Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing!

Another Then&Now shot.

I've been working on the lower eyelids - exterior and interior.

Facial symmetry is coming together.

Very nice work.

I wish I had more time. Just a little here and a little there

I know the feeling. AquaMend type products take about 12 mins to an hour to harden, but 12-24 hours to fully cure. You end up learning how to do a little bit by a little bit. While I am waiting for something in the eyes to cure, I might work on sanding and refining the mouth.

Whiskers time!

What are whiskers?

Whiskers are those little grooves on either side of the mouth. They are the grooves where the forward facing cheeks end and the mouth walls begin.

I had previously dremmeled these out. Here are the results.



What you see here is not only those holes filled in but I also had to re-angle the mouth walls. I initially just filled the holes and the mask looked ugly and I became very worried that it didn't look screen-accurate. I dreaded having to pad the mouth walls and to change their thickness at the base of the forward cheeks. This actually turned out quite well and was not as difficult as I had feared.

Believe it or not, I had worked on the eyes again... and again.

It's a combination of adding stuff to the upper inner eyelids, and then shaping the eyebrows on the outside. Then sanding it down to make sure their inward angle is right. That is why Vader is such a remarkable sculpture study: you think you're aware of all the geometries, and yet that truly ideal look constantly eludes you!

I can't thank the community here at the Den for sharing photos of their helmets. It has been invaluable.

So, more symmetry work to the eyes. And the whiskers have been filled, and the mouth walls re-shaped.



That's it for today!

Announcement

I've decided to announce that "Casper" is my attempt at recreating the ROTS Vader from Star Wars Episode 3. For those of you who are newcomers to Vader prop collecting, in each of the films that feature Vader (Episodes 3, 4, 5, and 6) the Vader prop helmet has subtle but specific differences. Why? I don't know. Perhaps it's about merchandising, and perhaps it's about constantly trying to improve and idealize the character's look.

When LucasFilm set out to remake Vader for Episode 3 (Revenge of the Sith - R.O.T.S.), according to the supplimental DVD, they studied a prop from the original trilogy and remarked how asymmetrical it looked. As a complete beginner who has been exploring sculpture intensively for, oh, the last 30+ days, I find a world of subtleties and nuances to Brian Muir's original sculpting work on the Star Wars: A New Hope (ANH) Vader and have come to appreciate Muir's work deeply. Every time I feel I've understood the "formula" of Vader's archtypal "look", there is something that evades me and forces me to re-evaluate my understanding. Vader's face and facets are the result of some remarkable inter-relationships such that it's very difficult to draw him right in comics without 2D photographic references. Anyway, the DVD discussed how they did a 3D laser scan of an Original Trilogy helmet and used the computer to mirror-flip one of the sides to create the other half -- so creating the symmetry.

As a result of this, a lot of people don't like the ROTS look and feel the OT look was ruined by LucasFilm's move to make it symmetrical. However, there are many that feel the ROTS look is incredible. I was of the opposite opinion initially. I hated the ROTS look until I saw a photo of the mask looking downwards, and right there it captured an idealized Vader look. The Master Replicas ROTS helmet is supposedly physically molded off an original helmet due to its glossiness inhibiting a proper 3D laser scan. And while the ROTS Vaders have come down in price in some cases on eBay, I felt I needed to make one instead of buy one.

T-VIRUS said it best. "Sure, I can own one, but where would the fun be if we didn't make it ourselves?"

So from the very beginning, I knew this wasn't going to be easy. I didn't have access to a 3D laser scanning like Lucasfilm did. I did not have an MR helmet in my possession, and my Don Post was not going to be an ideal reference. I relied on photos here on the Den, and I thank everyone for their encouragement as well as those MR owners who graciously shared hi-res shots from different angles and perspectives.

But it was not an impossible project. One of the first people to make a fan-made ROTS helmet was FettPride. According to starwarshelmets.com, Fettpride started with a Don Post Deluxe casting as a base helmet. Modifying a DP does not take away from his artistry, as this was quite a makeover. I therefore need to acknowledge him as a forerunner because his implementation was very much inspirational to me. Other sources of inspiration are Portumac (to a lesser degree, Northglass, but I understand Northglass's offering is a previous generation of Portumac's work).

