Three cheers for a Sewing Crew approval! It has been so much fun to chat with you through our projects. Your friend, whose pattern you are carrying forward, would be so pleased to see this. Congratulations, Grand Moff!
It still needs a little bit of cleaning, but I've tried it on with a backing magnet and I'm quite happy with it.
Here's a quick breakdown of my process:
I gathered my materials and put my kettle on for 180°. I separated the button lenses and the inserts.
I cut the protruding pieces (with scissors) and then sanded them flush with 80 followed by 180 grit sandpaper. The lenses click into the t-shaped slots on all 4 sides, so I was careful not to sand beyond where the main body of the insert began.
I washed the inserts to remove any bits of dust. I poured hot water over my thermoplastic beads and waited for them to become transparent. I separated a small, flat piece of soft plastic, avoiding air bubbles, and pressed it in to the insert. I used a spare piece of aluminum to push it in completely and flatten the bottom, removing any extra bits and re-heating the whole thing if necessary by dunking it in the water for a few seconds. This process took less than a minute per button.
Here, you can see 3 buttons at different phases of completion: One filled with cooled thermoplastic and with its lens back on, one filled and mostly cooled (nearly opaque), and one recently filled with the plastic still warm and transparent. The flash is really picking up the smallest irregularities here, all 3 are very smooth and flat.
I gave each lens and insert a wipe down with alcohol to remove streaks and dust, and popped all 3 inserts into their lenses. Since I'd be using the top aluminum plate as a jig, I wanted the buttons to fit it closely. To avoid the risk of cyanoacrylate chlorosis on my beautiful blue lenses, I decided to use the JB Clearweld Epoxy instead of the Loctite. Here are the pieces that will be assembled, alongside the backup pieces I have left over.
I mixed the epoxy and applied it extremely sparingly to the inside of the top plate with the end of a toothpick, on all 4 corners and sides. I gave it 10 minutes to cure before continuing. I then applied a dot of epoxy at the center of each window, and slid the buttons in. They inserted perfectly and didn't require any nudging or adjusting to line up correctly.
After an hour, I tested the magnetic attachment. The visible front plate of this rank bar is aluminum, and the back plate is steel, making its whole back surface compatible with a magnet. I have a similarly-sized 1/16" magnet to sew to the inside of my tunic. The setup setup is secure and looks sleek, and the bar has a wonderful solidness to it that feels appropriately solemn.
If I were to do this again, I'd add a bit more space around the lenses on the outside. The CNC operator increased the size of the holes a bit too much (thinking that the buttons needed to be functional), and I think it makes things look a little too tight. But overall, I'm happy.
I enjoyed assembling this. Since I have extras, I may experiment with an all-aluminum version to attach some other way, or just make another like this one to have as backup. I'm very pleased to have a completed element for my build!
Greetings from Central Garrison, everyone! I've recently been approved for my Legends GA and Legends GA Thrawn, last month. I got the former approved first before doing the make-up for the latter, to save time. I'm debuting my Thrawn costume for it's first official troop later today and I'm super excited! For your entertainment, here's my action photo of me as Grand Admiral Thrawn...
I don't think I've met Dino yet, and I don't want to bother him with a random tag. If you chat with him frequently, pass my high-five on for me?
I had the same thought process as you regarding the corners on the prop. I doubt they made many of these props – I don't recall any other character carrying this exact one, though the show does feature a whole variety of fun luggage (I love all the Rimowa, naturally, and also enjoy Partagaz and Meero's tidy little overnight bags after Krennic's offsite) – but even one seems like a lot of effort. That's why I'm wondering if the prop was perhaps the navy Topas notebook case I linked, re-painted or wrapped. It has the same dimensions and hardware as the aluminum ones, but a plastic shell. It would be trivial to paint over or cover, compared to the aluminum. The ribbed plastic bands around the frame are even already very dark, you might not need to disassemble it at all. Here's the image again, embedded:
I'll try to have a closer look at the greeblie proportions and details while I'm working with my current one. Perhaps one day we can share the setup costs for the metal version.
Update: The gnarly lining and all its adhesive are out! Barkeeper’s Friend, you really are a friend. Didn’t scratch the aluminum, either. Next up: More detailed cleaning, investigative corner surgery.
RE: Vinyl wrap on trim: In addition to likely wanting to preserve the look of the ridges, I’m not convinced the wrap will hold as nicely as we hope on the flexible/stretchy plastic unless the trim is very secure, and the double-sided tape may not like the heat gun. But I’m up for being pleasantly surprised.
Thank you! I’ve never done vinyl wrapping before, but I have a heat gun and a lot of patience, so I’m determined to be optimistic. Can’t wait to carry this thing around.
