1/6 SSC ESB/ROTJ Darth Vader Modification Thread

[davejames]

Yeah I made a trip to my local model train store (where I can usually find all kinds of useful goodies), but was only able to find some simple mesh grills like the one used on this mask.



But couldn't find anything more like this grill:



So I was just going to make do with the plastic insert piece in my ANH head, since it's a whole lot better than the ESB version (like everything else frankly).

 

[generalgrevious]

you know what that stuff looks like. it looks like the mesh that you can use for the gutters to keep leafs and other clutter out of them. might have to check some out at lowes

 

[bbl]

Hi dave,

How did you add the widows peak? Did you repaint the entire dome afterwards?

I have the hasbro dome, but the flat part above his eyes really annoyes me [emoji13]

Thanks. And that is just the Hasbro dome I'm using for my ANH Vader (with an added widow's peak).

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[davejames]

Hi dave,

How did you add the widows peak? Did you repaint the entire dome afterwards?

I used my dremel to carefully cut out a little notch on the helmet, and then inserted a new piece that I had carved from a little styrene strip.

Like one of these:


It wasn't necessary to add any extra curve to either side of the new piece either. And then afterwards I sanded the whole thing and repainted the helmet.

 

[bbl]

Thanks for the insight. Scares the crap out of me. Should have sold off my other hasbro helmet. Only have 1 left :/


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[davejames]

Was able to make a bit more progress on this thing. I fixed the lower right eyelid which was drooping a bit too much before, made the lower chin grill bigger for ESB, shortened the neck, made the pipe things on the side a bit narrower, tried to improve the bridge of the nose a little, and just generally tried to make the whole thing a lot smoother and sleeker. Although once it's baked I should be able to sand and smooth it even more.

As for the tusks, I'll probably just glue those on as separate pieces. Don't really want to have to spend all that time carefully sculpting something if it's just going to break off when I pull it out of the mold anyway.







(Should hopefully look a lot better painted)

 

[matrix69]

Was able to make a bit more progress on this thing. I fixed the lower right eyelid which was drooping a bit too much before, made the lower chin grill bigger for ESB, made the pipe things on the side a bit narrower, tried to improve the bridge of the nose a little, and just generally tried to make the whole thing a lot smoother and sleeker. Although once it's baked I should be able to sand and smooth it even more.


View attachment 168811

View attachment 168812

View attachment 168813

(Should hopefully look a lot better painted)

Beautiful work! HT and SS should be hiring you to work for them

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Thanks guys.
Yeah I agree the nose bridge still needs some work. And glad to hear the scale looks good (because I really did not want to have to resculpt it smaller).
And it's just basic super sculpey. I was kinda hoping to be able to scratchbuild it out of styrene, but with all the weird shapes and angles I realized it would be far easier to sculpt it instead.

Cool. I honestly think you should bake it as it is, as the fixes may mess up the rest, in case you are not careful. I had many sculpts go bad that way because of accidentally touching parts of the sculpt. Also because all the fixes will be possible to do on top of the current surface shapes.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

That looks incredible, davejames! Great work!

 

[mrshurricane]

Was able to make a bit more progress on this thing. I fixed the lower right eyelid which was drooping a bit too much before, made the lower chin grill bigger for ESB, shortened the neck, made the pipe things on the side a bit narrower, tried to improve the bridge of the nose a little, and just generally tried to make the whole thing a lot smoother and sleeker. Although once it's baked I should be able to sand and smooth it even more.

As for the tusks, I'll probably just glue those on as separate pieces. Don't really want to have to spend all that time carefully sculpting something if it's just going to break off when I pull it out of the mold anyway.

View attachment 168811

View attachment 168812

View attachment 168813

(Should hopefully look a lot better painted)

You need to send one to us

 

[davejames]

Oh yeah, one thing I'm still not sure about is how curved or convex are the lenses supposed to be on this? Basically about the same as on the Sideshow masks? Because I think my eyes might be a bit too bulbous at the moment...

 

[shocktrooper_au]

Was able to make a bit more progress on this thing. I fixed the lower right eyelid which was drooping a bit too much before, made the lower chin grill bigger for ESB, shortened the neck, made the pipe things on the side a bit narrower, tried to improve the bridge of the nose a little, and just generally tried to make the whole thing a lot smoother and sleeker. Although once it's baked I should be able to sand and smooth it even more.

As for the tusks, I'll probably just glue those on as separate pieces. Don't really want to have to spend all that time carefully sculpting something if it's just going to break off when I pull it out of the mold anyway.

View attachment 168811

View attachment 168812

View attachment 168813

(Should hopefully look a lot better painted)

Will you be sculpting a dome for it? It will never look right with either the ssc or hasbro dome

 

[shockwave]

OMG davejames that is excellent talent indeed!

 

[Chakaman]

Super stuff here. Amazing work davejames.

 

[davejames]

Will you be sculpting a dome for it? It will never look right with either the ssc or hasbro dome

Nah, I realize the domes should be assymetrical too, but I'm already happy enough with how it looks with the existing ones. Plus I didn't really set out to make the "ultimate" Vader mask anyway; I just wanted to have something that looked a bit better than the Sideshow ones I have now.

 

[mrshurricane]

Nah, I realize the domes should be assymetrical too, but I'm already happy enough with how it looks with the existing ones. Plus I didn't really set out to make the "ultimate" Vader mask anyway; I just wanted to have something that looked a bit better than the Sideshow ones I have now.

You should be very pleased with what you have done.

 

[mrshurricane]

Experimental Anh gloved hands in faux leather , ESB and ROtj version in the works.
Steph x

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[TaliBane]

There's some truly awesome things going on in this thread.

 

[matrix69]

Experimental Anh gloved hands in faux leather , ESB and ROtj version in the works.
Steph x

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Beautifully made!

 

[davejames]

Agreed. Fantastic work!