Darth Vader CA dome placement mod

[juajn7fernandez]

I've had this helmet on my ongoing Vader project display. All my good stuff is in a storage unit in Florida since I moved and I decided to finally fix the dome position on this helmet. When I first got the helmet I painted it with the correct pattern but made no modifications to the structure itself. Recently I saw one of these helmets going for sale here on the forum stating that the dome had been fixed and it inspired me to perform surgery on my CA helmet. It is still supper raw in there. I cut the T mount to lowered it and used some epoxy clay to hold it in place for the time being. I do plan on filling some gaps left from the re-fitting and maybe repainting it. The armor on this display will be soon replaced as this is an old Galaxy Trading armor that is not the most accurate. ( this helmet and armor were featured in the Don Post CA section of starwarshelmets.com and its come a long way I would say). The helmet is still not perfect but overall I'm please with the look on it and will keep working to improve on it.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

 

[bookface]

Much better. Now get that armour repainted!

 

[juajn7fernandez]

Thanks bookface! I'm actually going to replace it with a more accurate one. However I may repaint it and keep it for a second display. Its had the same paint job it came with from GT.

Much better. Now get that armour repainted!

 

[Lichtbringer]

As the one who bought the helmet from the junkyard ...... i would love to see more details of your changes.

 

[Timmythekid]

As the one who bought the helmet from the junkyard ...... i would love to see more details of your changes.

Defo me too! I've had my CA since the mid 90s, always meaning to correct the neck, replace the grills and tusks, and fix the dome position. Details, man, details!

 

[juajn7fernandez]

I'll take detailed pictures when I start the finalizing process. Today I did a very rough job on it just to test it out. I'm gonna be moving to a bigger house this next week so I'm probably not gonna have a lot of time but I guarantee I'm gonna wanna get back on this project as soon as everything is settled in the new place.

I own two Don Post CA Vader helmets and to be quite honest they are easy to work with. If you can get the T mount fixed in to a better (lower) position and give it a nice paint job, you end up with an awesome looking helmet. ( Oh and replace the mouth grill) This helmet still has the original tusks and lens. They dont look all that terrible. I'm not sure if I got lucky but both of my CA helmets have a really nice shape for the dome and the face mask. I've seen other CA helmets that look like they were left out in the heat of the sun and got disfigured. Mine have maintained a great shape.

 

[juajn7fernandez]

A ton of updates to this display and I'm loving where this is going!

- New chest box with correct sequenced electronics
- completely new and more accurate belt, belt boxes and buckle ( all found parts and home made by me)
- Re-painted the chest armor and a bit of re-shaped.
- Finally got the full body mannequin 6'5"

This week I'll be receiving a helmet and armor kit that should be worlds more accurate than the current pieces. In the end I have almost completely re-done my entire Vader display. I'm hoping to get all the correct soft parts before the end of the year.

 

[juajn7fernandez]

Here are some helmet shots. Sorry for the crappy cellphone camera quality.