Thoughts on faux leather vs real leather Vader suits.

Snowtrooper

Well-Known Member
I was wondering about what Vader experts think about faux leather suits versus real ones, as far as looks go. I've heard that the faux ones have more of a shine than the real ones, making them look less accurate than real ones. Is this usually the case, or are there ones out there that looks pretty close to real leather?
 
IMO, the biggest problem with synthetic suits is that they don't breathe. You'll sweat your butt of in one. I've had a 3 piece leather suit from the get-go and it's super comfortable. The leather suits also age nicely, improving their look as time goes on.
 
I've had both. The faux leather even from the better makers is too shiny looking. The real leather is so much nicer. Another not picky point is that ideally the glove and body suit leather should match. Unless you find faux leather gloves (which I couldn't tell you where to look) the faux suit and real leather gloves will have a sharp contrast. Not what you want.
 
cost increases for the leather ( go 3 piece imho) - but no doubt worth it as the shine in pleather is just plain fugly!
 
How much cheaper is it Snowtrooper because I have thought about this, If you really are never going to wear it (as I wouldn't, pleather sound horrible sweaty) then it could be just treated like a model.

There is this stuff we are looking into on the hasbro falcon thread called adhesion aid/promoter, its a spray that is a clear primer coat for problem plastics and it seems to work quite well.
you could beat it up a bit first, give it a thin coat of this adhesion aid, then a thin coat of matt lacquer, and then maybe weathering to suit and it could look ok
If the pleather is like half the price then its worth looking into :)
 
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How much cheaper is it @Snowtrooper because I have thought about this, If you really are never going to wear it (as I wouldn't, pleather sound horrible sweaty) then it could be just treated like a model.

There is this stuff we are looking into on the hasbro falcon thread called adhesion aid/promoter, its a spray that is a clear primer coat for problem plastics and it seems to work quite well.
you could beat it up a bit first, give it a thin coat of this adhesion aid, then a thin coat of matt lacquer, and then maybe weathering to suit and it could look ok
If the pleather is like half the price then its worth looking into :)

Depends on whose suit your talking about really. It's the construction method that decides how breathable or not it is. As Snowtrooper states this is for display not wear so I'm not sure it matters. As an FYI, the CP pleather suit breathes the same as the leather version. Really no difference at all. He uses the same liner and design on both versions.

If you really don't care that the gloves and suit match (which I think is a mistake) then find someone who's got a Rubies if you want to save in cost. Used I can't imagine they would sell for very much. Used CP suits go for about $135 on the SLD so a used Rubies maybe $50? I would NEVER wear a Rubies. It's a furnace.

As stated above, pleather looks like bantha poodoo. No amount of weathering will get the pleather to match the gloves so why bother? Save money in other places on Vader if you need to. Boots only the toes are really seen so you can save some money there. Chest boxes you could get a Porty kit that's reasonably accurate and that will save some money. I'd also see about kits from some of the armor and helmet makers if you can do your own paint. Since this is for display and not trooping durability isn't an issue so some of these suggested shortcuts will hold up fine.
 
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Thanks for the info. I already have leather gloves, so if it causes a sharp contrast, than I'll probably be leaning towards a leather suit. I think you can get a faux leather suit for as much as $100 less than a real leather, but I have no idea what they look like in person. Its hard to judge what they really look like from online pics.

Any suggestions on good leather suits?

Here's what I've got thus far:

Helmet: efx Limited
Armor: Armor kit off of ebay, painted by myself. Not sure of its origins, but it looks pretty accurate.
Gloves: Custom Props
Cod: Artisian Prop
Shin Armor: triomiret
Boots: Soviet Officer boots

I'm going to try to make the chestbox myself, unless I happen to run into good deal on a decently accurate one.
 
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Well, since FP does the only really accurate gloves I would use him for gloves and suit. He does bundled deals and offers discounts when you order multiple items.

Below are two pics of my Vader at various states.
First an early version using a CP pleather suit and older incorrect FP leather gloves

e3f0807142fe984758dfa7e6291465c9_zpsc88463a0.jpg


Now my matched and fitted FP leather suit and gloves

IMG_3480_zps1d45c3f4.jpg


Many other pieces changed between the two Vaders so don't think too poorly of my first attempt. I was still learning.
 
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