A Darth Vader Collection and Lineage Thread....

Oh... the sanding on the dome was also done by the same drunk... sorry about that... never got around to finish things up. Unless you stripped the primer and paint... and found something more... then... well... it wasn't this sorry drunkards work. And yes, it was heavy as ****.

Man, you should post pictures of it painted. Would love to see how it looks now. Also, if you wanna exchange the dome, try find a good DP DLX dome and rework that.
 
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Yes, clearly the TM doesn't have the "bunny ears". These features depend heavily on how you light them and photograph them. It's very easy to get them to not show up in photographs.

I showed one of them from the TM and it looked nowhere near as clean as the one on the SL. I could show it again if you want. There is no comparison and how can you honestly boast about the TM with images like the ones below in which you cut out almost all the resolution? I showed high magnification high resolution of the "ear" closest to the L-scar compared to that on the TM. Compare yours to the SL....and you know perfectly well it doesn't come close.

TantiveIV4-TM.jpg


Let's see the comparison again. Oh wait... it's there as well... and exactly like it is seen on the Tantive.
TMvsOriginal2.jpg
Again, you are not showing the resolution I showed before Carsten.


With all these flaws you present on your TM copy... I'm wondering why you bother when you've been told time and time again that it was a faulty cast. I'm beginning to see just how faulty.

I know exactly what my TM casting is. I know exactly where the flaws are and it has nothing to do with what I've shown here Carsten. I've already shown a front view on TPD of my copy at the same angle/view as a photo of the TM original and there's no difference. I could show that here again if you want. But if you want to see those things then I don't want TM owners crying to me about showing it.

Go ahead, prove your point with more grainy pictures. I don't waste time posting grainy pictures. I post things pretty clear for everyone to see - no need to strain the eyes to see the details.
Give me a break....you show no resolution in those images to be able to tell details on that scale.

Show me this detail at this resolution Carsten on the TM...I showed it from my own casting and there's no comparison.

SLvsTMrabbitdetailcheek1cc.jpg



You keep indicating that the neck extension should have existed prior to the molding. Or even after. It was a temporary addition added to the helmet when it was molded, just like the filler in the chin vent and filler behind the teeth grill. It just baffles me how you argument that it isn't a UK mold feature because you didn't see it in ANH. It was a feature added for molding that was REMOVABLE. So why the hell would you see it on the helmet in ANH?
I never said it was a permanent addition Carsten. I said it wasn't ANH.

We see that exact same neck extension on a hero ESB mask. It never was on the original ANH at the time of ANH, nor do we see it anytime between ANH and ESB (ie: the tour). So? It was likely added at the time of the ESB production. For you to argue that it was added at the same time as the filler material is simply without basis. The TM neck in the rear itself is modified along with the neck extension...it isn't like the SL or TD back there and the SL and TD come from two different lines. So the neck extension has to be later. Furthermore, even though the TD and TM neck edges are very similar, they are not identical all the way around. The TD has actually a bit longer neck edge in the front middle part...there's more of a taper to it than on the TM.

Did it ever occur to you that the neck extension was added to a copy of the original ANH and not to the original ANH itself? The TM mask itself is a copy of something, probably an original ESB template that itself was still ANH, so that is a possibility. They could have just taken a casting from a mold taken from the original mask, then added a neck extension to it and sharpened the eyebrows slightly.

Funny, you used to say that the grills had been removed from the helmet prior to molding it for the SL mold.
Please tell me when did I say that? I never said that Carsten.

Or are you now saying that that feature was removed from the SL copies? So, which is it? If it is a feature that was removed from the copies, then I hope the buyers are aware of it, as most I've talked to expected a perfect copy and you've confirmed to me before that they were untampered with copies of the original.

Maybe we should talk then whether the TM copies are tampered with?

If you want to play dirty then I am all game, Carsten. Bringing up SL owners in that light is completely underhanded. But if you want to do it that way it works both ways.

Just found where you stated that:

So which is it?

