eFX A New Hope Darth Vader Helmet

those shots are unreal,the lowered dome makes a big difference too.

Been following this for awhile now and wanted to chime in.

They both look GREAT, but I don't understand why the "idealized" dome doesn't belong on the "film accurate" facemask.

I guess lots of folks have addressed this, just wondering what you have to say about it, GINO.

Really nice paint jobs, btw.

I wouldn't get too hung up on that dome, it was not made to look that way on purpose and is not 100% reflective of the final production pieces. :thumbsup

Cool, thanks for the info man!

That should make a lot of folks feel better about this.

Great pictures Gino. Thanks for those. The helmet looks great. I will remain optimistic that the domes will be accurate in the production pieces. I am definitely going to get the weathered one. Just tell me when. :love

Carl

GINO said:

Hey guys,

Seeing as the majority of the pics of these paint masters were taken under less than perfect conditions at the con, I thought I'd share some of the pics I took of them before they were sent to San Diego. Note the correct dome positioning.

Hope you like them!

PS, yes of course the right tusk will ultimately have the black weathered paint. These tusks were just stand-ins delivered directly to San Diego the day of the con by a very helpful RPF member. :thumbsup


accurate version:

idealized version

.

Click to expand...

Gino, you should hit Bryan up as to what level of quality control we should be looking at.

Just an fyi aside - I DID handle ANH era masks that had a huge mound of bondo on the top of the face section with that funny clip in place (the kind used for the funeral pyre helmet).

Anyway, just an example of a face build up.

I realize that the ANH hero had a ton of resin in the helmet portion though.

But the GINO shots with proper alignment of helmet and face look great!

Yeah, I figured I would wait for production pieces before I worried too much about the dome. If they are warped I simply won't buy one - pretty simple.

Have to admit, like others I would like to get one before the paint hits it.

Nice shots Gino. Thanks for posting.:thumbsup

Thanks Gino, These new pictures have sold the helmet even more so if that's possible, I was already gettin one , Doesn't really get any better than that , . .. :thumbsup

good pictures.
I only want top know if there´s a shrinkage in these casts. There´s no in the TM casts I did.
I would be tempted to buy one, if they have the actual sizes of the original

Great pics Gino, it looks amazing.

My question is about the 'teeth' in both casts. At SDCC both helmets showed the same bad tooth (on the left as you are facing the helmet). Will this be rectified in production?

Qui-Gonzalez said:

It is neither ironic, nor hard to believe. Man, these are prototypes. Look at the idealized dome. Bad pulls happen.

Click to expand...

Yah I know, Its just unwise to go ahead and showcase a piece with a huge flaw present IMO. Reminds me of the iPhone 4 fiasco.

First, I would like to thank everyone for their interest in our ANH Vader helmets. I really appreciate the passion and knowledge that many of you have shared with us on many of the forums.

I would like to share some insight into the prototypes that we had on display at Comic Con and will be on display at Celebration V in a couple weeks.

- These castings were made by our vendor in Asia. However, because of the time constraint, they had to take Gino's master, make the mold and the castings in only 4 days. Since this is the first time that they were casting the Vader helmet, they did not know and "understand" the helmet and address and refine any of the molding processes and techniques that would be required. For example in the mouth area, they wanted to help by cutting it out for us. They actually used a dremel with a large diameter bit to cut it out. That is why the mouth area seems a little "sloppy" and have the large radii in the corners! So rest assured that all of these issues will be resolved in the manufacturing development process.

- The same set of molds were used to make both versions of the helmets. In production, QC will ensure that the castings are consistent.

- The castings were then sent to Gino and he also only had 4 days to prep the castings and paint them in order to get them to San Diego in time for Comic Con. We received them in San Diego the morning of preview night! I think Gino did a GREAT job considering the limited time that he had. I know that he was "a little" frustrated that he was not able to "fix" the issues with these castings and make them perfect.

- 2 fellow RPF'ers were kind enough to supply us with the tusks and the mesh. Both were sent directly to us in San Diego, so Gino did not get a chance to weather one of the tusks.

- Some of you questioned why we showed these helmets, knowing some of the issues. You have to remember the incredible exposure our products get at an event like Comic Con. And I understand that probably more than 95% of the people will not be able to identify the issues we discuss in the forums. In fact, most people (even Star Wars fans) do not even know that Vader's helmet was different in each episode. And then, when we fix all of the issues that us prop guys obsess over in final production, they will not even notice or appreciate the difference. I learned an enlightening lesson when I was at Master Replicas. We advertised the FX Lightsabers by character, episode, etc. However most people, believe it or not, simply identified and purchased them by the color of the blade, not even knowing that each character had a different hilt! (It was then that I realized that we are just a bunch of snobs!!! hahaha!)

We will be sharing pictures through the development process on our website and appreciate your patience as we work through the development process. I am confident that the final product will not only meet your expectations, but will be one of your most prized pieces in your collection.

Thanks!

Bryan

Great getting info right from the horses' mouth. I think both look freaking awesome. I hope to be able to order one when available.


Now if I were only getting the eFX newsletter that I signed up for...

Thanks for getting back to us.

Yeah, it is clear that the teeth were cut from the front. Everyone who's ever worked with a Vader helmet knows to cut them from the rear, or learned the hard way, so you don't risk damaging the teeth in the process as you won't be able to control a rotary tool in that narrow area. Hopefully they'll have learned that by the time of production, to minimize surface damage.

Once again, thanks Bryan and Gino for your efforts in bringing this to us nutcases...oh, and the normal fans.

(Thanks for proving me wrong, Bryan. )

All I need to know now is price and release date! LOL!

Thanks EFX for the reply. That puts things to rest for me. I look forward to the development pics and I cant wait to order one. It is a fantastic piece and one I have always wanted since I first saw Star Wars back in 1977.

Carl