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I can kind off see what they were going for with all the armor on, etc. But still think it's a bit wonky.
1/6 SSC ESB/ROTJ Darth Vader Modification Thread
- Thread starter LOPIE
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When I modded my Star Wars Vader, I chose to give it a go with the stock body. Here's what I came up with in case it could help.
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/...-Darth-Vader&p=6524516&viewfull=1#post6524516
Since I posted, I've done the helmet mod and he's right around 13.25" tall now.
Alex
https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/...-Darth-Vader&p=6524516&viewfull=1#post6524516
Since I posted, I've done the helmet mod and he's right around 13.25" tall now.
Alex
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Some pics of my Vader with his LIT saber in his RIGHT hand.
And two more with it back in his left...because damn it all, I like the way it looks.
Looks amazing Dane!!
MarfMaster
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Pixelpiper
Super Freak
I've done the chopping and it all fits together very well. I need a tighter elastic, but this one is still OK for testing. Articulation is most definitely increased, by a long way, compared to stock, not decreased. Not that much articulation is needed in this area for this figure in the first place. It's somewhat hard to measure at the moment in the same way I did it the last time as I haven't glued the helmet back onto the mask yet. Rough measuring tells me it's about 1/4" lower at the shoulders than in my previous photos. About 13.5" to the top of the dome now.
As I work on the other parts, I'm leaving the option open to add back some length to the torso - I won't mention how until I determine if there's a need.
I still have no idea how anyone could have measured this figure at anything close to 13.5" when they took it out of the box. No amount of pushing or futzing could cause it to be any shorter, even if something was broken. There's simply nothing socketed that can allow compression below the 14 7/8" height when fresh out of the box. This is the biggest mystery in 1/6 for the past year, IMO.
The ANH body and ab section is much narrower than the new body (the only one I'm working with). Making the abs smaller in width and circumference are not something I wanted to do because it would, without padding it back out again, change the look of the figure and without question not fit the costume as well (it's loose enough in some parts). Your mileage may be different on a different body with different clothing, but this is just fact with these sets of goods. Though I'm altering parts of the suit, I'm not altering the girth of the midsection and would likewise prefer to avoid padding it out like I'm doing with the legs and arms.
I've previously checked your thread and it's brilliant. Great work. I'll be attacking the legs and arms once I have the new band saw blade delivered.
As I work on the other parts, I'm leaving the option open to add back some length to the torso - I won't mention how until I determine if there's a need.
I still have no idea how anyone could have measured this figure at anything close to 13.5" when they took it out of the box. No amount of pushing or futzing could cause it to be any shorter, even if something was broken. There's simply nothing socketed that can allow compression below the 14 7/8" height when fresh out of the box. This is the biggest mystery in 1/6 for the past year, IMO.
The ANH body and ab section is much narrower than the new body (the only one I'm working with). Making the abs smaller in width and circumference are not something I wanted to do because it would, without padding it back out again, change the look of the figure and without question not fit the costume as well (it's loose enough in some parts). Your mileage may be different on a different body with different clothing, but this is just fact with these sets of goods. Though I'm altering parts of the suit, I'm not altering the girth of the midsection and would likewise prefer to avoid padding it out like I'm doing with the legs and arms.
I've previously checked your thread and it's brilliant. Great work. I'll be attacking the legs and arms once I have the new band saw blade delivered.
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Some pics of my Vader with his LIT saber in his RIGHT hand.
Great pic. Looks like Vader has a lightsaber middle finger. Love it.
MarfMaster
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r5150s
Super Freak
Some pics of my Vader with his LIT saber in his RIGHT hand.
And two more with it back in his left...because damn it all, I like the way it looks.
that looks so sick…i want a cathode saber now !
mrshurricane
Super Freak
When things are made I will ask Doc who deals with Glenn's work to create a thread in the appropriate area , I didn't mean to do anything wrong . End of dome subject in my eyes now. When some are done you will know.
Steph x
Oh and as pointed out I was ASKED, I did not OFFER .
Steph x
Oh and as pointed out I was ASKED, I did not OFFER .
Really interested in the outcome, piper.
Its awesome we have people that are willing to take steps to fix the height issue and then share their development. But looking that all that needs to be done gets under my skin that SSC got the height wrong AGAIN.
Of all things. The two things that people were most vocal about were the height and dome. And while the dome is certainly better it still needed to be lowered AGAIN. WTF Sideshow.
Sent from my SGH-T999L using Tapatalk
Its awesome we have people that are willing to take steps to fix the height issue and then share their development. But looking that all that needs to be done gets under my skin that SSC got the height wrong AGAIN.
Of all things. The two things that people were most vocal about were the height and dome. And while the dome is certainly better it still needed to be lowered AGAIN. WTF Sideshow. Sent from my SGH-T999L using Tapatalk
jordanlarocque88
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Hi, everyone. Just thought I'd share the progress of my sideshow / Medicom Vader bash. Still needs some futzing with the cape and positioning of belt/cod piece. Still might make some mods here and there, but not sure how to proceed yet. But overall I'm pretty happy with how this is turning out. Might add a cathode lightsaber. Anyone know where to get one?
Pixelpiper
Super Freak
Thanks, and I'm happy to show progress and share ideas, especially since I really value being able to follow along with what others are doing too. I love the customization and creative parts of this hobby, but I agree, it's not something I generally look to do on higher end figures. I've had a no (hard/perm) mod policy on my Hot Toys figures since the start and I thought I'd be able to apply the position with most of my Sideshow, but this one I just couldn't leave alone. I wouldn't expect most people to go to these lengths or even to do anything to him at all, as despite the issues, I consider it a great figure out of the box. But if I'm cutting up the base body, I might as well be all-in and make adjustments to the suit too.
