Darth Voorhees

Thanks bro....Aside from the recent finishing of the mando( i started it in March 09!) The rest is all older done with stuff. Havent made a hock in a looong while. Vader im pretty much done with for a while. I want to focus on the Vac forming bucks and the vac forming itself now. As you may have noticed...i LOVE making stuff!

hahahaha...well i didnt know if anyone would care to see non-TK stuff..... ROTJ Vader: ANH Vader: Fett/Mando: This one is one im going to use for a custom mando, so i filled in the dent. the entire build folder is here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v392/nycpunker/Scratch%20build%20Fett%20helmet/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ28 Its a bit out of order due to when i added the pics to the folder...but you get the idea lol I also have made Friday the 13th Hockey masks:

Hey everyone...glad this section has been added! As some of you know, i do make some prop/costume pieces at the moment. I dont go for super duper prop replica, but more for a nice accurate looking costume piece. I have made fiberglass Vader helmets based off of the old Don Post Classic action helmet. I did quite a few modifications on it and may update the masters in the future...who knows. Ive also built a Boba Fett helmet form scratch which im very proud of. Im actually currently tweaking a casting and making it the new master as there were a few things i wanted to tweak a bit more. But now i am ready to move onto the next level of armor making.....this has been a long time coming, and will probably still be a ways away....but my basic vac table set up should be a go by the summer or sooner. I have many plans for scupting and vac-forming armor for alot of my fave characters. Along with an animated clone, Snowtrooper, bikerscout, and TIE pilot....The mighty TK is in the mix of course. I also plan on making things like the oldschool Gatchaman/g-force/battle of the planets helmets, and an oldschool BSG Cylon Centurion. Plus of course other various small parts like TD pack parts n such. All of these will be my original sculpts/builds.....ill start with smaller stuff of course, but in the long run, the plans are there for many -a great things. Ill post in this thread as i get things going. I will also use this thread to document any TK (or other)sculpts i do to avoid any recasting suspicions. Im very confident i can sculpt a set of TK armor...im a bit wery of the helmet as its SO difficult to do...but i will give it my best go! heres to the fun of making stuff!!

I actually called them today and they said call back tomorrow if it doesnt show up today. Yea it is sad Terrell. You pay for priority and you should get priority...what if it was something more important? ...not that armor isnt extremely important...haha..but you know. Its funny cuz the tracking still says the delivery date is feb 25th...ugh

Still no armor...blah! The post office is pissin me off! Lol. Tracking said the package was an hour away in bethpage NY 1am friday morning. In the past when that happens i have the package the next day or maybe the following day. ...so....im stil waitin...

Hey Pat you got the 12" figure with the invisible Blaster...thats rare and worth a fortune!!! ...on a more serious note...whats with the grooves on the chest armor? lol

wow! these look great and sharp! Cant wait for mine to finally show up...the post office is playing games with me!!!

He requested me a few weeks ago...i accepted..no harm done...but then i guess i dont have anything to offer him LOL! The page is an interesting read none the less.

Looks good to me as well. Also a little hard to tell for sure not being worn, but if you find them pushing the shoulder out but the "hang position" is good when wearing, you can trim a bit off the top of the taller/outer side of the bicep, you'll lose the return edge there, but its not seen anyway. Thats what i did with mine and it worked a treat!

look good to me also! thanks for that link Noel! I'll be grabbing those as well!

Hey bro...check out how i did the ab/kidney shims here: http://forum.whitear...showtopic=10307 Its a TE2 kit, but the jist is the same for the ab/kidney shims. I, like you, am not exactly "fit" either. In my pics the ab is a bit angled but if i suck in a bit, i can get it straight...and its adjustable if you lose a few pounds I just basically added the shim to the kidney plate with enough plastic to add velcro to the end to attach to the ab. Once you get that going, its really just a trial and error. with positioning everything. remember the chest and back will have a strap under the arm to hold them to each other and your body. If they are sliding up and bumping the helmet up, you may need to losen those straps so its not squeezing you and making it slide up. Also you can add straps from the ab to the chest to keep everything in place. I had to do that as well cuz my gut would sometimes push the ab over the chest. Ive lost weight since then, but i eep those straps there anyway as i feel it hold it all together better. Also that helmet is known to do that due to its size, so its not necessarily you doing anything wrong. If the chest/back plates are too long under the arm, just look at the angle most armors are when worn..mark it with a china marker/grease pencil and put it on again. Adjust the line if nessisary once you feel the angle is right, then you can trim those pieces. The grease pencil will come off super easy with some goo gone. For keeping the forearm in place, i just added foam inside them. I slide em on and they stay put. Some people do add a bicep/forearm strap added to the inner side of the elbow , but i feel the foam works great. Been doing it that way for 3yrs, never an issue! Hope that helps bro

