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

[Waste Time Continuum]

Fantastic work..they look great

Thanks man!


Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING

 

[Lordscum]

No you'll need to sand down the SS neck peg in order for the HT head/helmet to fit

How much has to be sanded off? I have taken quit a bit off and still won't fit? Thanks

 

[Solo_bones]

After some research I found that Vader has nylon straps that hold his shin armor to his boots. It's nearly impossible to find and pictures of it. The only pic I could find was in my "Star Wars: Chronicles" book, and it's not great, you can make out two straps on the boot though. I found no pictures showing hardware, so so just went with what I could find, that I thought looked right.

I also made the shin armor glossy. It's about the only high gloss thing on his ANH armor.

Here's a quick list of what I did:

• Added thin silver scratches and weathering.
• Painted a clear high gloss coat.
• Added nylon straps, tabs and buckles.
• Painted the metal, strap hardware, black.

All that's left on the boots is to weather the leather and the souls, and the boots will be done.

Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING

Nice work! I really like the straps.

I broke my foot peg trying to put the boot back in so I had to buy new boots...I may give your experiment a try. That's really well done. I'm not sure if I like the solid ankle look more or not, though.

I used Future wax to shine the plastic shin guards a couple weeks ago...only one coat.

 

[matrix69]

How much has to be sanded off? I have taken quit a bit off and still won't fit? Thanks

The SS neck peg is a lot bigger than the HT one..just keep sanding till the head fits..View attachment 278277

 

[dms54nyc]

 

[Mmmmm Napalm]

View attachment 280533

 

[Lordscum]

I have an extra HT Vader for sale head if anyone needs one , shoot me a PM.

 

[Solo_bones]

I still can't do the lens mod, too scared. I added bendy hands and leather gloves.

 

[Chainedstream]

That diorama though... Amazing!

 

[Mmmmm Napalm]

I still can't do the lens mod, too scared. I added bendy hands and leather gloves.

If it's not too much trouble, would you mind detailing the hands and gloves you have given him? Where they are available and so forth. Some close ups of the hands would also be appreciated.

I was planning on spraying down his hands with a coat of Dullcote but if it's possible to get some decent hands I am definitely interested.

 

[T2_1991_LD]

I never liked the bagginess of the suit so i brought in the arms and legs by a couple of mms...stock on the left and how it looks now.. View attachment 277196

Your fixes make HT DV look so much better - your mod will be my guide, once I purchase HT Vader. Can you please tell me if those hands are the rubber ones from the SSC Vader, with the gauntlets cut off?
Whatever you've used, makes them look much more unified with the leather HT gauntlets, the HT hands always bothered me.

I was considering priming all the hands and spraying them flat or satin black to get the best match with the leather sheen.

 

[Solo_bones]

The palms are cloth and the hands seemed large but are small on DV. They are ok, I'm looking for better gloves:

 

[Solo_bones]

Gloves: World of 1/6th

Art figure soldier of fortune 3: Leather gloves with furlike wrists.


Hands:

 

[matrix69]

Great work on the gloves solo..

 

[matrix69]

Your fixes make HT DV look so much better - your mod will be my guide, once I purchase HT Vader. Can you please tell me if those hands are the rubber ones from the SSC Vader, with the gauntlets cut off?
Whatever you've used, makes them look much more unified with the leather HT gauntlets, the HT hands always bothered me.

I was considering priming all the hands and spraying them flat or satin black to get the best match with the leather sheen.

No they're bendy gloved hands with the HT gaunlets glued on...basically the same as what solo bones has done. I'd still like to make better ones with more prominent looking ribs on them..

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

Here's my glove solution. It's multi quoted from the Vader thread, so this'll be a large post.

Ok, so it took less trial and error than I expected.

I superglued pieces of black, rubber, plumbing, o-rings, under the leather, between the stitches.

Here's the ones I bought.

Glued in place:

On the back of the hand I cut the strips in half, to make the glove less bulky.

Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING

I didn't glue any gaskets under the wrist area. Instead I used fabric stiffener, and made a permanent wrinkle/crease, since that's how they look in the film.

Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING

Here's the (nearly) finished gloves. I still need to dull the hand sculpt down a bit, and glue them in place, but this gives you an accurate idea of what they look like.

Before:

After:

Final overall appearance:

Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING

• Mine are glued onto the hands.
• I think they look like gloves.

Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING

Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING

 

[matrix69]

That's one great idea WTC ...they look fantastic! And i still think that version one SS suit looks better than the HT one ...more realistic looking..

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

Thanks!

Yeah, once you have both suits in hand, it's really no contest.


Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING

 

[matrix69]

Here's a great 'behind the scenes' pic of prowse from empire .. View attachment 282430..and for those interested HT v SSV1 comparison...both have pros/cons but i still love the more realistic look of SS... View attachment 282431

 

[Waste Time Continuum]

Yep.

And I thought that his suit was very ribbed, but when you actually study screen shots and behind the scenes images, it is actually more flat, not quite as flat as the V1 Sideshow suit, but closer to that than the Hot Toys suit.


Sent from my Motherbox PING PING PING PING PING PING PING PING