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.

Found an almost complete SSC ROTJ Vader cheap on eBay, already have a slightly less complete ESB HT Vader and hopefully enough parts to make a Force Lightning damaged version.

1) Was easy, I just used The SSC ROTJ Vader with full helmet and ordered a loose HT Bespin gantry dio I found on eBay, having it interact with my (now filthy) custom Bespin battle damaged Luke on the antena dio will be the tricky part.

2) A trickier build by far, trying to shrink a 1/5 scale translucent blue vinyl Darth Vader money bank is proving tougher than I thought plus I might have made a crucial mistake by using the 'fast' method rather than the safer 'slow' method (I'll include video links on how to do this I found on YT) and the outer shell of the helmet is ABS so won't shrink, it will just melt into goop (I tested this with the chest box made of the same material). But all is not lost as I found what I pray to be a proper 1/6 translucent blue ABS Vader helmet by complete chance on eBay (while looking for 1/1 helmets) that is in Italy so scooped that up! There is the possibility of casting resin of course but the outer shell of the helmet is so thin it will be a nightmare to cast without voids or the mould sealing itself shut all over the place! There's a clear resin skull and spine I want to cast as well, all of the electrics to be made for the FL effects using LEDs and E-Wire/E-Panelling etc.. fixing a broken body, getting a lousy Hasbro suit to work (ordered a nice SSC Vader cape, last one on eBay!) and lots of Emperor related stuff too.

3) sort of a 'Holy Grail' of a build for me, I'll use the the HT Vader body with clothes and the SSC unhelmeted HS plus a Spare set of SSC removable helmet parts for the figure. For the chamber itself I plan to use double sided 2mm thick mounting board card (black on one side and white on the other), lots of plastic and metal scrap I've collected over the years for this sort of thing, many old mobile phones to hopefully have some active screens, lots of lighting effects and a smoke nebuliser for extra cool points. Oh and Bionicles of course! .

1) PICS

































I'll add pics of projects 2) and 3) later when I have more time.

Squee! Very cool and ambitious project, but no doubt it'll be amazing. have fun!

Diana wrote:Squee! Very cool and ambitious project, but no doubt it'll be amazing. have fun!

Squee? LOL, cheers!

2) PICS (you can see I've been contemplating this build for a very long time!)











































Test: chest-box(ABS)= Fail



Test: gauntlet (vinyl)= Pass



Vinyl mask...oops? Should have used safe slow method, still recoverable.





Only 1st out of 3 soaks needed for complete shrinkage.





2nd soak using diluted method





Back up plan already ordered from Italy, very lucky to find this, one of those rare variants (1 per 10 cases or whatever) not listed very well.



It's a translucent version of this



Cloak it HT and ordered too



Not done much for project 3) yet so no pics to show really, just another Vader figure (by HT which is a 1st for me even with all my countless Vaders in my collection lol) but with exposed head.

Very interesting project! I'm curious to see how that new translucent Vader head turns out.

Wow! What a neat idea. You are a wild man taking on all these projects. Shrinking preexisting objects to a different scale? What?!! Insane in a good way, Brother. Very cool.

This looks like it will be a fun thread to follow!

This is a very cool project. Will also following for sure

Zes wrote:Very interesting project! I'm curious to see how that new translucent Vader head turns out.

Thanks! It will be more complicated than it sounds.

Stryker2012 wrote:Wow! What a neat idea. You are a wild man taking on all these projects. Shrinking preexisting objects to a different scale? What?!! Insane in a good way, Brother. Very cool.

Ah well it's stuff I've always wanted to try so might as well do it all at once! lol.

BAMComix wrote:This looks like it will be a fun thread to follow!

Cheers! I hope so!

Valiarde wrote:This is a very cool project. Will also following for sure

Thanks you! You're guys' feedback is always needed on these types of builds, ideas, constructive criticism, pointing out anything I might have missed by accident etc..

While doing a bit of light hearted research on the Bespin duel I came across Shad's Fight Autopsy of the duel (I usually watch his stuff for weapon reviews and techniques put to the test etc..) which is a fun interesting watch and bit of 'memory lane' too. Also GubernatorFan, if you read this, check out 1hr 3mins into the autopsy where he goes on a brief amusing tangent about ST armour and how the whole 'defence' of it that you mentioned as a fan theory on my finished Count Vidian thread has some serious and funny problems!

As for the ST armor, if I recall, the theory is that it supposedly limits the impact of the blaster bolt and allows the wearer to survive, even if knocked out or wounded -- though that is hardly how it looks on screen. It is an example of "plot disarmor," I suppose. Smile GubernatorFan wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:

Diana wrote:Squee! Very cool and ambitious project, but no doubt it'll be amazing. have fun!

Squee? LOL, cheers!

On the inside.  

shovelchop81 wrote:..., still recoverable.

Of course!  

