Scratch build McQuarrie concept Vader helmet.

Absolutely amazing work ! Have you put any thought into the paint color ?

Hey Drewski,

I have been thinking about what paint to use. With my concept Fett helmet I figured out that a flat paint job works best, it somehow fits the concept sketches of McQuarrie better. For instance the helmet in the top Vader illustration looks more flat surfaced then shiny. And You are right about the bleu-ish colors. It’s caused by reflection of surrounding light. In the McQuarrie visual it comes from the light saber.

I think I will simulate the bleu effect by doing a “negative” weather job. Instead of using a dark color to whether I will use a lighter grey/bleu color on the flat black surface. Not sure if it will work, but there is no harm in trying.
 
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Yes, i have a painting by Christian Waggoner that has both the red and blue reflections from the sabers. Almost everybody that has made artwork, statues or costumes has incorporated the blue color. I was thinking about cars i have seen with pearl or candy paint jobs, The translucent colored top-coat is more or less visible in different lighting conditions. I have a local car paint supplier i will ask to get his thoughts about what we see in photos.
 
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Latest update…a lot of sanding and dust!
Still some little potholes to be filled but the general shapes are really smooth.
Added some more detail to the mask, sharpened the outline of the eyes.
The pictures with the helmet are roughly the position I want it to be relative to the mask.
This way it looks best like in the concept illustration.


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Haha…I leave the swears, curses and failed build attempts out of this report, you know.:p

Talk about easy, had a hard time figuring out how I would mount the mask to the helmet. There is a “void” between the helmet dome and the mask dome, positioning it would be tricky. I figured I would need at least 3 point to bolt the helmet. For this I would need a flat surface. Had some unsuccessful tries. In the end I figured the best way was to make a flat deck inside the helmet dome and flatten the top of the mask dome. I only needed to position the mask so that the eyebrows of the helmet lined up symmetrically with the mask and then drill the holes. Hope it will stay fixed.


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Hey Onno, the helmet is looking awesome, the dome fastening is well done too. Paint comment follow-up; I found this vader pic and reminded me to look at car colors. My Vader repaint will have this Porsche midnight blue pearl, it looks black until some light hits it. Just sharing an idea, hoping to see this project done soon, Take care !

blue vader 3.jpgporsche 996tt midnight blue 1.jpg

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Thanks Drewski, painting is coming closer (probably in January) I had a look at my model store and they had some kind of bleus/black spray paint. I think I will give that a try.
In the meantime, progress is coming along, began detailing a shaping the helmet, adding the reinforcement strips, nice McQuarrie added those, this way the helmet doesn’t have to have a perfectly shaped dome.

Also made 2 lens pieces. I couldn’t find something in transparent/black, so I will try painting it with a couple of thinned layers of black paint, hoping it will stay a bit transparent. Also will try with the car window foil, but I think the curvature is a bit too much…we’ll see.

Also added some detail on the neck brace, this is a bit of improvisation because the rendition doesn’t show this part. But I did look at other McQuarrie drawing for inspiration.


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WOW ! the additions look fantastic. Not sure if its still being made but there used to be spray-on window tint that would work well on the lenses. You could control the shade of tint by adding multiple coats.
 
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This is the way I fasten the back part of the neck brace. When I have the mask part on my face the only way to attach the back part of the neck is from the outside. Between my neck and de neck brace is very little room to wiggle etc. I had all sorts of terrible and complicated solutions in mind before I came up with this simple one. The elastic bands are easy to slip over the bolts. Eventually I will use black rubber bands, they will blend in with the design and the color of the mask.

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Worked some more on the helmet today, finished the reinforcement strips.
I wasn’t satisfied with the curvature of the “throat” part. Too curvy, the nose of the helmet looked like it had no connection with the neck (at least from some angles) The original rendition doesn’t show, other Vader sketches that do show the neck are of a different design (more insect like) Now I re-sculpted the throat and it looks better. (see bottom picture)

Lastly I experimented with position of the helmet on the mask. In my previous post it was much higher, exposing more mask en neck. In these pictures I dropped the helmet 11mm. maybe that is too low. I can always experiment once the the mask is finished, just by adding or taking away a couple of rings on the bolts.

This is probably my last update for this year, need to keep the place clean for the holidays! Anyway I thank everyone for following my build and the nice words and support. Until next year…haha

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New year a new update! Finished tweaking on the mask and finally sprayed the first layer of black on it. I went for metal black, simple but it works for me. Funny how the mask “transforms” when it it’s black. The helmet still needs some sanding before I can spray it.

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Also curious how a matt finish would look and sprayed the mask with a matt black primer. It does make the surface look more even then the glossy paint job.

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