Andor's ISB staff are a stylish group, and Dedra Meero's modified Rimowa attaché case is my favorite of their accessories. I'm a huge fan of Rimowa's designs and have a couple of their (secondhand!) small cases, so I'm excited to be putting this prop together! I'll be making this its own thread, as well as putting the same process information in my main build thread, in hopes that it might be useful to others in the future.
First off, here are some screenshots of this gorgeous prop! (Huge Imgur album link)
And the CRL description, for reference:
- Based on a vintage Rimowa “Limbo” Attaché.
- Approximate dimensions are 13.78 inches (350 mm) x 7.09 inches (280 mm) x 3.94 inches (100 mm).
- Has a black ribbed pattern on the sides.
- The center where the two halves meet gives the appearance of aluminum.
- A silver greeblie that gives the appearance of being made of aluminum is present on the lower left side.
________________
Hmm, as I'm writing this, I realize that instead of starting right off with my build process, I'm going to have to go on a tangent with some math. Sorry! Scroll to the next horizontal line to skip to the build.
I don't think the dimensions listed in the CRL are correct. I think this is primarily typos with unit conversion (the millimeter measurements look decent, but the inch measurements are listed first and are definitely way off), but I'll back up my thought with data because that's how we make Partagaz proud:
The body of the case (excluding the handle, feet, and strap loops) is slightly over 5x the height of Meero's belt, making a good estimate for its height a little over 10" tall.
This checks out when counting the grooves: It has 11.5, each of which (standard for aluminum Rimowa cases from this time period) should be about 22.5mm high. Add .5cm at the top and bottom for the exterior curve and the aluminum framing, and we're at about 260mm, or 10.2" tall.
Zooming out to think about proportion generally, the bottom of Meero's case hits just above the tops of her boots when her arm is straight down. 7" (plus handle) would not reach that far. One can also picture carrying a briefcase smaller than a sheet of legal paper: It would look silly!
Based on what's onscreen, I would list the dimensions of the body of the case as approximately 35cm (13.8in) x 26cm (10.2in) x 9cm (3.5in), and perhaps note for proportion that it hangs approximately to the costumer's knee when carried. (I'm using cm rather than mm here to avoid giving a false impression of exactness.)
Side note: I know we work from the CRL text, not the photos, but I think it's worth noting that the case in the CRL image is not the screen-accurate size either. It appears to be a modified "Limbo" attaché case, with 15.5 grooves, reinforced corners, and locking press latches on the top (rather than on the sides, as on the prop). The average eBay listed height for a case that looks like this is 37cm (15in), ± a few cm depending on whether you're counting the feet, handle, or other attachments, with a width of 47cm (18in). That larger-size case hits me (177.5cm / 5'10", long legs and short arms, narrow frame) mid-calf and looks proportionally enormous. It might be perfect for the costumer who made it! But if you are much shorter than I am you'll start endangering your ankle bones, and if you're much slighter you'll look like you're lugging a battering ram around. Importantly, the larger size attaché is by far the most available on the secondhand market, so I'd like to warn people in advance about comparing the CRL photo to, for example, eBay listings. If you count the grooves in that photo, they'll match lots of available cases, but you might be surprised by the size of the thing that ends up at your door.
As a last suggestion, unless we have absolute proof that the screen prop started as a Limbo model (and maybe not even then), I would also recommend not specifying "Limbo" in the CRL
Rimowa is notoriously bad at keeping archives, and the styles of cases within their classic pre-LVMH lines have changed a lot over time, so I don't think the line name is actually helpful information to costumers.
The dimensions onscreen are closest to the case most frequently listed as a "Topas" notebook attaché; conversely, searching for "Limbo" attaché cases brings up primarily polycarbonate ones that are much too large. The only case I've ever seen listed under the Limbo name (by an eBay seller, not an expert) and with the right dimensions was navy blue.
I think it would be smarter to leave it at "vintage Rimowa attaché case," and let the dimensions and physical attributes – rather than the assumed line name – govern decision-making.
Edit: I've found a thread about this that I didn't see in my previous searches. It looks like some of the issues I mentioned came up in discussion – @kman, I'd love to see how your very-tall-person-scale, drunk-eBay-purchase version turned out – but I don't know when the conversation took place in the timeline of the CRL. I'd be interested to know where PartsOfSW got the idea that it's a Limbo line case.
________________
"A little damaged, perhaps, but I’d say it’s held its value."
I own a very old, very ratty, very smelly Rimowa aluminum attaché case that I bought for basically nothing. It's the right size and has most of the right details, but will need some color changes and one structural change in addition to massive refurbishing and addition of the greeblie. It's also been in storage, and today I made the unhappy discovery that the old trim adhesive is melting in the heat, so I can add sticky to its list of charming attributes.
