Darth Vader moves one step closer to being complete. Things are moving forward I spent most of Saturday in the garden enjoying the sun and working on the Helmet. I Think i made some good progress and i don't think there is much left to do.
I got out the Sandpaper (dry & wet 800 and 1500 grit paper), Automotive filler, Scrappers, Rubber gloves, Paper towel and some water
I started with cleaning and then moved on to sanding and filingthe rough spots left over from when I cut out the parts around the eyes. I was very surprised with how much it changes the look of the face once it was done
Once both eyes were sanded down a cleaned I decided to do a little work on the Nose. I never liked the way Rubies did the bridge of the nose. The groves were never deep enough and looked very gummy. I can't do to much as i don't have the skill but i did file the groves so they become deeper and helps with the overall definition of the face. I am hoping once it is painted and the dome is on the roughness is hidden or at least not as noticeable.... well fingers crossed....
with this done i turned to the dome... Back in 2008 or 2009 I went to the London Expo and as I was leaving i dropped my Dome and it skidded along the pavement. This resulted in a few minor scratches on the top.
With this now sanded and filed i cleaned everything again and started to prep for the filler.
I filled in the small scratches on top of the dome. Then started on the eyes. This was a little bit harder as i wanted to remold the eye sockets where i had taken to much plastic off or made deep groves, when i cut away the parts the held the old lenses in place. Once all this had been filled in i left it to dry.
once i had finished and i had used all my filler and left everything to dry. Then i realized that i had missed a spot.
After an hour or two.... This was suppose to be dry in 20 minutes automotive filler!!! don't know what happened but it over an hour none the less....
I started to cut away and sand down all the filler. This was quicker than i thought but i do need to go back and add a little filler behind the nose and on the dome and finish off the eye sockets. That wont take long and i will hopefully have that done in the next couple of weeks.
Once i get some more filler i can finish off the helmet and then make a start on finishing off the shoulder bells. They have been cut and now in to be sanded and filling done. Once that is done then i guess everything will be ready for the next phase of the costume. That will be attching a lift t the top of the face mask to make the dome sit a little higher. Then i might find a way to drill a then nut and bolt the dome to the face mask. Then i can move on to priming and then painting. But that is for the future.
If you have any suggestions, comments or ideas then let me know.
