Three New Darth Vader Figures (LAST TWEAKS TO EMPEROR'S DEATH DIO) & Dio Builds For Them 1) Bespin Gantry Scene 2) Force Lightning Killing Emperor Scene 3) Meditation Chamber Scene.

GubernatorFan wrote:Your inventiveness never ceases to amaze.

Cheers! Just working with what I have left!

Just his gauntlets (he'll be missing a hand courtesy of his son) left to do then finish up electrics and add accessories like lightning bolts and an Emperor.













He needs to do this which is why I don't think regular pauldrons would work









Shiny black ink



Ignore the glue string there, removed it afterwards



Fully repainted with glow blue.













Lighting Isn't super flattering! LOL.

The Emperor is wearing a custom robe I made for him a long time ago to look more menacing and impressive by himself standing in a top shelf but it's not nealy 'floppy/soft' enough to drape realistically while Vader lifts him. Luckily after searching all my stuff I found a spare Hasbro one that does the trick perfectly (I've used a few Hasbro Emperor bodies in the past to act as dead bodies, one a monk and another a Stargate General killed by the Wraith), most of this Emperor is SSC parts. His feet were a problem though, kept coming detached so I did a mod and gave him new ones, I think the boots must be WW2 German soldier's by DID as they need feet, the inner robe is also Hasbro. Vader's remaining hand is being made of modified translucent blue piggy bank Vader's gauntlet mixed with a wired Hasbro Ultimate Jango Fett figure's blue glove; these will be painted with blue ink and glow blue too, maybe electrics? The stump 'hand' will be made of the parts shown in the last pic and detailed with a soldering iron.

Custom robe display



Thank goodness for my parts hoarding, so I found this!











I'll be painting the Force Lightning with blue ink and glow blue, maybe a bit of white too. More effect pieces will be used to connect Vader and the Emperor.





Feet stuff







Hand needed to be the right size, a left hand, open with a grip option, look like a leather glove and preferably translucent blue... got damn close to all those requirements!!





Gauntlet part needs a size adjustment.



It was more work than just lopping the top bit off! LOL







Needed to carefully trim and thin out the vinyl by slowly scrapping it down with a scalpel.





Stuff for stump!

Very nice progress. Careful with the Hasbro robe. I don't remember any more what it was, but I had a problem with it a long time ago. It either stained or disintegrated or both.

GubernatorFan wrote:Very nice progress. Careful with the Hasbro robe. I don't remember any more what it was, but I had a problem with it a long time ago. It either stained or disintegrated or both.

Interesting, must be UV related (oops..that could problematic for this build!) as it's very elastic so the polymers could theoretically be broken down by extreme sunlight, you're in California right? Having said that it's already 30 years old and still fine (Power Of The Force line, early-mid 1990's I think). If worst case scenario it does start to break up (although it will be in the shade all the time) he is being killed and damaged by his own Force Lightning which must contain high heat and UV content!

shovelchop81 wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:Very nice progress. Careful with the Hasbro robe. I don't remember any more what it was, but I had a problem with it a long time ago. It either stained or disintegrated or both.

Interesting, must be UV related (oops..that could problematic for this build!) as it's very elastic so the polymers could theoretically be broken down by extreme sunlight, you're in California right? Having said that it's already 30 years old and still fine (Power Of The Force line, early-mid 1990's I think). If worst case scenario it does start to break up (although it will be in the shade all the time) he is being killed and damaged by his own Force Lightning which must contain high heat and UV content!

I bought it from eBay when I still lived in the Midwest, and as soon as I opened it, I realized it was falling apart, fiber by fiber. And it may have stained something to boot! But it was a long time ago and I'm not sure I remember precisely. So if it was UV damage, it happened before I got it.

I’ve missed so much progress. Amazing stuff, Alex. I wish I had your knowledge and skills. Very cool stuff.

Stryker2012 wrote:I’ve missed so much progress. Amazing stuff, Alex. I wish I had your knowledge and skills. Very cool stuff.

Cheers but I've seen you make plenty of cool stuff Mark!

Found a blue wrist joint for the existing hand (Thrawn's I think) and modded the Jango hand to fit (wish I could find a new bloody wrist joint for my hand!! ) then painted it and the lightning with blue ink. Made a stump for his right arm and blued that too, then checked that the LED's would be as useless as I thought for illuminating the hand and stump since too many things get in the way or aren't translucent. So went on to paint it all with some lighter blue and white streaks, now has a coat of glow in the dark blue on it drying (clear looks white when wet).







Well not exactly in the above order..







I'll add some black edging to the gauntlets that fades into the blue for a less jarring look.







central peg for stump

















Literally melted in mechanical detail!









Pointless using LED's here





Maybe if I insert them using clear hot glue it will disperse the light more evenly?



Enjoyed doing the lightning paint though, brought me back to painting Heavy Metal and Biker leather jackets when I was a lot younger!



