Best Way to Shorten 1/6th Darth Vader?

[paulcarson]

That's a great mod ! Might have to try that with mine.

 

[galactiboy]

The fig looks great. I assume one can use a SSC Ep. II and/or III clone trooper abdominal pieces as well?

All of the figures on armored bodies should be the same... you might even be able to buy a loose one from Toy Anxiety.

 

[shockwave]

All of the figures on armored bodies should be the same... you might even be able to buy a loose one from Toy Anxiety.

You read my mind Galactiboy

 

[Darthrazz]

Here's another way to shorten Vader ...I kid, I kid.

[/IMG]

 

[galactiboy]

I had considered making a Medicom joke... but thought better of it.

Glad you kept it real DarthRazz

 

[PJB-1138]

For those that are curious, here's a shot of the top of Vader's head next to a ruler, showing how his modified height now brings him just shy of the 14-inch mark:

BTW, in the process of doing this thorough breakdown of the armored Prometheus body, I noticed that the arms work better switched around from left to right & vice versa. If the chest piece is reassembled with the screws on the shoulders facing forward, the figure's arms can be posed more easily in front of its chest:

This makes it possible for the Stormtrooper to actually hold the blaster up to his face & make it look like he can see through its scope:

Of course, if they had done this more often in the movies, maybe this would have made them better shots!

 

[shockwave]

Thanks again PJB-1138. I am going to pick up one of the clone trooper bodies this week from Toy Anxiety.

 

[jediknight120]

That modded Stormtrooper pose is sweet, nice job!

 

[toys210]

UPDATE! After digging around the house, I found some nice thick black Gorilla Tape that I thought could add to my modified Vader's slenderized waistline:

And, here's a shot of the top of Vader's head next to a ruler, showing how his modified height now brings him just shy of the 14-inch mark:

BTW, in the process of doing this thorough breakdown of the armored Prometheus body, I noticed that the arms work better switched around from left to right & vice versa. If the chest piece is reassembled with the screws on the shoulders facing forward, the figure's arms can be posed more easily in front of its chest:

This makes it possible for the Stormtrooper to actually hold the blaster up to his face & make it look like he can see through its scope:

Of course, if they had done this more often in the movies, maybe this would have made them better shots!

Great tips!!! Definitely going to try this out when i get home today

 

[Darthrazz]

I had considered making a Medicom joke... but thought better of it.

Glad you kept it real DarthRazz

Somebody's gotta do it!

 

[Darthrazz]

UPDATE! After digging around the house, I found some nice thick black Gorilla Tape that I thought could add to my modified Vader's slenderized waistline:

Just awesome! Thanks for the great tips!

 

[PJB-1138]

Wow, when I started this thread, I didn't think my method would dominate the discussion! I can't believe there aren't others here who have been so bothered with how out-of-scale this Vader is that they haven't stumbled upon a similar solution.

Anyway, I gotta say, for all the griping that's gone on here since Sideshow introduced these new armored Prometheus bodies, I do appreciate how they can be taken apart easily & reconstructed in at least a limited fashion. Thank you, Sideshow!

 

[chichifo]

I did the same long ago; I even tried switching the legs, but that end it up way too short.

Some comparison photos:

With original body:


With clone trooper torso:


With clone trooper legs:


They all have the Hasbro Dome

 

[Manticore72c]

Hi PJB-1138.
Thanks for sharing your tips and photo's. I think what you did was awesome, especially the mod with the arms. I'll have to strip both my Vader and Stormtrooper down now.lol.. Cheers.

 

[PJB-1138]

You know, Chichifo, I also tried putting the shorter Trooper legs on Vader with his original abs, but I didn't find it to work out for a few reasons. First, the pegs inside Vader's boots are a little larger than those on the Trooper's feet, which ended up splitting the lower leg pieces at the seams & resulting in a loose joint. Also, because the knee fell a bit into the boot, it hindered its articulation there. And, due to the looser joints, the Trooper legs weren't strong enough to support the larger upper body, making it nearly impossible for Vader to stand unassisted in any pose besides straight up.

