Well, it's been a while since I've posted here, but it's finally done. Below is my near 1:1 scale Vader helmet, cast from my very own molds. I'd say it's about 90-95% full sized. This journey started back in Aug/Sept 2018 and was an on again, off again project. But finally, I can say, after moving goalposts and revisiting the sculpt too many times, that it's mission complete!
I set myself the challenge: Could I create, completely from scratch and using nothing as a base or from a recast, an accurate Darth Vader ANH helmet, recreating the methods used on the original....sculpted in clay, and cast in fibreglass. Learning how to sculpt and cast as I go. And just as important was to keep in the spirit of the original prop...hand sculpted with all the assymetry, warts, bumps and curves of the original prop. Painted in a rush with visible brush strokes. I wanted this to be a 'dirty' sculpt, not cleaned up or idealised. I also wanted to give people a local go to for this style of Vader helmet as postage is a killer to here.
I also wanted the helmet to be a little smaller than full sized so that it's a bit more proportional to the build and height of most mortals!
Unfortunately, I can't make metal cast tusks yet, I'll see if I can, but I am going to have resin ones in the meantime. For me, I'll source mine online for now.
I will, over time, modify the helmet and create a mold for both ESB and ROTJ versions. The mask for both can stay with the mask I've finished. I'll also create some shoulder and chest armour to match - that will be the next project and should be A LOT quicker than the helmet.... I'm aiming for second half of this year.
The lenses are a 3mm acrylic plastic, heated and shaped in the mask, and dyed to an amber colour.
I present my scratch built, fiberglass Darth Vader ANH helmet...
And here is mine (on the left) in comparison to an EFX PCR (on the right), it's just a little bit smaller...