Efx has a new $300 Darth Vader (precision cast replica) Helmet

From what I know the Originalhelmets where casted in black/dark grey fiberglass.So the gelcoat was this color.
After that they sprayed a white/lightgrey primer on it.And after that the black.
That is the way they did it with the reveal and I bet with all other helmets also.
So the pic should be right this way:

Actually, I've just realised...I don't care. Think what you want.

I would think there were some different people involved in the manufacture of the helmets and the direction given for the look over the 3 OT films. Obviously the look of ESB and ROTJ are much more shiny and physical differences were made. Assuming they were all finished similarly other than the amount of polishing seems silly. I have no idea if they used clear coat or not, but based on how inconsistent they were with other props even within the same film, I find it hard to believe they were extremely consistent with the methods used for every Vader helmet. They are more concerned with telling the story and getting the shots they want than ensuring perfect accuracy and consistency of the props.

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100 posts of this gloss madness because someone asked how to remove the scratch on his helmet 3 pages back. I do realize that it's a Vader thread and the odds were great that it would go to ****, but that was an efx Vader helmet thread which it certainly could have stayed on topic.

Facts

Gino's collection is awesome.
bookface and Mr Mold Maker are both amazing painters.
PHArchivist has been working on his DS for 25 years now!
gcbike just retired (congrats to you btw!)
OT's were the best of the series.

Sadly, this has nothing to do with the original topic.

As bookface said 2 posts above, I don't care either way if the original was gloss or polished, I do care about comparing the efx helmet to what's available for noobs and less noobs out there. But man, paint on original helmets .. it gets so old!

I don't want to argue, just to note my position which I feel extremely confident about:

The original helmets were all made of gelatin, and dyed black with squid's ink. This accounts for the degree of shine and gloss, and the duller look as the gelatin accumulated dust from the set and handling.

The Vader helmets believed to be "screen-used" are actually all molds themselves, out of which the gelatin helmets were formed.

Again, I am extremely confident in this based on various Jell-O molds I have handled, so take it or leave it. I expect you'll leave it.

(..and to abruptly swing this thread back on topic, has anyone finished a repaint of one of these? I'd like to see how they turn out.)

Does Grunberg own the original screen used ROTJ helmet?

craigjohn said:

Does Grunberg own the original screen used ROTJ helmet?

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He owns it, but it's a tour helmet, not screen used.

Bigturc said:

100 posts of this gloss madness because someone asked how to remove the scratch on his helmet 3 pages back. I do realize that it's a Vader thread and the odds were great that it would go to ****, but that was an efx Vader helmet thread which it certainly could have stayed on topic.

Facts

Gino's collection is awesome.
bookface and Mr Mold Maker are both amazing painters.
PHArchivist has been working on his DS for 25 years now!
gcbike just retired (congrats to you btw!)
OT's were the best of the series.

Sadly, this has nothing to do with the original topic.

As bookface said 2 posts above, I don't care either way if the original was gloss or polished, I do care about comparing the efx helmet to what's available for noobs and less noobs out there. But man, paint on original helmets .. it gets so old!

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(Closer to ten...!)

Kroenen77 said:

From what I know the Originalhelmets where casted in black/dark grey fiberglass.So the gelcoat was this color.
After that they sprayed a white/lightgrey primer on it.And after that the black.
That is the way they did it with the reveal and I bet with all other helmets also.
So the pic should be right this way:

http://up.picr.de/28181370if.jpg

Click to expand...

I'm no expert, but just based off of what you said, your labeling of the picture doesn't make sense.

If the gelcoat is first, and that is black, then the primer is second, and that is white/gray, then the gloss black is last, on top, then the black should be chipping off and leaving white/gray where you have the arrow pointing to gelcoat, then black where you have the arrows pointing to white/gray primer. Unless the black gloss somehow cleanly pulled off all of the primer and left no trace of it around the edges of the gloss black leading into what you have labeled gel coat which doesn't seem possible.

The brightest part with the primer label looks like glare to me. I don't think it is the actual color of the helmet.

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Kroenen77 said:

From what I know the Originalhelmets where casted in black/dark grey fiberglass.So the gelcoat was this color.
After that they sprayed a white/lightgrey primer on it.And after that the black.
That is the way they did it with the reveal and I bet with all other helmets also.
So the pic should be right this way:

http://up.picr.de/28181370if.jpg

Click to expand...

I’m struggling with your interpretation of that photo because that would mean “Glossy black paint” is directly on “Gelcoat” and there is no primer in between. There would not be any logic to why (1) primer only exists on the dome’s mid strip and not elsewhere, and (2) why the primer is so thick to constitute a layer that significant at the mid strip.

