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

[Anthrapoid]

I used my RIT Synthetics Graphite to dye a Lord of the Rings project garment made of polyester, so i already have a bottle on hand. (from eBay)

There's no way to know if it'll work on the Vader armor until I try, but I suspect the silver paint apps will absorb the dye, because the paint is more porous and rough (at the microscopic level) than the super-smooth black plastic areas.

A word of warning: Don't make your water too hot. I know that sounds totally obvious, but... a few years ago I was trying to mod my SS ESB/ROTJ Vader; the domes were notoriously hard to get off, and people were suggesting dipping the top of the dome in hot water to loosen the glue. My water was too hot, and the top of the dome turned dull and slightly pale... so I had to buy a new one.

 

[Solo_bones]

What does dying the plastic do?

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Did a whole repaint on the ANH head to get the color pattern right plus the moved the nose(though it looks further out in this for some reason) and lowered dome. Can't really tell much of a difference in my photo, but looks a lot better(rougher lol) now. Wasn't sure on the nose plug color. It looks almost white in a lot of masks I looked at. Looks white in the photo, but it's more a white/silver mix. I'm a modding noob, so this was hard work

View attachment 428931
View attachment 428942

This is looking great. I wasa actually fooled by the pictures. I thought it was a full scale helmet at first. Very nice. You should probably think about painting the nose indent gunmetal instead of silver.


Looking over the thread I'm liking the RO Vader pieces a lot. Chest armor, chest and belt boxes all seem more accurate than the previous ANH version.

 

[bwh1990]

What does dying the plastic do?

It's to make the silver parts of his chest armour darker without drybrushing paint on it, which usually doesn't turn out great. I'm gonna try it tonight. I'll post pics tomorrow.

 

[TaliBane]

This is looking great. I wasa actually fooled by the pictures. I thought it was a full scale helmet at first. Very nice. You should probably think about painting the nose indent gunmetal instead of silver.


Looking over the thread I'm liking the RO Vader pieces a lot. Chest armor, chest and belt boxes all seem more accurate than the previous ANH version.

The RO chestbox needs modding (the coin slots mostly,) but yeah, its scaled batter than the ANH version and the sculpt detail is better. And the RO boxes are better too. The ANH chest armor is a bit more oversized than the RO armor, and the sculpt isn't as accurate.

 

[bwh1990]

The RO chestbox needs modding (the coin slots mostly,) but yeah, its scaled batter than the ANH version and the sculpt detail is better. And the RO boxes are better too. The ANH chest armor is a bit more oversized than the RO armor, and the sculpt isn't as accurate.

The ANH chest box looks like plastic, and therefore fake. Looks cheaply done. Throws the figure off for sure.

 

[GodParticle]

This is looking great. I wasa actually fooled by the pictures. I thought it was a full scale helmet at first. Very nice. You should probably think about painting the nose indent gunmetal instead of silver.

Yeah, I wasn't sure on the nose color. It looks a lot lighter than gunmetal in most pictures I looked at. I might touch it up a bit darker. I painted a little more detail into the mask after that like the little C scar I think it's called

 

[Anthrapoid]

Has anyone besides me considered cutting off some of the bottom rim of the neck armor?
This comparison photo shows very clearly that the HT neck armor comes down too far. The HT head on the left is tilted upward a bit,
but even if you tilted it down like the film prop on the right, that wouldn't fix the neck issue- in fact, it might make it slightly worse.
Now that I have a spare head to work with, I think I'm going to do it... Just about 2mm should do the trick.

 

[bwh1990]

Has anyone besides me considered cutting off some of the bottom rim of the neck armor?
This comparison photo shows very clearly that the HT neck armor comes down too far. The HT head on the left is tilted upward a bit,
but even if you tilted it down like the film prop on the right, that wouldn't fix the neck issue- in fact, it might make it slightly worse.
Now that I have a spare head to work with, I think I'm going to do it... Just about 2mm should do the trick.

View attachment 430353

How would you go about that?

 

[Anthrapoid]

How would you go about that?

I will use Tamiya 5mm masking tape, which is flexible for curves. (it's also white, which will be helpful.) I'll lay the tape around the neck, leaving the thin area I want to remove exposed at the bottom. Then I will use my Dremel to sand off the extra plastic, sanding up very close to the tape. Then I'll remove the tape and hand-sand and polish the rim. Not only will it be more accurate, it might provide a bit more mobility too.


Here's another thing I've been thinking about: The ANH chest box vs. the Rogue One chest box.
I've heard several people say that the RO version has better detail, and it's also smaller- more in scale with the ANH figure.
I got these photos off the net, so I can't tell anything about the difference in size. I do like the idea of a smaller chest box, but IS IT really smaller? And if so, by how much?

