Finally 99% Finished ANH Vader

[Darthmagpie]

Well after four years and $$$$ finally 99% finished. It is missing the leather collar. It still needs tweaking but thatÂ’s were I am relying on some advice from you guys. I am well aware of most of the inaccuracies but am pretty happy with it. The only thing you canÂ’t pick on is the helmet. I know it is mounted a little high. I may fix that, not sure yet. I planned on spending $5,000 when I started, based on the warning of this project. I ended up spending $2600 and a gallon of blood sweat and tears. The chest box lights up and blinks and the belt boxes light up (I know ANH, but It should have). There is an amplified speaker inside the helmet that resonates in the helmet so Awesome it makes you want to cry. He does 7 minutes of breathing and a movie quote 7 minutes of breathing and then a movie quote and so on. I LOVE him. The display is missing the emperor but.........someday. I know he needs tweaking and doesn't look natural in his pose so lets here it guys....Thank you all for your help and input.
Pics are bad; I know but dam he is all black.

Thanks, WACKYCHIMP

 

[jonjohn29]

vERY NICE.

 

[KevVader]

....kinda hard to tell from the dark pics....but he looks good. And I love the backdrop.....I'd pull up his chestbox a bit higher tho....

 

[The Death Curse]

Looks beautiful, man.

Hrm...Only part of the mannequin itself that I see a problem with is that the shoulders aren't wide enough. I agree with moving the chest box up a tad, as well. I think the current pose is a bit too static...Maybe you could also move his right arm out in front of him, mimicking the "force choke" motion. That'd give it lots more character.

Ryan

 

[DARKSIDE72]

Looks great. Please tell me how you made the voice/effects etc? I'd love to do something similar.

 

[Boba Frett]

From what I see It looks very nice :thumbsup

 

[mikajedi]

Your display looks great . :thumbsup
Your belt buckle doesn't look like the one in ANH, may be you should try to find one from russrep.
But don't worry this is a good job . :thumbsup B)

 

[SithLord]

Congratulations on a terrific display...always great to see another completed ANH Vader. You've got the proportions looking really good for ANH (he was a bit less bulky than in ESB). More pics always appreciated.

:cheers,

Thomas

 

[Darthmagpie]

Thanks Guys. It means a lot comming from this group....

Here are afew pics of the suggested changes....Don't know if they work but I am willing to try. This is the best i can do on the choking my manequin is limited.
I know about the buckle buuuut its really nice so for now lets keep it between us. Shhhhhhhh.

its funny how angles make things look weird.

Darkside72, What I did for the voice was. I took a set of Portable CD player speakers(amplified). Probably the same as computer speakers. It comes with 2 one has the amplifier board and the CD jack. The other plugs into the first one. Here is the other one.

I opend up the plastic case and unsoldered the speaker. I Spliced in a 4 FT section of wire. I took one of the strong magnets from one of the hard drives i opened(for another project ). and black duct taped it to the manequin's head at the mouth area. I stuck the speaker to the magnet and ran the wire over the head and down the back on the inside of everything. I moved the amplifier from a horizontal position to a vertical position and duct taped it into the half of the speaker case that has the battery compartment, and shoved it in his belt,(on the right side)

Then I just downloaded some sounds and breathing and edited it in EZ cd creator. put it in a cd player and shoved it in his belt on the left side.

WOW doesn't feel that complicated unit you have to explain it.....

Thanks wackychimp

 

[KevVader]

re. the chestbox.....looks MUCH better.

I also agree with Mika....change out the buckle to an ANH style and you're there. :thumbsup

 

[yakcam]

WOW, that looks great :thumbsup
Can I make a suggestion, now that the chest box is nice and high, lift the belt so that it's about an inch or so under the box, then the cod up so it's right under the belt.
ANH Vader, had very little spacing between the components, and sometimes they were touching.

Audio...

Isn't it great to not only see Vader but to hear him as well. I did that with mine a year and a half or so ago, but I went out and bought a mannequin, with in a 1/2hr I had his head chopped off and mounted speakers in it's place, one facing forward, one facing back. I think what really sealed the deal was the sub, it's on the floor, behind his leg, under the cape, it helps his booming voice.

I also did a similar thing with my TK's, I splt the channels between left and right.
Left "Look sir, droids"
Right "These aren't the droids we're looking for, move along, move along."

You can see them here (scroll to the bottom)....

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/bingo275/vaderfananh.htm

Well done again, he looks great, it's not easy putting one together and I think you've done a superb job

Cheers,

Kraig

 

[Clutch]

This is a great thread. Excellent work guys.

 

[KevVader]

Kraig....love the "speaker head". Brilliant. :thumbsup

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Looks great. Very impressive. .)

 

[Darthmagpie]

Thanks again guys. I can't really move the cod up any more. I know exactly what you are saying, however if I move it up any more you will see the crotch of the pants. I can't move the pants up more because I build the manequin out of PVC and the cross bar is there. Thats why I had the box down a bit to make it kind of even. I am surprized with all the inacuracies that people keep pointing out the buckle, but that just goes to show you what other see when you don't. I love the saying "It is difficult to see the painting from inside the frame", that is evident here.

So who has the buckles? lol

 

[KevVader]

Originally posted by Darthmagpie@Feb 11 2006, 06:01 PM
Thanks again guys.  I can't really move the cod up any more.  I know exactly what you are saying, however if I move it up any more you will see the crotch of the pants.  I can't move the pants up more because I build the manequin out of PVC and the cross bar is there.  Thats why I had the box down a bit to make it kind of even.  I am surprized with all the inacuracies that people keep pointing out the buckle, but that just goes to show you what other see when you don't.  I love the saying "It is difficult to see the painting from inside the frame", that is evident here. 

So who has the buckles?    lol

[snapback]1182012[/snapback]​

Russrep has buckles which are fairly close......his have evenly spaced rounded slot ends instead of accurate uneven spaced square ended slots. But like I said, his are pretty close and they are very well made...

 

[Replicator1701]

Where you find your mannequin? How tall is it? How tall was Vader?

 

[darth buffalo]

Originally posted by Darthmagpie@Feb 12 2006, 01:01 AM
Thanks again guys.  I can't really move the cod up any more.  I know exactly what you are saying, however if I move it up any more you will see the crotch of the pants.  I can't move the pants up more because I build the manequin out of PVC and the cross bar is there.  Thats why I had the box down a bit to make it kind of even.

[snapback]1182012[/snapback]​

don't worry about seeing the crotch...

get the boxes/buckle close to the chestbox...IMO it will look a lot better

 

[TMP]

The Vader looks great and i agree that the backdrop and the idea of the mic is smart. It whould be cool to do a R-L Audio Renderd playback from the scene were Vader speaks with the troopers and its modified in the way that the sound comes from the person who has the dialog.

 

[PantheraGem]

Looks great. As mine is constantly transforming from a Rubies to an ANH it's great to see things like this. Is that painted AC plywood you've used as the backdrop or just the wall?