Darth Vader is getting closer to being finished YAY!!!

With five weeks or so left till Star Wars Celebration I need this Darth Vader armour finished asap. and in the last seven days i have made a lot of progress. The bulk of the armour was primed and that was written about in my last post but I was not happy with how the primer had dried after a couple of days. I think I was to impatient and rushed the job. Also I was using a different primer and the more I looked at it it just didn't look right. And I just had to go back and sand the eye holes in the mask. So I had a friend come over and spent the day in the garden working on the armour. 

With the clean up and sanding done it was time to re-prime. Priming this time was not to bad after all they were primed already. So I had to give them two coats and all was good. Things are falling in to place. 

With that done I left it to dry for a few days. This gave me the time to start working on the  Neck Seal. I have not worked with resin before so this is something new. Doing this costume has taught me a lot and I am not sure what i will do next. But getting back on track. The neck seal was something I always wanted for the helmet. I don't know what it was but the helmet was just missing something. Then a year or two ago i realized that it was the back of the helmet that was missing. And So i spent the next couple of years looking for one. I would bid for one on ebay and get out bidded or find an online seller selling on but by the time I would go to buy it... they would be sold out. Then one day this year I saw one from a UK online seller and I ordered it. It was delivered a few day later. Jump to now and I finally start working on it.

The neck seal is nearly finished and just need a few bit doing to it. I decided to leave it for next week as I wanted to paint the armour gloss black. 

This all went great but i did run out of paint for the dome. Not a big deal I will pick some more up after work on Monday. Once the black is done I will then move on to the gun metal coat. Then it will be time to move on to painting and putting the chest box back together and I have asked a friend to give me a hand with installing a couple of fans in the helmet. Hopefully I will have more to report in the next week or two.

London MCM and big Darth Vader update.

Lets start by talking about the London MCM that was held the weekend of 27-29/05/16.

I have to say that it was a very mixed bag for me. I had a good time, maybe not a great time but differently a good time. I didn't leave till after 4:00 pm and normally i would of left by 1:00 pm. And there was a lot to see, I think there was more than last year. That is a good thing as it shows that the Con is growing. Down side to that is that MCM are still not using the space to their full advantage. I mean they have Halls that are practically empty and they do with them. There was a food hall that was empty and the hall where we queued was empty. With a little more thinking then the ExCel main corridor was not be constantly pack and if they moved the Japanese food stalls in to that food hall then That would free up so much space on the show floor. Also matters were not helped by the fact that the ExCel Center closed off half the Center so people could not spread out along the main corridor or leave through the back entrance. It just comes down to the fact that the way the MCM lays out it's floor plan just need changing. It hasn't really changed in years and if you have been reading this blog then you will have noticed that I have said the same thing about every MCM Expo... 

We can only live in hope that one day they will learn.

But it was not all doom and gloom. The con has grown and that is always good and there were a lot of things to see and the outside stage was playing live music that was very cool. I didn't much chance to listen to a lot but what i heard was good. So i hope that is kept up for the next con. 

I picked up two anime box-sets Rage of Bahamut Genesis and Durarara X2 Sho. Not much i know but i have to try to save for the Star Wars Celebration convention in July and that is the weekend before the London Film and Comic Con... Two cons a week apart July is not going to be kind to my wallet.....

Speaking of Star Wars Celebration, I have been working on my Darth Vader Armour and things are looking good. I have till the end of June to get things finished..... So four weeks.... This is crunch time...

I started with test fitting the metal rods on the Chest box and I am very happy with the results.

Once this is painted it going to look great. A lot of work has gone in to the face mask I had to do  a lot of work around the eye sockets. I pretty much re-sculpted the eyes I didn't want to do this but I should of realized  once I started work on the helmet that this was going to be needed to be done. 

With this done I moved on to priming everything so I can start painting. This means I am nearly at the home stretch. not much left the end is in sight. It has been a long road but almost there.

