Budget Vader Project

Guardian Devil

Guardian Devil

Sr Member
It occured to me a while back that almost everyone who had seen my Stormtrooper display had asked the same question: 'So..where's Darth Vader!'
So I decided a Darth Vader wasn't such a bad idea, but sadly, I'm no Vader expert, so I began to collect a few bits and pieces here and there that looked good to me and hide them away untill I came up with something worth showing.

Well...that day is here! I've just ended up with a complete costume and I must say I'm quite pleased with it.

I'm now going to start upgrading him, can anyone see anything that jumps right out at them as terrible? (I know he has an Anakin Ep3 saber at the moment so that needs changing)

The whole thing including the costume, the FX hilt, the mannequin, the shipping & customs etc has come to only £178.17 ($271.51 at the current exchange rate)

It set me thinking, has anyone else managed any budget Vader displays?
If so I'd love to see them!

Here he is:
Vader.jpg
 
looks sweet to me. Though im no expert either. Ive been thinking about grabing a supreme lid off of ebay just to display with my trooper helmet
 
Looks like a Rubies Supreme Helmet? If so and you want to stay on budget, it may be worth modifying ( pro's and con's and expense of materials......). However, if you are planning piece meal upgrades - start with the Helmet :)

Also - what version of vader are you shooting for? You might want to flip his "sensor" buckle the other way around.
 
Pretty dang impressive for that kind of money! I'd alter the rubies helmet and paint it up, and I can't see the body suit that well but it looks ok.
 
Yup...very good for the cash and I totally agree...either MOD your helmet or upgrade. You probably need to decide which version to do. I think in these current times either ROTS or an ESB have the most easily bargain snatched parts....

Well done!

Regards
TAZ
 
Thanks for the kind words guys, I'll get that buckle fixed right away! I think once I start upgrading, I'd prefer an ESB look to him.

The chest armor, shins and cod piece are all fiberglass and short of a nicer finish on them, I'm quite pleased with those parts. The aluminum buckle I picked up on eBay along with the helmet (for the bargain price of £20 for both)

Thats right its the Rubies Supreme helmet, I'm going to give it a bright shiny new paint job, as I'm going to start modding it instead of replacing it, I always have a lot of fun tinkering with things like that.
I don't like the lenses or the 'tusks' and the dome seems to sit a little funny. Any other mods anyone knows of that would need doing to it?
 
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Awesome

so if you are going for the ESB look - you might want to repaint the shoulder armor bells to black.

Otherwise you have the right mindset to get this vader looking good :)
 
I am so jealous! I have been after something like this for ages. If you can give some details about how you pulled it off, please share or PM me. Before I saw this, I resigned to buying the Rubies deluxe as a starting point. This is fantastic!!!!:thumbsup
 
Your chest box looks ROTJ, it should be mounted much higher just barely under the armor.

Flip the belt buckle and remount the dome to sit lower and you've got a good looking display for the money spent.
 
Wow a £178! That s impressive! I never knew you could set up a DV display for that. Well done. Would you share how you did it?
I'd say the only thing that jumps out is the helmet, there are other things but the helmet is the most obvious.
Carry on. Great job. :thumbsup
 
No big secret to how I did it really, just staying patient and waiting to be in the right place at the right time for each part...and to be honest, quite a bit of luck!
I found that eBay (even though often full of tat!) can be a great place for getting peoples abandoned projects, Vader seems to be one that a lot of people start, get a few good parts then give up on.
I put some basic search terms in the Email Notifications and picked up a few great parts on low Buy-It-Now prices before they were noticed by anyone else.
The mannequin was badly damaged, both legs broken, missing hands and broken arms so I got that for £15 did a little work on it, now it's in great shape.

I've got a few bits and pieces hidden away for Boba Fett one day too :lol
 
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Yeah, I spent 3 months modding the Rubies mask. The right side of the nose has a nasty curve in it, the cheeks are too bowed in, the dome sits too far forward and needs to tilt back more, the "teeth" in the grill need to be squared, those lenses HAVE to go, and there.s still more to do on it.

Before:
vaderoldhelmet1.jpg


After:

vaderhelmetsm.jpg



I still have a lot of work to do on it. I'm working on the helmet ridge now.
 
Thanks very much for the pictures and details Borgknight, that's great!
It gives me a good place to start for the helmet, infact I might even get started on that today!
 
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