Now I'm kind f stuck for a little while on this guy, the only thing left to do while I wait for tools, is restitch the arms. Can't do the pants stitching until I've worked on the legs - hopefully within 2 weeks, as I think I'll have my supplies/tools next Saturday.
Some pics of my Vader with his LIT saber in his RIGHT hand.
And two more with it back in his left...because damn it all, I like the way it looks.
Just got my figure today. Its still in my office. MarfMaster, where did you get the lighted lightsaber? It look awesome with the figure.
I’m looking forward to see what your Darth looks like Piper. It’d be great to see more WIP pictures too.
It is always fun to see what can be done with stock parts. That’s usually the first step for me. Especially since Darth’s body is the core of the figure and designed to work with other stock parts.
In a miserly kind of way, I don’t mind spending hours of trial and error modifying something if it can save me money while using stock parts. Maybe I don’t value my own time enough!?
Oh well, it keeps me off the hard drugs. 
Alex
It is always fun to see what can be done with stock parts. That’s usually the first step for me. Especially since Darth’s body is the core of the figure and designed to work with other stock parts.
In a miserly kind of way, I don’t mind spending hours of trial and error modifying something if it can save me money while using stock parts. Maybe I don’t value my own time enough!?
Oh well, it keeps me off the hard drugs. Alex
MarfMaster
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Pixelpiper
Super Freak
Some sewing done:
Arms sewn with a looser taper, giving more room in the forearm - old stitching removed
Inseam stitch re-sewn from upper thigh through the crotch to the other upper thigh - tighten up upper leg a little bit, no need to remove old stitches
Front crotch rise seam tighten a bit - no need to remove old stitches
It's better, but none of these are a magic bullet - the body will still require some padding out to let the suit fit at its most optimal. In about 1.5 weeks I'll get a chance to do the leg shortening on the body and I'll take some photos before I pad it out. I'll try to get some images of the torso mods up tomorrow.
Arms sewn with a looser taper, giving more room in the forearm - old stitching removed
Inseam stitch re-sewn from upper thigh through the crotch to the other upper thigh - tighten up upper leg a little bit, no need to remove old stitches
Front crotch rise seam tighten a bit - no need to remove old stitches
It's better, but none of these are a magic bullet - the body will still require some padding out to let the suit fit at its most optimal. In about 1.5 weeks I'll get a chance to do the leg shortening on the body and I'll take some photos before I pad it out. I'll try to get some images of the torso mods up tomorrow.
LoveMinusZero
Super Freak
Hey Pixelpiper, I may have missed it, but what mods (if any) are you doing to the head? Or the dome, rather.
Pixelpiper
Super Freak
Here's a run down of all the mods off the top of my head
Mods to the head:
- Dome lowered via the method described by King, cutting down the top of the mask and then refitting the dome
- Trimmed the neck of the fake internal head sculpt to make it a bit shorter than flush with the mask edges
- Trimmed front collar part of the mask
- Trimmed about 1/8" off the bottom of the neck peg and drilled out the hole (bottom of neck peg) 1/8 deeper
Mods to the chest and torso:
- Carve out pectorals near shoulder to allow arms to fold inward more
- Completely remove the chamfer/bevel from the front and back half of the upper chest piece
- replace the swivel post with a rubber band and 5/16 steel nut in the abdomen
Mods to the legs:
- Cut and remove about 1/8" from thighs
- Cut and remove about 1/8" from calves
Mods to the suit:
- Open sleeves by restitching and removing old stitching, increased circumference 1/8"
- shortened sleeves by ~3/8" (the part that was left unstitched was removed)
- Tighten the upper in-seam to reduce circumference of each upper thigh
- Tighten the front crotch rise
- TO BE DETERMINED: may have to shorten the torso by taking in the circumference where the bottom half of the suit is attached to top
- Shoulder armor heated and compressed (front to back) a bit
Mods to light saber:
- Red Cold Cathode - wired
Mods to belt:
- stock wires glued to belt in additional spots to better hide them
- batteries replaced with wired DC power connector - which gets connected to constant 3v power supply
Mods to the head:
- Dome lowered via the method described by King, cutting down the top of the mask and then refitting the dome
- Trimmed the neck of the fake internal head sculpt to make it a bit shorter than flush with the mask edges
- Trimmed front collar part of the mask
- Trimmed about 1/8" off the bottom of the neck peg and drilled out the hole (bottom of neck peg) 1/8 deeper
Mods to the chest and torso:
- Carve out pectorals near shoulder to allow arms to fold inward more
- Completely remove the chamfer/bevel from the front and back half of the upper chest piece
- replace the swivel post with a rubber band and 5/16 steel nut in the abdomen
Mods to the legs:
- Cut and remove about 1/8" from thighs
- Cut and remove about 1/8" from calves
Mods to the suit:
- Open sleeves by restitching and removing old stitching, increased circumference 1/8"
- shortened sleeves by ~3/8" (the part that was left unstitched was removed)
- Tighten the upper in-seam to reduce circumference of each upper thigh
- Tighten the front crotch rise
- TO BE DETERMINED: may have to shorten the torso by taking in the circumference where the bottom half of the suit is attached to top
- Shoulder armor heated and compressed (front to back) a bit
Mods to light saber:
- Red Cold Cathode - wired
Mods to belt:
- stock wires glued to belt in additional spots to better hide them
- batteries replaced with wired DC power connector - which gets connected to constant 3v power supply
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Indiana
Super Freak
The one thing that would worry me about restitching the suit is that it might leave some pretty noticeable holes where the original stitches were. I would pop the stitches in a place where it won't be noticeable first just to test how apparent it is.
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