Darth Vader Chest Box: From ANH to ROTJ

ArtisanProps

Sr Member
Hey everyone I just wanted to show off the progression of My scratch built
ANH Chest Box to an ESB version and finally to a ROTJ version most people
haven't seen...

The first set of pictures are of MY ANH CB that was scratch built mostly using
Sculpley clay. I have 2 screen casts that came in quite handy when I needed
the measurements and the exact placement of all the pieces

cbsculpt1.jpg

cbsculpt2.jpg

cbsculpt3.jpg

cbsculpt4.jpg

cbsculpt5.jpg

cbsculpt6.jpg

cbsculpt7.jpg

cbsculpt8.jpg

cbsculpt9.jpg

And here is the finished Box....
finishedbox.jpg
 
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Once I moved on to the ESB version, I studied the differences between ANH
and ESB and found that basically if you take off all the extra parts, what
your left with is the same box they used for ANH.. In order to have an ANH
box resemble the ESB version I had to first fill in the rocker section with
resin.. After the filling and the sanding to get the rockers lookin right all that
was left was to do was machine all the greeblies,(that was tuff) make all of
the lenses, and finally create the stickers..... Whew! The ESB version is quite
involved, but I love the look of it the very best :)

cbsculpt10.jpg

And here is the Box finished :)
esbcb1.jpg

esbcb2.jpg
 
Finally I did a mock up version for a fellow member of the chest box that was
used in the fight scene in ROTJ.. The box that was used for the fight scene
was just a modified ESB version.. For this mock up I really didn't need to make
any drastic changes, mostly just paintwork..... I have to give full credit to
Gino for this find since he was the first person to publicly point this fact out..
It's a really great find because we get a chance to see what happened to the
original ESB chest box..

rotjstuntcb.jpg
 
I would have to say that I enjoyed the evolution of this one scratch built
ANH box all the way through to ROTJ, and it's pretty cool how they took
most of what was left in ANH and made it work for another 2 movies.. I
wonder if anyone was able to mold the ESB version box before it was converted
to the ROTJ fight scene box.. I personally have never seen an ESB CB cast
or heard of anyone owning one, but it would be cool to see one.......
 
Cool post and thanks for the credit on the ESB CB find in ROTJ. :)

I personally have never seen an ESB CB cast
or heard of anyone owning one, but it would be cool to see one.......

All 3 of my chestboxes are cast from original. :thumbsup


.
 
Cool post and thanks for the credit on the ESB CB find in ROTJ. :)



All 3 of my chestboxes are cast from original. :thumbsup


.

Oh yeah, Gino. That's pretty frigin cool. For some strange reason I thought
your box was your own work with measurements taken off of the original.....
Shows how much I pay attention, huh? lol ;)

I'm not even gonna ask how you managed to get all 3 screen casts, so I'll
just congradulate you on aquiring such a cool prop....
 
Heck no. At this point, all the pieces or all the parts on my 3 vader displays are cast from original or the found part. That's why I'm so excited that with the addition of the gloves I'll finally be able to call them complete once and for all.
Just to clarify, the ESB and ROTJ boxes I make for people are my own scratch build, but the ones on my displays are the real deal.

Now all you need to do is make the hero version ROTJ box to complete the set (not including ROTS:sick).

.
 
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Eeeeks Never ever, ever, ever will I take on any ROTS parts.... I'm OT all the way.. :)

Yeah I can't wait to see your Vader with the Gloves, it should be pretty Bad
A$$. I've been pretty stoked too because I've started work on a David Prowse
sized Mannequin with movable joints.. I plan on making him like one big action
figure.. Right now My Vader is a bit stiff and lifeless, so I can't wait to finish
it.... :)
 
I'll venture an opinion that to me this doesn't look like a scratch built box. AP had a chestbox run a while ago stating that it was scratchbuilt. Here are two of his templates showing the tracings of the rocker switches, presumably showing stages of the development of the box.

APbox2.jpg


In the comparison below, on the left is one of the cast boxes from his run next to his scratchbuilt template on the right. Note the relative positions of the rocker switches indicated by the red brackets.