I thought originally it wasn't there, but some time after that I found evidence that it was....but it took some comparing the alignment of certain details.
 
SL, I see you posted TM pictures - though removed them. Hope you cleared those with TM or the TM group like I did with the ones I've posted. If not, can we expect to see SL and TD owners to post pictures of their helmets without having to clear it with you first? Is that how we are doing things now? If that's the case: TD and SL owners - post away.

The TM group has no authority, only TM.

I posted them for your benefit Carsten, but then removed them because a TM COPY owner complained. So I did the gentlemanly thing. If you want, I'll put them back. If you continue to make a case of details you show fuzzy images of, I'll put them back so that you learn what resolution really means. But now I ask you to show the details I show at the resolution I show to make your case. I don't need to show them. You have a TM casting.

And I've posted much more than that on TPD, Carsten and you know it.


But I understand completely why they don't get involved. They don't need this ****. In fact, neither do I. So far I have not seen anything close to that level of accuracy from the TD or the SL. I only have SL's word... there's no one else to corroborate the story... and that... in all good detective work means insufficient confirmation. You need at least 2 or 3 sources individually corroborating a story - with the TM... we have that confirmation. But absolutely nothing from the TD or SL. Personally, this is a waste of my time. Have fun.

Carsten, I showed the details and took them down again. You should have them if you followed the thread. I know you've seen the original comparisons so what are you going on about?

Show me this:

SLvsTMrabbitdetailcheek1cc.jpg



And tell me that the TM has superior detail than the SL. I don't need to show it myself because I know already.
 
The C-scar and all the other details of the "TM" Darth Vader facemask are 100% correct.
(And they are not a little bit smaller than the original as well)

.


No, the C-scar bottom edge turns toward the nose higher and more curved than on the original ANH. I showed that here in my original comparisons.

Show me this detail then on the TM....it is a complete mess in that area...that is not original ANH detail guys. But go ahead, just show me this part of the cheek area on the TM...I can show it for you if you want...

SLANHvsORIGRch2b.jpg


SLANHvsORIGRchRb.jpg
 
So does the SL have grill marks or does it not?


Well the question would be, did the original ANH mask have the grills in it when the ILM mold was taken and the answer is yes. But on the SL it is extremely difficult to make them out because of the amount of material covering them. So anyone looking at them wouldn't be able to tell there were grills, but the original did have them. The grills would look nothing like what you see on the UK side of the lineage as they were almost completely covered up as opposed to material just oozing through the grill to fill it.
 
Ok updated the lineage...after all that's what this thread is mainly about :)

Added the MGM ANH helmet, added the Rubies Statue helmet, corrected the VaderMonkey V1 ESB stunt placement, corrected the Gypsyboy and put it after the Hollywood Props helmet which I also included. Also, things were getting crowded in a big way on the left side so I completely reworked the left side to make things more symmetrical overall, just to balance out the tree a bit aesthetically. I also put the correct image for the TM ESB original. I know the VP ANH is a mask but it was associated with a ROTJ dome, at least that's how the owner got it.

VaderHelmetLineageSLMay910s.jpg
 
Personally, I'm done. I have no further desire to drag these helmets through the mud anymore just because I disagree with what SL is claiming. I have no desire to continue this debacle and I apologize to all for being responsible for dragging the thread in this direction.

The helmets don't deserve this ****. We don't deserve this ****. And personally, I've got better things to do. And this... is a waste of my time.


I'll echo what Qui said, no apology necessary Carsten.

Carsten, you know exactly the kind of respect I have for the TM ESB. There are certainly areas on it that are superior in detail than anything else, as each casting has its strengths. The TD has the paint going against it but in spite of that it still shows some surprisingly early detail here and there. The SL has some really fine detail that is associated with the original paint on the original ANH, as I've shown....you can see the little bump patterns on the SL corresponding to the paint on the original. The TM has terrific sharpness, and yes it does have some detail better resolved in certain areas, for whatever reason. I'll point out for example on the right side of the mouth triangle of the TM that horizontal line that you guys pointed out before...a perfectly horizontal scar. It's there on the SL but messed up a bit. The TD in that area is smooth with the paint or it just isn't there. I take all the details into account and look at what they reveal in terms of an overall trend, in addition to the more obvious things.

