Sculpting a New Face over a Rubie's Supreme Vader

[CSMacLaren]

An RPF Vader-Centric Exclusive

So hello! If I were to show you a face like this, could you guess what it was? Cast off original? 20th Century? Don Post Deluxe? Better? Worse?

The above is a face resculpt over the plastic abortion known as the Rubie's Supreme Vader. It's technically also the Rubie's Deluxe Vader but nobody calls is that because, as part of the complete Darth Vader Supreme costume by Rubie's Costume Company, it's been nicknamed the "Rubie's Supreme."

Still don't believe me? Here is a side by side comparison with a stock condition Rubie's:

THE STORY

I was about to throw this mask away until a friend spoke up and said he wanted it. I was originally doing a ROTS conversion to it, but my scratchbuilt ROTS (thread here: http://www.therpf.com/f62/sculpting-rots-vader-159885/) really started to take off, and now it's far accurate than how the Rubie's which is now far more accurate than the Rubies could ever be. I also learned a LOT about the ROTS and my work to make the Rubie's approximate the ROTS was crude in comparison.

My buddy marveled at it and asked, "What if this could be turned into a Halloween helmet?" I told him it WAS a Halloween helmet, but he said, "One that lightweight but with some accurate features."

Oh no... the Dark Side of the Force started reaching out to me. You guys know how much I hate this plastic. It gets everywhere. It doesn't wash down the kitchen sink nicely. But something about this appealed to me.

Now you know me... mere modification doesn't do it for me.

So I started using the ol' Dremel disc and got rid of the teeth bars, whiskers, etc.

Current progress:

So that you interpret the photo above properly, the face is essentially replaced and sculpted over. As I sand and sculpt, I found it helpful to use some acrylic paint. While it unfortunately adds texture that needs to be sanded, it gives me a chance to see if the surface looks right without the toxicity of automotive paint. However, I only wet sanded a touch to show you white on black. Some of my previous generation rework is black. Black on black can be misinterpreted. Moreover, I did not fully wet sand all the surfaces. Those areas that show white are still under black paint. But you get the idea. There are 15 areas addressed (see list below).





As you can see from the above thumbs, I had already ground out a lot of plastic and replaced it with black two-part clay. Then I went back to undo the ROTS work to convert it back to OT.

Areas impacted:

1. Eyebrows - Surprised look is now angry look
2. Frown bump - Bumparoo
3. Nose bridge - Resculpted
4. Nose arch - Resculpted
5. Nose "U" tip - Resculpted
6. Upper cheeks - More kissable.
7. Forward-facing cheeks & whiskers - Brand new!
8. Cheek-to-nose-side transition - Resculpted
9. Mouth walls - Proper thickness
10. Teeth - WIP, making new teeth
11. Chin Triangle - Resculpted
12. Neck - Made more elegant (left it wide as I have no idea what armor it will be paired with)
13. Side of face - Resculpted
14. Upper Tubes - Resculpted
15. Mounting system - Cut down mount and added material around the stump. For now....

I'm making the point of this being a resculpt in key areas because the original surface has been gone, so I'm outright replacing the original structure. I felt in certain cases such as the whiskers and eyes that the original structure became difficult to work with, and I might as well do it so it can have a more organic look.

I love the results! I'm not really trying to restore it to a Don Post or a 20th Century, although I keep a 20th Cent around and the ESB Promo Poster Vader (which is an ANH configuration) as a quick reference, so undoubtedly these two will have some influence as I work.

I have thus far left the lower tubes in. My original extensive modification involved cutting those tubes away so that they didn't reach the rear opening. However, that means the plastic has a break or discontinuity, and if flexed, it can harm the two part clay and break off. I've left that in there for now. My buddy loves my accuracy work, but what people don't see when the mask is under the dome won't kill anyone....

Oh yes, the dome. I kinda threw it away. No, actually, I threw it away, period. But fortunately t I managed to find a Rubie's helmet in the Classifieds so let's see if that pairs okay. I have not yet figured out the dome mounting system just yet.

Next on Mac: scratch-building the teeth! :facepalm


(P.S. I know we call this a "Rubies Supreme Vader" but I just looked the company up on the website, and there's an actual apostrophe in "Rubie's").

 

[Cbstudios]

I love these sorta threads. Subscribed for sure! This is gonna be fun to watch

 

[clancampbell]

Oh, Mac....this is going to be fun!

I've got one of these on the go too, that plastic is really trying my patience....

can't wait to see more, maybe it'll be the inspiration i need to continue with mine!

best of luck!

Rich

 

[CSMacLaren]

Thanks Rich and CB, and all you lurkers-you!


So now the teeth. Again, having modded more than one Rubie's plastic helmet, the teeth were going to be aggravating to me. I surmised that I'd get better mileage by taking my Dremel tool and destroying the teeth. That involved rebuilding the inside mouth walls. I used black colored clay and so it looks like the original plastic but it isnt.

I was at a Peet's Coffee (not the best coffee in the world) and pondering the teeth modification. As I poured cream and sugar into the coffee and stirred it, I thought, "hey, these are just about the right width".

