sskunky
Sr Member
Hi everyone.
Some of you may be aware we at CFO were approached to mould and cast a Darth Vader helmet that was given to a production Carpenter at the ESB/ROTJ. It came from the UK mould. The faceplate was untouched from the mould so still ANH and the dome had been modified at the time to resemble the ROTJ dome. It had been badly assembled and hung on the wall for decades. It was then retired to a cardboard box in the late 90's and rediscovered in the last year or so by his nephew.
I have just run an unaltered casting run of the helmets as found with nothing added and nothing taken away.
Now I am working on a screen accurate ROTJ version.
I have started to do some clean up but I don't want it to be too clean and will try and keep the roughness of the originals whilst having that clean ROTJ look.
I have spent some time researching the original trilogy helmets and have found the mesh, had the tusks machined by Fatherless one and will be experimenting with a very nice but expensive 1mm thick vacuum formable optically clear thermally stable acrylic.
I was initially given gracious permission to cast the mount on the ROTJ GH faceplate but having now researched it till blue in the face I've found that it's the same mount as my original 20ThC ESB tour helmet so I've cast that and it just sits higher on the top of the crown. I'm still playing with the placement but fairly happy with how it's sitting. I may try and move it back a bit more before I add the filler around the edge of the mount ring. I'm trying to find out if the mount on the ROTJ was filled in or hollow like my ESB helmet and if the tabs were sanded off smooth.
If anyone can share pics of screen used Vader helmets with me on this thread or via PM or email (medwards5@mac.com) that would be fantastic. Or if you have any info you can share. I have my suspicions that the mount was hollow and the tabs were indeed sanded away but wanted to check that first before going ahead.
Anyway onto some pics.
First up some of the helmet as it was.
Then our cast after we moulded it.
And now some clean up on the faceplate.
And the dome.
After a very light coat of satin black to highlight some areas needing a bit more attention.
I think the neck extension was cut back on the ROTJ faceplate but if someone can confirm this before I do it, that would be a big help.
So still a way to go but I think it's getting there.
I welcome advice and constructive criticism.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Some of you may be aware we at CFO were approached to mould and cast a Darth Vader helmet that was given to a production Carpenter at the ESB/ROTJ. It came from the UK mould. The faceplate was untouched from the mould so still ANH and the dome had been modified at the time to resemble the ROTJ dome. It had been badly assembled and hung on the wall for decades. It was then retired to a cardboard box in the late 90's and rediscovered in the last year or so by his nephew.
I have just run an unaltered casting run of the helmets as found with nothing added and nothing taken away.
Now I am working on a screen accurate ROTJ version.
I have started to do some clean up but I don't want it to be too clean and will try and keep the roughness of the originals whilst having that clean ROTJ look.
I have spent some time researching the original trilogy helmets and have found the mesh, had the tusks machined by Fatherless one and will be experimenting with a very nice but expensive 1mm thick vacuum formable optically clear thermally stable acrylic.
I was initially given gracious permission to cast the mount on the ROTJ GH faceplate but having now researched it till blue in the face I've found that it's the same mount as my original 20ThC ESB tour helmet so I've cast that and it just sits higher on the top of the crown. I'm still playing with the placement but fairly happy with how it's sitting. I may try and move it back a bit more before I add the filler around the edge of the mount ring. I'm trying to find out if the mount on the ROTJ was filled in or hollow like my ESB helmet and if the tabs were sanded off smooth.
If anyone can share pics of screen used Vader helmets with me on this thread or via PM or email (medwards5@mac.com) that would be fantastic. Or if you have any info you can share. I have my suspicions that the mount was hollow and the tabs were indeed sanded away but wanted to check that first before going ahead.
Anyway onto some pics.
First up some of the helmet as it was.
Then our cast after we moulded it.
And now some clean up on the faceplate.
And the dome.
After a very light coat of satin black to highlight some areas needing a bit more attention.
I think the neck extension was cut back on the ROTJ faceplate but if someone can confirm this before I do it, that would be a big help.
So still a way to go but I think it's getting there.
I welcome advice and constructive criticism.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
