knob. We watched it again and again each drawing pictures of what we saw, and then put them together. With the exception of a few bad drawings, they all looked the same, so happy with what we had found, work could commence.

The two flat buttons were machined on the milling machine using a 45 degree cutter. Nice and simple but very effective. The little knob needed a bit more attention. I decided to round the top just slightly, and knurl the edge. It’s really my interpretation, as the picture on the DVD only shows shapes no detail, so who knows if it’s right or wrong. I feel more importantly the parts are as close to the film ones as they can be.

There are those who would disagree and swear their DVD shows something different, but thats the world we live in.

The thermal detonator button and knob, as perhaps the parts people worry about the least, but never the less, its something that’s on the costume so needs doing.

The discussions I read before starting these parts seem to differ as much as the bits already available. Some have two buttons, some have three, some people even cover it in LED's, each to there own. my goal however was to try and recreate the parts as close to the film used ones as possible, which meant looking at the DVD to see if any frames showing them could be seen.

With a high end DVD player with more useless functions on it than you would ever need to watch a film, its one use though was its single frame by frame advance. A group of us sat down and started skipping to the biker scenes.

After many watches of the same bits, we came across a few frames where a biker and Luke are skimming along, and the biker swerves to the left, and in only a handful of frames, you get the lights glint off the thermal detonator.