Does anyone have actual measurements comparing the two? Depending on the size difference, I might pick one up.
As far as the detail goes... I can see minor differences, but nothing incredibly obvious. I do like the brighter and slightly thicker vertical aluminum rods better, which actually ARE more accurate to ANH, but I'm more concerned with the square dimensions.

 

[TaliBane]

Has anyone besides me considered cutting off some of the bottom rim of the neck armor?
This comparison photo shows very clearly that the HT neck armor comes down too far. The HT head on the left is tilted upward a bit,
but even if you tilted it down like the film prop on the right, that wouldn't fix the neck issue- in fact, it might make it slightly worse.
Now that I have a spare head to work with, I think I'm going to do it... Just about 2mm should do the trick.

View attachment 430353

Yes, I think both WasteTimeCont and Matrix did the neck shave/trim.

I will use Tamiya 5mm masking tape, which is flexible for curves. (it's also white, which will be helpful.) I'll lay the tape around the neck, leaving the thin area I want to remove exposed at the bottom. Then I will use my Dremel to sand off the extra plastic, sanding up very close to the tape. Then I'll remove the tape and hand-sand and polish the rim. Not only will it be more accurate, it might provide a bit more mobility too.


Here's another thing I've been thinking about: The ANH chest box vs. the Rogue One chest box.
I've heard several people say that the RO version has better detail, and it's also smaller- more in scale with the ANH figure.
I got these photos off the net, so I can't tell anything about the difference in size. I do like the idea of a smaller chest box, but IS IT really smaller? And if so, by how much?

Does anyone have actual measurements comparing the two? Depending on the size difference, I might pick one up.
As far as the detail goes... I can see minor differences, but nothing incredibly obvious. I do like the brighter and slightly thicker vertical aluminum rods better, which actually ARE more accurate to ANH, but I'm more concerned with the square dimensions.
View attachment 430354

Your pics both show the RO box, just under different lighting.

The RO box is slightly larger than the ANH box. The ANH box is slightly undersized. The problem is that the RO box's coin slots need to have surrounds added to them and the rocker switches need to be widened slightly.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

The RO box is slightly larger than the ANH box. The ANH box is slightly undersized. The problem is that the RO box's coin slots need to have surrounds added to them and the rocker switches need to be widened slightly.

Should be minor fixes with some plastruct styrene bits cut to shape around the coin slots and some sculpting material such as apoxie sculpt - 2 part and self hardening - for the rocker switches, using something straight, thin and flat as a guide to get even lines. Unless you can peel them off and simply add new, larger ones to the box.

 

[Anthrapoid]

Your pics both show the RO box, just under different lighting.

No they don't. The RO is on the left, ANH (w/Tarkin) on the right. I cropped photos of both from eBay.

The original photo on the right showed the tiny metal rivets on the black straps, while the RO version on the left had no rivets. Also, the upper straps are attached in different places on the back of the boxes, and at different angles. The main difference is the vertical metal rods. The RO rods on the left are thicker, and the sculpt is different; the spacing between the thicker and thinner sections of the rods are at different length intervals on the two versions. It's not just an illusion of light and paint variation.

 

[TaliBane]

No they don't. The RO is on the left, ANH (w/Tarkin) on the right. I cropped photos of both from eBay. The original photo on the right showed the tiny metal rivets on the black straps, while the RO version on the left had no rivets. Also, the straps are attached in different places on the back of the boxes, and at different angles.

Ohhh, sorry - I thought you meant the V1 ANH Vader (you just called it "ANH chest box" - no V2.) The V2 ANH figure seems to be kind of a Frankenstein of the RO and the V1 ANH.

The straps vary a bit where/how they are glued anyway though from what I've seen. But I thought the rivets and slight variation in paint were the only noticeable differences RO vs V2 ANH.

You think the V2 ANH and RO are different sculpts and sizes? I assumed it was just a straight reissue of the RO box.

 

[Anthrapoid]

Ohhh, sorry - I thought you meant the V1 ANH Vader (you just called it "ANH chest box" - no V2.) The V2 ANH figure seems to be kind of a Frankenstein of the RO and the V1 ANH.

The straps vary a bit where/how they are glued anyway though from what I've seen. But I thought the rivets and slight variation in paint were the only noticeable differences RO vs V2 ANH.

You think the V2 ANH and RO are different sculpts and sizes? I assumed it was just a straight reissue of the RO box.

The reason I posted in the first place was that I had read from more than one member that the RO box was SMALLER, not larger than the ANH V1 and V2. So, I was asking if anyone has both versions so they can measure the difference in size. Several people have noted differences in the helmets and chest armors too, so I'm pretty sure RO has at least some unique sculpts.

 

[Solo_bones]

Which is the most accurate ANH helmet, the RO, Vader/Tarkin or ANH MMS434??