And I respect at least you trying to argue specific points about why I put things a certain way on the lineage...
 
I haven't shown this before so I thought it might be interesting...sometimes I'll try to photograph the TD in daylight (indoors) and here are examples of different areas of the mask showing how the black paint looks under daylight (without color correction). Of course there will be an influence of color based on what's in the room, and there will be some color "noise" from the digital camera, but still it provides some idea of shade and reflectivity when viewed closeup...

TDANHpaintdaylight1.jpg


Full view...I know a crap image but I just want to show how the paint looks...

TDANHdaylightfr1b.jpg
 
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And if you call those pictures anything of resolution other than blurry upscaled pictures... then WOW. Your equipment sux.

Carsten, I showed the details and took them down again. You should have them if you followed the thread. I know you've seen the original comparisons so what are you going on about?
Yeah, sorry for having a life outside the forum and being in a different time zone and having to sleep. Never saw the pictures and no, that is not a wish for you to repost them. Don't need to see your faulty cast.

It's not up to me to want you to show anything of the TM, I know perfectly well what is there, so don't try to push that on me.

If you want to play dirty then I am all game, Carsten. Bringing up SL owners in that light is completely underhanded. But if you want to do it that way it works both ways.
You were the one starting to play dirty by posting pictures of the TM. My comment was just a response to that. Nice to finally see what kind of character you are. I'm out of this thread and others of yours from now on and ask that you respect my request for you to stay out of mine.

Sorry, that is all I'm gonna waste on this nonsense.
 
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Show me this:

SLvsTMrabbitdetailcheek1cc.jpg



And tell me that the TM has superior detail than the SL. I don't need to show it myself because I know already.


Can you tell me what that detail is suppose to look like? I know, because it's clear as day on my TM. There are two things this comp showed of the SL: 1. It was molded after the repaint during the tour and 2. The cheekline (or whisker being the name that has been given to it) was sanded down. Those two distinct features are glaring. Thomas you can't go on and boast (and boy have you done a lot of that in this thread) about showing/teaching people about details, when you yourself have absolutely no clue what you are looking at.

I know you are dying to see the actual C, L scar, whatever you want to name it, because again you don't know what it looks like. With every post you make it becomes more obvious that you don't. Here's a little clue, there is actually two (2) C, L scars. One a bit more pronounced than the other. They are both there, but their definition is different. The lower points, the smaller hash marks if you will, don't end abruptly on the cheekline, they actually extend out a bit further down and then the cheekline begins. That's why I know the SL was sanded there. Also you don't have the paint separation line (as I call it) on the SL cheek curve, which you have confirmed already on the Den. Well it's clearly on the original screenused and it's on the TM. Then there are the cut marks on the mouth edge that isn't on the SL, but it's clear as day on the TM. Again you confirmed that on the Den.

Here's a few pics of what I'm talking about. the first is the cheekline paint separation and the next is the hash marks. I already know they exist on the TM and no they are not mundane details. They are on the screenused, so if the SL is an exact representation of the screenused then it should be on there as well.

fvaderhd1hhh.jpg


frontaledge.jpg



Also in this pic that you showed:

SLANHleftcheekdetailcf1b.jpg


I could point out a multitude of details that match the TM, but notice that little bump on the end.

SLANHleftcheekdetailcf1bc.jpg



Well it clearly is not on the SL, but yep, you guessed it, it's on the TM.

I could go on all day long pointing out details on the TM that are not on the SL, but it's really not important and steers the thread off track further than it already is.

