Finishing The Second Han In Carbonite

I got accepted into Univeristy and will be studying for a bachelors degree in electrical engineering these next three years, and I expect to be swamped with school, so I took the time these last two weeks to finish the second Han In Carbonite, the one that's going to stay in Gabba's Palace.

My friend Gabriel, who owns the garage (and house/basement I've been working in) and will be the owner of this HIC had been a busy bee spackling and sanding the joints and screwholes. When I arrived we gave it a coat of primer, and then poured the first pass of woodglue for the carbonite texture:

Let the first pass of woodglue dry pretty much, and poured the second pass of glue, moving it around and creating the texture, being even more meticulous here than on the last one:

Let that dry for a few days and came back to paint it, I first sprayed the box portion in stainless steel, let it get dry to the touch, masked off and sprayed Han and the carbonite panel in aluminium:

Let the paint dry for a few days and came back to do the weathering. Here I used watered down black acrylic paint that I brushed on, and then dabbed/rubbed off with a cloth/old white t-shirt, doing several passes to get it just right. Afterwards I applied Rub'N'Buff on the highlights, which is a waxy solution that shines to a silvery finish if you rub it.

I went easier on the weathering on this HIC as it's only going to stay indoors in Gabriels basement, under soft lighting conditions, whereas my HIC will be outdoors in the 17th of may parade and out at conventions under bright lights. I actually think Gabriels HIC turned out a little bit better, and I'm really proud of how it looks:

Gabriel isn't too specific about the sidepanels, and says he doesn't need them, and we omitted the pockets/boxes on the ends, as you'll never be able to see them anyway. So I consider this HIC to be done!

The next projects are finishing the sidepanles on my own HIC, and making a Death Star wall panel to display blasters on when we have stands at conventions. So I'll probably have my hands full well into the autumn...