First of all: Thanks guys for all the kind words.Ive been waiting for years to be able to jump back on this project and I couldn't be happier with how fast its progressing.

So a few parts came in this week. The Hammond aluminum boxes were my Saturday project. I was able to drill and cut everything. Now I just need to install the braided hose and add some paint. The correct silver buttons are still on their way, so I'm still using the placeholders. I'd say the dimensions seem perfect to me, so I did a test fitting.





The boot and the shinguard are also here. The boots are cheap but will do just fine for the moment as placeholders. The shinguards are from sithplanet and I'd say they look great. However I am by no means an expert on Vader's lower half.



And although it was taken before I made these few additions, here is the first full body picture of the display. from this far back you start seeing how proportions play differently in relation to one another and a few parts start to look a bit different. The display is still missing pants, so I had to photoshop the legs to look black.

Belt boxes finished and installed! I might re-finish them with satin black. I used matt black since I ran out of satin.

Those look massive. You sure the size is correct?

Hammond 1550C 4.5 x 3.5 x 2

No Humor Man is right these are just a bit bigger then they should be. I did some digging around and asked a few more knowledgable fellas and sure enough. I already found and ordered the correct boxes, so I should be able to replace these biggies before the end of the week.

Alright guys so I was able to get 2 set of boxes with dimensions much closer to ROTJ beltboxes. I got a pair of aluminum and a pair of ABS to do a practice run with, since I couldn't find a diagram (greeblies) for this specific size. Sure enugh today I was able to put together the ABS set for practice and to verify the size.

Here is a comparison shot for you guys to see the difference in sizes:





And here they are on the display installed. I think it looks a lot better now. However these were just for practice, so now I have to repeat the process on the aluminum boxes with a few tweaks to my measurements for drilling.





And finally this week I was able to put my order in for a 3 piece, real leather suit and gloves. I will be happy to no have to photoshop this guys legs black every time I want to show a full body picture! Anways let me know what you guys think! I'm always open to opinions and suggestions

Now see, that looks like perfection.

You know... it's your fault that I realized my printed ESB boxes were too small.
But glad I realized now, since I was gonna reprint them anyway. Rather have them come out right than find out later they were wrong.

Alright!! so quick update. I should have much better pictures soon enough. Well at least as soon as I get the right glove from Custom Props. They accidentally sent me two left handed gloves but the replacement should be on its way already. However I couldn't resist the urge to fit the display with the suit and take some shots with the phone and share it with you guys. So finally here is the first shot of my display 100% assembled. There are still parts that will need to be replaced but I'm really happy with how this has turned out.

Beautifully assembled

Its not done but I couldnt resist the urge to snap a few shots with the DSLR. As you can see the right hand glove is still missing (placeholder), but according to the tracking number it should be here on Monday. Claudio from Custom Props was kind enough to send me two right gloves so that I could have two set of gloves. This helps a lot since I'm planing on starting a second display for ESB. Another piece that has to be swapped on this one is the cod piece. I'm waiting on Artisan props, but it seems like its gonna take forever to even get on the list much less get the actual cod piece. However Custom Props does have a new model that looks a lot better than their previous one, so I might just go for one of those until the AP becomes available. And then to top it all off I should be swapping the helmet for a ROTJ once Dave finishes it for me. I honestly cant wait to see how that turns out, and I'm sure its gonna take this display to the next level.





I did want to ask if any of you could provide me with a closeup shot of some accurate fabric for the cape and robe. I'm trying to source the material for a seamstress to work on my cape and robe for the ESB display, but its so hard to tell what the material really looks like from the average display pictures. I might have to start another thread for that, unless one of the guys following this one can actually help me with that.

Thanks for the kind words you guys!

Well i have to say, that fit's really well together.
Would say you nailed the RotJ look very good.

Looking really nice there. Can you describe how you painted the aluminum boxes, like what type of primer/paint you used?

Its officially 100% complete now that I got the right glove that was missing from Custom props! From her on out its just replacing parts for more accurate ones as they come in. However the second display I'm working on (ESB) already has more accurate parts than this one. Very exciting stuff!

I believe ( to the relief of some of you) these will be the last shots I'll be posting of this display for a while. Well at least until I get my ROTJ helmet back from getting finished.

(this time I went for slightly different angles from what I've posted so far)









Thank you guys for your kind words, your support and your advise so far. I couldn't be happier with my Vader props and its thanks to a lot of you guys sharing your wealth of knowledge.

So today I got an awesome mail call and I decided to do another set of quick pictures to show some of the changes. I got my AP cod piece today in the mail which is a huge improvement. I also built new belt boxes (again). these are a lot cleaner in terms of construction and I was very careful painting them and putting them together. Also there is a completely new belt buckle. And last but not least I added a little more padding on the chest to really get closer to the ROTJ look. The only thing I can see that needs to be replaced is the helmet, which I've gotten updates on and will not be long before I can add it to this display.

(these are just some fuzzy crappy pictures for the moment. Will get some better shots later)

While I have no aspirations to create a full-sized Vader statue, that is freaking cool. ...have to be honest. It might even scare the shit out me if I ever walked into my house late at night after downing a bomber of Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout.