Hot Toys Darth Vader : tips , tricks and any other mods

[rhboyd]

The lenses aren't meant to be removed. It's all one sculpt. Removing would involve likely a loss of material that wouldn't look as clean when reinstalled.

the lenses DO come out, but you have to take the whole helmet apart, and get them from the inside.

 

[zackg__]

Wow news to me my bad guys

Edit: holy crap removing the plug from front was way easier than I thought. Just wedged the blade in and it pretty much pulled out. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Matt S]

Wow news to me my bad guys

Edit: holy crap removing the plug from front was way easier than I thought. Just wedged the blade in and it pretty much pulled out. Thanks for the tips!

Did you place the blade on the bottom of the plug, or the sides? Mines in there pretty snug

 

[zackg__]

I put it roughly 4 o clock and it came out a bit then did 9 o'clock and it popped out.

 

[Matt S]

I put it roughly 4 o clock and it came out a bit then did 9 o'clock and it popped out.

Thanks for the info. May try. The nose mod is the only one I've yet to do successfully. Prior attempts I drilled from the inside and it was met with disaster. LOL (in a sad way)

Update: just got it - easy. Did the same. Stuck the xacto in the sides and worked my way up so slightly. Popped out intact and with no damage to sides of mask or grill Much easier than the inside drill method.

Thanks, you guys rock!!! My mod hell is OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can now die happy.

I was looking for a filler glue/poxy that came recommended by Jazz due to its filler qualities. For the life of me, it's escaping me, but perfect for when you trim the nose plug and stick it back in the helmet, albeit recessed.

My final mod: taking apart my extra body and sticking the electronics in a modified stand. Hope it'll fit


For those that want to paint the lenses: don't - they are the correct color. Just crack the helmet open and stick shiny (chrome) origami paper inside. Works brilliantly

 

[zackg__]

Congrats! Yeah my first Vader that I modified, I drilled out the nose but it was easily the most heart pounding thing I did.

 

[Matt S]

Congrats! Yeah my first Vader that I modified, I drilled out the nose but it was easily the most heart pounding thing I did.

I ruined two heads doing that. LOL, vader has been an expensive mod. I can't believe popping it out from the front was super easy

 

[Matt S]

Here is the bond glue I was trying to recall for the nose plug mod

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009EU5ZNO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[zackg__]

Does anyone have a spare Hot Toys dome? Or have any pics of the hasbro titanium on the hot toys mask?

 

[Darthvong]

I couldn't get mine out from the front so I went ahead and carefully dremeled the inside. After sweating for an hour it finally came out. Popped the lenses out also. Woohoo

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[TaliBane]

It's a little sad you have to do all this to a $250 figure.

It would be very nice if HT just nailed a new ESB Vader sculpt - save everyone dozens of hours of work and expense.

 

[Matt S]

It's a little sad you have to do all this to a $250 figure.

It would be very nice if HT just nailed a new ESB Vader sculpt - save everyone dozens of hours of work and expense.

Very true, but in the end, modding is kinda fun too

 

[TaliBane]

Congrats! Yeah my first Vader that I modified, I drilled out the nose but it was easily the most heart pounding thing I did.

I ruined two heads doing that. LOL, vader has been an expensive mod. I can't believe popping it out from the front was super easy

Very true, but in the end, modding is kinda fun too

Only in the end.

 

[Matt S]

Only in the end.

LOL, good point.............

 

[Matt S]

So, decided to run the risk and try the "3 & 9" nose plug mod on a Rogue One vader. A tad tighter but came out without too much extra cut using a sharp xacto. Definitely the way to go for the nose plug mod.

Thanks, again, all! And to think I did not want to try this for a year. Not too hard doing it from the front. (ok, that came out sounding weird)

 

[zackg__]

Lol [emoji23]

Here's some progress on mine. Matte sealed, then gunmetal, glossed the lenses and tamiya clear orange. Need to repaint the black matte black and see about adding some small imperfections. Hoping to use the hasbro Titanium dome as my hot toys dome was damaged slightly.

These some small pieces of press mold in the grill I need to remove. Hoping a tooth brush will help lol

 

[Matt S]

Looking good - thanks for sharing!

 

[TaliBane]

Lol [emoji23]

Here's some progress on mine. Matte sealed, then gunmetal, glossed the lenses and tamiya clear orange. Need to repaint the black matte black and see about adding some small imperfections. Hoping to use the hasbro Titanium dome as my hot toys dome was damaged slightly.

These some small pieces of press mold in the grill I need to remove. Hoping a tooth brush will help lol

From memory the Hasbro Titanium dome looked a bit too thick - haven't seen a lot of pics of it on the HT facemask though.

 

[zackg__]

That's likely true. I'm not spending the cheddar on a new hot toys head sculpt just for the dome though. Worst case my dome is still useable it just had some super glue spilled on it lol

 

[drjedisith]

love the vader mods in here fellas! pulling the dome off HT vader was a sweater lol i put the HT dome on the SS ANH face. i liked that the SS one was wider.