Darth Vader Costume by Tammi Mars

[tammimars]

Hi.

I am making my own Darth Vader ANH costume for a budget of under €500. I have a lot of propmaking experience and have been using silicone molds and resin for a long time. Today I started making the pants. Knowing that only the front of the thighs will be visible I took and old pair of bluejeans and opened up the seams. Added fake leather to the front of the thighs and made all the seams along the legs. I could not quite get the bubbly apperance of the original but close. One leg took allmost 2 hours so its slow work.
I also made the chest box out of wood, will ad pictures with description and prices for those who are interrested.
The Helmet, shoulder armour and leg armour along with the gloves are the things I have to buy, the rest will be homemade.

 

[tammimars]

pants

Are the edges of the chestbox beveled enough? (am I using that right) Should it be shiny or dull?

 

[Sym-Cha]

Hi tammimars,

Curious. Which version of Darth Vader are you intending to replicate? ANH, ESB or ROTJ? Or perhaps ROTS?

As for that chestbox here's a picture, where you can clearly see, there's more a round taper to those edges :



Though I applaud your cunning trick of just making the front of the pants in leather . . . if you decide to troop in it . . . kids will find out your an imposter ha, ha, ha. But if only for a DV statue you're good to go. The 'quilting' in the leather, which is now lacking from yours, is created with added soft material in between the seams

Chaim

 

[tammimars]

Thank your for the tips. I'm going for anh (first row in my top post). The jeans will be black so hopefully it won't be that obvious. The quilting is beyond my expertise but the chestbox can be fixed.

 

[Sym-Cha]

Oops, okay so ANH it is ... let me see if I have a more accurate chestbox ... there are slight differences between all movies to those parts :wacko

Here's the screen-accurate :



Here's the trooping suit worn by Kermit Eller, but you
can see the different colors and sizes of the parts onto
the chestbox :



Also those ANH beltboxes are quite different from ESB/ROTJ

Chaim

 

[tammimars]

Nice suit! I found some blueprints in a previous post of the iron lung so I have some reference. I'm thinking about buying a roll of that plastic string you attach to your gardentrimmer, you know the kind you use in the tall grass. I could put strings of plastic inside the canals of the fabric to get a lasting look. (I'm Swedish so my English is shaky at best) ;-)

 

[Sym-Cha]

I would advice against that ... especially if you want to wear the suit ... however if you still have openings on each 'canal' as you say ... perhaps you can add some strings of heavy knitting wool or cotton swap stuff inside? And if you want some more accurate pictures for your research might I suggest : http://thepropden.aokforums.com/index.php

Here's a suggestion for your outer cape ... though I'm not certain that design is accurate enough ... perhaps a test with some cheap fabric to see how it hangs from the shoulder armor to the floor is best



Chaim

 

[tammimars]

The canals are open in both ends and they only have to be stuffed in the middle, so I will try different solutions. The template for the cape is the same one I have too, think it will look great.

 

[gizmo]

sounding awesome.


Ben

 

[Sym-Cha]

Mind you ... I altered that template with only 5 panels instead of the actual 6 ... as I found it on google ... also the outer wool fabrics are lined with satin or shiny polyester

Chaim

 

[tammimars]

Does anyone know the size of the belt? Looks wide..... Are the straps for the chest box also leather.

 

[tammimars]

Progress on the belt, any thoughts? I have seen both with and without red rings around the buttons.....which is right?

 

[Sym-Cha]

That looks good for a belt ... the width I used is 5.5cm ... and I've seen the red rings around the buttons ... but the boxes used for ANH are different from ESB/ROTJ ... go check :
http://thepropden.aokforums.com/index.php that's where all the Vader purists reside with all the info you seek





Chaim

 

[tammimars]

Oh, I see the difference, you have a lid in the front of the box with an edge surrounding the box. Mine has the lid on the back, in the same size as the box, I cut into the lid to make room for the belt.

 

[Sym-Cha]

Yep ... however ... if you just replicate and add only that lid edge with some styrene or black ABS that's thick enough surrounding the side of the box ... you'll be cosmetically finished, and doing it the propmakers way ... work with what you have laying around you

Chaim

 

[tammimars]

If I had just one green light for the belt box I could easy replicate it with a silicone mold and some green transparent resin called polly glass. Do you know of anywhere I can buy one?

 

[Sym-Cha]

The green lights on ANH are also different from ESB/ROTJ ... please check the website I mentioned earlier ... there should be a thread on ANH Vader and his beltboxes and lights

Chaim

 

[tammimars]

I found it but it appears to be from an old stereo equipment.

 

[Sym-Cha]

Post a picture of it, threads with pictures also attrack more viewers ... and perhaps someone can tell you where to search?

Chaim

 

[tammimars]

None of the sites mentioned in this thread have the right ones anymore. Just hope someone has one to spare that I could buy.