Rubies Supreme Vader Helmet Modifications

[AgeOfStrife]

I've recently picked up a Rubies Vader supreme helmet with the intention if modifying it to display with my other Star Wars 1:1 items - ATA Stormtrooper helmet, Doopydoos E-11 blaster, MR 2005 Vader saber hilt, and MR 2007 Vader saber hilt. I know I'm not going to end up with an accurate helmet, but it should end up cheaper than a Darth Ugly raw cast or an EFX PCR and will do as a placeholder until I can afford a better helmet.

I started by taking photos of the unmodified helmet so that I could work out the best way to show it off later. It's amazing how different it can look depending on focal distance and camera level. First up straight on shots at roughly 3, 6, and 9 feet away:

Them from about 9 feet away, adjusting the camera level

So far i haven't done much to it, and won't get chance to do much over the next few weeks, but thought I'd post up some WIP photos and my plans; partly prompted by kevin926 posting up his WIP topic here: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=262855

First thing I wanted to do was to adjust the left side of the neck to reduce the flare. Removed the foam liner by peeling it off carefully and storing a plastic bag in case I decide to reuse it later. Then used a hot air gun to gently heat the inside of the neck, then bend inwards and pour cold water over it. Might rework it a little closer to the front as iit bulges out a little, but overall I'm pleased with how easy it was.

It's a little hard to see, but in the photo above the left is the unmodified helmet and the right is with the neck adjusted and dome tilted back a little, you can just see a part of the white Rubies sticker on the inside of the dome where the neck flare no longer hides it.

I've also heated the dome mount to tilt it back a little so the dome brow sits about 1cm away from the mask rather than right up against the eyebrows.

I've also received smoked lenses from FenixProps which look great, I'll cut out the Rubies eye sockets and build up the small gaps to fit the new lenses using JB Plastic weld putty.

FP lenses at the top, Rubies below.

I'm planning on doing the following to improve the look of the helmet: replace lenses, fill nose plug seam, square mouth vents, sand dome ridge edges to square them up, repaint mask with ESB gunmetal and black scheme.

No idea when the next update will be, but I'll post photos as I make progress.

Dan

 

[kevin926]

I like how you heated the bottom to look better. The neck part gives me concern because I'm not crazy about the gap it leaves to the helmet from the mask. Did you have any plans for that or will you leave it be. To share my plans with you, I was thinking about incorporating a partial reveal style to help cover the gap. Maybe find some black vinyl or similar material that can be modified to give that appearance. Also, it may be fun to add some greebies to the inside chin area to make it look more like the reveal helmet. At this point, I don't believe I will cut it to make a true reveal but food for thought any way

 

[AgeOfStrife]

Tilting the dome back a little closes the gap slightly, but as I'm going to display this and not wear it (well, not much ) I'm not too worried about the gap.

Dan

 

[Vince]

Lowering the dome will make an incredible difference. I found it probably the most challenging part to do while trying to fix my rubies helmet way back when but it really pays off in capturing that correct look for Vader.

The photo below, which belongs to CSMclaren (I hope I am not violating anything by posting it), illustrates the dome positioning perfectly.

 

[AgeOfStrife]

I've looked through a lot of CSMclarens posts and have seen that pic before, but thanks for posting it again as I couldn't find it last week when i was trying to remember where I'd seen it. I might trim the dome ring and mask mount a little too lower it to counter the lift at the front from the tilting, but I'll use this pic as reference first to figure out how much to remove.

Dan

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

 

[AgeOfStrife]

Finally did a little more to this today, got the eyes roughly trimmed out to test the fit of the FenixProps lenses. Looks far better, but still plenty to do.

Dan

 

[omel]

keep going bro, the satisfaction of seeing the progress of your own modifications is totally worth it. great start, keep the fun factor so you remain motivated. shall be watching your future posts on this. cheers

 

[AgeOfStrife]

I've not done much with it because I've been putting together a TIE helmet kit in my free time over the past few weeks, now that's almost complete I can get back to this mod

Dan

 

[omel]

thats ok, take your time, don't feel pressured to finish it, mine took over a year due to pauses in between , hehehe..still not done to a point i am completely satisfied..hahaha

 

[AgeOfStrife]

Finally got chance to work on this today.

First thing to do was get the dome angle changed, I'd already tilted the mask mount backwards but the dome didn't sit right, so today I cut out the front of the mount in the dome so it could be shifted to get the position looking better.

The dome now sits lower at the rear, but still aligns with the eyebrows are the front, and doesn't use Velcro. I'll probably glue a nylon bolt into the dome to help secure it into place.

For the mask I've cut the teeth out and tried to square them up, and roughly put JB Weld putty on over the nose, around the eyes, and mouth. Once it's cured fully I'll sand all of the putty, and cut new nose ridges.

Dan

 

[AgeOfStrife]

Last weekend I did a lot of sanding, and put a coat of grey primer on so i could see where to fill and sand next. Still lots to do, but I'm happy so far.

This week I filled in the underside of the dome ridge with Isopon P40 which is an epoxy filler mixed with fibreglass; I wanted to reinforce the ridge before grinding the edges to square them off a little as the Rubies ridge is very wide with almost no definition. I also took the opportunity to add a couple of M8 nylon mushroom head bolts which will secure the mask to the dome rigidly.

Today I cut back the ridge sides using a grinding tip on a Dremel. First I used 1" wide masking tape along the middle of the ridge so I'd have edges to follow, then ground back to leave an edge about 1mm high.

Next stage will be add Isopon P38 filler to smooth out the dome surface either side of the ridge, and to smooth the P40 inside.

Dan

 

[AgeOfStrife]

Lots of filling and sanding still to do, but I'm getting there. Hopefully looks a little less like a Rubies now.

I used the grey primer so I could see what needed working on most, it's hard to see when it's filler on black.

Dan

 

[Mustard Tiger]

Looking really good! Are you going to thicken the dome at all? I'm in the process of fixing up my Rubies (there's a thread a few pages back), and thickening the dome made a whole world of difference.

 

[AgeOfStrife]

Don'tt think I can do anything more to this, it's far from perfect but I think it's far better than when I started, so next step is to paint it.

I haven't thickened the dome as that's beyond my abilities at this point and I don't want to spend too much time or money on it.

Dan

 

[omel]

thickening the dome edges is fairly easy to do, just apply some type of clay epoxy along the edges till you achieve the desired thickness then just sand smooth. , have you considered defining the brow line on the dome?, looking good so far.

 

[AgeOfStrife]

It's an inaccurate helmet that will eventually sit on a shelf, so I'm not going to keep trying to get it looking accurate as in the long run it'll cost too much and then I might as well as just saved up for an EFX PCR.

First coat of paint is on, leaving it to cure before wet sanding and putting another coat on. Will probably do 3 coats of black and then 1 of the gunmetal.

Dan

Dan

 

[AgeOfStrife]

Slowly getting this done, mask and dome have had two coats of gloss black each, with sanding using P1200 paper between coats. Also used some very fine modeling putty to fill some tiny scratches and dents on the dome that I missed in the priming stages.







Will leave for a week to cure, then lightly sand and add another black coat to the dome, might be able to get gunmetal on the mask of this coat of gloss is nice and smooth.

Dan

 

[AgeOfStrife]

Since the last post I've given it a couple more coats of gloss black, used Peugeot Steel Grey for the gunmetal areas on the mask, and some aluminium paint for the nose.



Still needs a clear coat, new tusks, and I'm not sure about the mouth mesh yet.

Dan

 

[TK765]

That looks really good. Seeing this is starting to motivate me to do mine :lol

 

[Celtic007]

Very nice! So much better than what it starts out as.