The goal here was to use something stiff. I was going to cut placeholder teeth bars out of styrene but these will actually do the trick, and may sand a wee bit better.

So I used some two-part clay to get the ends to stick to the rim of the inside mouth. The goal is to not let this weak wood bear the burden of being teeth by their lonesome selves. The two-part clay can sag while it's curing. So with these wood splints in place, I'd sculpt over the splints. Notice they are a little too deep, so that I can layer 2mm+ of two-part clay over them and sand them down so that they join the bottom lip and the inside mouth walls properly.

 

[CSMacLaren]

This deserves some mention. Something about the Don Post Deluxe and the Rubie's helmets - be it the plastic costume Supreme or the Fiberglass Limtied Edition, the dome tends to sit a little too high.

What I've done here is cut the original "D" shoe-heel shaped mounting system off but I specifically left a portion of it alone to serve as a base and added clay around it to create a platform.

I see some people cut into the sides and try to re-angle the shoe-heel dome mount, and I feel this can structurally compromise the mask - kind of like what my lower tube shortening did when I performed that surgery on my first Rubie's mask. The plastic, if not cut up, is actually pretty strong. Might as well use that to my advantage.

This platform could potentially be the foundation of a dome mounting ring. But I have to play that by ear because I have no idea how this new platform plus a ring would cause the dome to be positioned - whether too high or just right. We'll figure that out later when we get a dome for this.

And speaking of which.... As I said, I'm doing this up for a friend - and if that friend is reading this (he's a non-RPFer) - please be so kind as to respond to my PM as I found a dome for you and it would complete this helmet. You owe the seller some money!

 

[CSMacLaren]

So here I am about to be a Vader Dentist.

It should be noted that I'm going to have to reconstruct the teeth to a good amount of thickness. It has not yet been decided if this is ESB or ROTJ as I have no idea what my friend will pair this up with. It will likely be a Rubie's costume or whatever he can get is hands on, if at all.

If he decides to go with something other than Vader after all this work, I'm going to kill him. It's likely he's considering being a Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger...

So far, it looks decent. The holes are plentiful enough for me to thicken them. Given that different masks have different dimensions, I'm going by "feel" instead of to the milimeter. Everything I've done here is not to any measurements based on the original but based on what feels right.

The sensor pits in the upper cheeks (or "nail marks") will be sculpted in towards the end.

The neck is on the wide side, and I wish I was more aggressive with heat modification, but oh well, at least the neck won't fall through the necklines of most fanmade armor now.

More later!

 

[T-VIRUS]

Very cool mac..I've watched you work on alot of different projects over the years and always enjoy the attention to detail, and level of craftsmanship that go into each one.

 

[iamdrake]

It's amazing what you do. I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

 

[CSMacLaren]

Thanks, guys!

Here are some progress shots from today.

The mid strip is only done to the front. My mounting system is just temporary - a piece of foam. I haven't found the sweet spot yet to idealize the Rubie's. Something is still off.

I've since started filling the teeth out so the wood splints have been sculpted over. The teeth holes' length need to be reduced so please pardon the work in progress.

The mid strip for now is roughly ROTJ. I imagine modifying the rest of the mid strip. But since there's a chance this might just sit in an office where nobody looks at the back of the head, I'm very sorely tempted to do the bare minimum.

I don't feel there is really any need to sharpen the fold line (the "dome crease line"). When painted, the domecap and the flange will each reflect differently, and the contrast should be sufficient to tell that the difference. At least that's my working theory. I may have to.

I also did a neck modification with heat and it's turned out quite nicely.

This is turning out nicely. It's the most organic treatment I've ever given to a Rubie's mod. It's starting to feel more like a clay-based sculpt as opposed to an oversanded mass production toy!

 

[Happy13178]

Thanks, guys!

Here are some progress shots from today.

The mid strip for now is roughly ROTJ. I imagine modifying the rest of the mid strip. But since there's a chance this might just sit in an office where nobody looks at the back of the head, I'm very sorely tempted to do the bare minimum.

I don't feel there is really any need to sharpen the fold line (the "dome crease line"). When painted, the domecap and the flange will each reflect differently, and the contrast should be sufficient to tell that the difference. At least that's my working theory. I may have to.

You know the problem with doing the bare minimum, even if its in an office, is you're going to look at what you've done and keep thinking of what you didn't do to the back.

The fold line was a tough call for me too, but when I looked at the dome unpainted and sanded, before I did anything, it just looked wrong. The ridge and lines on the dome are at least as important as the mask, as when you see vade from any angle you're seeing more dome than mask. I'd got for the lines, if you can. Mine's kind of an oversanded mess on the mask in some spots, but I'm pretty happy with the way the dome turned out.

 

[andyoda]

Hey mate nice work. I'm currently modifying a Rubies helmet as well for a good mate and will start a post soon with some progress shots. I've made it more symmetrical as this is what my mate wants plus I've fiberglassed the inside of the dome and faceplate to give it some weight and that authentic look to it.

 

[Frogfreak]

Is there anything new with this?