Teaser pic- ANH, ESB, & ROTJ Vader displays

It's been a long road, but my OT Vaders are nearing completion.
Here is the list of things that still need happen to be completely finished.
1. Need to paint my ROTJ face (ESB is on the ROTJ mannequin for the time being)
2. Paint my ESB and ROTJ domes.
3. Build the poseable hands to go with the poseable arms.
4. Add the gloves (which are progressing, just much slower than I'd like )
5.Beef up my ROTJ torso just a bit.

Still a bit to go, but after what it took to get here it seems like small potatoes.

Very, very, very cool. Thanks for sharing that pic. Amazing display. I'd still love to hear how you are doing the mannequins.

Intense.

Groovy! That's a whole lot of Vader!

that ANH is insane!

Cool, very nice all 3.

WOW!

Thanks Gino! For the first time I can actually see a difference in the Vader's from ANH, ESB and ROTJ. They look phenominal!!

Cool... but they all look the same to me.

Frickin' sweet!!! You need to open up your own museum after you finish.
If you don't mind me asking, how long did it take you to get this far?

VERY VERY COOL!

I´m also interested in your way of doing the mannequins as well as the poseable hands. I´d appreciate if you could get us some insight.

Markus

Thanks for the kind words guys.
I keep getting asked about the mannequins so I thought I'd touch on that.
The exact ones (or ones very similar) can readily be found on ebay for about $160 or so. There's nothing special about them (nor do they need to be) other than they need to be standing in a neutral pose.
Using bodybuilding pics of Prowse around the time of filming as reference as well as a photo of his body cast for ANH, I sculpted onto the existing skinny mannequins in foam to match his musculature as close as possible.
I scrapped the arms, and built my own using bendable rod and foam.
The hands are going to be made out of a combination of wood, wire, and hose which will be detachable at the wrist.

Lots of hard work and it shows!

awsome m8, if only i had the space :P

i still think anh beats the rest hands down but do you plan on doin a rots?

GINO, you know where I stand on your pieces. These do not disappoint. If you ever open an invite to come down Columbus way to oogle at your collection, let me know first!

DB73 said:

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awsome m8, if only i had the space :P

i still think anh beats the rest hands down but do you plan on doin a rots?

Thanks, I can't decide which is my favorite between the ESB and ROTJ.
As far as the ROTS goes, I loathe that costume for a million reasons.

Qui-Gonzalez, better yet, we should have a prop party in Columbus late this summer or early fall.

Awesome display, man. Good stuff.

GINO, they look amazing. I've never seen a side-by-side-by-side pic like that. Impressive. Most impressive. (Your ANH is my favorite.)

I did spot a mistake on your ESB costume, though. A pretty big mistake, actually. It wasn't 'til the third movie that he got his hand chopped off by Luke Skywalker.

The Wook

Doh!
Actually, all three of them are missing their hands.
I haven't been able to do any painting/finishing work on my Vaders since mid last fall, so in a month or so I'll be back at finishing them off.

Hey man

You said you used a combination of bendable rod/ foam etc. for the arms....got a pic or a small tutorial? I just can´t imagine what kind of rod would be suitable for this purpose? Sorry for asking...again

Markus

GINO, simply amazing work i've always been blown away by your vaders.

Gino
How tall are the mannequins you are buying? Most of teh ones I find on Ebay max out at 6'2 - 6'3. Are you adding any height?

Here is a hand that I did for my trooper mannequin. I little reference should ya need it. Btw, Love, Just love those VAders!



Thanks to Wackychimp!

Nekro....that is awesome! Very clever...

Now I gotta a few more bottles o' wine to finish...*hic*....

Onigiri said:

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Gino
How tall are the mannequins you are buying? Most of teh ones I find on Ebay max out at 6'2 - 6'3. Are you adding any height?

Yes, the mannequins are 6'3" out of the box. Vader in costume from top of dome to bottom of boot should stand around 6'8" - 6'9".
The extra 5-6" came from the boots (not adding to the boots mind you), facemask and dome, and a tiny bit to the shoulders. I decapitaed the heads and use an adjustable pvc pipe with a foam topper. That way it would give me maximum control over the height the helmet rests onto the chest armor.