Okay I'm a bit rusty and these aren't flat!







Wet clear, drying.

Impressive work. I didn't realize these parts would be blue/lit up too.

GubernatorFan wrote:Impressive work. I didn't realize these parts would be blue/lit up too.

Only because they are in direct contact with the Emperor and his Force Lightning while Vader's lifting him over his head to throw him down the shaft.

Electrical shock vader is shaping up to looking pretty awesome.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Electrical shock vader is shaping up to looking pretty awesome.

Thanks TBB!

Lots of boring electrical wiring for you now, I did take a pic with the kitten who finds it a bit too fascinating though! Got the cool 1mm thick new blue EL-Wire (it's 'sky blue' and is much stronger in colour than I can get with the camera) I also have a battery supply with an adjustable speed mode (a potentiometre not settings) for flashing and flip-flopping, it's bendable and keeps its shape so should be great for the Force Lightning effects by combining it with the moulded, painted plastic.
And to my great surprise I found a translucent blue left 'cupping' hand that works great with UV!! And works better for supporting the Emperor. I've done a lot of clear hot glueing to attach things and increase light diffusion in the gauntlets etc..





Might need a larger battery supply with all these extra LED's













EL-Wire









Yup it's from a vinyl Iron Man Funko Pop(?) found it in a random parts box while looking for EL-Wire drivers.







A SW hologram figure base that might be of use too..





Before hot glue





Filling the gauntlets with hot glue for better light diffusion





Will be cleaned up and blue ink etc.. added when cured.







Helmet now glued in place with hot glue







Hmm...maybe a coat of clear gloss?





Bent further to carry the Emperor





I'll sculpt the hand to be more leather like

Impressive. That el-wire looks like it should work great.

Stryker2012 wrote:Impressive. That el-wire looks like it should work great.

It should in theory but I keep ending up with stupid zig-zag patterns!  I need to make it more 3D! Maybe I'll try some hot glue on it? I can always peel it off if it doesn't work.

I see some symbolism in featuring Iron Man's hand in Emperor's demise

I'm really glad you can find your way around all these wires. Also, I think you're well on your way to have a force ghost Vader (as opposed to Anakin), at this point.

Visisonor wrote:I see some symbolism in featuring Iron Man's hand in Emperor's demise

Well they both kill the big bad galactic terror and wear a gauntlet to do it! LOL.

GubernatorFan wrote:I'm really glad you can find your way around all these wires. Also, I think you're well on your way to have a force ghost Vader (as opposed to Anakin), at this point.

LOL, I know what you mean and no I'm not planning on building a bunch of 1/6 force ghosts right now lol, far too much resin casting that I'm not in the mood for atm.

Vader as I'm seeing him right now after some soldering. Oh and I finally got my hands on a HT Exclusive Iron Man MKXXVII Disco for a reasonable price and in the UK, 2nd hand of course, also got a 2nd hand HT Deluxe season 1 Mandalorian and the the child set for a great price in the UK again (economic woes to blame) with the hover pram and Beskar armour. Looking forward to opening that today!!!







No idea what this suit is designed for, I guess Tony was drunk listening to or watching Saturday Night Fever!

Nice! I think they might be listening to the same track.

GubernatorFan wrote:Nice! I think they might be listening to the same track.

I think Vader looks more like he's at a Rave! Or should that be 'Rage'?

Vader: “Whut! Whut!”


Cool lighting effect.

Stryker2012 wrote:Vader: “Whut! Whut!”


Cool lighting effect.

Cheers! Should be getting better hopefully!
Not sure I get the whut! reference, is that Tuskans?

Been working out how to get Vader to hold the Emperor over his head and connect all the lighting with power packs, too heavy to mount on the Emperor for his Force Lightning but can be clipped to the back of Vader's belt if necessary as done in the lower down pics. I've been experimenting with hot glue on the EL-Wires to create a more 3D cohesive lightning look, the trick is to do it bit by bit and dip the hot glue once applied straight into a tub of cold water so it sets in place immediately, also don't drop the glue gun in the bucket (especially as mine's metal!) that would be...bad; it's plugged directly into the mains!! . I'm waiting for the cables to be 100% dry before I try plugging them in as they contain very fine wires which could easily short out and fry due to any 'shorts' in the system. I'll also tidy them up quite a bit, add some blue ink etc..









TRUE EL-WIRE COLOUR, NOT WHITE LIKE IN MOST PICS.







USING HOLOGRAPHIC 3&3/4" FIGURE ROCK BASE UPSIDE DOWN AS A POOL OF LIGHTNING GIVING MUCH BETTER SUPPORT TO VADER'S STUMP FOR HOLDING THE EMPEROR







WIRE IN EMPEROR'S RIGHT HAND IS A BIT OF A HALF ARSED RUSH POSING JOB TBH JUST FOR THE PICS





















VADER'S ACTUALLY HOLDING HIM UP WITHOUT ANY EXTERNAL SUPPORT ASIDE FROM HIS CROTCH GRABBER STAND



HOT GLUE AND COLD WATER EXPERIMENTATION TIME!