 

[GodParticle]

Has anyone besides me considered cutting off some of the bottom rim of the neck armor?
This comparison photo shows very clearly that the HT neck armor comes down too far. The HT head on the left is tilted upward a bit,
but even if you tilted it down like the film prop on the right, that wouldn't fix the neck issue- in fact, it might make it slightly worse.
Now that I have a spare head to work with, I think I'm going to do it... Just about 2mm should do the trick.

If you did that, wouldn't it make the dome sit too low? I wonder what it would look like if the dome was also trimmed down in the back

 

[TaliBane]

The reason I posted in the first place was that I had read from more than one member that the RO box was SMALLER, not larger than the ANH V1 and V2. So, I was asking if anyone has both versions so they can measure the difference in size. Several people have noted differences in the helmets and chest armors too, so I'm pretty sure RO has at least some unique sculpts.

This is kinda confusing - the RO chestbox is most definitely bigger than the ANH V1, and is a totally different/new sculpt.

To me at least, the ANH V2 chestbox looks like 100% the same sculpt as RO (though possibly with a very minor paint difference - the ANH V2 may have duller red/green buttons - due to it being a different run.) The only ANH V2 vs RO chestbox difference I'm aware of was the rivets added to ANH V2 and maybe the strap position, but again, I've seen variations on strap placement/angle anyway as they appear to be hand glued.

The chest armor on the ANH V2 looks the same as the (somewhat inaccurate I seem to recall people saying) ANH V1 - though it seems like the shoulder bells are painted differently - gunmetal on V1, black on V2.

The ANH V1 and ANH V2 helmets seem the same to me, though again, different runs, so the apps will be subtly different. The RO helmet was just the ANH helmet with high-gloss/shiny apps.

In essence, the ANH V2 seems to be a combination of RO chestbox, belt/boxes and codpiece with everything else (including cape/robe) the same as ANH V1, just with subtly different apps due it being a different run.

 

[McHaleyArt]

Has anyone besides me considered cutting off some of the bottom rim of the neck armor?
This comparison photo shows very clearly that the HT neck armor comes down too far. The HT head on the left is tilted upward a bit,
but even if you tilted it down like the film prop on the right, that wouldn't fix the neck issue- in fact, it might make it slightly worse.
Now that I have a spare head to work with, I think I'm going to do it... Just about 2mm should do the trick.

View attachment 430353

That’s exactly what I did. I shaved quite a bit off. You’re not going to get it exact, as the HT sculpt isn’t flared and crooked like the prop. You can get it to look better, though. Since you’re bringing the neck rim up, you don’t want a gap. I cut off the rubber part of the neck for slightly better articulation. I also changed the neck joint, I drilled a hole up through the female neck socket at an angle and inserted a custom neck joint. This keeps the helmet flush against the chest and keeps the posture natural.

 

[Anthrapoid]

That’s exactly what I did. I shaved quite a bit off. You’re not going to get it exact, as the HT sculpt isn’t flared and crooked like the prop. You can get it to look better, though. Since you’re bringing the neck rim up, you don’t want a gap. I cut off the rubber part of the neck for slightly better articulation. I also changed the neck joint, I drilled a hole up through the female neck socket at an angle and inserted a custom neck joint. This keeps the helmet flush against the chest and keeps the posture natural.

That's a very interesting and creative approach to the neck issues.

I'm not worried about creating a gap under the neck armor after it's trimmed, because:
The chest armor in the movie sat on top of the shoulder bells; it wasn't flush with them as we see in all Vader figures. The shoulder bells are supposed to be tucked under the edges of the middle piece.

Therefore, after I remove 2 or 3mm from the neck armor, then I re-attach the shoulder bells tucked under the edges of the chest armor, that will lift up the chest armor 2 or 3mm to meet the neck as before. Thus, no extra gap. I'm going to put a layer of padding under the chest armor that's 2 or 3mm thick, so its weight doesn't actually rest on the shoulder bells. Also, I'll glue some thin, soft felt under the edges of the chest piece, to prevent friction between the top of the bells and the under side of the chest armor.

Side-benefit #1: The bottom forward edge of the center chest armor will also be raised up 2 or 3mm, so it won't look as oversized as it did before. (I sanded 1mm off the bottom of the chest armor already, but it's not enough.)

Side-benefit #2: After the front of the chest armor is raised 2 or 3mm, then the chest box, belt, and codpiece can also be raised and closely spaced apart better, and higher.

Side-benefit #3: With the codpiece raised up a bit, the legs will look longer. (When the codpiece is sitting too low out-of-the-box, Vader has a short-legged, 'baggy diaper' look.)

ALL THIS CAN BE YOURS! ... By cutting a bit off the bottom of the neck armor, everything South of that can then be shifted upward.

Sorry about the WALL OF TEXT... here's a professional illustrator's rendering to show what I'm doing.