Star Wars Mobile Control System

Transport Case - Research & Prep

Research

Research started with two requirements

Look at the style and decoration and dirtying down of crates in the Star Wars universe to emulate.
Find a suitable crate, ideally with wheels that was a suitable size and study, possibly a flight case or plastic trunk.

First to look at was the styling from Star Wars franchises movies, live and animated shows and artwork as well as other prop boxes, crates and droids people have made as well as possible panels that could be kit bashed on.

The dirty white look was prefered at first with lots of opportunity for distressing then moved to a more miltary green look.

Real Crate Research

2nd Hand Flight Cases

I initially looked on EBay for a second- hand flight case which seemed a good idea, especially worn looking as they would be purpose built, wheeled and strong but it was soon very apparent that:

Trying to find a suitable size and shape would be next to impossible and a massive waste of time and money and effort and be totally dependent on low chance luck.

I would really need to see and try it out for suitability, weight etc.

Being very big and likely fairly heavy, getting it posted would be a major issue and big cost and most would be listed as collection only thus would need to be local

They were also very expensive, even second hand on Ebay. This part of the project should be a cheap add on.

DIY Shop Boxes and Crates

The next avenue looked at were storage boxes and crates from DIY, and Tool shops which included the likes of

Screwfix Direct
Tool Station
B&Q
Wickes
B&M Bargains

The cheaper storage boxes were ruled out as

Wrong Size and Shape
Too weak
No wheels as the prop was heavy
Poor quality handles not suited to regular movement and carrying

B&Q had larger wheeled trunks with wheels and looked promising but it was Wickes that had:

The best size and shaped crate
That seemed narrow enough to get in the attic
I could get arms around to carry
Had wheels
Looked strong
Had the capacity to hold what was needed and space for padding
Had carry handles
Looked good to paint

Which ticked the most boxes and a good price at £22

Kitbashing Development of the Crate / Trunk

To make the transport crate more Star Wars like the research photos without damaging its structural integrity, kit bashing components were to be stuck on and this took a fair bit of ideation trials.

Firstly, to increase the range and number of components I could add, I built some new moulds, especially as I only had 1 item of several parts I wanted to use for resin casting.

A mix of gold, chrome, back Dirty Down dust and khaki colours were sprayed on.

Some existing parts like air grates needed stuffing with foam to increase the surface area for gluing and screwing to Plastazote panels.

The flexible intermediate foam plates, which being stretchy created a more flexible bond with contact glue either side of the foam. This was less brittle than superglue thus makes the bond more flexible so better able to handle impacts.

The foam panels also made the box look more tech, stronger and more military.