1:6 Darth Vader 3D Laser Scan & Print Project

[Too Much Garlic]

Been considering how to write this post so it won't sound utterly stupid. It may not be possible, but here goes anyway!

And yeah... I know... another Vader topic from me... guess I have a one-track mind...

I have been working on my Kaiyodo Darth Vader kits to make them more accurate and to costumize them into specific movie poses - one as the "A New Hope" version and one as "The Empire Strikes Back" version.

Not the best picture and showing the poses I'm doing, but they show fairly reasonably some of the differences between the ANH and ESB costumes:


The thing is... I've been trying to source accurate pieces for my kits, as the kit parts are unfortunately not accurate enough for what I'm trying to create. I know people will probably just ask why I'm wasting my time and not just go buy something that looks fairly accurate and use that in a kit-bash kinda thing. Well... true, it can be done: I've seen it done. It just isn't accurate enough for me, to be honest. I don't want to belittle the efforts others have made... but it still looks toy-ish and doesn't seem to fit together very well, if you look at them with the "screen accurate" glasses.

Oh... I hear you, I hear you... "when's he gonna stop blabbering and get to the point!". You're right... so here goes:

I'm looking for someone who can make 6 movie specific pieces for me. I have no clue what the best way to do these is, which is why I haven't been able to make them myself and why I can't specifically ask what kind of craftsman I'm looking for - a sculptor or a styrene constructor or whatever way is best. I need someone to do the chest boxes and the belt boxes for me, in a way so that it's possible to add a lighting feature to the pieces later when attaching them to and assembling and finishing the kits.

That's 6 small pieces in sixth scale of the originals - 3 pieces for each figure: 2 identical sized chestboxes with different details + 4 nearly identical sized belt boxes, a left and a right, with different details.

I'm searching for who has the best way to do this the most accurately in sixth scale. I have detailed pictures of the various parts, plus some measurements of some of the parts to help with the scaling + I can send the Kaiyodo parts that are nearly accurate, but for some odd design choice ended up not being 100%.

I wish someone can help me out.


(I just wish they'd released the Marmit)

[Too Much Garlic]

Well, might as well make it my official "build" thread here. It is a bit of a rework slash sculpting deal. Most of the parts are useable for both figures, however, the ANH had to have the upper torso trimmed and repositioned to get it into the pose I'm going for, the one used for ESB can pretty much be used untouched. As far as the arms go, I'd have to re-sculpt most of those. Then of course there's the helmet re-sculpt, so I guess that even though parts of the project is reshaping the kits I have, it is also a sculpting project, so kinda fits here.

Here's the current amount of work done so far in the re-shaping department. The one on the left is ANH and right is ESB. As you can probably see, the ANH needed a lot of trimming and re-positioning.


The work I've done on the helmet sculpts so far has not really been all that successful and had to start over a few times. But I'm getting closer. As you can see in this picture I cut up the face of one of the figures and began sculpting a new one... sculpey unfortunately dried out, so had to start over, so what you're seeing is the latest attempt.


And just to bore you with more pictures, then I found two that show the poses I'm going for:

[Too Much Garlic]

Here's a picture showing the pieces I'm having trouble with:

[Too Much Garlic]

Hmm... should I take the silence as "he's a crazy loon!" or "I can't help you with that!"... ?

[Division6]

Have you tried asking for help on RPF?

You are a member there and that is where all the obsessive Vader fans are.

D6

[Too Much Garlic]

Yes... as with here... not really any replies.

I know there are many great talents here and on the RPF, but either they are busy or they don't feel artistically challenged by something like this - 6 tiny boxes for something that is mainstream available as a toy.

I dunno... maybe I didn't ask specific enough about the boxes on the RPF... could try. Thanks for the suggestion.

[robomodeler]

Hey.

We should talk some time. I'm finalizing my Vader after I finish up one little project. I made the chest and belt boxes separate so I could install lighting.