I would never have even looked at the turquoise Vader twice, and look what you got out of it! Even a couple of lessons on shrinking stuff!  
This wasn't quite as nerve wrecking as the Boba Fett (was it?) head though.  

Thank you for taking us along for your ride!

What an ambitious project. I hope it allows you to multi-task between all three as you go. I have no doubt that you'll tackle the challenge brilliantly. Thank you for the links, both educational and entertaining alike. I've been watching quite a lot of Shad and his buddies lately, actually.

Diana wrote:

shovelchop81 wrote:

Diana wrote:Squee! Very cool and ambitious project, but no doubt it'll be amazing. have fun!

Squee? LOL, cheers!

On the inside.  

shovelchop81 wrote:..., still recoverable.

Of course!  

I would never have even looked at the turquoise Vader twice, and look what you got out of it! Even a couple of lessons on shrinking stuff!  
This wasn't quite as nerve wrecking as the Boba Fett (was it?) head though.  

Thank you for taking us along for your ride!

I'm just honoured members are interested enough to follow my threads since I'm an antisocial git! lol.
So is a sqee a squeal then?
It's not stressful, just interesting to me as an experiment, I was a bit disappointed in myself for not using the safe method on the mask though.

GubernatorFan wrote:What an ambitious project. I hope it allows you to multi-task between all three as you go. I have no doubt that you'll tackle the challenge brilliantly. Thank you for the links, both educational and entertaining alike. I've been watching quite a lot of Shad and his buddies lately, actually.

Small world! I guess it shouldn't be surprising since you specialise in European medieval history for a day job don't you? Tyranth (from the Functional Fandom trio) has a cool new channel out just now called Screen Tested, worth a look!
Thanks for all the confidence you have in me lol! I'll do my best, I'm focusing on 2) first since I'm not sure how far to go with 1) and 3) will take up all my work area!

Below pic of my custom Emperor that will probably be used in 2), the mask after it's 2nd soak (in it's final one now), assembling the broken SSC Vader body and starting to dress it up, also skulls and spines to be recast in clear resin (not sure where the other half of the jawbone is, probably on a dio so might nick that back). Lastly pics of the SSC ROTJ Vader head completely unmasked, I had never seen it this way before and SSC didn't skimp on the sculpting or paint, nice HS!

Tyranth... what a name... "worthy" of Lucas, actually...
As always, you've amassed a great deal of cool stuff, which you will take apart and put together in a creative way. I had no idea that Sideshow had sculpted the whole Sebastian Shaw head -- I guess you liberated it from the lower part of the helmet.

GubernatorFan wrote:Tyranth... what a name... "worthy" of Lucas, actually...
As always, you've amassed a great deal of cool stuff, which you will take apart and put together in a creative way. I had no idea that Sideshow had sculpted the whole Sebastian Shaw head -- I guess you liberated it from the lower part of the helmet.

Yes to both! They are SW fans too! lol.

I actually found that missing tiny jaw piece! I was also right about it being on a dio, but not a recent one. I found it glued onto my very first ever Gorey Gladiator build! That's from way back in 2010!

I don't like the Hasbro 'leftovers' to use on this build so I tested to see if the Hot Toys 'vest', codpiece and chest box system would work on a SSC Vader body since I saw a set loose in the UK on eBay. It's a bit tight around the back but that doesn't matter since it will be under layers of fabric anyway, looks great to me so I ordered the set which seems to come with a light up chest bx unit too which is a bonus!
The HT Vader is quite bit shorter than the SSC ones so he's an obvious choice to put in the chair of the meditation camber (once I've built it) but typically he's the one Vader who can't bloody sit down!! Even with his trousers and vest off the body won't articulate enough so I'm going to have to get the Dremel out and modify his hips, I can only hope the clothing won't still restrict it after the mods. I also treated all the pleather in sight to pure silicone oil as a preventative measure, makes him nice and shiny too! His cloak just arrived now, protected in a bubble wrap and foam filled box...shame many sellers can't do that for stuff that actually has a risk of breaking!











SSC VADER WITH MOST OF HIS CLOTHING ON SITS REALLY WELL





HT VADER WITH MOST OF HIS CLOTHES OFF SITS REALLY BADLY





HT VADER WITH PARTIAL CLOTHING ON IS WAY WORSE





SILICONE BATHS...



MINUTIA TO WORRY ABOUT GETTING RIGHT



ORDERED



ARRIVED

Interesting about HT Vader's limitations, although not surprising. Would removing the underpadding help or are the upper legs really incapable of achieving 90 degrees to the trunk even by themselves? Sideshow Vader's stature is indeed very imposing. If I recall, however, it might be a little bit too tall. From that point of view, unless you find the HT Vader not tall enough (and you certainly know how to give him a lift), perhaps Sideshow Vader should be the one to sit?

Funny that the SSC body is more flexible. Folks always seem to praise HT for their bodies, but I honestly have always thought they were overrated.

Stryker2012 wrote:Funny that the SSC body is more flexible. Folks always seem to praise HT for their bodies, but I honestly have always thought they were overrated.