IMO, the TM has it all. The details and the overall structure. I tried to match the angle best I could. This is an uncut TM, as you can see with the neck and eyelids extension.

ortmcmp1.jpg


So getting back to this:

SLvsTIVcheeksintents1c.jpg


If I show this area on my TM and it shows it being SUPERIOR to the SL, will you stop using your faulty TM in comp pics and not mention it anymore? Pretty please? I'm giving you the opportunity to actually see what that detail is, since it's so blurred and washed out on the SL due to the repaint. It's not a knock on the SL, but when you come on here and brag that no other faceplate has this ANH detail and you try to discredit the TM, well then you better be up to the challenge. So what do you say? I show the detail and you stop using the TM in comps. I won't show you the C,L scar sorry, but it would blow away anything you have on the SL, that's for sure.
 
Can you tell me what that detail is suppose to look like? I know, because it's clear as day on my TM.

Sure, it looks like this:

SLvsTMrabbitdetailcheek1bc.jpg



How much more clear would you want it? Honestly. If you cannot see how obvious that shape and detail corresponds to the screen mask then there's no point. And it isn't on the TM like that. It it simply a distorted remnant. On the TM that detail is nowhere near as sharply defined in shape and contour as on the SL ANH.


There are two things this comp showed of the SL: 1. It was molded after the repaint during the tour
If you know so much, tell me when the repaint occurred, because you don't seem to realize when it was repainted.

The original mask was molded prior to the repaint for the ILM mold.

and 2. The cheekline (or whisker being the name that has been given to it) was sanded down. Those two distinct features are glaring. Thomas you can't go on and boast (and boy have you done a lot of that in this thread) about showing/teaching people about details, when you yourself have absolutely no clue what you are looking at.
No, you are going by screen captures, I am not. That's your problem.

I know you are dying to see the actual C, L scar, whatever you want to name it, because again you don't know what it looks like. With every post you make it becomes more obvious that you don't. Here's a little clue, there is actually two (2) C, L scars.
No, I originally called it a paint blemish, then after the TM came along someone called it a C-scar. But I have shown what it is. This is it. Front view, not 3/4 view from some screen capture. The red line indicates how the paint blemish boundary should be shaped.

TMvsSLvsOrigANHpaintflaw2bd.jpg



One a bit more pronounced than the other. They are both there, but their definition is different. The lower points, the smaller hash marks if you will, don't end abruptly on the cheekline, they actually extend out a bit further down and then the cheekline begins.
That isn't part of the C-scar. That's well below it.

That's why I know the SL was sanded there. Also you don't have the paint separation line (as I call it) on the SL cheek curve, which you have confirmed already on the Den. Well it's clearly on the original screenused and it's on the TM.
We went through that before and I'll have to dig up what I showed before.

Then there are the cut marks on the mouth edge that isn't on the SL, but it's clear as day on the TM. Again you confirmed that on the Den.
The SL has the cut marks but they are partially obscured, but that isn't on account of repaint. And that is easy to prove. That gets back to my question.... when do you think the repaint was done?

Here's a few pics of what I'm talking about. the first is the cheekline paint separation and the next is the hash marks. I already know they exist on the TM and no they are not mundane details. They are on the screenused, so if the SL is an exact representation of the screenused then it should be on there as well.

fvaderhd1hhh.jpg


frontaledge.jpg
Why then doesn't the TM have original cheek paint detail in the minutest form as the SL does? The TM doesn't have this, so it is after the repaint.

SLANHvsORIGRch2b.jpg




I could point out a multitude of details that match the TM, but notice that little bump on the end.

SLANHleftcheekdetailcf1bc.jpg



Well it clearly is not on the SL, but yep, you guessed it, it's on the TM.
Wrong again. You know fully well that the angle of light can affect a detail like that. The light is coming from the left going to the right (shadow on the right), so that detail won't stand out as much in a photo like that, but it is there. I'll show later since I'm at work now.