I went the extra mile to make mine accurate as hell. However mine is 1/4 scale, so I don't know if it will work for you

[Too Much Garlic]

Hey.
We should talk some time. I'm finalizing my Vader after I finish up one little project. I made the chest and belt boxes separate so I could install lighting.
I went the extra mile to make mine accurate as hell. However mine is 1/4 scale, so I don't know if it will work for you

Cool, I would love to see pictures of that. However, fourth scale is way too big for sixth scale, so I don't think it could be a match. Though... I'd reckon it would be easier with the small scale parts in that scale.

[robomodeler]

Pm me with a parts list you need, and we'll talk. I think I may have my 1/6th scale vader parts I made for the first Vader piece.

[Too Much Garlic]

Did some work on the ANH version chest armor, to see how it'd look. Needs more work, but will probably have to be removed and then with sculpey firm instead as the sculpey flesh is just too soft.

Cheers.

[Too Much Garlic]

Long time since I updated this, but there has been some significant progress. Realized it was a dumb idea to use super sculpey on vinyl as the sculpey has to be baked and the vinyl would just warp and melt, so I'll be doing the modding with magic sculpt or epoxy sculpt instead. But for the hard parts I have been working with a guy to do the chest and belt boxes, still needs minor, minor tweaking, but for the other hard parts - sans shins - I've scanned 1:1 props with permission for a 3D modeler to work with to make the most accurate pieces in sixth scale.

There is a bit of a way yet, but here's progress so far:

[Tim-Osullivan]

hiya NHM

if i was converting a kit and doing hard lines then personally i feel that green stuff is best suited to this kind of work. shapes easily and dries like plastic but carves and dremels beautifully. just a thought after viewing Vaders' mask. could also work with paper thin plasti-card glued in layers and sanded maybe.
good luck with the conversion mate.


all the best --- tim

[juggernaut]

Hey.

We should talk some time. I'm finalizing my Vader after I finish up one little project. I made the chest and belt boxes separate so I could install lighting.

I went the extra mile to make mine accurate as hell. However mine is 1/4 scale, so I don't know if it will work for you

A 1/4 Darth Vader, that's interesting.

Please post pics.

[Too Much Garlic]

I haven't heard from him in months. Don't think he posts here anymore.

[juggernaut]

Thanks for the info.

[MFA20000]

Long time since I updated this, but there has been some significant progress. Realized it was a dumb idea to use super sculpey on vinyl as the sculpey has to be baked and the vinyl would just warp and melt, so I'll be doing the modding with magic sculpt or epoxy sculpt instead. But for the hard parts I have been working with a guy to do the chest and belt boxes, still needs minor, minor tweaking, but for the other hard parts - sans shins - I've scanned 1:1 props with permission for a 3D modeler to work with to make the most accurate pieces in sixth scale....

I'd be ALL over that in a heart beat. (and the 1/4 scale one too). Any idea when they will be ready? keep up the great work. You're a champion to us SW fans.

[Too Much Garlic]

Well, I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

Just did a last run of scanning tonight. I believe I managed to get the missing pieces of the chest armor and the facemask. Too late to begin aligning and merging scan files now, so that'll be tomorrow.

I would have loved to have seen his fourth scale sculpt. His previous version that was sold to LFL (iirc) was pretty amazing.

[Too Much Garlic]

Well... just for fun... and not aligned very well and with the limitations of having the two pieces together in that software, here's a muck-up of the progress of the facemask. I could probably do a much better job in photoshop, but I just couldn't be bothered.

[Too Much Garlic]

Just for fun I tried putting the pieces together. Enjoy.

[Too Much Garlic]

The joys of doing a 3D scan model. It's a lot of work... I can tell you that. Like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with 1000 pieces or making a paper craft ball with thin strips of paper. The fused one on the left is how it looks when I've let the software fuse the various slices together into one solid piece, where-as the un-fused is how the model looks simply with the slices combined to form a shape. The unevenness in the fuse is caused by the slices not fitting into each other properly.

Cheers,