 

 

I ran out of primer so I will have to get more and by this coming weekend i hope to have everything primed and any sanding that needs doing will be done so I can then paint everything black and I need to think about the kind of grey I want the chest armour to be. So many different types. Guess i will be taking a lot more trips to Halfords.

And with that i this post comes to an end i will post an update in a week or two with the progress I have made.  

Darth Vader, Rouge One and a Retro Gaming Market

Star Wars Celebration is fast approaching and with roughly less than 100 days to go I still have a lot of work to do. Things are moving in the right direction but i am facing some parts of the build that I am very nervous about. This being the painting.... 

I have some ideas but i really don't want to screw that up. Nothing worse than a poor paint job after all the hard work that has gone in to this project. I have gone ahead and brought the two upgrades that I wanted. 

The Red Lenses look a little bright but I am hoping that once they are in the face mask with the with the mesh behind they will look darker (well fingers crossed anyway!).   

The month and chin grill and mesh look great and I am happy with how they look in the helmet. Again remember I am not going for a screen accurate look from the Movies or the Rebels TV show. It is more an mix of all the Vader's from the movies/tv and from the 70/80's Marvel comic books. 

That was not all I got. I was luck enough to get my hands on this ....

The Neck Seal for the Helmet is very cool and will be awesome edtion to the Vader Armour. It is a kit so I will have to put it together soon. You can see the difference it makes to the costume when you see guys at a Con in full armour and are missing it. Now I understand that It is not the most essential 

 thing to have as the back of the neck is normally hidden by the back of the dome. But I have always wanted one. The last few bit I have done to the armour is the last bit of filling to the Chest Box and Face Mask. 

Now that this is done I can do the final sanding and then cut out a small amount of wood to act as a lift to the dome so it sits a little higher in the mask.  

 I have a plan to get the sanding done by the beginning of May and painting should be done around the last full week of May. 

On Thursday the Rouge One: A Star Wars Story trailer was released and if you have not seen then go watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wji-BZ0oCwg&nohtml5=False&ab_channel=StarWars

Rouge One looks amazing. It looks and feels like the 1977 Star Wars and that is a good thing. It will be the icing on the cake of 2016.

July - Star Wars Celebration

September-ish -  Rebels Season 3

December - Rouge One.

So that covers the Star Wars stuff....

Last Sunday was the London Retro Gaming Market once again held at the Royal National Hotel. This was a lot better than the last one in February. This was mostly due to the fact that I got there a little late. I had hoped to get there at 11:00 when the doors open but ended getting there at around 12:30/13:00. The good thing was this meant that there was less people there and I was able to have a good look around. I picked up a few games that I was happy to get. So next time I will have to go there at the same time. 

And that was everything that has been happening. Hopefully I can do some more work on the armour over the coming weekend and once I have done that i will update here. 

Darth Vader, Star Trek and Two Cons.

So i missed all of February I do need to say sorry about that, I was ill for some of it and really busy for the rest of it. But lets get down to the important stuff. In February we had the London Super Comic Con (LSCC) and then two weeks later the London Film and Comic Con Spring (LFCC). Two Cons in one month and just after Christmas... Most people don't have the spare cash around this time of year. (I know i sure don't). So having two cons was a bit much.

London Super Comic Con

Once again the LSCC was held at the ExCel Center. I always liked the LSCC as it was no where near as full and over crowded as the London Expo but this time round it felt like there was nobody around. I was surprised at how few dealers had turned up and the talks just didn't seem very interesting this year. It was a petty but i do think that with it being so early in the year that it does have an negative effect on the Con. Also I found it odd that EVERY dealer or what it felt like EVERY dealer there was selling Funko POP figures and not just a couple but the majority of the stuff there at the con was Funko Pops. Tables and tables of them..... Soon the LSCC will be a Funko POP convention. Now don't get me wrong i like Pops as much as the next guy and I own a few myself but this was crazy.

