My Vader ANH Early Progress Pics

[Hedjii72]

Hey gang,

I thought you might enjoy seeing my Vader ANH project as it evolves. This has been about a year in the making, since I first got the helmet for it. Now seemed like a good time to post pics, because I finally got a mannequin for it. ItÂ’s very much a work in progress, but it might be fun to see it in its early stages before itÂ’s finished.

The mannequin is 6’4” tall. It came painted black, which is perfect while waiting for the leather suit, codpiece, and cape. He sure does look skinny, but that will all change. I’m going to bulk him up with lots of bubble wrap, and hopefully add some height to the mannequin as well.

The gloves and chest armor are ESB. It will be awhwile before I upgrade them to ANH. Hopefully I can get some chest armor that feels more substantial. To be honest, IÂ’m not sure if the armor is Prowse sized or not. I got it cheap last year before halloween.



The mannequin separates at the arms, waist, wrists, and one leg. IÂ’m not quite sure if I put the stand in properly. I have to experiment with it again. For this reason, I am not leaving my fiberglass helmet on all the time yet!

The belt has a ways to go, but that will change once I get my russrep boxes! (YAY!) . I have the green lights for it, but am waiting to get a set of belt boxes made.

One glove went on fine with a little effort. The other one.... forget it! I will have to do some “surgery” on the hand to make the glove fit. Only one boot is on at this time, because some holes need to be cut in the bottom and back of the right boot to accomodate the stand. No big deal since they wont be visible.

I’m hoping to add some height to the mannequin, to get him up to 6’6”. I will most likely add some plywood to the waist, and maybe a bit of bubble wrap on top of the head.

This last pic is just for fun!

IÂ’ll definitely share more as he evolves. But any feedback or criticism is welcome!

 

[yakcam]

WOW...

That's the best Bat Vader I've ever seen, I keeed, I keeed. B)

Seriously though, that is a great start. You're going to have a quality Vader there. One suggestion though, I used bubblewrap on my Vader and over time he slowly deflated. I ended up doing him again with thin foam sheets.

Well done :thumbsup and If you want to do a Batman in the future, you know where to get a good mannequin, just the right colour too.

Cheers,

Kraig

 

[propsculptor]

WOW. Is THAT Vader SKINNY. :lol :lol

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Looks like you are off to a great start, all I have is a Helmet.

By the way, I would suggest that you "Bulk-up" the mannequin with different thicknesses of Sheet Foam, by doing that you can trim the foam to match the bodyshape of Prowse without having to sculpt amd mold the shapes/forms.

Here is a link for Foam-building for Puppet making:
http://www.puppetbuilder.com/info/
Just modify the plans for your project needs...

 

[SurferGeek]

<div class='quotetop'>(propsculptor @ Jun 2 2006, 07:02 PM) [snapback]1255227[/snapback]</div>

WOW. Is THAT Vader SKINNY. :lol :lol

[/b]

He's been eating at Subway. :lol








Great start. With the mannequin already being 6'4" it shouldn't make the torso look too long by the amount you need to add. Definately looks silly without all the bulk.

 

[Darth Kahnt]

I love prgress pics like this where you can look back and where you started and have a laugh for yourself. That mannequin definately is funny but I have no doubt it will evolve into something great.

You're off to a great start. Looking forward to seeing it all done.

 

[clancampbell]

Peter Parker in a Vader outfit....

Seriously, swell looking Vader, man.

 

[The Manlet]

Hedjii72 did you take pictures of me in my vader suit when i wasn't looking. LMAO thats what i look like with out the rest of my costume on that is AWSOMW.. :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup

 

[DarkLordSalvo]

You know, just paint some vertical stripes on it and give it a "Dracula-style" collared cape and you'd have an accurate replica of the original '77 Kenner figure.

 

[Boba Frett]

You are off to a good start

 

[SithLord]

Often I see the mannequin come last....good to see you're using it as a base on which to build an accurate ANH Vader...nice start...it's certainly got the right height .

 

[Qui-Gonzalez]

My first thought was "Oh look, a Hayden sized Vader".

Seriously, you are off to a good start as others have said.

 

[ROBOSTEVE 0671]

Great looking helmet and chest box, the whole thing should start to take shape once you bulk him out as others have said. Simply cool. I'll be watching this one :thumbsup

Steve

 

[jedivigneri]

LOOKS LIKE A GOOD START your gonna have the same prob i had with my chest box...the holes for the red/green accurate squares you are getting are to big for the accurate plexiglass lites...anyone know how to make the holes smaller? putty? anyone? mo later curt

 

[Hedjii72]

Hmmm... hadn't considered that. When I get my new chestbox buttons, I'll let you know. I may use some kind of filler and then paint over it.

If worse comes to worse, I may start from scratch and do a new chestbox out of wood, keeping the best parts of my old chestbox for the new one.

Any other ideas from anyone else?

 

[Reel Fakes]

Speaking from experience, I wouldn't bother extending the mannequin at the waist if I were you.
You'll be suprised how much taller he gets just with padding.
6' 6" could easily be achieved by padding the mannequin's head - it's probably too small anyway.

Good luck. You're off to a great start :
-Chris

 

[Hedjii72]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

JediPunk Did you try extending a mannequin at the waist and have it fail? Do you mind elaborating?

Yeah, I figured 1.5 inches at the waist plus a little extra padding on the head would bring me up to about 6 feet 6 inches, which is close enough for me.

 

[chris1748]

cut him off at the ankles and add 2x4's in between his feet and ankles to add a couple of inches to his height and pad his head.

chris

 

[Reel Fakes]

<div class='quotetop'>(Hedjii72 @ Jun 4 2006, 06:33 PM) [snapback]1256237[/snapback]</div>

JediPunk Did you try extending a mannequin at the waist and have it fail? Do you mind elaborating?
[/b]

Sorry if I was unclear - I just meant that it's a lot of work to make a waist extention, and it's not really nessesary in your case. If your mannequin is really 6' 4" as you suggest, you really only need another inch.

In my case, I used a cheap mannequin and decided I didn't like the pose. I ended up making completely new arms and legs for mine. :rolleyes
Ahhhh memories...

 

[vaderdarth]

To get the best "proportional" height increase......you may want to consider adding an inch at a time at different places.......neck, waist, knees, elbows.....etc....until you achieve the height you desire. The padding will take care of the bulk for ya. Just a thought I had for my own mannequin conversion. it's more work, but the waist is really easy.....as you just slide the two halves apart and stick in an inch spacer. Of course cutting the fiberglass will be necessary for the other parts. Still, the end results would be incredible.

Dave

 

[Hedjii72]

Yeah, I'm going to attempt 1.5 inches of plywood at the waist, plus another inch or so on top of the head. This would equal 6 feet 6 inches, which works for me. I want to avoid modding the legs, because I fear that's where most of the stability lies, and I'd hate to compromise stability for an inch on the legs.

I will of course let you know how it works.