Most important visually, my case has bare aluminum faces. I plan to cover it with the sort of vinyl used to wrap cars, the stuff I have is made by 3M. Glossy, snazzy, Imperial!
Most important structurally, my case has riveted-on corner protectors. Clearly, they haven't protected it well enough, as it has a gigantic dent under one of them. I'm going to Dremel out the one with the dent and have a look at what's going on in there while I fix the dent. Either I'll end up taking them all off and filling any resulting holes with steel putty, or I'll put the one back on and sand down the edges of all of them so they're less noticeable under the vinyl.
The black grip that's supposed to be at the underside of the handle has worn away entirely. Impressive! I'll fill the shape back in with epoxy putty and then either paint it or apply vinyl wrap.
The ribbed trim around the central aluminum between the halves has discolored with age, it was once grey but is now a nasty brown. Luckily, it seems to be structurally fine in most places, just… sticky. I'll take it off, remove the old adhesive residue, paint it black to match the prop, and put it back on with the same kind of double-sided tape that it started with.
There's a thin rubber gasket running around the case on one side of the opening. It used to be grey to match the aluminum around it (the screen prop appears to have the same), but it's now brown. I've found some 3mm-wide rubber tubing for putting in under caulk where there's significant thermal expansion, it fits in the space and matches nicely. I'd like to avoid permanent adhesive with it, I'll see how it fits.
I scaled JeanetteMakes' beautiful greeblie model down and printed it in plastic and resin. I'm currently sanding it and plan to hit it with silver Rub-n-Buff. It'll be the most fragile part of the case (I'd like to get it in metal, eventually), and it sticks off the side just waiting to get bonked on things. I'll need to attach it so that the connection fails before the part itself breaks, and right now I'm thinking… Command strip? I'll have to experiment.
There's also a black rectangular protrusion on top, where the combination lock is. At first glance, it looks like… a replacement combination lock from Rimowa, haha. It's only visible for a split second, so I'll return to it later.
The interior lining smells like cigarette smoke and mold, and it's rotting and peeling away at the corners, exposing some sharp bent metal bits. This is going to be annoying to remove, as it has some kind of paper backing that's glued on intensely. And I'm sad to lose the nice little pockets. Oh well.
I'm not sure what I'll do with the interior once I'm done. If I can think of a fun/useful item to carry while trooping, it would be cool to carve out some foam to fit it. (My full-sized datapad does not fit, nor would a stunning vintage Imperial Starpath unit.) Suggestions very welcome!
Here's the case at the start, with its very nice plastic/adhesive tentacles.
Detail of the latches on the sides, plus the very nice dent at the corner.
On the right,
The gross lining and rubber gasket I wrestled off of the case. I wore a mask, but I've literally got hives.
Approximately a mile of accursed double-sided tape that refused to stay on the case but stuck so hard to my rubber gloves it tore holes.
On the left,
The plastic trim I'm saving to clean and re-paint later, sorted so I don't get the pieces mixed up
A sample piece of rubber gasket (original color just barely showing on one end that was hidden under a hinge) in case I need it.
And here's my nice greeblie modeled by JeanetteMakes, with the front just starting its long sanding journey.
I've taken hot water and dish soap to the case as a preliminary step – it at least feels psychologically less disgusting now – and the obnoxious paper interlining is now soaking overnight and thinking about the consequences of its actions. To be continued!
Some things should go without saying, but we live in an age where we do have to say things. I will cross post this in the Officer's Mess too.
At no times will this detachment be a home or accepting to people that are friendly to or espouse the ideas behind fascism, Nazism or any totalitarian ideology. We dress up as fictional space bad guys. Conflating any of the above with doing that is not only morally wrong, it puts at risk what we do here in this detachment and the legion as a whole. We will not allow such a risk.
I have spoken to members who have belonged to reenacting groups that have had those ideologies come into them. That will not be permitted here, not under this administration. And if that day ever comes that it would be allowed, I would hope you would join me in finding another hobby.
There will be no litmus tests for members. If you are a reenactor, I hope you enjoy doing it and I hope you keep the ideology out of it. There is no conversation over re-enacting that you cannot take private. And if you are an open adopter of the ideologies listed above, no one wants to hear it...ever. If you see something in violation of this, please contact the staff and we will deal with it promptly.
.thumb.jpg.2ff3b97507392182a23cb676c3a9e08b.jpg)
Halcyon got a reaction from ID99308 in ID-21105 Ready to serve the empire
Halcyon got a reaction from vonmoen in ID-21105 Ready to serve the empire
