ANH Vader chest armor - getting it right

[DavetheDane]

Hey experts!

I have a GH ANH chest armor, which I am trying to look right on my body..

I have two problems:

Shoulder armor.. How do you get this right if you do not have the shoulders of a rugby player/bodybuilder? Any good tricks if you are not able to fill it out as supposed to?

The other thing.. The chestarmor tends to slip down leaving a gap between the mask neck and the upper chest armor..

I have a ANH SPFX helmet and mask...

This is by far my biggest problem with the ANH costume set-up!

Looking forward getting alot of help from you great experts!

Cheers

Dave

 

[ROBOSTEVE 0671]

Hi Dave,

Here's a few pics of me in mine ..

My chest armour rests simply on my shoulders but I raise the front of the armour up with an old VHS empty case under it at the front , this lifts and gives bulk to the chest and you can also use the case like I do keep your wallet and phone in there :love

Also use Velcro to keep the shoulder bells from slipping under the chest, this will help keep the broad profile. velcro across th eback of the gap between the bells and the chest...

Mines also an SPFX lid..

I'll try to get some better pics later on..

 

[Qui-Gonzalez]

What I can tell is Prowse was not only broad shouldered, but had a longer neck than I do. I used to own the GT armor, which was small on me. I can't think of a way, outside of padding under the armor and on your shoulders, to NOT look like Hayden in the armor.

 

[Pappy]

HEY DAVE!!
Setting up a Vader now?:love
Maybe you can make some sort of "artificial muscle body glove" or something,i know you can do it.
Goodluck with the project man!!:thumbsup

 

[Trooper_trent]

I'll have to look when I get home, but I think I still have some pictures of how I did my setup. I used JB Weld and some metal frame hangers with eye holes around the interior of the bell and chest armor, then ziptied them together so that they were firmly attached. The bells in a fixed position give the right ammount of bulk. Additioinally, I got a 1/2" or 1 " thick sheet of foam and sculpted a pectoral piece to go under my leather suit to beef up the chest and put the chest armor in the right place.

 

[DavetheDane]

.....
My chest armour rests simply on my shoulders but I raise the front of the armour up with an old VHS empty case under it at the front , this lifts and gives bulk to the chest and you can also use the case like I do keep your wallet and phone in there :love

Also use Velcro to keep the shoulder bells from slipping under the chest, this will help keep the broad profile. velcro across th eback of the gap between the bells and the chest...

Mines also an SPFX lid..

I'll try to get some better pics later on..

Thanks - sounds really cool with the old VHS empty cases - great for storage - but where do I find those rare items :lol

Would love to see some pics of the velcro set up! :thumbsup

 

[DavetheDane]

I'll have to look when I get home, but I think I still have some pictures of how I did my setup. I used JB Weld and some metal frame hangers with eye holes around the interior of the bell and chest armor, then ziptied them together so that they were firmly attached. The bells in a fixed position give the right ammount of bulk. Additioinally, I got a 1/2" or 1 " thick sheet of foam and sculpted a pectoral piece to go under my leather suit to beef up the chest and put the chest armor in the right place.

Sounds very interesting! Perhaps you could shot a picture?

I need all the great advices I can get!

 

[DavetheDane]

HEY DAVE!!
Setting up a Vader now?:love
Maybe you can make some sort of "artificial muscle body glove" or something,i know you can do it.
Goodluck with the project man!!:thumbsup

Hi my MEPD bro!

Thanks for the support! Well I have to go more often to the gym and do some heavy weight training.. Some does it for getting ready for the summer and beachparties and some does it to wear the Vader outfit - cool when people ask you why you work-out!! ha ha ha :lol

Yep - time for the Vader costume - been through the TK, TD and TB - now need to do the number one bad guy!! Love ANH and for me Mr. Vader is best in ANH - love the more battle damaged look with weathering (hmm.. perhaps too much fooling around in the sand-pit over at MEPD!! :lol)...



At Qui-Gonzales - thanks for the hint - already tried that out, but will work some more on it...

 

[runnriottt]

On my GH set I pad it more in the front. This raises the neck line for me a tad and allows the Chestbox to slide under with out bashing on the armor when bent over.

As far as the bells, I pad those as well. I let them hang but snug them as close to the armor as possible at the top. This gives me a better cape line.

One other thing I do is to use a TK pauldron to mount my Vortex. I spin it around on my back, under the robe in the vally of the armor. This also gives a nicer line while I bend over for the cape no longer falls in the armor gap. Pics later if you want them...

 

[DavetheDane]

On my GH set I pad it more in the front. This raises the neck line for me a tad and allows the Chestbox to slide under with out bashing on the armor when bent over.

As far as the bells, I pad those as well. I let them hang but snug them as close to the armor as possible at the top. This gives me a better cape line.

One other thing I do is to use a TK pauldron to mount my Vortex. I spin it around on my back, under the robe in the vally of the armor. This also gives a nicer line while I bend over for the cape no longer falls in the armor gap. Pics later if you want them...

Hi Bro!

Good info - some good ideas for me to work with! Nice trick with the TK paudrol! Pics. would be highly appreciated :thumbsup

 

[ROBOSTEVE 0671]

I'll take some pics of mine and get them loaded up on here soon, I'll take some shots of the inside of the chest armour, if you dont mind me askin, what kind of measurements are you? chest and shoulders wise..

 

[DavetheDane]

I'll take some pics of mine and get them loaded up on here soon, I'll take some shots of the inside of the chest armour, if you dont mind me askin, what kind of measurements are you? chest and shoulders wise..

Thanks mate...

He he... of course..

Shoulder to shoulder 21.5 inches
Chest 40 inches

This is in t-shirt..

Dont know if I am too small :cry

 

[ROBOSTEVE 0671]

Thanks mate...

He he... of course..

Shoulder to shoulder 21.5 inches
Chest 40 inches

This is in t-shirt..

Dont know if I am too small :cry

Cool! I'm 44 inch chest but the main thing realy is the height.. I'm 6' 4" out of costume, this means when suited up I'm around 6' 7"

You should be ok, might be an idea to make sure you add something to pad out the chest area, this will help the shoulders too..

 

[DavetheDane]

Cool! I'm 44 inch chest but the main thing realy is the height.. I'm 6' 4" out of costume, this means when suited up I'm around 6' 7"

You should be ok, might be an idea to make sure you add something to pad out the chest area, this will help the shoulders too..

Thanks Steve

As it is right now I am 6'3" or so in my DV costume - not quite the 6'7" but it should be fine.. I am currently working on padding the chest armor..