I could go on all day long pointing out details on the TM that are not on the SL, but it's really not important and steers the thread off track further than it already is.
Well I clearly show detail that isn't on the TM, otherwise I wouldn't show it. And I showed side-by-side images but you and your buddies don't like that, and then claim that my TM casting is flawed...I suppose then the flaws extend to the most minute details on every single square cm of the casting? :rolleyes

IMO, the TM has it all. The details and the overall structure. I tried to match the angle best I could. This is an uncut TM, as you can see with the neck and eyelids extension.

ortmcmp1.jpg
Ya right, that proves a lot. I'm talking about details you can't even see in those images. You don't think I could make the SL and TD look like that? I could make the DS 20th C look like that. That doesn't mean anything in the scope of this discussion as we already know the TM has excellent accuracy on the whole. I could go through many things on the TM that are not congruent with the original ANH, as much as I could go through things that are. But you won't impress me with a comparison like that, not by a long shot.

So getting back to this:

SLvsTIVcheeksintents1c.jpg


If I show this area on my TM and it shows it being SUPERIOR to the SL, will you stop using your faulty TM in comp pics and not mention it anymore? Pretty please? I'm giving you the opportunity to actually see what that detail is, since it's so blurred and washed out on the SL due to the repaint. It's not a knock on the SL, but when you come on here and brag that no other faceplate has this ANH detail and you try to discredit the TM, well then you better be up to the challenge. So what do you say? I show the detail and you stop using the TM in comps. I won't show you the C,L scar sorry, but it would blow away anything you have on the SL, that's for sure.
Uh ya right. I show a high magnification image of the rabbit ear details as they've never been seen before with such clarity, ever, not even on the TM, and you are saying that they are "blurred and washed out".

My TM isn't faulty. And I could easily show that. And I did show it on TPD. If mine is faulty then so is everyone else'.

Why don't you explain to me exactly how my TM casting is faulty and how that has any bearing on the details I've discussed here? I am so curious why you think so because I can easily show how it isn't (but I won't out of courtesy).

And in case you didn't notice, I've already stopped showing TM comparisons, so your point of negotiation is moot.

Just because the C-scar is deep on the TM doesn't mean it is accurate, or early.

I'm not here to discredit the TM, which is what you and your fellow TM owners don't seem to grasp. All I am saying is that it is from ESB, and not from ANH. So I put it where it belongs in the linage. But from the time you guys got your TM copies you've been wanting to make it ANH and it isn't from ANH. It is from ESB. TM knows this, so why don't you? You guys acted the same way about another particular casting, thinking it was the ultimate ANH, and reacted to me the same way when I said it wasn't. Jog your memory?

And you don't seem to realize that I was in extensive communication with the original owner of the TM ESB helmet because I planned to bid on it. The person who got that helmet and had it in storage for 20 years worked on both ESB and ROTJ, just for example. It is an ESB helmet. It is an ESB mask. Yes it came from a casting that itself came from a mold taken from the original ANH mask, but it has ESB provenance, it was made during ESB. It is ESB. Yet the TM owners want it all. They want it to be both the ultimate ESB mask, which it is, and the ultimate ANH, which it isn't. You guys even tried (twice now) to rework the TM dome to make it look like ANH.

And you don't even have to show me, but look yourself at the top surface of the left cheek of the TM and tell me if you see any ANH screen-accurate detail there, even the gross detail I asked for previously. Look at the proportion of the mouth triangle to the face (smaller than the original ANH), look at the noseslots (not the same cross-sectional shape as the original ANH), look at the center forehead ridge, how it is sanded down with a flat top on the TM compared to the original ANH, which is nicely rounded. Should I continue?

Those are gross features, not even fine details, and you go on about how identical the TM is to the original ANH?

I show teeny tiny details that differ, but I could show much larger features... but I don't, to be fair. But where credit is due I've said before that what detail the TM does have that is ANH specific is excellent. But you guys already know that. So I could show you where it differs, but you don't want to hear it. If I won the TM in auction (I was only 20 pounds shy in the last few seconds), I would be saying the same things about it in comparison to the SL or TD. I wouldn't be saying it is the ultimate ANH because it isn't. The SL has better fine surface detail than the TD, but some of the deeper details are better or earlier on the TD. That doesn't mean one is better than the other, they are just different castings from different molds of the original at different times. But they are both ANH. I won't discount that the father of the TM might have come from the same source as the TD, but it too would be from ESB.

