Thanks for the update and links NikonD80 really appreciated and yup that was one of the YouTube vids I watched to get an idea of what can be done with the Jesmonite. Also, to get a look at the raw surface I checked out the test here:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvUgH0SumaI

Taking in to account in this vid that the Jesmonite is just quickly brushed on you can see how rough it can be - which will mean a fair amount of extra after care, I can imagine me sanding it back down to the back of my hand to get a smooth finish lol. But on a plus, what does get my attention is that mixing it with a Stainless Steel finish already in the paste might be useful for a weathered effect I'm after which will mean less paint and sharper details. If that fails then a primer should key in rather well. Thinking aloud on that product at this time though and I'm not in a place where I can experiment with toxic fumes etc, unfortunately, so a bit of a 'make do and mend' aspect going on which may actually work out just fine.

Right, kettle on!

Just a small update:

I've put the thickened RTV over the top of the mould. I used this product...



It's really great. The catalyst is the orange stuff so the RTV changes from white to a pale salmon colour when you mix it. This means you can see when the stuff is properly mixed - no more guess work. The small clear bottle is the thickener. I added it by dipping the handle of an artists paintbrush into the bottle and then allowing the liquid to drip into the RTV. It took a surprisingly small amount of this stuff to thicken the RTV from being all runny to being the consistency of polyfiller. I also invested in a new set of scales for the workshop. They are much more accurate than the old set and my problems of the RTV taking forever to set seem to have gone so it looks like my earlier problems were simply down to me not adding enough catalyst. Once the RTV is mixed and then thickened, can apply it the same way you'd put iceing on the top of a cake. The RTV layer is now about 1/4 inch thick in the thin areas - I'm going to apply one more thin layer over the top of the bumpy areas just to smooth things out (and use the ol' washing up liquid trick to make sure the RTV is smooth). .

I also made some of these out of unthickened RTV.



They are made by pouring the RTV into the dips in an old ice-cube tray. Once they had set, I turned them out onto the tray so they were ready for use as locators for the outer jacket.


Here's the Vader mask mould as it is at the moment. I attached the locators by the highly complex method of gently pushing them into the still soft thickened RTV.

Here's another view of the current setup:


I'll give it a day or two then I can start work on the outer jacket.

Stay tuned...

Despite not posting for a while, I have been busy on this project.

Firstly I have finished making the mould - both the internal RTV piece and the external jacket (I used GRP for this in the end).



Here's a pic showing the way the jacket sits over the inner RTV mould.



And here's the inside of the RTV mould.



Anyway, after a long wait, here's the first pull from the mould.



I only had 200ml of Resin left over so it's only got a single layer of matting on the inside - I just wanted to see if all my hard work had been worth the effort.

I must say, I'm really pleased with the results so far. I always knew I'd have to do more to the piece once I got to this stage but that's mostly cleanup and a bit more work on the nose.

Here's a couple of shots of the twins...





And here's the whole line up - including the mould.



I just couldn't resist plonking the helmet on top of my new mask to see how if looks. I wasn't able to worry about alignment of the mask to the helmet etc, etc; I simply put the helmet on top of the mask so I can check the state of things.
Again, I'm really encouraged.









This one will be kept as a test piece for paint and 'how am I going to do that' type stuff.

That's turned out really well NikonD80! As far as I can tell, the mould and test cast is very sharp and kept its shape quite accurately. Cool!!

Here's a bit more...

I've made some lenses out of acrylic sheet and spent the day sanding and filling and sanding and filling etc,etc,etc (you get the idea).

This is still the test version. I'm learning a lot about what NOT to do :D








There's still some more fine tuning to do but he's nearly ready for a top coat.

More work has benn done to this project and I'm fast approaching the final stretch.

I finally got the last coat of primer on yesterday. And gave it (yet another) rub down with wet and dry. I'm now using grade 1500 on this.

Here it is drying in it's final primed stage.



I went and got the top coat paint for Vader. Having researched various peoples different builds I decided to opt for Ford Panther Black and Ford Mercury Grey.

I sprayed on an initial coat of black this morning and here we are...