ACTUALLY FULL OF COLD WATER, ODD PIC, LOOKS EMPTY! LOL.



NEED DRYING OFF AND TIDYING UP THEN BLUE INK ETC..

What a creative approach to the Force lighting!!! This is turning out amazing!

I agree. Very inventive and effective. If you wanted to avoid hot glue and water, you could have used clear Silicon glue, I suppose.

GubernatorFan wrote:I agree. Very inventive and effective. If you wanted to avoid hot glue and water, you could have used clear Silicon glue, I suppose.

I wanted to avoid silicone! LOL horrible stuff! Stinks the house out and takes forever to cure! I only use it when absolutely necessary. Hot glue doesn't really smell, cures quickly and doesn't smear over everything taking ages to clean off. It has its uses but not often in 1/6 imo.

skywalkersaga wrote:What a creative approach to the Force lighting!!! This is turning out amazing!

Sorry forgot to reply to your really nice comment! I was too busy ranting about silicone! So a belated thank you!

Done some mods with adding and removing glue, sharpening up edges and now a bit of ink too so they look less floppy noodle like! One is still too fat but it will be at the back of the display so hopefully it'll just come off as forced perspective, making then thinner is really tricky and I already had one close call where I thought I accidentally ruined a cable by cutting too deep but seem to have repaired it.

BEFORE MODS ILLUMINATED







MODDED













VIDEO HOPEFULLY!



EVEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT THESE LOOK LIKE LIT UP IN THE DARK WITH THE INK WASH, MIGHT BE TERRIBLE!

This dance move, Alex (more often than not people say “Whoop! Whoop!” when doing it).

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I’m really impressed with what you’ve achieved.

Time will tell... how they look like. I'm sure it would be cool, but whether or not it would be what you are aiming at might be another matter. The illumination you've done so far looks very good, whether steady or flashing. And delightful to hear your voice!

Well, you miss a few weeks, and the newest project shows up.

That's some awesome work shovelchop81. Very impressive work with all the cutting and shaping. And adding all the lighting features as well.

Stryker2012 wrote:This dance move, Alex (more often than not people say “Whoop! Whoop!” when doing it).

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I’m really impressed with what you’ve achieved.

Ah so that's what you meant! And thanks!

GubernatorFan wrote:Time will tell... how they look like. I'm sure it would be cool, but whether or not it would be what you are aiming at might be another matter. The illumination you've done so far looks very good, whether steady or flashing. And delightful to hear your voice!

LOL, voice is a bit crackly, don't talk much but have had to be on the telephone a lot recently.

cdn_rhino wrote:Well, you miss a few weeks, and the newest project shows up.

That's some awesome work shovelchop81. Very impressive work with all the cutting and shaping. And adding all the lighting features as well.

Thank you sir! You might have missed a project or two as well! LOL

ILLUMINATED AFTER INK







AND I DID WHAT I WAS SCARED TO DO, PAID THE PRICE FOR IT! THINNED OUT THE 'FAT' EFFECT CABLE BUT SHORTED IT OUT TOO, LUCKILY IT TURNED OUT TO BE A BREAK AT THE ORIGINAL FACTORY SOLDERED SECTION. BUT IT WAS STILL A NIGHTMARE TO RESOLDER, HAD TO CAREFULLY CUT AND STRIP BACK THE EL-WIRE TO EXPOSE THE <1mm ANGEL HAIR WIRES (TWO STRANDS THINNER THAN HUMAN HAIR), REMOVE A TINY BIT OF THE PHOSPHOROUS COATING TO GET AT THE TINY COPPER CORE WIRE AND SOLDER IT ALL UNDER A MAGNIFYING GLASS, TOOK A LONG TIME AND A LOT STARTOVERS.. THE PICS DON'T EVEN HINT AT HOW TINY THESE WIRES ARE, IT LOOKS ALL GLOBBY AND HUGE BUT THAT'S USING MY MACRO LENS ON MY CAMERA WHICH IS LIKE A MICROSCOPE! THEN HAD TO USE TINY BITS OF SHRINKWRAP OVER EACH CONNECTION THEN BOTH JUST PRAYING IT WOULDN'T SHORT OUT OR BREAK AFTER FINALLY BEING SOLDERED SUCCESSFULLY BY THE PRESSURE OF THE SHRINKWRAP. tHEN HOT GLUED IT ALL IN PLACE...



WORKING AGAIN! YAY!







REINFORCING THE ODD WEAK POINTS THAT CAUSED INTERMITTENT SHORTS, ANOTHER PAINSTAKING PROCESS.



TIDIED UP, INKED AND TIED UP!











STILL GOT TO FINISH VADER'S ELECTRICS...YAY..

Oh my Force, that looks incredible! You are a genius at customising.