Touché

I wouldn't have a problem with the multi-piece design if weren't for the compromises in accuracy that result.

The dome seam is hidden well by the center strip. It's only noticeable from the side view at the widow's peak. Whatever was done there shows a sort of stair-step discontinuity.

The tubes are too flat across the top from the cheek to the tusks, and the angle where it meets the cheek is not very accurate. And the entire tube length will have a visible seam. You know the kind of stuff that would drive a Vader purist crazy (-ier).

But if these aren't a bother to someone for the overall accuracy for the price it seems like a pretty good deal. Even if it is made like a toy ;) .

You got it Dcarty.

We really need a Like button here

I see someone on ebay has a handful of these eFx PCR Vader helmets for sale, slightly marked up ($325 + $26 shipping)



More from http://www.baitme.com which has it for sale at the same price, so I presume it's the same seller:

i couldn't resist. I bought one and have it in hand now still in the unopened eFx box.

As part of my review I want to confirm that the dimensions match those of the eFx Limited/Legend mask and dome. But I don't own either.

If anyone with a Limited/Legend is willing to take and share some caliper measurements of distance betwen the main features, please, shoot me a PM. I'd be most grateful.

It does look good. Guess the seam on the dome doesn't really show? I thought about getting one but think I'd better cool it for a bit....

WHAT?!? What's one more? And it's cheap, too.

Hah yep - which I hinted at when I wrote in your thread "plus one more tomorrow" - quite literally!

Rather than "cheap," I believe eFx would prefer the term "attractively priced to maximize unit sales within the targeted demographic."

I was planning to wait until tomorrow to take pictures, but I just couldn't wait. The late afternoon provides the perfect natural lighting that highlights curvature and shadow, especially along the front. With the sun waning in the west, I did manage to snap one good pic before it started getting too dark. It does show off the subtle curvature, color contrast, and shading along the front quite well, I think.

Disregard this request. I compared 3 measurements between this mask and the DPDLX spanning height width and depth, and they matched within 1mm. So I'm reasonably certain this is a 1:1 full scale replica.

Congrats, Banta. You're right. That last afternoon sun highlights the curvature of that box beautifully.

And actually, regardless what time of day it is, you can get the beautiful soft light be placing helmet near a window opposite of the sun. So if your'e in the US, that'd be a North facing window. The larger the window, the larger the (soft) light source, the more the light will wrap around your helmet. I used white foam core to bounce the light back against into the helmet from the opposite side of the window. But I pulled the foam core far enough away to not reflect too much light.

You can also use black foam core to block light from the window - as it won't add a color cast to the helmet.

Tips-n-tricks.

I'll post a photo of my lighting set up (hopefully) later today. It's surprisingly easy. ...and it's in my living room.

I don't have a great camera but the pics are not too bad.

So here's my review :

DOME: this was my biggest worry because I knew it would be a two piece construction. It is so well put together you won't know it's two pieces. The dome strip is exactly as it should be, very crisp edges and the correct point at the end. In the previous pictures I had seen the point of the strip looked rounded off too much, that is not the case!

Another concern I had was that this dome would be polished and smoothed out too much, but it's very true to the original. It is not smooth and rounded out and you can see some of the flat areas, and even small imperfections that make it the essential ANH dome. The overall shape of this dome is excellent, It's kind of hard to explain but this dome is the correct shape!

FACE-MASK:

Super crisp details! The brows are pronounced as they should be. The cheeks, teeth, triangle, have very crisp edges. I was really worried that the side tubes would stick out like a sore thumb as they are added on from the inside but they are hardly noticeable and with the dome on it's even less noticeable. I think It's actually a benefit that they are added on separately because they are very round as the should be. Other masks that I have seen are a lot less round due to them being a part of the outer face rather than added on after the rest of the face is sculpted. The nose is painted on rather than an insert like the Rubies. This helmet also have the correct small triangle for ANH.

TUSKS: are metal and one is weathered as it should be.

LENSES: the lenses are a bit wavy when you look through them but are probably the best ones to ever come out of a factory. you could leave them in and have very little problems seeing. They appear to have the correct color as well. Depending on the light they sometimes appear to have a reddish or very light bronze to them. The lenses are secured in with little screws which make them super easy to change if you wanted to change them.

GRILL: the grills are metal and very nicely put in.