I remember distinctly on TPD when I pointed out the modifications to the eyebrows on the TM and you guys jumped on me for that and said it wasn't true and I was trying to put down the TM. Now you accept it and even give it your own expression, namely the eyesocket or eyelid extensions....that isn't my term. But I was the one that originally pointed out that difference. Why? Because it isn't like the original ANH. Just as eventually you guys might learn about the proportionality of the mouth triangle to the rest of the face, or learn about how there can be differences in the sizes of castings as a measure of authenticity. You guys still think there was a neck extension on the TD....just because the TM had it the TD HAS TO HAVE IT TOO because of course the TD cannot in any way be earlier than the TM or be from a different mold...that would be simply impossible! :rolleyes I know it could be possible, but so far it doesn't seem that way. Yet you guys naturally assume it HAS to be that way.

If a father casting of the TM turns out to be IDENTICAL to the TD except the cut tube ends but including the screen-seen detail on the right tube end, and including the right nose slots, the right center forehead ridge, the correctly shaped eyebrow edges, a curved right tab instead of being straightened out and more detached, the same amount of rear undercut, the same curvature of rear undercut, the same connection point for the rear half of the full head, the filled in strap slot, identical details inside the eyesockets, the same amount of undercut inside the eye sockets, the same amount of depth to the detail on the inside surfaces of the teeth (something I haven't even gotten into before), and on top of all that, it has a neck extension.....then I will have been completely proven wrong. But so far I haven't seen that...so far. I am prepared to be completely proven wrong, given sufficient evidence. But even if there was such a casting, that doesn't change where the TM came from or what it is.
 
I could point out a multitude of details that match the TM, but notice that little bump on the end.

SLANHleftcheekdetailcf1bc.jpg



Well it clearly is not on the SL, but yep, you guessed it, it's on the TM.

By the way, that second detail behind the one you refer to.....the one I have the red curve to the right of that bump you refer to....is that on the TM?
 
IMO, the TM has it all. The details and the overall structure. I tried to match the angle best I could. This is an uncut TM, as you can see with the neck and eyelids extension.

ortmcmp1.jpg


So? Did you get permission from TM himself for you to post this comparison on the RPF?
 
By the way, that second detail behind the one you refer to.....the one I have the red curve to the right of that bump you refer to....is that on the TM?

Absolutely it is, I already said that I could match up a multitude of details with that shot. Why, doesn't your TM have that?

You are like a runaway train. You are all over the place with your comments. That nonsense you show in reference to the rabbit ears is WRONG. It doesn't look anything like that and again you show how little you know.

Keep talking about the C scar. Yeah I know you are dying to see what the real one looks like and it doesn't look like the one on the SL. If you really knew what it looked like you wouldn't be arguing with me about it. Your biggest problem is your ego. You can't have anyone tell you like it is.

You didn't inform the TM owners about anything. We've been studying the TM ever since Tom got it and we've done quite well without you. That bothers you doesn't it? That we never included you in the TM group discussions. I know you cried about it for years and still do. So sorry little man, get over it already. No one trusts you. That's the reality of it. You are not a straight shooter. You never have been.

You are a coward. Put your money where your big mouth is. I'll show the comp of the rabbit ears against your blurry crap. If I can prove the TM is superior to the SL in just that ONE detail, since you've put such an emphasis on it and claiming no other faceplate has it better or even has it, , you give up your membership here on the RPF. If I can't, I lose mine. It's time to put up or shut up Oh Lord of the Sith. What's it gonna be? Are you man enough to stand by your comments or will you bow out like a coward?
 
How about everyone sends me a helmet and I'll settle this? Whoever does it fastest will be the winner.
 
How about everyone sends me a helmet and I'll settle this? Whoever does it fastest will be the winner.

I have one better than that. I've already offered to have a vader summit meeting at C5. I'll bring the TM and others can bring whatever faceplate they want and a few of us can compare them without the bravado of the online personas.
 
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