ANH Vader chest box..think i've found the 'source item'

[ob1al]

I'm with GINO on this one.

Clay, then mold, then fiberglass sounds like the rest of the hard parts on the costume to me.

Me too - I think that's the answer.

However, the idea of there being a base upon which the clay was sculpted around seems plausible.

A picture frame, or a shaped piece of wood, inside the clay sculpt would have acted as a guide and helped give some stability for molding.

Just theorizing here, but if I was going to sculpt a 7" x 7" clay box, that's what I'd do.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Seriously... when sculpting in clay... an outer surrounding wall works better to shape it than a box with clay applied on top. Just look at how bricks are made.

Not saying this has any relation to how the box was made... just thinking out loud.

 

[ob1al]

I guess it depends what kind of clay is used too. I was thinking of a non hardening clay like chavant. If you wanted to move the box and not have it fall out of shape, it would be useful to have something isnide to give it some strength.

Unless they sculpted the box on a table and molded it right there and then, in which case no need to move it.

 

[Ghost Host]

All the rest of the hard costume parts (3po, Vader, trooper) used a water-based clay rather than an oil based clay like Chavant. Water-based clay is alot quicker to sculpt with.

 

[ob1al]

Ah, thanks GH. Well in that case there's no reason to think this was sculpted any differently.

 

[ArtisanProps]

Here's a pic of what i was talking about (the center is the Plaster or whatever)
Now i'm not disagreeing that it was sculpted in clay i just think this is a super easy way to obtain a shape like this.. Just pour in the stuff and level off, sand and there ya go a box with beveled edges that takes absolutely no sculpting knowledge.. I just wish i could find the damn link to where i read this it's probably outdated it's been so long ago..

 

[HAL9000]

okay...here's my...let's say 'problem' with the fact
it was allegedly sculpted...

The damn thing has mitred corners. Why would you even bother to mitre it if you were sculpting a
box from scratch? Surely you'd just form a nice square box and round off the edges?

Mitre'ing' is a woodworking conceit not a sculpting one. Sculpting is not dictated by the same rules as woodworking. Sculpters are free to make pretty much any shape or line they want.

Carpenters less so.

 

[GINO]

And if you ever held an authentic casting in your hand, you'd know that the edges (the mitre) is not consistent on all 4 sides of the box. Completely hand made. Poor craftsmanship and all. Unsymetrical and wonky.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

okay...here's my...let's say 'problem' with the fact
it was allegedly sculpted...
The damn thing has mitred corners. Why would you even bother to mitre it if you were sculpting a
box from scratch? Surely you'd just form a nice square box and round off the edges?
Mitre'ing' is a woodworking conceit not a sculpting one. Sculpting is not dictated by the same rules as woodworking. Sculpters are free to make pretty much any shape or line they want.
Carpenters less so.

I'm confused... what is the difference between the mitre'ing look and rounded edges? Anyone got a picture to show the difference?

 

[GINO]

If I understand correctly, Hal is talking about the corner, the convergence of two sides of the box that make that 45 degree diagonal line on the corners.

Who knows why they sculpted it that way. Maybe it's because having mitred looking corners gives off more of a feeling of machine made and less like home-made. Even though we know it was home-made from movie magic.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

OIC... thanks :thumbsup

 

[ArtisanProps]

I think The stuff with the picture frame was going on the concept of using what they had available instead of wasting time to sculpt.. Even if they took a block of wood and mitered the corners that's still easier then a complete sculpt and besides the only things i tend to see sculpted are things that have a lot of detail or stuff they can't obtain..
Now it is possible they might have sculpted it, but with time being the one thing they didn't have a lot of, it just seems more logical to get it done as quickly as possible and besides if a silicone, latex ex, ex, mold doesn't have a very good Mother Mold (outer shell ) then whatever you pour in or cast into it might move around making it look deformed and pourly made..

 

[GINO]

Definitely not. You can see sculptural details in the edges of the chestox itself. The whole thing was very quickly knocked out of a solid chunk of clay.

 

[ob1al]

Could strips of wood with a bevel have been added to the sides of the clay box to tidy it up, thus accounting for the mitre joins?

To blend the wood edging in with the clay for molding, they would have to smooth the clay around the wood, theoretically accounting for the sculptural details GINO mentions?

Are the scuptural details something specific, like a makers mark or design detail, or just imperfections from fingers running over wet clay?

Just thinking out loud here...

 

[GINO]

You can actually see the finger swipes along the edges.

 

[ArtisanProps]

Definitely not. You can see sculptural details in the edges of the chestox itself. The whole thing was very quickly knocked out of a solid chunk of clay.

Ya know the more i look at closeups of the box Gino, i have to admit your probably right, i mean what a piece of crap that thing is.. Who made this a 2 year old
Man i don't know :confused the whole sculpt thing sounds plausable but i just can't get over those mitered corners....

Ya know what? My brain's had enough pondering over this conundrum LOL, even if i held the original in my hand i would still make it look better then that abortion

 

[ob1al]

Yeah, but it's that all-out craptacularness which gives ANH Vader his unique style. Gotta love it. :lol

 

[GINO]

Ya know what? My brain's had enough pondering over this conundrum LOL, even if i held the original in my hand i would still make it look better then that abortion

:lol
I know what you mean. I thought that too when I first saw it.
However ob1al is right. If you want your vader to look authentic, gotta go with craptacular.

 

[Predrhone]

I agree with the sculpted-over theory: It's definately possible that one of those things was used as a base or at least reference to obtain the desired shape.

Maybe you're all right! :lol :cool

 

[HAL9000]

Gino,

any chance you could post a close-up or side on view of
one of the casts you have? would be interesting to see this
detail.

cheers
:thumbsup