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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:39 pm 
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Very close.

Because this is a vacuum formed helmet done over something that already had proper proportions, the JJ will throw off my measurements. Things like mouth wall thickness, etc. will cause the formula to not work, hence you will have to "eyeball".

Again, I am using a Don Post Deluxe for these. Simply because the Don Post Deluxe has a right jaw droop and right neck flare moreso than the originals has given it a stygma that I feel is unfair. The same people who adamantly poo-poo the DP DLX will cheer the CKing which happens to be an early number DP Deluxe.

So here is the regular formula:

Image

Vader has five vent holes in his mouth. Technically, the triangle is roughly equalateral, but not perfect. There is a buldge on the chin; the left (as you look at it) is somewhat more pronounced than on the right.

The rounded corners cause the triangle to end at the edges of the leftmost and rightmost vents. However, if you were to draw the lines to a fine sharp corner, the lines would have run into the inclined opening of the mouth.

However, this formula is thrown off due to the mouth thickness of the JJ, and the resulting triangle looks too small.

So here comes the "eyeballing".

Image

Note that the left side of the triangle is more curved than the right.

The chin triangle is upside down, so the horizonal base of the triangle is also slightly curved. This gives the mouht a more angry look and the illusion the mouth triangle's base is curved upwards slightly -- this is a very cool effect that I like about the Don Post Deluxe.

Hope this helps.

By the way, if the chin started buldging out moreso than the the castings earlier in their series, the Don Post Deluxe's master may have had a flat chin... and if the lines were done straight then a chin buldge would cause these lines to curve.

So proceed at your own artistic discretion! :cool:

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PostPosted: Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:05 pm 
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What you've drawn in the first picture looks to be the ESB chin vent... and in the second matches my estimate for the RotJ. The reason the CK is coveted is because it came from a low numbered and less warped DP DLX, which means that its features are more correct than some later DP DLXs - I also believe it came from the small run of DP DLX helmets and not the large run, which was even MORE warped... and that means a lot regarding the features on the helmet.

The chin on Vader was never flat, but always round. If you find a helmet with a flat chin, then it has been reworked.

I'll stick with the outer lines - straight lines, not curved. It just looked extreme that it went down so far on the neck when I drew the line that I thought I had made a mistake.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:28 pm 
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No turning back now... hehe... :lol

Needs a lot more trimming work done before it's good... but it's definitely RotJ style now! :thumbsup

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(restored picture)

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Last edited by Too Much Garlic on Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:31 pm 
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Trust me...with all the screw ups I have....you can still turn back... :lol

Looking great :thumbsup

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:51 am 
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NoHumorMan wrote:
No turning back now... hehe... :lol

Needs a lot more trimming work done before it's good... but it's definitely RotJ style now! :thumbsup


Of course there's turning back... there's always Aquamend!

Wait... there ain't no Aquamend in your part of the globe!

But wait... there's mail order! :toothy

Anyways, you got Bondo out there?

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:27 am 
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Yup... got bondo... but it's not that reddish stuff that breaks apart as you guys have! :lol

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 1:29 pm 
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Not enough decent ROTJ's out there so looking forward to this :cool:

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PostPosted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:02 pm 
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LOL... decent... LOL... yeah... it'll be RotJ... but that's pretty much it regarding accuracy! :thumbsup

Finished up the shaping of the chin vent. It looks nice and clean now.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 6:56 pm 
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I've been thinking about the mouth and nose walls. If you find you want to reduce their thickness, it's possible to use an epoxy putty to fill the interior, and then sand the exterior to the desired shape. Then it'll come out nice.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2007 11:43 am 
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CSMacLaren wrote:
I've been thinking about the mouth and nose walls. If you find you want to reduce their thickness, it's possible to use an epoxy putty to fill the interior, and then sand the exterior to the desired shape. Then it'll come out nice.

Possibly, but I think I'll just leave it as it is now and only strengthen it and work on the nose ridges. If I do this other stuff there won't be anything left of the styrene mask once I've finished. It's a vac-formed piece and should represent that.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 06, 2007 11:35 pm 
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Worked a little on the DP DLX copy dome I got a long time ago, which I'm pairing with the JediJeffrey mask. Tried to redo the center strip... guess I messed up as I accidentally gave it the ANH curve instead of the RotJ look. Bummer. May redo it later, but this is the progress so far:

Image Image Image

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 Post subject: Re: JediJeffrey Vader Project
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:31 pm 
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Yeah, been a long time since I showed anything on this piece. I'm basically using it as a paint tester now. Tried it with Hammerite gloss black, but not only did it apply thin and not covering very well, it also had lots of paint runs. I'm not sure whether it was caused by me not shaking the can enough before spraying and possibly not having a good enough work station to spray at, as I do now... but the picture if it looked rather nice as you cannot see any of the imperfections in the paint. Funny enough, a paint drip formed EXACTLY where the C-scar is on the real one... and paint drips on the high end casts suggests it was painted lying down, which I did when painting this. Coincidence or something more? Just thought it was FUNNY.

You'll probably not see any difference between this shot and the following pictures, but thought I'd post it anyway. The Hammerite gloss black is interesting in the way that it is paint + gloss clear coat in one application and it has a real nice finish and feel to it... if only I can get it to apply evenly and properly.
Image

I've since then testing my hand with brush painting the gunmetal color on. Looked like crap and not in the good way - the color used was way too silvery and looked like a monkey had applied it by using its feet, standing upside down and eating a banana. Later re-primed the whole thing with red primer. Sorry... don't have a picture of this step or the monkey, so you'll have to imagine that.

A few days ago I cracked out the face mask and applied a coat of Plasti-Kote gloss black - doubtful is the same Plasti-Kote gloss black that Darth Jones used on his helmet, but it applied much better than the Hammerite with much better coverage and far less paint runs. It was just to test whether I should use this paint on the better quality helmets... letting it sit for a few more days before I start handling it. I need to see how durable the paint is and how easy it is to wipe off fingerprints without dulling the look of the paint. I may still use something else... and the back-up plan is just to spray the thing with flat black and then clear gloss coat as that method worked brilliantly when I initially painted my Kaiyodo figure before I completely botched that up several years ago.

Image Image Image Image Image

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 Post subject: Re: JediJeffrey Vader Project
PostPosted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:27 pm 
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Wow..talk about a blast from the past...I almost forgot about JediJeffrey.

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 Post subject: Re: JediJeffrey Vader Project
PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:45 pm 
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Yeah, been a long time since I really did anything with this. Now that a few days have passed the paint is actually quite sturdy and keeps its shine even after handling, so it's definitely not bad paint. I don't know how to put this, but it just looks too black, though. I know, it's really stupid, but I don't think I'll use this one on the other helmets. There's just something about the color that doesn't feel right. Maybe if I tried another type of Plasti-Kote gloss black and not the cheap weird labeled version I bought in a supermarket here and perhaps go with the same label can as I bought the gunmetal as. Maybe that has a different look to it that is more pleasing.

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 Post subject: Re: JediJeffrey Vader Project
PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:38 pm 
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Not stupid at all Carsten, when it comes to paint formulations not all blacks are created equal. So if it looks to black to you in person, you may very well be right. I mix paint all day, and it always suprises me how many different tints will go into a black mix.

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