I think the praises for the HT bodies came from more than half a decade ago, when they were in fact generally sturdier and more poseable than many others, and when they still made them available for purchase, first with and later without heads. But this ended, and their improvements stopped, while others overtook them.
At the time, Sideshow bodies were notorious for loose joints and for being often improperly scaled (exactly 12 inches invariably, etc).

GubernatorFan wrote:Interesting about HT Vader's limitations, although not surprising. Would removing the underpadding help or are the upper legs really incapable of achieving 90 degrees to the trunk even by themselves? Sideshow Vader's stature is indeed very imposing. If I recall, however, it might be a little bit too tall. From that point of view, unless you find the HT Vader not tall enough (and you certainly know how to give him a lift), perhaps Sideshow Vader should be the one to sit?

No padding in the HT figure so it will need to be a Dremel job, shouldn't be a big deal hopefully.
I completely agree with your logic about using the SSC to sit down and make the HT a bit taller but nearly all my Vaders on display are using SSC bodies or comparable custom bodies of the same height. The other thing is that this SSC guy for 2) has a bit of a damaged suit which is made more glaringly obvious when sitting down and facing out since his tunic and cape will be draped to his sides, finally lifting ankle pegs tend to throw the rest of the bodies proportions out of whack imo.

These are the other Vaders (I'll give the TIE Fighter one a regular base and use his for 2) since it looks really weird displayed like this!).

Stryker2012 wrote:Funny that the SSC body is more flexible. Folks always seem to praise HT for their bodies, but I honestly have always thought they were overrated.

Well this one is in particular as I had to repair it and he does have the thinner Hasbro suit on but the basic articulation of the mould is definitely better.

GubernatorFan wrote:

Stryker2012 wrote:Funny that the SSC body is more flexible. Folks always seem to praise HT for their bodies, but I honestly have always thought they were overrated.

I think the praises for the HT bodies came from more than half a decade ago, when they were in fact generally sturdier and more poseable than many others, and when they still made them available for purchase, first with and later without heads. But this ended, and their improvements stopped, while others overtook them.
At the time, Sideshow bodies were notorious for loose joints and for being often improperly scaled (exactly 12 inches invariably, etc).

Very true. They also have always claimed to value accuracy over articulation.

I was actually wondering if the damage to the Sideshow suit wasn't a deciding factor. I agree with you that ankle extension can throw the proportions. My Nelvaan Anakin is probably the only M33 body where I have used the ankle extenders (as intended), and I feel the legs are too long. But M33 is otherwise not particularly tall, so I've kept it that way so far.
Maybe the HT Vader (or at least this particular one) uses thicker legs so it doesn't need padding, hence the problem with sitting well. I should know, as I've kitbashed several HT Vaders (meaning I've reconstituted them from parted out sets and slightly modified them), but I honestly can't recall the details. Perhaps there are a couple ways to help it. One would be to try to twist the upper torso in a bit more, although I imagine you would have tried this already. The other is to elevate the seat (and perhaps go for a customized, non-flat seat surface), so that the figure looks like it is sitting more properly.

GubernatorFan wrote:I was actually wondering if the damage to the Sideshow suit wasn't a deciding factor. I agree with you that ankle extension can throw the proportions. My Nelvaan Anakin is probably the only M33 body where I have used the ankle extenders (as intended), and I feel the legs are too long. But M33 is otherwise not particularly tall, so I've kept it that way so far.
Maybe the HT Vader (or at least this particular one) uses thicker legs so it doesn't need padding, hence the problem with sitting well. I should know, as I've kitbashed several HT Vaders (meaning I've reconstituted them from parted out sets and slightly modified them), but I honestly can't recall the details. Perhaps there are a couple ways to help it. One would be to try to twist the upper torso in a bit more, although I imagine you would have tried this already. The other is to elevate the seat (and perhaps go for a customized, non-flat seat surface), so that the figure looks like it is sitting more properly.

True but I'll start by taking some 'meat' off his pelvic area first.

What a marvellous adventure, as always it’s intriguing to see your processes and creative tricks with use of materials and parts!

Tanzenwolfe wrote:What a marvellous adventure, as always it’s intriguing to see your processes and creative tricks with use of materials and parts!

Cheers! I might be swearing more than usual on these builds though!!

Bollocks.... helmet arrived but too small, shrunk helmet is still a tad too big and can't be shrunk anymore...
I'm thinking maybe I can combine them in an artistic way with matching jagged edges to mimic lightning effects and have two shades of translucent blue (interrupted by bits of black) which might help get the size right too?
Sadly there's no magical chemical to enlarge PC, PS, ABS, PEI etc... maybe hot water and an air pump? lol









VINYL MASK ISN'T FULLY RECONSTRUCTED YET.

Ah, the new helmet's a tad too small, like you said. Bummer.

Question: Why not look at 3D printing a Vader mask in clear resin or translucent blue?