PantheraGem
Sr Member
There's a few people mildly interested in what I did so I figured I'd write a little post on it.
I had ordered a Rubies to start out with and slowly replace the parts as I went on and found what I liked. My thinking was, at least that way, no matter what I had or didn't have yet, I would always have a complete Vader standing around.
I looked for quite a few mannequins and didn't like what I saw. With most of them even if I did bulk them up they wouldn't have been poseable. I wanted something more like a 7' action figure. I started making one out of wood, but scrapped that idea upon taking my parents 30 year-old queen size bed frame to the dump. The center spine of the bed became Vader's spine, the hinges cut in half and became his shoulder/hip joints, the sidebars became his shoulders and hips, the cross sections became his arms and legs. Besides spending money on the nuts/bolts and lock washers at Home Depot, and getting some stuffing from a fabric store, this mannequin cost me nothing. The only tools I really needed were a drill, sawzall, and a couple wrenches.
I got a little obssesed with finishing it and didn't take any pictures while I was making the thing. I knew I'd regret it too. I did take a few pics though when I took half of it apart to make some adjustments. You can only really see the hip assembly, but the shoulders are assembled in the same way. With the exception that on the shoulders, the upper arms aren't flush with the edges of the shoulder. The hinges stick out a bit giving the shoulder a bit of a "ball" edge taper.
The measurements are roughly as follows;
Upper arms 14"
Lower arms 9" (knowing the attachment of a hand would make up some length.)
Thigh 23"
Shin 23"
Hips 14"
Shoulders 20"-21"
Spine 21"
Height with full costume on: 6'11"
The total cost was less than $20, considering the bedframe was basically garbage.
Big pic of hip assembly.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e252/Pan...072005-03TU.jpg
What he looked like last year
What he looks like currently. This pic has no flash 'cause flash makes it look even crappier than with a few blurs. (The chest box isn't the Rubies. It's supposed to be an ROTS, but it's really not accurate to ROTS either. I have a more accurate ANH one, but this one's more dramatic
) I've replaced the helmet, chest box, belt buckle, gloves, robe(wool and I got it cheap, will get a longer one later) shin guards, and boots. Think that's all.... for now.
I had ordered a Rubies to start out with and slowly replace the parts as I went on and found what I liked. My thinking was, at least that way, no matter what I had or didn't have yet, I would always have a complete Vader standing around.
I looked for quite a few mannequins and didn't like what I saw. With most of them even if I did bulk them up they wouldn't have been poseable. I wanted something more like a 7' action figure. I started making one out of wood, but scrapped that idea upon taking my parents 30 year-old queen size bed frame to the dump. The center spine of the bed became Vader's spine, the hinges cut in half and became his shoulder/hip joints, the sidebars became his shoulders and hips, the cross sections became his arms and legs. Besides spending money on the nuts/bolts and lock washers at Home Depot, and getting some stuffing from a fabric store, this mannequin cost me nothing. The only tools I really needed were a drill, sawzall, and a couple wrenches.
I got a little obssesed with finishing it and didn't take any pictures while I was making the thing. I knew I'd regret it too. I did take a few pics though when I took half of it apart to make some adjustments. You can only really see the hip assembly, but the shoulders are assembled in the same way. With the exception that on the shoulders, the upper arms aren't flush with the edges of the shoulder. The hinges stick out a bit giving the shoulder a bit of a "ball" edge taper.
The measurements are roughly as follows;
Upper arms 14"
Lower arms 9" (knowing the attachment of a hand would make up some length.)
Thigh 23"
Shin 23"
Hips 14"
Shoulders 20"-21"
Spine 21"
Height with full costume on: 6'11"
The total cost was less than $20, considering the bedframe was basically garbage.
Big pic of hip assembly.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e252/Pan...072005-03TU.jpg
What he looked like last year
What he looks like currently. This pic has no flash 'cause flash makes it look even crappier than with a few blurs. (The chest box isn't the Rubies. It's supposed to be an ROTS, but it's really not accurate to ROTS either. I have a more accurate ANH one, but this one's more dramatic
) I've replaced the helmet, chest box, belt buckle, gloves, robe(wool and I got it cheap, will get a longer one later) shin guards, and boots. Think that's all.... for now.
