Ghost host ROTJ Vader

[Darth Africanus]

Recently aqcuired my first Vader helmet with some lineage back to the orginals
Thanks to Juan Fernandez good man and friend! Helped me get the perfect ROTJ look in my opinion

The paint work was done by me i'm still learning with painting using rattle cans
but I believe it has the correct prop look(debatebil but to me atleast)

Paint used was rustoleum laquer paint's
but I dont think I would use rustoleum again it is difficult to work with in my opinion


Anyway here are some pics before it was finished

 

[dcarty]

Fantastic looking helmet!

 

[darthbooth1978]

Good job

 

[Darth Africanus]

Fantastic looking helmet!

Thank You very much means so much to me coming from one who paint's perfect vader helmet's still getting a hang of laquere paint's
but you and Juan's work is my inspiration !

 

[Darth Africanus]

Good job

Thank you very much appreciate it very much !

 

[Dann]

What's the trouble you're having with the Rust-Oleum?

Your paint job looks good to me, it looks like you just need to wet sand the dome.

 

[Darth Africanus]

So here it is all finished up to the best of my ability to get that ROTJ look
lenses were done by me with help from vadermonkey who showed me how to make them
lenses were maid using 1mm acrylic dyed in brown/yellow mix dye to get a bronze look as per original
still very nice and clear and transparent did think I dipped them twice for 5min each in RIT synthetic dye
to get a nice deep color but not too saturated

I painted the helmet Gunmetal firstly It was hard to come to this color which I feel is a very accurate prop look
I painted the mask one coat gloss pewter grey then once dry a thin coat of metallic cast iron

then finally a thinish coat of proper Gunmetal grey

all black paint is rustoleum laqeur black

once everything was properly cured and nice and hard thank you African sunshine and dry hot temperature
for helping lol it was glossed over thin coat then a wetter coat

Juan Fernandez helped me with the dome positioning and how it should sit as well as the process on how to paint


And that is it Guy's and Gal's hope everybody likes it welcome to leave any feedback !

 

[Darth Africanus]

What's the trouble you're having with the Rust-Oleum?

Your paint job looks good to me, it looks like you just need to wet sand the dome.

It was hard to work with for me I worked with it before on the ANH helmet I did awhile back
and it came out ok even when I wet sanded the dome and polished it to get some of the glossy look it came out well

But this time when I tried wet sanding and polishing with compound the hazyness did't want to go away BTW I polish by hand
so perhaps I just weren't elbow greasing it enough lol

But I gave the dome a nice Wet coat after it all was smoothed out and the finished result is good I think

Plus the originals had orange peel I wanted to keep the orange peel as well

 

[Dann]

Yeah, I think you did a fine job, looks great!

I hand wet-sanded and hand polished my ANH dome when I painted mine, years ago, too. It REALLY is tiring! It took days!

 

[vader45]

Did that dome come with the face mask?

 

[juajn7fernandez]

Did that dome come with the face mask?

This dome has been altered to not be so wide. It's always been my issue with the GH ROTJ. I was gonna finish this helmet myself but there are just too many projects at hand right now.

 

[juajn7fernandez]

Great work! and awesome pictures!

Would love to see some pictures from a lower angle

 

[vader45]

This dome has been altered to not be so wide. It's always been my issue with the GH ROTJ. I was gonna finish this helmet myself but there are just too many projects at hand right now.

Reason why I ask is because the mohawk looks Rubies soft.

 

[Darth Africanus]

With Help from Juan I shot photos with my 35mm lens which doesn't destort the helmet as much as the other lens I used

To me this is perfect only thing closer to ROTJ would be a GS helmet or a real deal ROTJ for me
To me its perfect and has the Look of a helmet with lineage

Mine Vs screencape

 

[Darth Africanus]

And keep in mind lighting is very important because I took the photo in a bright room with harsh light all around it looks bit funny
but asoon as I put it in a room with soft light to the side of the helmet and a bright light from above it looks to my eye almost like the real deal

But here is a photo I edited in lightroom to see If I could get the studio effect
Unfortunatly I don't have a nice flash to bounce light of so it can cast the correct shadows etc

 

[Darth Africanus]

And this is a crapy cell phone pic to show how it looks in the more correct darker lighting

The shadow of the dome gives the right look to cover the high dome mount etc

 

[vader45]

I'm happy that you enjoy the helmet. It's a very nice piece for sure to own.

I do still feel, however, the dome strip is to soft still and I don't recall other GH ROTJs having that soft strip.

But if you like it, thats all that matters. Enjoy your piece!

 

[Darth Africanus]

Alright I decided since im a pretty decent photographer and the light in my room was perfect now as it geting into evening by me

Here are the perfect shot's I did the effort to get the right exposure and shadows and it pay's man

If this doesn't show ROTJ vader I don't know what will lol

enjoy guys O and the ANH is also there

 

[Darth Africanus]

I'm happy that you enjoy the helmet. It's a very nice piece for sure to own.

I do still feel, however, the dome strip is to soft still and I don't recall other GH ROTJs having that soft strip.

But if you like it, thats all that matters. Enjoy your piece!

Well it's my first helmet with some what lineage it's no GS for sure
when I got it it wasn't soft but I might have sprayed the black pain't and gloss on too thick

and I could always strip it and sharpen the mohawk but I told myself I did not want to do any work on it like that
would it be more accurate yes for sure

but I would rather enjoy this copy as is with my work I did and be happy

Im aware it should be more pronounced but that just motivates me to get a GS/CFO so I can have almost perfect
and perfect together that's the joy of collecting every piece is different

GH ROTJ had ugly dome flare and neck flare so im glad Juan fixed that before he sold this copy
but the soft mohawk on the pictures is a bit fals as with my bare eyes in front of me it's not at all that soft

Thank you very much Vader45 I will it's my favrouirit so far !

 

[Darth Africanus]

New Updated look I tried to sharpen the Mohawk looks much better