DON POST Classic Action Darth vader Helmet?

danzig1313 · **Joined:** Sat Sep 05, 2015 7:24 am **Posts:** 16

I bought this on Ebay a few days ago.They had it listed as a "supreme" Vader helmet..Clearly it was listed wrong..Its the old Classic Action Vader..Anyway I picked it up for $75 shipped.Is that a good deal for this helmet?Its got some scuffs on the dome and missing the mouth grill.However it doesnt seem to sport that odd neck flare Ive seen on so many of these.Also curious if I decide to sell it someday,would it be worth more to leave as is,or paint it and add new mesh,tusks,etc..?

darthjones · **Joined:** Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:57 am **Posts:** 472

NICE SCORE!!! The Classic Action is a great helmet by all accounts. Great for trooping, etc. cuz it's light weight.

Lots of folks painted and upgraded them - there are some at Star Wars Helmets for you to see.

I painted, eyes, tusks, grilled mine.

Attachment:

CAmask.jpg

danzig1313 · **Joined:** Sat Sep 05, 2015 7:24 am **Posts:** 16

Thanks! And yours looks amazing all done up with paint,tusks,etc..What kind of paint did you use?
Also heres a pic of the scuffing on my dome and a pic of it sporting the spfx ROTJ dome

darthjones · **Joined:** Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:57 am **Posts:** 472

Well, there is special car paint that flexes and is made to go over vinyl, etc.

But I've never used it. I just said f-it and used regular car paint cans like for the fiberglass helmets. Did a decent amount of good sanding, every surface at 600 grit, etc. and then just did it.

Put clear coat over.

And I make sure never to really flex it at all. Yeah, there is a teensy bit of paint crack here and there but it is made to kick around in. I have a nicer helmet for display/ ooh ah (see my avatar).

And the eyes I glued in from the back side after trimming the eyeholes to the right size, etc.

Jarenmcl · **Joined:** Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:59 am **Posts:** 34

Plasic adhesion promoter works very well when painting many kinds of plastics. Plastic adhesion promoters are solvents that soften the surface of plastics to accept paint so they kinda bond together. I use them all the time when I refinish plastic automotive bumpers. The paint would never stick without it. Works good for plastic stormtrooper helmets to.

banthapoodoo · **Posted:** Tue Sep 08, 2015 12:15 pm

Nice aquisition! Looks like someone had already put in some good work on it ... not warped and wide necked like my CA. +1 on use of adhesion promoter. Jarenmcl which brand do you use? I have the Rustoleum and Duplicolor spray versions which perform about the same. But still not without some subsequent flaking and peeling. But I am using it on HDPE which is like paint repellant lol.

danzig1313 · **Joined:** Sat Sep 05, 2015 7:24 am **Posts:** 16

Jarenmcl wrote:

Plasic adhesion promoter works very well when painting many kinds of plastics. Plastic adhesion promoters are solvents that soften the surface of plastics to accept paint so they kinda bond together. I use them all the time when I refinish plastic automotive bumpers. The paint would never stick without it. Works good for plastic stormtrooper helmets to.

Thanks for the info..BTW:Im the guy who just bought the ROTJ helmet kit from you ;)

banthapoodoo wrote:

Nice aquisition! Looks like someone had already put in some good work on it ... not warped and wide necked like my CA. +1 on use of adhesion promoter. Jarenmcl which brand do you use? I have the Rustoleum and Duplicolor spray versions which perform about the same. But still not without some subsequent flaking and peeling. But I am using it on HDPE which is like paint repellant lol.

Yeah no neck flare and no dome flare.Ive seen alot of these CA Helmets with domes that were shaped like Dumbo ears.So somebody either did some work to it,or it was just an early casting maybe?

Jarenmcl · **Joined:** Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:59 am **Posts:** 34

Lol, small world. Your kit should arrive this week.

PPG is the brand I use for all my paint. They have a universal adhesion promoter called SX1050 that's a good product and they also have a complete plastic prep kit called One Choice that's probably the best I've ever seen. I painted an HDPE coffee container using the One Choice prep kit and I could slam it on the ground and step on it and the paint wouldn't flake off.

Darth Obsession · **Posted:** Tue Sep 15, 2015 6:10 pm

As the DP-"CA" goes, this is a nice one, one of the best I've seen. It has much better definition than the one I bought when they first came out. And it does look as if someone straightened out the neck, as mine flared way out. The missing grille is no loss, since the original grilles are so bad. Since they originally sold for $120 (US) and are out of production, $75 shipped is an excellent price.
The domes are a bit small, (just try to put your DPCA dome on the SPFX mask. I couldn't.) But it still can do a good piece if painted right.

I was originally somewhat disappointed with mine, but that's because the dome sits up so high and pics of the DP 'Deluxe' were always used to sell it.

I pretty much destroyed mine trying to 'fix' it. but as I said, this one is much better.

Nice score! :cheers

danzig1313 · **Joined:** Sat Sep 05, 2015 7:24 am **Posts:** 16

Darth Obsession wrote:

As the DP-"CA" goes, this is a nice one, one of the best I've seen. It has much better definition than the one I bought when they first came out. And it does look as if someone straightened out the neck, as mine flared way out. The missing grille is no loss, since the original grilles are so bad. Since they originally sold for $120 (US) and are out of production, $75 shipped is an excellent price.
The domes are a bit small, (just try to put your DPCA dome on the SPFX mask. I couldn't.) But it still can do a good piece if painted right.

I was originally somewhat disappointed with mine, but that's because the dome sits up so high and pics of the DP 'Deluxe' were always used to sell it.

I pretty much destroyed mine trying to 'fix' it. but as I said, this one is much better.

Nice score! :cheers

Thanks.Yeah it does have pretty sharp lines.Im gonna be buying a dome from JMC Helmets to put on it..Also you mentioned trying to put the CA dome on the SPFX mask.Heres a pic of that and also shows the CA with the spfx dome

banthapoodoo · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:13 am

I went to Autozone looking for the PPG brand adhesion promoter. They don't carry the brand, but the salesperson agreed it's really good.

Yeah this was a great find especially for $75 .... though it does lack the signature DPCA look shown here in my unmodified one:

:toothy

Fener · **Posted:** Tue Oct 13, 2015 10:06 am

Great find! Congrats!

juan7fernandez · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 7:56 am **Posts:** 238

great catch! Here is a shot of the potential this helmet has got. Of course it gonna take a bit of work but with amazing results!

danzig1313 · **Joined:** Sat Sep 05, 2015 7:24 am **Posts:** 16

juan7fernandez wrote:

great catch! Here is a shot of the potential this helmet has got. Of course it gonna take a bit of work but with amazing results!

Nice!To my untrained eye this looks as good as any Vader helmet Ive seen.I actually picked up another CA that was painted.Paints not perfect,but its good.Grabbed the helmet up because of the shape of it.No neck flare and has a perfect dome.Funny thing is,the CA is pretty much identical to my SPFX helmet.I sat the two side by side and even took measurements of them and they are pretty much 1.1,except the CA is MUCH cleaner. i posted a few pics.1 comparing it to SPFX mask,1 with its original dome and 1 with SPFX dome