 

[Mookeylama]

For those that are interested, here's a closer look at how to do this simple modification:

First, I took a Stormtrooper Prometheus figure apart, which is all easily done by simply starting with the chest piece & undoing the tiny screws in the back:

Then, I did the same with Vader's body which, for the most part, is just a larger version of the Stormtrooper body:

You can see here how much the abdominal pieces differ in size, which I measured to be about half-an-inch in height:

Here's Vader's body assembled with the smaller abdominal pieces:

BTW, if you do this, it is very important that the Stormtrooper's spring-loaded bolt with the square base is used to connect the pelvis to the abdomen. The bolt on Vader is designed for a smaller slot & it will slip out of the Stormtrooper abs, causing the figure to fall apart!

This is what the figure looks like with the body suit on, still fitting nice & snug while covering up the sunken abs:

As Vader gets suited up, you can hardly tell he's even had any work done:

And, once the cape is on, voila -- a perfectly sized 1/6th-scale Vader! By my measurement, he's almost 14 inches, which I suppose works out to what a near seven-foot Vader should be:

Anyway, I don't remember seeing any similar suggestions here on how to easily resize this figure without the need for Dremels, hack saws, duct tape or messy glues. Of course, any & all feedback to my solution here would be greatly appreciated! ;-)

which bodies other that SS Stormie will work for this mod? don't wanna have to pay for a Storm just for the abs. i'm looking at pics of some nude Prometheus bods and they don't look like they have the same abs.
so which bods can i use to switch Vader's abs? any Pro? thanks

 

[FlyAndFight]

Can the Vader abdomenal part be used on the Stormtrooper?

If so, it would save one from trashing the rest of the Stormie body and provide a taller body for a Stormie, perhaps for Stormtrooper Han. (and give a height difference to the Luke Stormie.)

 

[EXOTICLEX]

genius idea^^^why can't SS think of this....love the Vader mod and the ST mod with the pose. I wish my Clones could keep their arms raised like that.

 

[Mookeylama]

thought about that. but the only stormies i'll have are 2 flanking Vader, and didn't want one taller than the other. still good idead maybe

Can the Vader abdomenal part be used on the Stormtrooper?

If so, it would save one from trashing the rest of the Stormie body and provide a taller body for a Stormie, perhaps for Stormtrooper Han. (and give a height difference to the Luke Stormie.)

 

[PJB-1138]

Wow, thanks for reviving my thread, Mookeylama.

From what I recall when I took these figures apart a couple months back, no way will the Vader abs fit into the Stormtrooper body -- the torsos of these figures differ too much in size.

As for using the abs from a regular Prometheus figure, that's something I haven't looked into. However, looking again at the Sideshow pictures when these bodies were first announced, those mid-sections look too dissimilar to think they would work interchangeably (see below).

As for those wary of having to spring the cost for another Trooper figure in order to do this mod, I personally can't recommend it enough. When I first got Vader, his difference in height to the other Sideshow figures is immediately what bothered me most (even more than its issues with the helmet). Whenever he stood dueling next to Obi-Wan or was flanked by troopers, I couldn't get over how obvious his freakishly gargantuan proportions were. I mean, here's one of the most central characters in the Star Wars universe & I couldn't even stand to pose him next to any of the other Sideshow figures that I've purchased at no meager expense over the last several years!

But, after nearly a year of lurking these forums & not seeing any simple solutions to resize him, I came up with doing this switcheroo with the trooper abs on my own. And, not only was it relatively easy to do, but it scaled this Vader figure just enough to make him look good standing next to other figures from this line. It was like he was finally welcome to join the rest of the family. ;-)

So, to those reading this who may be curious about doing this mod, I say go for it! Given the number of people out there who may be upgrading their Stormtrooper figures with Hot Toys slims, getting ahold of an extra armored Prometheus from Toy Anxiety or eBay shouldn't break the bank.