STRAPPING: the strapping for the helmet is exactly what you want, Velcro running from side to side and elastic from the top to the Velcro and it's all easily adjustable. It also has clips very cool clips which makes changing out the strapping super easy if you wanted to change it. You will need to add padding before wearing.

PAINT JOB: It is semi to satin finish as it should be. The colors are very nice! It appears to match up quite well with the various armors I seen.

DOME PLACEMENT: This is absolutely stellar! They went to a lot of trouble to make this dome placement correct! And you can put it on yourself and the magnet that is in the face pulls it to the correct spot every time! If you look at the pics you will see that when the face (tusks) are straight up and down the back of the dome and the neck of the face line up to wear they should be.

MATERIALS USED TO MAKE IT: This is not the same plastic you see on the Rubies or any other mask. This type of plastic is strong and it is also super easy to paint, sand and cut (if it was to be transformed into an ESB or ROTJ). Because it was painted from the factory you won't need to sand it down very much if you want to do a repaint. The point on the dome could be sanded off very easily and then polished so it would be super smooth and wouldn't damage the surrounding areas. If you ever tried to paint a Rubies helmet or a Don Post Classic Action you know how difficult it is, not with this type of plastic! It's cake to work with! This type of plastic is also super easy to repair if it's damaged, most any super glue, or epoxy will work on this.

TROOPING: this will be the best trooping helmet ever! It is super light! easy to put on and will last for years of trooping. If your super worried about strength you can sand the inside of the helmet with 400 grit and easily lay down fiberglass for about $30! with out having to repaint any of the outside.

COST: You wont get a better more accurate helmet at this price or twice the price! you can literally get two of these for less than the expensive ones. Modify one and keep the other ANH!

I really can't say enough good things about this. With the correct overall shape of the dome, including the asymmetry we all love and the construction and the ease of which this could be modified to ESB or ROTJ makes it the new go to helmet!!

PAINT UPGRADING: There is a very simple and easy way to upgrade this paint to a brushed metal look. I have done it a few times with various helmets and armor and it looks great! I will try to get a tutorial up soon so you can do it yourself for very very cheap!

Thanks for the nice review, JJ.

That is a great looking helmet, especially for the price. Hope these are available for some amount of time.

Those pictures are great JJ thanks for the review.

Here's my minireview, which is my opinion only, with both pros and cons.

My one picture (5-in-1) for this minireview:



I was actually surprised by how closely the look does match the eFx Limited, in size, shape, and paint.

It's a recommended buy from me to those who don't own an authentic cast ANH and are looking for a low cost "reference helmet." That is, a helmet which provides an accurate representation of the features and characteristics that uniquely define and distinguish the ANH variant from all others.

But I don't consider this helmet out-of-the-box to be a completely authentic casting or even suitable for trooping as-is. I say this only after evaluating the product first hand.

Some compromises did have to be made to facilitate PCR manufacturing in the design of the tubes for example. And I also notice that areas within the breath mask are not consistent with what an authentic casting would look like. The bottom of the grill teeth for example follow along a completely straight line. And the teeth themselves are completely flat.

It is certainly possible to create sturdy troopable helmets with ABS or other types of plastic if it's made to the appropriate thickness for the plastic and for the helmet design.

But when I pick up this helmet like I would any other Vader helmet, by the bottom of the mask, I feel it start to give and deflect by about half an inch under the its own weight of the helmet. The plastic is far too thin there to support the kind of stresses at that location. From putting the mask on, taking it off, and handling it. I could easily see this thing cracking while trooping if somebody simply bumped into you while you were holding it from the bottom.

It wouldn't be too hard to reinforce it but it's something that needs to be done, to avoid creating a crack that would be difficult to seamlessly repair. The ANOVOS OT Stormtrooper helmets commonly need similar reinforcement along the bottom where the plastic on those can be quite thin.

And one last thing the original helmets I don't think made scraping, creaking, and popping noises when handling them. This comes from the 4 tubes, which are separate parts, the noise caused from the friction of the tubes rubbing against the mask.

"Where are those
(squeak squeak)
transmissions you intercepted
(scrape pop squeak)!?!"

So knowing this up front and bearing this in mind, if it isn't going to bother you, this is a great helmet with an accurate look for the price when made a bit sturdier will make a fine ANH helmet.