It also didn't help with having two other trade shows on at the same time. A Baby show ( Can't remember the name of it) and The London Classic Car show. This all meant that the ExCel Center was very busy and it was amusing to see all the people attending the  other two shows reactions to all the cosplayers and geeks. This meant that there was less space so the LSCC felt a little small this time round. But an enjoyable day none the less. And i of course i will be going next year.  

London Film and Comic Con

This was the first Spring convention for the LFCC. This was because they were unable to hold the Winter LFCC in 2015 so it was moved a few months to 2016. And this was a odd Con. Again not a massive turn out and i put that down to it being so early in the year. But it was more than that, There was The National Wedding Show there at the same time and i got the feeling of being pushed to one side and kept out of the way. We entered by a side door in to an open and empty hall. Me and my friend did get there late but only by 30 minuets so there should of been a queue??? But nope we walked in and straight to the door of the Con and we were disappointed with what we saw. There was not many people there and not many dealers as we walked round it felt like half a Con or we were missing something. Every So often we would over hear people say something about seeing stuff that was not in the same place we were. We didn't think anything of it and went to lunch. came back walked round again and decided to go to the toilet before we left. We couldn't find it so we asked and was told they had them upstairs. So we went up the stairs and as we turned the corner a WHOLE OTHER FLOOR! of the Con opened up...... We had no idea it was here. There was nothing posted saying to go upstairs for more. It was a lot better than I am making it out to be and i did have fun there and i am looking forward to he Summer Con.

So that was the first two Cons of the year. Not the best start to the year but the main event is happening in July with Star Wars Celebration Europe. Which brings me to the Destination Star Trek London 3. I really wanted to go to this but with the Star Wars Celebration Europe i am unable to go. Also unlike the last two this one is going to be held at the Birmingham NEC. If it was held at the ExCel Center in London like last two i would of gone but if it's in Birmingham then i would need to book a hotel and i can't afford two Cons with hotels in one year. I will try to go to the next one though. But if you are going let me know in the comments below.

Now on to Darth Vader. I have gotten quite far with it and am very near it being ready for painting. i am off work for the Easter Long weekend so i am hoping to get a lot of work done on the helmet and chest box.  

Darth Vader is getting closer to completion.

Not a huge amount of work has been done to the armour. But what i have done has moved things a long nicely and i am getting things to a point where i need to do little bits and then that will just leave me with getting new lenses and painting everything. 

I started with doing taking the Chest Box apart.

I wanted to make a few minor changes. It is ok over all and i never felt like i needed to made any major upgrades. But i never like the red button on the left. So that had to go. Also i wanted to swap red and green lights around so it will be green and red instead. Another change is i plan on changing the straps to leather ones... i say leather but its what ever material the belts are made of. (they look like leather but were really cheap. So i doubt they are real leather) Then i will change the plastic rods with metal one. The final change will be to repaint the Chest Box and change the colours  from siver to grey and the last one on the right to white.

Poping out the lights i was glad that i decided not to change the lights. I know it would be simple but i just don't thave the confidance to do that type of work. But it will be something to look at in the future. Now that the Box is in peaces i could start work.

Over the weekend i spent a few hours in the garden doing the final filling on the Vader Helmet and on the Chest Armour as well as more work on the Chest Box. There really is not much to say at the moment about this as it just involed putting a lot of filler on the helmet that will now need to be sanded and made good. Same with the box I need to get the metal rods from Ebay and once thats done i can paint and put on the straps.  

Over the next few weeks i will be getting the metal rods and and putting things in place so i can try to get the helmet and chest armour ready for painting. Sanding will hopefully be done over the next few weeks i want to be in a good place by the end of the year. 

Like i said not a huge amount of work but i am getting there.

In other news The London Expo is on the 24th and i will be going to that and i will be doing a write up on the following Sunday. November is Mecha Month so i will be busy with that... Then Star Wars Ep7 in December. A packed full end to the year. .

Darth Vader Helmet Project part Three: One step closer to being complete.

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.