The original Don Post Deluxe (DP DLX) Vader was a limited edition of 1,000. It was made in around 1997 by Don Post Studios out of fiberglass, and was cast from a helmet provided by LucasFilm. It was the first reasonably accurate helmet of Vader offered to the public through a licensing agreement with LFL.

While the paint scheme is the mirrored form of that used in the movie, its original paint -- gloss black with deep metallic gray highlights -- capture the romance of the ESB/ROTJ film.

Here are a few photographs of my "poorman's approach" of mimicing studio photography. While many vendors have put the Deluxe down in favor of their own wares, the DP DLX was a thing of beauty if you photograph it properly.

I hope that people perusing this thread will find these photos a useful educational reference.

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If it wassn't as warped, as most of them are, it would be one of my favorite helmets. the wonkynes of it, just "turns me of"

The warpage can be fixed if you have the skills.

Mac it's a glorious helmet. It's very rare to find one that hasn't been repainted or altered.

JB, thanks. When I first joined the community, after all the poor and misleading acquisitions I made, this one was the gold of my collection, and I got it for a steal.

I remember earlier complaints of the paint scheme being reversed and therefore inaccurate, but over time it bothered me less and less to the point I don't even notice it. I've exampled photos of "accurate" paint jobs and their paint finishes just don't respond to soft light the way this does -- it's like a silky sheen, and it's just incomparable.

So over time I found that the inaccuracies ceased bothering me me because the character of Vader really came off well here. I can put this on top of a mannequin with a simple black bedsheet as a cape and it would still have a great deal of striking presence.

And here is the mask alone under simple fluorescent kitchen lights. Here's a good example of how the paint responds to the surrounding light with no flash photography.

I do believe the Kustom Kolors Black Pearl will respond in very similar fashion, since its parent company was Valspar -- who made the paint for ESB and ROTJ.

Don Post sighting on The Prop Store:

http://www.propstore.com/product/star-w ... er-helmet/

Nice to see the ole guy offered for sale at the prop store. But oooohhhh what a difference sanding down that DPDLX dome mount could make !

prop store #153 left, my modified DPDLX #525 right