Hello all! My name is Paul. This will document my buildup of the "Darth Ugly" ANH helmet. I couldn't find one on the web so I decided to make one. CSMaclaren suggested I share the buildup over here as well.


Here is the helmet out of the box and placed on a mannequin. I'll be using various ideas I've seen employed on different forums to assemble this helmet and make it wearable.

This will be a trooping helmet so I have to build it so that I can take it on and off easily and have a good amount of airflow. I'm not going to install fans initially but plan to do that in the future. I've seen pics of the way Darth Stone assembles his helmets so I will use that as inspiration.

The photos aren't great as I only had my phone camera. Since time is limited its so much easier to whip out the phone camera and upload to photobucket.

The first thing I needed to do was figure out how to mount the dome securely so that I can slip the helmet on and off. I decided to bolt it on. I made two marks where I wanted to slip bolts through.

Now I mark out where to CA glue bolts onto the dome. To do that I fit the mask and dome back together until I had the dome placed where I thought it looked good. Then I turned the helmet upside down and marked the holes with a Sharpie.

The bolts will be reinforced with JB Weld.

Here we are with bolts CA glued in to determine the correct position. I had to widen the forward hole in the mask mounting ring to get the bolt to slide in easily. Not a pig problem though.

Now I used JB Quick with wide washers to secure the bolts into the dome. I will eventually go back to cut the excess from bolts with my dremel after I mark them.

This shows how the dome and mask align inside and bolted together. It feels nice and secure.

This is where I'm at right now. The dome and mask are attached securely.

My next step is to fasten a hardhat liner inside the mask.

I eyeballed where the pilot holes for screws would go through a hardhat liner. I also taped in the liner to get a sense of how high it would sit.

While drilling the pilot holes I cracked some of the black top coat of the fiberglass. I used JB Kwik to refill the area. Its reallu stron again now. All I have to do is add some spot filler to smooth it out and use wide washers on both sides for support.

Here we are with the hardhat liner installed. It floats in there but I don't think I need another set of screws. The ability to tilt inside seemed to let me take it on and off easier. Once I have the chest armor I can guage if I need to revisit this mounting system for fine tuning.

Washers have been glued on to the outside and inside of the mask for support. I used JB KWIK for added strength. Afterwards I smoothed everything out with a bit of Bondo spot putty.

Here are some quick shots of the interior with washers glued in as well. This way they won't slide around or fall out during the mounting of the hardhat liner or dome.

Here is the helmet with a coat of semi-gloss paint. I popped metal tusks on to see how they look. I'm realizing just how difficult it is to photograph Vader's helmet... I can't get it to look exactly the way I see it in real life!

Next step is to brush on the gunmetal highlights.

Here is the Darth Ugly painted up!

This is my first Vader paintup and I already see spots where I got some gunmetal over the black. I'll have to figure out how to cover that up with a respray.

I hope to ne able to get some better shots outside with my good camera next week. (Its been been very bad weather here in the Northeast!)

Maybe instead of flash photography, stand back at least 6 feet, and move the setup to - believe it or not - the kitchen. Kitchens are generally quite bright and the white walls and such do help make helmets appear better!

Thanks Mac!

I'll be away for a bit but when I return I will be photographing this and my other Vader parts outside in the bright sunlight.

These pics were just quick snap shots with the phone... in a basement... with terrible lighting. Lol!