Ultimate Darth Vader helmet repair cost estimate

[SciFiMuseum]

We won a Brian Muir 'Ultimate Darth Vader' helmet through a live auction company and it arrived damaged. The auction company is asking how much it would be to fix because the damage did not happen in shipping, one of their employees must have dropped it before packing it up and forgot to put the piece that broke off inside the box so it would have to be replaced. I already know how much it would be to get the metal tusk piece that broke off, but a small piece of the fiberglass resin also broke off with it so would have to be remade and the paint was chipped on the nose, between the eyes and the eyebrows were also scraped, it is three different colors of paint in all that would have to be touched up, a flat black, gloss black, and gun metal gray. I included photos of the damage to the mask for reference of exactly what happened to it. Can anyone please tell me a guesstimate of what it may cost to have this repaired and have the paint retouched so I can let the auction company know. If this had just been any old helmet we would have just gotten a full refund but this is only one of 15 helmets that were made so don't want to send this back and have it never be seen again because the auction company doesn't fully appreciate what it is. We already contacted Brian Muir about the paint colors and brand so they could be matched exactly and he is finding out for us so that is very nice of him. We would not like to get a full repaint, just touched up where the damage occurred in an attempt to keep it in it's original state as much as we can. Mostly want to know about the broken tusk resin piece so we can get back to the auction company. Thank you in advance to whomever replies.

 

[lethyry]

It would be a bit tough to give a guesstimate on the damage and what you should be requesting back given its more or less dependant on who would be doing the repair and their hourly rate. The tusk is a very minor repair, from my experience it would take a couple hours tops, the other paint scratches will need to be fixed with either filller or those chipped areas need to be sanded down and have the new paint blended in. Not difficult if the original paint colours are known and available to use. otherwise it may be a bit trickier. But based on what I've charge for jobs similar to this you're probably looking at approx $80-$140 as a good range for repairs cost.

 

[SciFiMuseum]

Thank you.