FettPride also relied on photographs. I don't know if the MR was out when he set out to do his DP modification, but it's marvelous. I had the benefit of various Den photos.

However, I had a tremenous uphill battle. Having modified various DP-related masks was one thing. To build something from clay -- and from the ground up, from scratch -- meant a very high risk of failure. If the mask failed to live up to everyone's expectations, it would be a great setback to my track record. I had never built anything of this precision before. I worked with plasticine as a youth, and did a torso in one art class in college, but that was it.

I was fearful of this project failing, so I held back on sharing that this is a ROTS recreation effort.

Working on "Casper" (named after the old cartoon Casper the Friendly Ghost because it was definitely ghost-like in it early and whitish appearance, kind of like those Pac-man ghosts!) gave me an immense appreciation for Vader. The ROTS Vader is in one sense still Brian Muir's scultpting artistry, but one side mirrored by computer to create the other. There is indeed a younger look to this Vader that is difficult to explain but would play very well into the novel "Dark Lord Rising" in which the young Lord Vader is conflicted within himself with the enslavement of races due to his past in slavery. By the time we see Vader in ANH, the man known as Anakin had vanished within the dark metallic armor -- as Obi-wan told Luke, "Now, he is more machine than man."

Earlier on, Casper started looking more like an OT mask than the ROTS. I forced myself to check regularly with a mirror. It was an incredible artistic challenge. T-VIRUS had told me, "Whatever look LFL achieved by accident using their 3D technology, we're trying to create on purpose."

I am very touched by all your encouragement and support, especially that of NoHumorMan who has created such a nurturing environment. I'm honored to have received such positive feedback on this work-in-progress.

My most recent progress has finally given me a level of comfort that the major challenges have been overcome, and that Casper is truly on its way of achieving a ROTS look.

There will still be some slight asymmetry qualities to it, being that this is handmade. Again, I do not have an MR in my possession, so all the proportions are guesswork. If anyone ever possed one side by side with an MR, there will be differences, as I am going by 2D photos without any measurements. No 3D software. Just the ol' fashioned way: using the two fuzzy eyeballs God gave me.

I'm therefore pleased to reveal this is a ROTS effort. I thank you all for your friendship and wonderful feedback thus far. May the Schwartz be with you all!

I think you got the Portumac/Northglass info switched around. Porty is offering the old style made by Northglass and Northglass is constantly trying to improve his. At least that's how I heard it - could be wrong.

Glad you made this announcement, 'cause then I won't bother you with OT details, but only concentrate on symmetrical RotS details. However... will you make a faithful adaption of the RotS, the look that the prop department created, or will you make it a bit more like a symmetricalized OT helmet, as seen in this topic: Symmetri Study?

I understand NG and Porty as having worked together. They split off, and their resultant helmets have differed since. I'm aware of Portumac's sculpting abilities, as he showed me a piece of armor he was sculpting when I told him his 19" armor was just too big for me. Perhaps they are both sculptors.

Yes, I do plan to complete the ROTS structure. This needs to be done in stages. First I need to make sure the face is all done. I have to work on the mouth and then, *GASP*, the teeth. The bridge of the nose shouldn't be too difficult.

After that is achieved, I'll then build out the neck and the head to make it look like the MR ROTS. I'll even make the four square holes! I don't know if this is what you mean. I've been doing very careful line studies with ROTS photos when making Casper. The ciruclar nose, the various subtleties of eye shape, etc. -- I've tried duplicating that all.

Oh... okay... well... that's cool then!

Teeth are simple!

Oh... so you are going 100% RotS style then. Okay.

I've also wondered about just a ROTS face on an OT head framework (bald skull, short neck). I've heard of some people having problems wearing one of the current ROTS offerings. One implementation makes it difficult to fit the neck under the armor. Another was difficult to wear but it might be because the wearer had a really thick neck!

I've seldom heard of anyone having a problem wearing an OT-style head. The only complaint is that it's too big for some, so they opt for the Don Post Standard.

There are some mods beyond just the computerized mirror-flip that LFL did to the ROTS Vader. The squarish tear ducts, the whiskers' distinct shape, and the circular-like roundness of the nose and the specific shape of the silver colored inside-nose.