Thanks Mark! I will be using alot of reference from your ESB builds posted here and on the LSD . Your ESB was very inspiring, and was part of the reason i decided to go ESB with this build. (of course im building to be able to switch it fro ESB to ANH, but the main build will be ESB

So the delivery date for my armor was yesterday...and nothing ever showed. Still says on the USPS tracking the expected delivery date is feb 25th...yesterday.... The USPS sucks. Its being delivered to my job. So it will likely show up there today (when im off) <_< or Monday. I was so happy i was getting it on a Friday and could start at it this weekend. ......oh well. I think the powers that be just want to make me wait forever to get this armor! lol. Between the tax return coming later than originally stated, paypal issues, and now this...its taken likely an extra 2 weeks for me to get this armor.....*shakes fist in the air* LOL! So...i guess my armor build will begin next weekend See you all then!

ive used the winsor and newton mask as well as a grumbacher one called "misket" they both worked excellent. on a side note...R2Dan..can you PM me the color you used to match the HDPE color? I want to build a replica helmet in the future and cant seem to find a color to match it..thanks bud... ok back to our regular scheduled thread

I second this recommendation. I use this amp for all of my costumes. Loud enough at a noisy con and little to no feedback. Id highly recommend them, and Jim, great guy to work with! I have mine mounted in my chestplate. Contrary to what some people seem to think, it seems the sound is coming from the helmet when its mounted in the chestplate. Most people dont know exactly where the sound is coming from!

You can do it this way yes, but then you will have an extra wide strip on the back due to the molded in "center strip". Personally i think that looks horrible. Just my .2 cents I think myself and john are basically saying the same thing. Your still shimming it, just doing it in a way that you wont have a super wide finishing strip area due to the one cast into the piece, the "sealing strip bed" as John put it. We are talking about the final finished look looking correct. Ive done this before on thigh pieces and it works out great. Sometimes you need to cut away that "sealing strip bed" and then add the shim. Its very simple really, and the finished look is 100 times better.

I would suggest what Terry said...or...you can assemble the front as normal/screen accurate and cut the molded in strips off the back side completely, and add a seamless shim, and then add the correct size strip. Alot more work, but i feel it gives a better overall look. this is assuming its HIPS and you'll be painting the armor. I will be doing this with the ATA thighs most likely.

i have TK lenses that will fit the EFX helmet. You would have to drill the holes though. i dont have an EFX helmet so i dont know the exact location of the holes. They are dark green and not see through from the outside at all. Vision out is excellent. I use them in all my helmets. $10 shipped to ya. PM me if your interested! ----------

Well folks...my tax return check has arrived!!!!!!!!! I will be placing the order with ATA tomorrow night! Also...i decided to get 2 buckets, an extra belt front, and both ANH and ESB handplates. this way i can switch from ESB to ANH easily i am SO PUMPED to get this build going! Wooot!

LOL Thats what i was talking about. I may be wrong about it affecting that particular area though. I didnt go back and read the thread where he mentioned it. Although, that original "find" pic wouldn't prove the "heating/cooling HDPE" threory wrong or right. Thats a HDPE pull, not a mold, so But either way, i may be mistaken about what he said. It just made sense to me that it would happen there as its a deep negative area. It also seem weird to me that would be on the mold...it seems like such a pointless detail, from a sculpting standpoint.....but ..ANYWAY!... no more derailing from me..lol....listen to John D he knows way more than i do LOL! EDIT: i went back and read the thread...he was talking about the crease at the side tube right above the tubestripes...so my bad .....move along.. move along....

the little ovals in the tears are there because the HDPE cools differently from ABS. i forget the exact reasoning right now, but GINO explained it in one of his recent helmet threads i believe as well.

Concerning the chest/back strap overlapping the kidney, aside from moving the strap itself up, as Daetrin mentioned, it also depends on how you are "wearing" your armor. If you have the ab/kidney hiked up high you will have this problem. There is no need to pull it up quite that high. what i did with my kit was make sure there is a bout 2inches above the "button box" on the ab plate showing before the Chest plate bottom edge. you can trim the neckline up yo an inch to raise the chestplate if needed. I just balanced it out so the ab/kidney plate isnt ALL the way up, and trimmed a little off the neckline(and shoulder part of course) to raise it a bit and that worked out much like the photo posted earlier from ABS80. As for the 5'2" female chest plate issue.....:)ill look for your other thread....

Yea, what Paul said...oh and crickets...they are brown

i remember noticing this myself, but didnt want the grapling hook on my ANH EIB, so never thought to ask about it. I am curious though as to if this can be accepted as EIB, since to me as well, it is clear that the trooper has these details and a stunt helmet before Luke wears the suit.

where are the pics? you should be half way done already!