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 Post subject: Scratchbuilding ANH Armor
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:49 pm 
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This is my humble attempt at making homemade armor. My objectives are very humble:

1. To create something that actually fits.

I had shared on how a lot of available armor does not fit the person properly, be it a fan sculpt or a "cast from originals" or claims of being "Prowse-sized." Perhaps I'll elaborate on it later. But the over-the-shoulder straps on a of armor have too much slack, causing the armor to slouch down, creating a very large neck gap as shown:

Image

2. To create something comfortable.

The muscle between your neck and your shoulder is the trapezium. If the armor doesn't match that slope, it can apply uncomfortable pressure and cause your trapezium to tense up. Also, too much pressure on the collar bone can cause discomfort.

3. Look aesthetically pleasing with my helmet projects.

Note that I've not said anything about making this 100% screen accurate, because I completely lack good armor references, save for some HD screen shots and a good photo. Since the ANH look was achieved by wearing the robe on top of the armor, you seldom saw the armor save for the middle portion. Most people didn't notice there was asymmetry to the armor, and if there were closeups, they were closeups on Vader's face.

To start, I found a photo (I believe it was taken by vadermania) and did a careful line study of the front in Adobe Illustrator. I also used other shots. I'm not a big stickler for 100% accuracy. I just want something I can wear. You can imagine how I feel after having gone through 4 sets of armor and not finding the perfect fit. I not only need it to fit me, but to fit friends in the 40-44" range, and at the same time make the chest deep enough so that when you wear the cape and are photographed from the side, your proportions look about right.

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- Mac
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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:54 pm 
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I printed out my schematic for the Vader armor, which took more than one piece of paper, so I taped it together to make one continuous illustration.

There are a few templates out there on the web, but I decided not to go with any one particular template 100%. One of them look like GT armor, but I am alreaady aware that the GT armor won't meet my needs. Another was supposedly based on GH armor, but when I checked the measurements, they didn't quite correlate for me.

There is some asymmetry to Vader's armor. For setup purposes I've drawn lines as if they're symmetrical, and then perhaps later on I might tweak it for asymmetry slightly. Most people never saw the portions of armor that was under the robe and cape, so while I'll sculpt these, there isn't a massive burden to get them insanely uber-accurate.

I just want to have armor that I can wear!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:57 pm 
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So I laid the piece of paper on a massive piece of styrene and cut it out with a Dremel reinforced cutting disc. (Use goggles!) I can't comment on whether or not cutting styrene produces fumes or not (most likely it does, as with any plastic) so wear a mask and make sure you have good ventillation, as always.

The trick was heat forming it. So the following shots are very rough attempts at an initial heat-forming.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:59 pm 
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As you cut styrene, it produces some melted gunk which I had to remove with a file. Sometimes it was so hardened that I had to saw it off with the Dremel disc.

Image

I turned up my heat gun to maximum (which is about 1200F). The styrene is about 4 mm thick. Obviously, if you have patience (unlike me, therefore I must be a Sith) you should try to not concentrate the heat on one specific area but heat a general area.

That's why the left side (as you look at it) needs more tweaking than the right, which has a more graceful curve to it.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:03 pm 
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My intiial test with wearing a cape over the armor shows promise. I chose 4mm thick Styrene because eventually I'm going to throw Aquamend or some epoxy compound on it to add the bumps, ridges, etc. and I didn't want the material to bend to the point that it would break my sculpting work.

1 mm. Styrene is very floppy.

Image

So this is the results of an intial trial-and-error heat forming with a heat gun. It needs a bit more work. I'm also going to rework the front corners to curve inwards like the movie armor.

I'm also trying to work the shape such that it looks more organic like it was more form fitting over someone size 50" -- say, Dave Prowse himself.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:10 pm 
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Remember when I said I didn't follow anyone's template 100%? I was right. I didn't follow my own template 100%. I did a best-guess, and when I heated the straps to wrap over my trapezium muscles and shoulders, I then cut away the excess material.

The shape is rough but with extra length here and therefore some refinements later.

Now I started cutting up my template so I could trace lines on the armor.

What you are seeing is a roughly symmetrical approach, but even though the lines are approximately mirrored, it comes down to execution later.

Image

Now the neck area -- the part that will eventually be painted black -- appears wider than the neck hole for two reasons. First, I have a more narrow neck hole. Second, it depends on how much slack will remain after I'm done.

I may try to achieve a balance of the two. I need this to have the look while adapt the armor to someone who is so not Prowse's size!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:14 pm 
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I tested wearing the armor with a cape with a Don Post mask. Even without the shoulder bells, the shoulder slope profile looks natural!

So imagine what it would look when I get done crafting shoulder bells! Muahahaha....

That's it for today!

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:20 pm 
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Nice progress. Any idea of how you're gonna build up the surface? Instead of using AquaMend or another putty than may risk buckling the thin styrene... you could build it up from sheet styrene or crafts foam clued on top of each other and cut and trimmed to shape. Will keep it light, but will give the desired shape and is possible to tweak later as well and won't be a static piece that'll turn into a PITA.

Just a thought.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:54 pm 
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Thanks, NHM!

I'm basically doing this as a master. It'll eventually be cast in fiberglass and resin.

Certain parts will be made from strips of styrene, but some parts will be made out of Aquamend for a more organic look.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:03 pm 
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Yes, I kinda got that, which is why I suggested this approach with either sheets of styrene or crafts foam - the latter is what car interior manufacturers use heavily when shaping custom seats and it is from what I've seen easy to work with and can be cut and trimmed to shape by an electric saw or trimmer or whatever they're called. You can definitely bulge up the armor with this and then use the AquaMend as a surface finish appliance. But I guess that was your approach!?

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:17 pm 
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Something like that. It depends on what I need to do. The 1" wide strips, sure, but TAP Plastics only seemed to have them in 1mm or 4mm which both too thin and too thick for my needs. There is a subtle roundedness to the surface of the 1" strips, so if I don't use rubber or something I'll just sculpt and sand those in.

The black area that goes from the center into a "Y" shape -- it's thicker around the neck. There's also an incline to that surface where it's very wide and shallow "V" shape, so a rectangular sectioned piece of styrene might not necesarily work.

I'll have to improvise as I go along. Some of these A+B epoxies will break if flexed too much, which is why I chose a thicker sheet of styrene.

I'll let you know what I come up with. I have to experiment.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 1:20 am 
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Thats coming along really nicely! I have to say though, you are very talented with photoshopping images!!

Good luck with the armour mate.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 8:04 am 
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Wow, impressive project. Thanks for sharing and good luck with your scratch made armor. Looks great and i'm lookin forward to the next progress pics. :thumbsup :thumbsup


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:01 am 
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Lookin' good Mac, can't wait to see how this is going to turn out!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:20 am 
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Great project mate, looking forward to your progress.


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