Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp

Darth Stone · 08-05-2010, 04:56 PM

Hey all

I have been commissioned to add my touches onto a GH Vader helmet. But let me first start off by saying that I have the up most respect for GH, and this thread is not meant for any reason but to show what I have done to his work. Whether it is an improvement or not will be up for discussion.

First up, the GH next to one of my castings. I just wanted to compare the two to get an idea of what, and how much could be changed on the GH.

The plan that I received from the helmet owner was that it is wished to have a strong dome mount and some vents or cooling features added to this piece. So I have taken from my molds some castings of the two part dome mount to duplicate the mount such as on my current helmet line.

Next, positioning and marking where the mount will go. The fun part was cutting the faceplate for this mod. The GH is a fairly sturdy casting so this was a bit of work for the pneumatic saw to cut through.

After a test fit with the dome in position the cup was fastened with sheet metal screws and glassed in.

Then when the 'glass is curred it is just a matter of removing the excess from off the top side and filling in the carnage with a bit of auto body filler.

And now with everything all smoothed out the two pieces can once again be test fitted to make sure that all is still going as planned. The positioning is not set just yet. It could come down a bit more in front over the eyes.

Azurial · 08-05-2010, 05:20 PM

this is a great retouch - didnt the movie version from the original trilogy have that small dome coupling? just curious

Darth Stone · 08-05-2010, 05:26 PM

Well, yes as a matter of fact it did. But the idea here is to build a helmet that would be better suited in the field and not so much a display piece.

ArtisanProps · 08-05-2010, 09:37 PM

Lookin great so far Kent! can't wait to see more..

Dioxide · 08-06-2010, 07:58 AM

Great start - i'm eager to follow up your progress

ROBOSTEVE 0671 · 08-06-2010, 08:22 AM

Great work

, looking forward to seeing how you progress with this. I too have a GH in raw form, I've had it many years, just been waiting to get that window of time to get it finished.

ZhangZiyi · 08-06-2010, 08:44 AM

just exellent !!!

Darth Stone · 08-06-2010, 02:24 PM

Thanks all, very kind of you.

I have some more to share with you today. Decided that I did not care for the eye openings and the shape of the mouth triangle.

The eyes, to me always looked like Vader was just splashed with cold water. Rather surprised looking. So I have decided to simply back fill them from the inside with a bit of body filler. And then once that has hardened I will take a sander and file to them.

Much to the same with the mouth area. Just building up the outside area, and then some dremmel work to the inside.

KevVader · 08-06-2010, 03:07 PM

Nice! You must be sneezing up Bondo dust constantly Kent!

Darth Stone · 08-06-2010, 03:19 PM

Sneezing? No, only when I fart

Qui-Gonzalez · 08-06-2010, 03:22 PM

So it DOES stay crunchy in milk!

Good stuff to watch, Stone!

Darth Stone · 08-10-2010, 06:47 AM

OK, lots to share tonight.

I have gotten much done the last few days on the Ghost Host Vader. As said before, the owner wishes some of my touches done to his helmet.

So far I have built a new dome mounting post, and finished the installation. Deepened and reshaped the eye sockets. Redone the nose and bridge. Reshaped the mouth triangle. Reshaped the dome redefining the belt line around the upper skirt area. Redone the Mohawk and widows peak. And filled in the side skirts, smoothing them back out to where they need to be, and not so wavy.

And lastly, 3 coats of 3 part epoxy primmer to bury a butt load of sand scratches and other such strange stuff. All told I am close to 28 hours invested so far.

Lastly. I did not rework the inside of the skirt. That was some of GH's work.

Ghost Host · 08-16-2010, 08:13 PM

Very nice work. Nice to see this finally getting done!

Darth Stone · 08-16-2010, 10:37 PM

Thank you sir.
I just wish that I cold get better photos, maybe I should just pick up a cheep tripod to keep out in the shop.

Haven't had a whole bunch of time to work on this lately. My Mom had been in the hospital with chest pains, but is home now and doing better. And latter this week the wife and I fly out to the East coast to see her 70 year old Mother for a week. But I will try to get to this again in the next day or so and put up some better pics.

Darth Stone · 09-09-2010, 11:15 PM

New photos soon, just can't seem to keep my time organized anymore.

2007brandony · 09-12-2010, 11:52 AM

I'm very impressed with your work. The finished product looks absolutely beautiful!

Darth Stone · 09-12-2010, 07:24 PM

Well, thank you very much. But actually, the work is only about half over. Still needs some work here and there. And the upcoming top coats of paint and assembly to finish it up.

More very soon.

Homer · 09-14-2010, 05:46 PM

looks cool , but what is a ghost vader helmet ?

Too Much Garlic · 09-14-2010, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Homer

looks cool , but what is a ghost vader helmet ?

Ghost Host - the maker of the helmet.

ironguts · 09-18-2010, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darth Stone

More very soon.

Any updates? Hoping...

Darth Stone · 09-18-2010, 09:07 PM

Updates? Sure, you bet.

