gonk27 wrote:
Hi John
I'm afraid we can't rely on the Clapperboard reference for the level of detail you were looking for a few posts ago.. Those interviews were recorded on film (probably 16mm), transferred to 2 inch video tape for broadcast, recorded by someone at home presumably on VHS or Betamax? then uploaded to youtube..
That said, we can see a bit of the break to Vader's left tusk tube in the Clapperboard footage. I agree with Lambotour, this also makes me think it's likely to be the Meditation Chamber helmet.
In light of of Gonk27's post, showing a small scrape at the leading edge of the tusk tube on both the meditation chamber Vader and the clapperboard Vader, I decided to go back into the pictures.
Having done so, I have made some discoveries.
My original assessment was in error.
When I originally examined these pictures, I believed that the cavity at the edge of the neck was a flaw in the cast that was specific to a single helmet and therefore came to the conclusion that the two Vader helmets pictured immediately
below were one and the same. I had some reservations, in that the interior nose paint on the two images did not seem to match. The visible nose paint on the meditation chamber Vader has very clean, straight lines that culminate in a nice
solid square corner, whereas the other helmet has a somewhat rougher, more rounded interior nose paint at this corner in this visible area.
Going back and looking at the recently posted ESB hero, I found that it's nose paint was consistent with the second image, and not with the meditation chamber Vader.
Therefore, I am forced to concur that this ESB hero is not the meditation chamber Vader, but is actually a fourth ESB hero used in certain bridge scenes, especially those scenes filmed in and around the large bridge windows.
However, this means that there is still another ESB hero (The clapperboard) yet to be uncovered. . It also means that this cavity is a feature of the mold, as this feature can now be seen on two separate helmets.
However again, when I initially went looking for this feature on present day helmets several months back, I found what I believed was this feature on the MOTM, but shortly after dismissed MOTM from being this (single) helmet when I found that the MOTM was a much better match to the catwalk Vader,
Which could not be the meditation chamber Vader because it has a deeper inset chin grille and the top exterior nose paint does not match. However, when I went back to check out what Gonk27 had said, I remembered that it was there on the MOTM and went back to
take another look. And while there has been an attempt to sand it away on the MOTM, it's remains, including the small crater are still clearly visible.
If one examines this feature at the edge of the neck, you can see that it consists of a roughly spherical cavity, approximately 1/8 of an inch (3mm) wide, there is also a smaller crater like feature at the upper edge of this. This feature is located
approximately 3/16 of an inch (11mm) to the right beyond the apex of the bulge in the neck.
This means it is now a feature on three helmets. However, I do not see this feature on all of the ESB hero images, even in some very clear shots. It may have been covered up, or in the case of the ESB hero that got turned into the ROTJ hero, it may
have somehow caught on something as this helmet has a nearly half inch wide crescent shaped chip in the edge of the neck at the same location that was later repaired but not entirely covered up when the helmet was converted to ROTJ.(See: ROTJ
helmets as told by D.O. - helmet #1). Since I cannot find this feature on any cast, including the TM, I suspect a specific mold for ESB helmets, however if someone has seen this feature on a cast please feel free to speak up.
Also, since the remnants of this feature can be seen on the MOTM helmet, that would further suggest that the MOTM is actually an original screen used helmet.
So, to sum it up...
I was wrong about the clapperboard being the Planet Hollywood, As I know PH is not the meditation chamber Vader.
I agree with Lambotour and Gonk27 that clapperboard is the meditation chamber Vader,
There is another unrevealed ESB hero (the CBV and/or MCV). Note: I see no signs of this cavity feature on any ROTJ helmets
with perhaps the exception of the helmet I describe as No.4 in my ROTJ helmet thread. In the images I have of this helmet,
there is clearly something visible in the neck at this location and since this helmet is also nowhere to be found, I wonder perhaps
if they may be one and the same.
The cavity is a feature seen in the ESB hero helmet casts and as such, is a mold artifact, suggesting a specific ESB hero mold.
MOTM also exhibits this cavity feature, indicating it was cast from the same mold as the ESB heroes and as such not a tour helmet.