You are also interpreting a white appearance as a color. It could very well be a light reflection based on the direction of flash photography. Where then is the logic of relabeling the matte layer “Gelcoat” because, then, your gelcoat is sitting directly on top of white primer, which in turn is sitting on top of another layer you completely scratched out!

Your interpretation, which suggests the glossy black paint was directly on the gelcoat with no primer means that any hand polishing risks polishing straight through to the gelcoat. And given how thin the “Glossy black paint” layer is, it does not allow for any orange peeling at that level of thinness.

The original explanation is far more plausible. A gloss layer sits over a base paint layer. The base paint layer is thicker in comparison with the gloss, and the gloss has worn in some areas. Moreover, for the gloss to be that thin suggests the gloss to have been applied thinly, and perhaps the gloss itself was polished, but being so thin, it appears like paint itself. This would explain both clear-edged reflections AND orange peeling fuzzy reflections because we see it on the screen used.

You’re also making a factual statement that after spraying primer on the Reveals, they sprayed black. My understanding of the ESB and ROTJ helmets was that metallic gray was sprayed on first before adding black to it.

Lastly, you raised a point that Gino must know something because he can basically talk down to someone and ask “How many screenused helmets have YOU handled?” This is typical of his bullying tactics over the years, but eventually the truth gets out. He was talking down to people like that even several years back when we discussed this topic to death on The Prop Den, when 20-page thread after 20-page thread, would never reveal evidence to back his claims, other than “Look at my statues”. At the time he had no access to the Archives and debated with people who DID handle the screen-used props. I put very little credence in someone who has to behave this way to people in order to be an authority on any topic.

First would be very interesting to know what a helmet this is on the pic.Is it repainted?Stunt or hero?Tour or screenused?

You can also spray black color without a primer/filler on fiberglass.All you need is a plasticprimer.And this has no color or filling quality.And when you scratch the color away,you see only the naked fiberglass because the primer is invisible.When I look on some Originalmasks and see all the flaws under the paint its hard to think that they used any art of a filler!

I think they sprayed the black first,because Lucas wanted the helmet all black.But because they needed more details for the old cameras they added the gunmetal areas.So I think they did it the same way over the complete trilogy.The Reveal is painted this way because you can see that on the marks of the tape they used.The gunmetal is slipped over the black basecoat on some areas.I posted this in my revealthread.
But back to the primer...they used white/grey primer on the Reveal...but is it proofed that they used a primer/filler on all other masks?

That you're asking the nature of the helmet in question indicates you've not read the Den thread. This is three opportunities lost now. There's unfortunately nothing more of value we can bring into this conversation if it's only to discuss suppositions instead of facts. I'm out of here.

Thank god.

reviving an old thread

for the Aussie members of RPF, I just noticed that Popcultcha has discounts this helmet to $399, free shipping too:

https://www.popcultcha.com.au/star-wars-episode-vi-a-new-hope-darth-vader-replica-helmet.html

probably cheaper then import (especially where now GST is applicable to oversea purchase)

kirova said:

reviving an old thread

for the Aussie members of RPF, I just noticed that Popcultcha has discounts this helmet to $399, free shipping too:

https://www.popcultcha.com.au/star-wars-episode-vi-a-new-hope-darth-vader-replica-helmet.html

probably cheaper then import (especially where now GST is applicable to oversea purchase)

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Nice! Registered and used a promocode I found online to get the total to $283. Finally pulled trigger on my first efx Vader helmet!

Edit: This is even including shipping to the US too

jusdrewit said:

Nice! Registered and used a promocode I found online to get the total to $283. Finally pulled trigger on my first efx Vader helmet!

Edit: This is even including shipping to the US too

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wow wasn't expecting them to do free shipping to US as well.

PS what is the promo code? please share the love

Well shipping wasn't free, but the promo wiped it out almost. Plus it was a little cheaper than I thought as the US dollar is 1 US to 1.35 Au. Promo I found was: geetroit. Had to register to use it though

thx I will try that code out, I am registered and has purchased from that site before, but I only found out about their sales/promo codes through 3rd parties............

kirova said:

thx I will try that code out, I am registered and has purchased from that site before, but I only found out about their sales/promo codes through 3rd parties............

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Worked for me (new member and haven't bought before). So if it doesn't work you might as well forget the pennies and open an new account. Came down to $360AUD.

Massive thanks to kirova for...

kirova said:

reviving an old thread

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