crashmann
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Posts posted by crashmann
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Hi Ruggero,
I don't have a finished canteen set to show off what it looks like once it's assembled. I've got ideas on how to go about the assembly, but no physical build yet.
Hopefully the folks that picked up their canteens at Celebration can talk about their build experience, and offer insights and recommendations.
Bondo would probably work to fill the seam. Or you might use sludge: get a small glass jar with a bit of acetone, then add lots of plastic shavings. Let it soak for a while, and stir everything up to make a paste. Glop it into your seam, then sand it down. There will be pinholes that you can fill with Bondo or Spot Glazing putty.
Charlie
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I've got two extra canteen kits for Celebration Anaheim, and they are ready for distribution!
Only $25 if you we can meet up during the show
You get 2 canteen halves, vinyl hose with large bolt, two bolts, washers, nuts, white plastic for the mounting bracket, and scrap plastic for joining the sides:
Send me a text or give me a call if you would like to meet up.
The following folks are already on the list:
DontWashMeTrooper
Runamuk
Desertfox45
Scribbler
Thanks!
Charlie
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Ok, great!
I'll plan on bringing a 6 pack of canteen kits to Celebration Anaheim. Once I get back, I'll take orders and start shipping them out worldwide
Charlie
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Sorry for the long gap in progress updates. I pulled a few more canteens on the vac table, and due to the size and shape, I can't combine it with anything else without webbing ruining the parts. So this means I need to dedicate a whole sheet to pulling one canteen, which results in a slightly higher price. Fortunately, this means the plastic will be stretched less, so it will be a thicker, more durable part.
Since we're less than a week away from Celebration Anaheim, it's too late to send them out before folks travel to California.
Would anyone be interested in picking up canteen kits at Celebration for $25?
It would include the two vac formed halves of the canteen, the mounting bracket, vinyl hose, a couple of screws washers and nuts, and scrap plastic to be used as shims to join the two halves together.
Let me know if you're interested, and I'll plan on bringing the kits in my suitcase
Charlie
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I'm no good at putting things together, perhaps a fear of commitment? So that's the reason for the delay... I want to make sure we've got a method to assemble everything before I start sending out kits.
We need a way to mount the vinyl tube at the bottom. Perhaps a circle of wood that you can glue inside one half of the shell. Drill a hole in the wood, then glue the vinyl tube in it.
The U shaped mounting bracket is bent into shape using a heat gun, but how will you mount it to the canteen? I shipped a pair of screws, nuts, and washers with the old faucet cover. Perhaps you could drill and mount them to one half of the canteen? But there's no tightening it up once the canteen's closed.
Finally, to put it all together, I'm thinking of gluing strips of plastic on the inside seam, and you would do this before drilling and connecting the mounting bracket. Then, after that has cured, gluing the other half of the canteen on top.
Whaddya think?
Yes, it would be ideal to have kits ready to ship by the end of this week, so you can mount them before Celebration Anaheim. But please let me know your thoughts on assembly
Charlie
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Finally finished shaping the risers for the molds and pulled some plastic over them
I got a little too much flare when combining the canteen molds with the mushrooms on the forming platen, so I'll add another layer of riser underneath, then it's off to production!
Charlie
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That looks awesome!
Chop off the top of the neck, and smooth out the textured finish and it would be ready for your backpack!
Charlie
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A little more progress today. The E-6000 seems to have bonded the cap very nicely, but the true test will be under the heat and pressure of the vacuum forming plastic.To ensure the sides mate up, I create a "riser" out of MDF to raise the mold off the forming platen. Otherwise, the plastic bows out where it curves to turn the 90° corner from the side of the mold to the platen surface. The riser is cut at an angle to ease the transition. Here you can see I've rough cut the riser, but it needs to be snugged in tighter to the edge of the mold. After a little work with the belt sander, they should be ready for production!
Charlie
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The other day, I extracted the second mold from the silicone:
Then I checked the reference photos and realized the canteen lid was totally wrong!
So I cut off the lid of the mold
Then I took one of the stinger caps and split it in half and tested the fit
A glop of E-6000 to connect the caps to the body, and some extra long clamps, and they should be ready to form tomorrow!
Charlie
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The silicone was a little old, and was acting weird as I was scooping it out of the container, so I gave extra time to cure. Finally, I pulled out the canteen last night:
So then I stirred up the vacuum forming resin for making the production mold and poured it into the silicone:
This morning, I extracted the casting and was very pleased with the results!
Next I'll cast another half of the canteen, then it's off to the vac table!
Charlie
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Continuing on with our Canteen for the Stinger build log, and now moving into phase 2 of the production.