This helmet is getting about ready to go to the paint shop area of things. Right now I have gotten the surface fully prepped, but just need to fab up some parts and test fit them before shooting the outside black.

I will be posting some pics sometime this weekend.

Darth Stone · 09-21-2010, 06:29 AM

So, a bit latter than the weekend, eh?

A good friend of mine had his Grandfather pass away lately and it was just a bit distracting. But I have been farting around with this casting these last few weeks, and now I think that it is time to reveal some pics, don't you think?

The owner of this helmet had supplied a few parts of his own to the mix that he had gotten from various makers. The mouth grill is without a doubt a dead ringer for the real deal. The other parts are what I would call highly interesting to say the least. But it is not my place, nor my point to review them here.

The lenses have a small hole drilled into the center of the piece. I normally would have just hot glued the thing into the opening and called it good. However I decided to build the nose ridge up from the inside with duraglass filler so that a screw could be used to secure the lense instead. It remains to be seen if I am as clever as I hope that I am in doing this.

You will by now now have no doubt scrolled down to the bottom to view the pics first. Only natural of course. It is a great way to get away from the new advertising at the top of every post on the RPF nowadays. It seems that we have become a great marketing tool. LAME

But back to the photos.

You will see that I have added a hard hat liner to the inside of the faceplate. This design helps to aid in airflow around the wearers head. The normal design would be to just pack in foam to rest against the wearers face. I have spent more than 4 years in one of these helmets doing various things. And I have to tell you that normally this thing in the old configuration is the greatest weight loss tool ever invented.

But, I digress.

I have dug out from my personal stash, a quart of 27 year old lacquer paint in which to paint this helmet with. It is still good, and has been tested on other items first. It was thought that this piece deserved a finish that was close to what was commonly used back in the 1970's. I don't know if it was the same as what was used for the film props, but I feel that I have given it my best shot.

ironguts · 09-22-2010, 12:18 AM

Looking good

Darth Stone · 09-22-2010, 12:43 AM

Thanks, Carl

I will need to wet sand the dome and re shoot it. I had intended to have some sand scratches appear in the finish. But these just pop to much to let fly. Lacquer paint will shrink back over time, allowing imperfections in the surface to be seen more and more as the paint loses it's solvents in the years to come. Right now the surface looks like it is 20 years old.

NAZGÛL · 09-22-2010, 06:45 AM

Oh, this turned out really nice! Love what you did with the eyes and mouth! Thats very true about the paint shrinking. It can be a real bummer.

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08-05-2010, 04:56 PM	#1
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Hey all I have been commissioned to add my touches onto a GH Vader helmet. But let me first start off by saying that I have the up most respect for GH, and this thread is not meant for any reason but to show what I have done to his work. Whether it is an improvement or not will be up for discussion. First up, the GH next to one of my castings. I just wanted to compare the two to get an idea of what, and how much could be changed on the GH. The plan that I received from the helmet owner was that it is wished to have a strong dome mount and some vents or cooling features added to this piece. So I have taken from my molds some castings of the two part dome mount to duplicate the mount such as on my current helmet line. Next, positioning and marking where the mount will go. The fun part was cutting the faceplate for this mod. The GH is a fairly sturdy casting so this was a bit of work for the pneumatic saw to cut through. After a test fit with the dome in position the cup was fastened with sheet metal screws and glassed in. Then when the 'glass is curred it is just a matter of removing the excess from off the top side and filling in the carnage with a bit of auto body filler. And now with everything all smoothed out the two pieces can once again be test fitted to make sure that all is still going as planned. The positioning is not set just yet. It could come down a bit more in front over the eyes.

08-05-2010, 05:20 PM	#2
Azurial Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 459 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp this is a great retouch - didnt the movie version from the original trilogy have that small dome coupling? just curious

08-05-2010, 05:26 PM	#3
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Well, yes as a matter of fact it did. But the idea here is to build a helmet that would be better suited in the field and not so much a display piece.

08-05-2010, 09:37 PM	#4
ArtisanProps Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: S. Florida Posts: 534 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Lookin great so far Kent! can't wait to see more..

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08-06-2010, 07:58 AM	#5
Dioxide Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 59 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Great start - i'm eager to follow up your progress

08-06-2010, 08:22 AM	#6
ROBOSTEVE 0671 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Manchester NW UK Posts: 546 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Great work , looking forward to seeing how you progress with this. I too have a GH in raw form, I've had it many years, just been waiting to get that window of time to get it finished.

08-06-2010, 08:44 AM	#7
ZhangZiyi Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 23 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp just exellent !!!

08-06-2010, 02:24 PM	#8
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Thanks all, very kind of you. I have some more to share with you today. Decided that I did not care for the eye openings and the shape of the mouth triangle. The eyes, to me always looked like Vader was just splashed with cold water. Rather surprised looking. So I have decided to simply back fill them from the inside with a bit of body filler. And then once that has hardened I will take a sander and file to them. Much to the same with the mouth area. Just building up the outside area, and then some dremmel work to the inside.