APbox2b.jpg



On the original ANH chestbox, the relative positions and even the tilt of the rocker switches is a very fine detail, in addition to the relative spacing of the rocker switches to each other (the gaps between the rockers). Also specific to the original is the curvature of each side of the box and the top surface irregularities when seen in reflection. I have photo comparisons of original box castings with this box and I do not see how this could be scratch built. I'll show the original box next to his template to illustrate although I have a better illustration but of other people's cast from original boxes.

ANHoriginalchestboxstudy2.jpg



So before people get into a tizzy that I mention this, I think I am entitled to point out if I think something doesn't look scratchbuilt. I could do it in a separate thread if required but if we cannot discuss props and their accuracy here then what. This is not meant as anything personal against AP, it is just that I've looked at this box before and it just doesn't look scratchbuilt to me. So you can agree or disagree. If it was any other prop said to be scratchbuilt and I noticed the same thing, I would mention it if I felt there was something to suggest otherwise.

Here's another illustration of what I mean in regard to the spacing of the rockers, this time compared with a known cast from original box. I just don't see how one can sculpt at that level of accuracy from photos alone without any kind of cast from original template.

APvsorigRockers.jpg
 
It's not worth your efforts Thomas. This smoke screen will be cleared up soon enough, trust me. That's all I have to say for now.
 
Thanks Rich,
I apprciate the compliment :)
This project was not without it's setbacks though. When I first started the
ESB box I was worried because I had no prior machining experience, but since
I have a close friend in the buisness, I asked him to give me some pointers
on how I should go about machining the little silver switches (greeblies). With
his help I was surprised how a standard drill press could be used as a milling
machine.. So with the few lessons my buddy gave me I went to work milling
solid pieces of plastic I made out of resin.. The first few attempts were pretty
bad, but once I got the hang of it all the pieces went pretty smooth, they
came out way better then I had hoped....

I'll post a couple more pics when I get a chance of the milling process ;)
 
Thanks guys, I just got word today from Russ that the Rods are complete
Yippie :D It's still gonna take about a week or so for the Rods to get here
but once their here, I'll be a shipping madman lol :D
 
Thomas I know your trying to prove that the box with the pencil marks
is not the same box from my Chest Box run so I added a couple more pictures
to prove that they are in fact the same boxes.. I'm not sure of your motivation
but given Pauls remarks directly following your comparison, one can only
assume that you guys are on a mission to destroy my name.. I hope I'm wrong..


First Box is the master from my ANH chest box run and I'm pretty sure we
can agree that this is the same box.. notice the arrow: This box was damaged
so I thought I would point it out so you know that all the images following are
consistant and of the same box.....

dsc03731i.jpg


The remaining pictures are of that same Box, only I've removed some of the
parts so you can see that they are in fact glued on.. My ANH box is not a solid
recasted box like your insinuating... I'll take the fact that you can't believe
this to be a scratch build as a compliment and coming from someone like you
who does a lot of research it means a lot ;)

cbsculpt11.jpg

cbsculpt12.jpg
 
In spite of what you might think, I'm not interested in what Paul thinks or says, nor about your history with him. I'm just looking at your box and making a supposition about it. If I am wrong, then fine I look forward to being proven wrong. But at this point I'm still on the fence. There is no real good time to mention it, nor any way to mention it without seeming as if it is in offense. But keep in mind that I didn't say anything about recast because you yourself state you have an accurate ANH box from which you traced an outline for your clay template, so there is no implication of doing something without permission here, just in terms of how incredibly accurate your box is for a scratch built.

APvscastorigRockers3.jpg
 
Awesome thread Doug!:thumbsup You have that uncommon god given sculptors eye for detail that alot of us in this world wish we had but dont. What you have created here using your talents is just plain amazing!:cheers Anybody who has the eye to create a mini Vader helmet from scratch like you did, which was nothing short of incredible btw, can do anything!

Well done on these boxes bro!(y)thumbsup:cool
 
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