The bridge of the nose is also shaped differently and is atypical of the OT look, so I'm saving that towards the end.

Also the tusk tubes are -- when seen from above -- straight, whereas the tusk tubes on the OT are curved. I could be wrong; I may have to look more carefully, but they strike me as straight.

Another thing that's interesting is that if Vader is looking down, on an OT you can see the "V" shape of the lower tusk tubes as wider than the top ones. On the ROTS, the upper tusk tubes obscures the lower tusk tubes more, so the face looks more straight on the sides. Hope that makes sense.

I have a Portumac DP DLX recast. Aside from the fact that the recast suffers a slight loss of detail (moreso around the eyes, less with the cheeks) the flaws of this particular casting (of course, inherited from the mask Porty cast from, so it's not Porty's fault) are quite blaring to me. If I do an OT that's more symmetrical, I'd probably try just modifying this DP recast and see where that takes me. Would I want to make it perfectly symmetrical? Not sure.

In the OT masks, the teeth are actually off center, and the right side of the mouth is longer than the left, even if there is no jaw droop to the right. However, it's not impossible to fix this....

Okay, now the nose. And I can't believe this has taken me several attempts.

Most of you know the bridge of the nose on the ROTS is different than on the OT helmets. The studio shots of Hayden's helmet and some of the MR would lead you to think it's a certain shape. And then when I looked at pictures of the recent "Vader Project" exhibit at the recent C4 convention, I learned the shape wasn't quite the same. It turns out the helmets of the Vader Project were provided by Master Replicas, so those were authentic ROTS products.

Seeing Vader painted up in lighter colors as opposed to gloss black was most educational. Gloss black reflects light differently on its varying surfaces, and some of those reflections can be misleading.

Anyways, I've build, broken, rebuilt, rebroken, etc. the bridge of the nose. I've learned a lot from the failures. I did get so frustrated at one point I had to stay away from Casper for, like, a whole day. I returned to it yesterday and this morning.

The nose has an arch that tapers as it connects with the bridge of the nose. The way this is done is slightly different than the original trilogy (OT) helmets, and yet it's somewhat similar.



So this is just the look of the front. I have not worked on the sides yet.

I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say that instead of sanding hardened material, I decided a sculpting approach.

Now, I could have just started off sculpting an OT nose bridge, then filed the rectangles wider, and then sanded the bridge down a little. But I'm trying to get this to reproduce the look of the photos as much as possible.

Here you see I've padded up the left eyebrow again. Oh, that never-ending battle of achieving symmetry!

I see you have managed to capture the two most hideous features of the RotS mask - the long nose ridges and the round nose. Definitely a RotS face you are getting closer to!

Ah, so the uglier the more screen accurate, eh? Hehe!

In truth, from a sculpting stand point, I have found the nose to be very challenging. This is not to say I haven't built, unbuilt and rebuilt the eyes even more times, and that I am not worried about the whiskers, and don't get me started on the mouth and sculpting that -- but one has to respect the ROTS vader from a sculpting standpoint. Though they had the advantage of 3D scanning and 3D printing, approaching the ROTS from a scratch-building standpoint means that some of my understanding of OT geometries work and won't work on ROTS.

It is appreciation of the ROTS as a sculpture that has given me so much respect for the design. Again, I disliked the ROTS and preferred the OT until I took on this project. I've come to find that it's more difficult to scratch-build a ROTS than to simply work up an OT recast kit because everything you do has to stand up to a certain level of scrutiny in terms of symmetry.

At the beginning of this project, I wondered if a Don Post Deluxe could be modified to achieve the ROTS look. I felt at the time that the intrinsic asymmetries and inconsistencies would assert themselves and bias the sculpt. Even though I chose the scratch-built route, it sure didn't help me takinge side peeks at a DP now and again while I was working the clay at my desk! As a result, my previous work with the bridge of the nose with various kits was asserting itself and biasing the sculpt. I had to break that all off and reassess the ROTS bridge's geometries and also had to sand down and reshape the arch of the nose.

It still has a bit of "Mac" in the interpretation, which is fine, because there needs to be some of the artist's personality in the sculpt, rather than an outright mimickry of the ROTS. Why do what ol' Mac is doing when you can simply recast an MR and have it identical?

Then again, where's the fun in doing that?