To celebrate the return of The Prop Den (AOK Forums sure took their sweet, slow time in "upgrading" the servers, so let's hope it was worth it) I thought I'd post some pictures that are really special to me.

Most of you know that I'm a hardcore Brian Muir | Original Trilogy fan. I probably will never appreciate the ROTS helmet because the Lucasfilm video on the making of the ROTS helmet depicted the original trilogy helmet's asymmetry as a flaw, and yet the monstrosity that was created looked like a Sphynx helmet and such a far cry from the original.

Nevertheless, I am very drawn to this sculpting project. I don't have a laser scanner or a 3D printer like the Lucasfilm artists had. My tools are basically sandpaper, occasional use of a mirror, and a lot of tenacity.

This project has been touched upon on and off for the last several years, and I had only approximated a general ROTS vader look. I found this project very challenging because the sculpt would look great when looking iconically upward, but when looking down, a lot of the asymmetrical flaws really showed, so the last few years was just going back and forth on the same areas until I had to finally dremel stuff out of the way and resculpt areas entirely.

I also decided to work on this project because it would make for another charity helmet like my Darth Ugly project. Darth Ugly was very well received.

I am currently focusing on just getting the proportions of the face right, then will add tubes, teeth and all.

The last time you saw Casper (as in Casper the Friendly Ghost) he looked like this:



He looked okay from this angle, as I had very limited photographic resources at the time (and remember, I'm working purely off photos. I don't have a ROTS helmet next to me). But when he looked at other angles, he looked really off.

As you may recall, the original two part clay was a taxidermy clay that is utterly bone hard and extremely difficult to sand and work with. I don't recommend taxidermy clay at all. So the white areas show some really drastic changes. In some cases I had to alter the overall surface. Much of the eyes, cheeks and face are resculpted.





Now, it's starting to look better, but it's all in the subtleties. It might look right at one angle, but change the angle and, shoot, have to reshape. So this took quite a lot of time going back and forth.

Shaping up but needs improvement:







For me, the eyes, cheeks, and mouthwalls have a very bizarre interrelationship. Even though I had a 20th Century sitting on the kitchen counter, there were aspects of the sculpt that remained an enigma. It wasn't just about it being symmetrical but also about the taper and overall structural flow from front to back.

But the breakthrough for me came just within the last 2 days where the eyes really started to look nice to me.



And now the mask is starting to move out of it being a generic Vaderesque sculpt into something that is starting to capture the essence of the character. Of course, this is my interpretation of the ROTS. After studying photos of the MR ROTS versus the screen used, I noticed subtle differences and thought I'd do my own take.




The dome has been a challenge. I was originally going to use a "Darth Ugly" dome I had worked on a while back, but the asymmetry proved to be to much to correct, so I discarded it. I happened to have a Don Post derived dome lying around that I never threw away. It was something I had modified significantly but erroneously. Waste not want not, so it became a modification candidate.






It's bee a great deal of resculpting so that the "M" of the facial opening looked more ROTS like. Also, it was fun softening the fold line between domecap and flange, as the helmet base was originally a project to sharpen that very fold line. Of course, the mids strip is blasted away and will have to be resculpted.

The silhouette is becoming more believable as a ROTS helmet. There are subtle asymmetries I will keep in. I'm not going to drive myself crazy making this computer-perfect since I'm not a computer, but even the screenused at elements of handwork and slight asymmetry despite popular belief.

So pair-up time. How does the dome and the mask compare? Well, I stuck a sculpting tool on one side of the face, and a ballpoint pen on the other side, to simulate the tusk tubes.

Here is an earlier stage of progress:



And here is the most recent stage of progress:





I'm currently keeping the neck short for manageability. The mask is extremely heavy thanks to the thick applications of taxidermy clay (and I didn't know any better all those years ago).

Wow, 5 years in the making... And despite the possibility of people recasting a ROTS helmet and undermining this project, this sculpt is mine. It's something I feel I have to complete - and in that process, it will complete me.

Coll project Mac.
Are want to make a RotS facemask with a OT dome?

I don't understand your question. The base is indeed an OT dome, but as you can see, there is a ROTS-like modification underway. By the time I'm done with it, it won't look like an OT dome.

What i wanted to say was, if you want to make a symetrical Vader based on a OT look.
So something like a symetrical AnH Vader helmet.
Cause there is a huge difference in size and width compared the OT to the RotS dome.

Amazing work!

Okay, first mod shots of the year (I think).



Here's the neck extension I sculpted. It took a few passes, as 2-part clay can be a bit floppy and sag on you.



Shots were taken with my iPhone 4 about 4 or so feet away.



Enjoy!

The obvious symmetrical perfection of ROTS, I always find a little irritating.
Unquestionably, it's also an interesting variation and no less respectable appearance.

Your approach to get from the imperfect to the perfect, is a very exciting and certainly very challenging too.

While working on my absolute beginner modding project (making a stunt ESB out of a Rubies Supreme) I will be a interested follower of your master project

Please pardon the iPhone 4 shots. Yes, I have finally upgraded from a lousy 3GS to a lowest-of-the-low iPhone 4.

Turrican made some very good observations and comments in terms of the OT vs ROTS dome size (translation: he drove me nut and made me do all this new sculpting work. Drat him!)

I made a concerted effort to study photos of the MR and made some observations about the flange, brows and the silhouette.

So behold... it's wider... bigger....





OKay that's all I'm going to do with it, size-wise. The rest is refining the shape and surface, and then I'll sculpt in the mid strip at the final stages!

That looks realy good Mac.
Keep on the good work!

This coming May will mark 7 years. How time flies...

Some shots as of this morning:



I've now begun to really watch the surfaces and to ensure surface continuity because although the sculpt looked generically ROTS, any surface irregularities would show up under black gloss paint.

Thus the neck extension had to blend well and integrate with the head, so this is what I'm focused on before moving onto the tubes and the teeth.

Still a work in progress on this side:





More later!

Adding teeth... this may take a while to refine...



And then added him on top of my scratchbuilt armor platform (yes I'll get to it this year)

A lot of major work that may not seem obvious, so I'll step you through.

First are the grooves from the eye corners to the back.





These were a particular challenge. I had to create a certain elegance because the curve of the groove and the cheek corner leading up to it makes an elegant "S" curve. The edge of the eye had to end like a flap in a sense to become part of that curve. But adding new material meant the surface vectors of the head had to also be brought out, so I added a lot of material to the skull of the mask.

Here you can see the skull has a bit of a fuller look:



I've also now sculpted out the remaining teethbars, and will try to do a bit more sanding to them to get the teeth a touch straighter.

Some fun shots:





Whew... getting there. More later!

Wow, you have a very good eye Mac.
Looking forward to some more progress.
Are you also replicate the dome mounting system?