08-06-2010, 03:07 PM	#9
KevVader Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Ottawuh, Canaduh! Posts: 3,653 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Nice! You must be sneezing up Bondo dust constantly Kent!

08-06-2010, 03:19 PM	#10
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Sneezing? No, only when I fart

08-06-2010, 03:22 PM	#11
Qui-Gonzalez King Ding-a-Ling Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,790 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp So it DOES stay crunchy in milk! Good stuff to watch, Stone!

08-10-2010, 06:47 AM	#12
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp OK, lots to share tonight. I have gotten much done the last few days on the Ghost Host Vader. As said before, the owner wishes some of my touches done to his helmet. So far I have built a new dome mounting post, and finished the installation. Deepened and reshaped the eye sockets. Redone the nose and bridge. Reshaped the mouth triangle. Reshaped the dome redefining the belt line around the upper skirt area. Redone the Mohawk and widows peak. And filled in the side skirts, smoothing them back out to where they need to be, and not so wavy. And lastly, 3 coats of 3 part epoxy primmer to bury a butt load of sand scratches and other such strange stuff. All told I am close to 28 hours invested so far. Lastly. I did not rework the inside of the skirt. That was some of GH's work. Last edited by Darth Stone; 08-10-2010 at 01:14 PM.

08-16-2010, 08:13 PM	#13
Ghost Host Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: California Posts: 3,055 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Very nice work. Nice to see this finally getting done!

08-16-2010, 10:37 PM	#14
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Thank you sir. I just wish that I cold get better photos, maybe I should just pick up a cheep tripod to keep out in the shop. Haven't had a whole bunch of time to work on this lately. My Mom had been in the hospital with chest pains, but is home now and doing better. And latter this week the wife and I fly out to the East coast to see her 70 year old Mother for a week. But I will try to get to this again in the next day or so and put up some better pics.

09-09-2010, 11:15 PM	#15
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp New photos soon, just can't seem to keep my time organized anymore.

09-12-2010, 11:52 AM	#16
2007brandony Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 20 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp I'm very impressed with your work. The finished product looks absolutely beautiful!

09-12-2010, 07:24 PM	#17
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Well, thank you very much. But actually, the work is only about half over. Still needs some work here and there. And the upcoming top coats of paint and assembly to finish it up. More very soon.

09-14-2010, 05:46 PM	#18
Homer Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 51 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp looks cool , but what is a ghost vader helmet ?

09-18-2010, 09:07 PM	#21
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Updates? Sure, you bet. This helmet is getting about ready to go to the paint shop area of things. Right now I have gotten the surface fully prepped, but just need to fab up some parts and test fit them before shooting the outside black. I will be posting some pics sometime this weekend.

09-21-2010, 06:29 AM	#22
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp So, a bit latter than the weekend, eh? A good friend of mine had his Grandfather pass away lately and it was just a bit distracting. But I have been farting around with this casting these last few weeks, and now I think that it is time to reveal some pics, don't you think? The owner of this helmet had supplied a few parts of his own to the mix that he had gotten from various makers. The mouth grill is without a doubt a dead ringer for the real deal. The other parts are what I would call highly interesting to say the least. But it is not my place, nor my point to review them here. The lenses have a small hole drilled into the center of the piece. I normally would have just hot glued the thing into the opening and called it good. However I decided to build the nose ridge up from the inside with duraglass filler so that a screw could be used to secure the lense instead. It remains to be seen if I am as clever as I hope that I am in doing this. You will by now now have no doubt scrolled down to the bottom to view the pics first. Only natural of course. It is a great way to get away from the new advertising at the top of every post on the RPF nowadays. It seems that we have become a great marketing tool. LAME But back to the photos. You will see that I have added a hard hat liner to the inside of the faceplate. This design helps to aid in airflow around the wearers head. The normal design would be to just pack in foam to rest against the wearers face. I have spent more than 4 years in one of these helmets doing various things. And I have to tell you that normally this thing in the old configuration is the greatest weight loss tool ever invented. But, I digress. I have dug out from my personal stash, a quart of 27 year old lacquer paint in which to paint this helmet with. It is still good, and has been tested on other items first. It was thought that this piece deserved a finish that was close to what was commonly used back in the 1970's. I don't know if it was the same as what was used for the film props, but I feel that I have given it my best shot.

09-22-2010, 12:18 AM	#23
ironguts Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 30 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Looking good

09-22-2010, 12:43 AM	#24
Darth Stone Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 369 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Thanks, Carl I will need to wet sand the dome and re shoot it. I had intended to have some sand scratches appear in the finish. But these just pop to much to let fly. Lacquer paint will shrink back over time, allowing imperfections in the surface to be seen more and more as the paint loses it's solvents in the years to come. Right now the surface looks like it is 20 years old.

09-22-2010, 06:45 AM	#25
NAZGÛL Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sweden Posts: 844 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Ghost Host Vader helmet revamp Oh, this turned out really nice! Love what you did with the eyes and mouth! Thats very true about the paint shrinking. It can be a real bummer.