I understand that the ESB Vader was all spray painted but I'm debating whether to brush on the silver instead - I just really like that look. This mask is going to end up in a charity fund raiser though (either a raffle prize or charity auction) so the winner might expect a sprayed finish. What do you think?

I would spray it bro, first as you pointed out the ESB helmets were sprayed and secondly if you're going to raffle or auction it for charity it's not going to be for you so without meaning to sound rude your personal taste about the paint scheme shouldn't matter.
And hey you have a mould you can always pull yourself another copy and convert it to ANH if you like.

You're absolutely right Gary. I'm getting a bit too close to this project I guess.

Anyway, I know I said I'd do this photo tomorrow, but I just couldn't resist. The tusks and grill are the inaccurate Rubies ones for now since they are all I've got at the moment but it does give a good indicator of the direction this project is going.



And here's a couple of 'before and after' shots (Original Rubies on the left - my version of the right).


Front


Three Quarter View.

Just a quick update. I've applied the final black top coat to the mask. I'll leave it to cure for a week or so then I can mask it up for the silver.

Then I can start making the mould for the helmet. ;D



Here's a nice close-up.

I've started the final work on the helmet: thickening the rim to make it look more substantial.



As you can see, I've simply sculpted some clak 'round the rim. I've started to tidy it up and make it uniform. I'm going to leave the rim too thick on the plug then I can determine the thickness I want when I cast the real piece..

Here's a 3/4 view.

I've ordered some nice low tack 3M masking tape - 3mm wide. I'll use this for the edges and then use blue masking tape to fill in the main areas.

My son has been refusing to wear his cycle helmet recently (he says they're girly) so I made a deal with him and give his headgear a bit of a paintjob. He's now calling himself 'Bykah Fett' : Now we can get him to take the thing off.

I used the project as an excuse to try out some masking techniques.





I seemed to get best results by removing the tape quite soon after the paint had been applied.

I've also started to make the mould for Lord Vader's headgear too.






Now for another question. Can anyone recommend some suitable grill for the mouth? I know roughly what I need but I can't find a decent ESB pic - everything is in shadow.

Thanks

Just in case people are still reading this thread..

Can anyone post a photo of the sort of grillwork I need to find so I know what I should be looking for?
It looks in some photos like there a second layer of finer mesh behind the first layer. Is that right?
Since this will be 'for display purposes only' I'm going to join the helmet to the mask to discourage recasting. I was also thinking of adding a layer of voile behind both the eyes and the grill work so you can't look through to the insides.

I'm also turning my attention to making a display stand. Has anyone got any advice on what works best?

Thanks

Hi NikonD80, the last few shots of your work turned out great, well worth the effort and experience I rekon. Just started tinkering with the one I have, so knee deep in Klean Klay and bits of tubing lol. I have no idea if the RTV silicone will cast and release old shiney SCSI lead plastic casing so a bit of gamble there.

On the mesh, I'm not 100% sure but googling "expanded wire mesh" brought up some very close ESB style grills, just a question of preference on the 'diamond' width size but I think for the top mouth vent there are approximately 7/8 diamond shapes at the longest (top to bottom) part for ANH, and 5 for ESB and RotJ - with RotJ having slightly more expanded metal giving a deeper look to the mesh. Check out the inside view of the 'Fencing' stunt helmet.

All the best!

Thanks for the feedback Wavey. I've decided that for this version, I'll stick with the Rubies mesh and just add some smaller gauge mesh behind it. I need to get this done in time for the charity auction so the supplied mesh will have to do.

I spent this morning masking up the - mask. I used this tape to do the fiddley and curved masking.



The pin stripe tape is about £3 a roll but it works so well, it's worth every penny.

After a couple of hours work, the mask looked like this.



I couldn't put it off any more, I had to start spraying the gunmetal.
10 minutes later, the mask looked like this...



...and I was having kittens waiting for the moment to remove the tape.

After another quarter of an hour (ish) I started to remove the tape and was thrilled to see the results.







I have also pretty much finished making the stand too.


You can just make out the grill that I've applied to the lower part of the chin in this pic.

I've just got to finish making the mould for the helmet now so I can cast the final part.

very good job

I think you should add a little black here :