Build a box for your canteen:
Troop a local Cub Scout Blue and Gold dinner (Sorry, no Sandtroopers, but that's me in the Imperial Officer uniform doing duckface):
Now take your spare canteen, and fill in all of the imperfections with non sulfur based oil clay. It is important to fill in areas that will allow the silicone to flow in and get trapped:
Be sure to fill in the concave bottom and make it nice and smooth:
Also fill in the shoulder strap holes and the neck where it meets the lid:
De-gas your silicone in a vacuum chamber, being careful not have it spill over the sides of your bowl:
Begin the "warm sticky goo phase" by pouring the silicone into the box, then drop in the canteen:
Now we play the waiting game.
Charlie
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I'm not happy with the lumps from the canteen deforming as I was pulling plastic over them, so I'm going to make a silicone mold, then cast resin into that to create the production molds. It'll be a few more days to complete that process.
The price will be around $25 including shipping in the US.
A little more for overseas.
Charlie
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Since the oval hard shell cold weather faucet covers are no longer available, I've been on the hunt for a replacement for the Sandtrooper Backpack Kits. Also, with the instructions from George Lucas that the troopers have a field backpack for desert conditions, one of the first things you would bring is a canteen.
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The For Sale thread is here: http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=13661
$35 plus shipping via USPS
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I've found a canteen that is very close in size to the faucet covers:
Plus, it's already got the shape where the hose/antenna sticks out!
You can't just vacuum form directly over the canteen. It needs to be formed one half at a time, otherwise the canteen would be trapped in the plastic due to the undercuts. So I built a riser to taper off the sides of the bottom half of the canteen.
Here's the top level
Then the lower levels all stacked up
Then I glued it all together
Tonight I sanded the sides smooth
I've pulled a few tonight for my backpack customers, and I'll be using these first pulls to cast the production molds.
Once I've got the production molds working, I'll offer the new canteens to MEPD troopers.
Charlie
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Read the second customer review. Like others have stated, what you see on the Internet is not what you get!
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Wow, that looks great!
Very nice work Doug!
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Do you mean this one?
http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=6942&hl=pandatrooper
It's a great build log, full of hints, tips, and recommendations!
Charlie
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Scootch, you hit the nail on the head!
The faucet covers could be vac-formed, but the price would be a bit more than what the originals sold for at the hardware store.
I was thinking the mold would be three pieces. Two parts would be half of the faucet cover laying on its side.
Then the top to match the canteen shape.
You would glue the two halves together and clean up the seam, then glue the cap on top.
To get a good quality pull on the vac table would require a full sheet of plastic, and that's where the increased price comes from.
Charlie
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Wow, that's pretty awesome!
And it's already got some dirt on it
Very nice find!
Charlie
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Cha-chiing! Payment sent!
Thanks for hosting the dirtiest website in the galaxy!
Charlie
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Hi Ed,
DirtyBoy is right, it is more important to have the tube in proportion for the rest of the pack, especially if you are building your own from scratch.
I've been using 30" for the tube length for my kits.
Good luck!
Charlie
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Hi Heatray, you've got an incoming message regarding the trio of radios
Charlie
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Hi Kimberly,
If you are able to get the right kind of faucet covers, I would love to order a bunch!
Please let me know how it turns out
Charlie
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Hey Seann!
I'm glad to hear you're still rockin' the backpack
I worked with Zenix to create a replica of the Sonix Victory 75 radio, and it turned out great!
I would be happy to send you just the parts you need to change out the radio faceplate. The dimensions are very close to the vacuum formed radio, but the new one is just a little bigger.
Check your Inbox for more information.
Charlie
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I looked in three Home Depot's and a Lowes, and could not find any of the classic faucet covers. Considering it is almost spring, in spite of the snow we had yesterday, it would be logical for the stores to cut back on their inventory of them.
However, looking at how the new ones are shaped, and how they stack inside the cardboard box, I don't think we'll ever see the old style again. You can easily fit three times the number of faucet covers in a shipping box:
The 70's canteen that Quartermaster found looks like a very good replacement. Although it's a little tall. That can be easily fixed with a saw
Charlie
Radio Decals? (NOT the dial, the other ones)
in Field Backpack
Posted
It looks like you've posted a picture of a momentary toggle switch, but I think the actual radio had two or three position slide switches.
There are literally thousands of the wrong slide switch with the plastic square knob in the land of the 'bay.
Here's a pair of the right style on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pk-DP3T-Slide-Switch-/390956677585?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b06d579d1
When I run out of the slide switches for the Zenix Victory 75 radio kits, I'm going to include an 1/8" long shank rivet, with the top sanded down flat, and painted black. Hopefully it never comes to that
Charlie