Keeping my hands busy

[Scout472]

So with the question marks hanging over the presence of weapons at future events (although it appears at the time of posting that this may be resolved) I got to thinking about what I would do with my hands if I wasn’t brandishing my trusty holdout blaster. Since the three themes that I get from the 501st are:
Raising money for good causes,
Dressing up as Star Wars characters, and
Getting creative with the creation of costumes and props
I figured without weapons the first two were mostly unchanged, but I had an opportunity to indulge in the third with the double benefit of not only creating something new for my costume box, but also future proofing myself against weapon bans. So with that I have briefly shelved my DLT-19 Carbine project and will focus in this little project for the next few days.

So what does a Scout need, that would also be relevant for a Mando? When you trim it all back, time in reconnaissance is seldom time wasted, and what more basic kit than a set of binos. So based off this picture I have started making a pair of binos so no matter what restrictions come up in future I will still have something to keep my hands occupied.





So once again it was off to Bunnings to load up on PVC plumbing parts. I used some MDF for the end plates as well as the tops and bottom. 32mm PVC pipe for the rounded edges. For the objective lens I have a PVC repair coupling that has a similar ridged profile to that seen in the picture.



Now I had to get a bit cunning to produce a lens material. So as I sat and partook of a refreshing glass of mineral water, I noticed the the Deep Spring bottle has a spherical top. So taking to it with my scissors I cut out two circles to fit into the PVC coupling and presto, I have a lens





Then to give the lens the appearance of depth and reflectivity I sprayed the back of the inside piece with a light dusting of silver and gloss black, several coats of each to give the binos darkness down the objective lens as well as a kind of opalescent quality





That’s all for now, but I should have this finished for the weekend if things continue to plan. I have a stash of greeblies that are ready for attachment once the body is assembled. Stay tuned for more

[Duras]

love what you did to make the lens! :D

[Cueloopz]

cool .. looking forward to seeing it done

[Oevil1]

Now that's cool!

[Scout472]

A quick update.

Due to an early knock off, I had the chance to do a bit of work on the front end of the binos. I have the end plates finished and sanded now. The got to work cutting down the objective lens housing. The cap on the right is the original and the shorter piece will be the lens housing. The offset will be used on the inside to keep the threaded section and main part from falling out



So the first test fitting came up looking even better than I had hoped (at least I think it looks good!).



Then to start on the greeblies. To keep the theme going that I established in making the lens, the cap off the same mineral water bottle has been trimmed down to become the acoustic sensor (that is what I am calling the little round greeblie from the reference pic) on the front plate, as seen in the reference pic.



Once it is assembled the screw head will be filled prior to painting.

More to follow

[Diatium]

Looking good :-)

[Scout472]

Update.

Haven’t had much chance to work on this today, so just a quick update. Gathered together a few bits for the greeblies, these will become buttons, and sensors on the front and top of the binos.



The cut some right angle pieces and glued in to provide support to the top and side panels. Also carved out some circles that the PVC pipe will nest onto to ensure they are secure and reduce ‘wobble



Here is a quick test fit



And studied the inter webs to see if the googles had any good vistas for the view through the binos. It will probably end up being something like this, unless I get extremely motivated and hit photoshop to create my own.



Looks like I won't make it to Brisbane this weekend. So to all of you who are trooping, have a great time, and thank you in advance for your work raising money for Mates4Mates