I had never done an MR vs LFL comparison with their ROTS masks, so today I took a chance and did some overlaying. I had always wondered why the LFL prop looked like it had a thinner nose.

Tell me what you guys think. The overlay is not 100% perfect, but it's one of the best matches I've encountered.

Here's a more accurate comp.



Do you guys feel that the nose and mouth walls on the MR are thicker than on the prop?

... maybe like on the DP Deluxe - waaayyyy too much paint ...

Maybe the reveal RotS version is not the best to compare with the normal hero version helmet that the MR is supposedly a cast and worked from.

I dunno.

But paint can always obscure things. Though, pretty interesting topic.

I picked the wrong time of the month to stop sniffing glue.

Mac, this is a very interesting photo comparison, but one thing to consider is that the Lucasfilm reveal helmet actually deviates from the Hero non-reveal helmet in many of the same ways as the MR helmet. The makers of the reveal prop modified and reworked their casting quite a bit when fashioning it into a reveal. After cutting it in half, they moved around some of the rear cut outs, and changed the mouth slope a bit. They also modified the side tubes.

Dan

Thanks guys.

I'm only after specific differences with the eyes and the mouth-nose-wall.

My obsevation is that the inner eyelids seem shallow and the overall eyesocket isn't as well defined as an OT helmet, which is probably why people love the OT and many OT purists dislike the ROTS. I admit the eyes are less interesting but it's still a challenge for me to capture that in my scratchbuild.

I've also obtained some great measurements of the MR and that the nosewall is 6 mm. I wanted to get a sense of the prop was thinner than that or not.

The faceplates of the MR hero and LFL are nearly identical. The necks differ however (MR neck is shorter in front and a different shape, and the mount is different). The reveal and hero helmets came both from the same final mold. I've not compared the reveal and hero helmet mouth slopes...if they differ then it could be how the reveal face came out of the mold...maybe it had a tough "birth". But they should be the same if from the same mold. So I'm curious about the mouth slope if it's there and also if someone can post comps of the tubes that would be interesting.

I'm not a fan of the ROTS Vader. I still don't understand why they didn't go with more of an ANH look for continuity reasons. Anyway, those are some nice overlays that do show some differences; one answer is that the hero and reveal helmets are different as has been offered. I agree with Mac though that the specific details he is questioning should not have been changed even with the 'splitting'. The differences could also come down to the pics being taken at slightly different angles thus causing some descrepancy.

Either way, I doubt MR or LFL would say these helmets are from the same mold if they weren't.....that would be false advertising and would open them up to possible litigation. Mac, are you planning to hire a lawyer?? I keed, I keed.

Nah, I'm trying to figure out the right mouthwall and nosewall thickness for my scratchbuilt ROTS project, codenamed "Casper".

Damn Mac.....I've got nothing but respect for anyone doing a scratch built Vader helmet. Best of luck to you....and Casper.

Well that's something I forget...what did MR use for it's helmet...did they mold the original hero ROTS helmet or did they use the original mold to make a master cast and then mold that to make 2nd generation casts for resale?

Nice work Mac. Thanks for sharing.

Anakin Starkiller - I did not know that about the reveal lid, thats some interesting stuff.

It would be great to get some comparison shots of the reveal lid versus the hero vs the MR cast.

Hey, Gang -

I don't know how interesting this is but I just scored MR ROTS Vader # 556 for $300.00. Came with box, stand, all of it, but Vader's right hand tusk has been knocked off, taking some of the fiberglass with it.

I know that I can fix it but had a question about the paint - does anyone know what it is? I would contact MR but they don't seem to exist anymore, right?

I would post a photo but it is basically not as bad as the Paul Allen ESB helmet damage. This will need a little bondo but that's about it along with resetting of a tusk.

But for $300.00?! Absolutely worth the effort in my opinion.

By the way - I'm in Los Angeles if anyone wants to perhaps get hired for this little job - PM me if so. I can do it but time is tight.

Main thing is the paint if I do it myself.

Hi there,

cause of some new pic's(which are taken in the LFL archives) i got ,i can now say , that the Master Replicas RotS helmet is nearly 100% accurate to the screen used prop.
Also the strapping and padding inside is 100 % the same as on the screen used mask.

There are only two single points which got little bit changed.
The inside of the dome mounting and there are no rivets on the side of the buttstrap where the neckseal get attached.

Inside of the dome is written who was involved on the build , as far as i could read the following names:
Justin Brown,Tim McGaw,Adam Johanssen,Martin Rezard, 2003

On the Facemask is written:
JAK Produktion LDT.
Caracter: Darth Vader
Actor: Hayden Christensen
Code EP 111: Front Face Mask 1 of 1


Also i can now confirm the the reveal RotS Mask got casted from the screen used helmet.

Sorry but no pic's.