How was Vader's helmet modified from ANH to ESB to ROTJ

[cking]

Did I miss something? I thought that the SL castings were created from molds made from the one you've shown under the TD initials. That mask originally had the chin vent filled in with some vent holes drilled in it. I thought that the chin vent was subsequently trimmed out and castings from this resulted in the SL.
Here's photos that I saved from the original ebay auction which showed the mask that TD won.

Yes same person but the TD AND SL are two different masks The SL being the cast from the rick baker mold
and the TD evidence points to being from the UK mold

hence the differing initials being used although they originate from the same owner

 

[cking]

And here's a photo of that same mask that he won from ebay - this time with the chin vent trimmed out (TD's own side by side comparison that he posted with an spFX mask).

 

[Darth Africanus]

Did I miss something? I thought that the SL castings were created from molds made from the one you've shown under the TD initials. That mask originally had the chin vent filled in with some vent holes drilled in it. I thought that this was then cut out of that mask and the result was the SL castings.
Here's photos I saved from the original ebay auction that TD won for the mask.

No the SL was a cast pulled from the rick baker mold that Thomas=SL obtained and then he allowed a mold to be made from his SL Helmet
and casts where then made

The TD was just that mask Thomas same owner for both SL and TD won on the ebay auction
and the TD has the hallmarks of being a cast from the UK mold

 

[cking]

Thanks for bringing me up to speed DA. I've been out of the Vader game for a long time and obviously missed a lot of stuff!

No the SL was a cast pulled from the rick baker mold that Thomas=SL obtained and then he allowed a mold to be made from his SL Helmet
and casts where then made

The TD was just that mask Thomas same owner for both SL and TD won on the ebay auction
and the TD has the hallmarks of being a cast from the UK mold

 

[Darth Africanus]

Thanks for bringing me up to speed DA. I've been out of the Vader game for a long time and obviously missed a lot of stuff!

Pleasure man glad I could help in my own small way!
Always great sharing the Vader passion

 

[eethan]

thank you for all those infos guys, this is super interesting

 

[Too Much Garlic]

The VP face mask was paired with a RotJ dome from another source. No different than pairing a DP DLX with an EFX dome.

And the TD did not father the ESB masks. It's just another UK mold lineage cast like the GS, TM, VP, 20th C. etc.

 

[Darth Africanus]

The VP face mask was paired with a RotJ dome from another source. No different than pairing a DP DLX with an EFX dome.

And the TD did not father the ESB masks. It's just another UK mold lineage cast like the TM, VP, 20th C. etc.

Thanks for clearing that up Carsten I was under the impression that is came with a ROTJ dome but was not sold with the dome

 

[Too Much Garlic]

No, if I remember correctly, it was meant to be sold with the dome, but it was from a different source. Can't remember whether they weren't able to make the deal or mold it before the face mask mold broke down and then decided simply not to.

I believe Chris, voice in the crowd, can tell you the whole story about the VP. I believe he was the one who first posted about it.

 

[Darth Africanus]

No, if I remember correctly, it was meant to be sold with the dome, but it was from a different source. Can't remember whether they weren't able to make the deal or mold it before the face mask mold broke down and then decided simply not to.

Very interesting I seem to not have seen that bit on it
Thank you for filling in so it would seem that although the ROTJ dome did not come grouped with the VP facemask
that the intention was that the VP would have been a ROTJ offering to the community ?

 

[Halliwax]

This thread is making me want a vader bad..

 

[Darth Africanus]

This thread is making me want a vader bad..

One of us one of us lol

 

[cking]

By the way - the "VP" name was derived from the character played by Matt Lucas in Little Britain (BBC comedy show from the UK). The "VP" stands for "Vicky Pollard" which was the name of the character who went around saying "Yes, but no, but yes". Ha ha. I can't remember how it ended up being used to describe this particular mask though. Hopefully "voice in the crowd" can remind us. Just wanted to clarify that in this particular offering, the VP is not the initials of the owner of the mask that was used for casting. Sorry to disapoint - Victoria Principal is not the owner. LOL.

 

[Darth Africanus]

By the way - the "VP" name was derived from the character played by Matt Lucas in Little Britain (BBC comedy show from the UK). The "VP" stands for "Vicky Pollard" which was the name of the character who went around saying "Yes, but no, but yes". Ha ha. I can't remember how it ended up being used to describe this particular mask though. Hopefully "voice in the crowd" can remind us. Just wanted to clarify that in this particular offering, the VP is not the initials of the owner of the mask that was used for casting.

Very Fascinating strange how these things work but interesting how they fit into history and the back stories that can be found to these things
would very much like more of a light to be showed on these things in our present time

 

[vader45]

This thread is making me want a vader bad..

*waves hand* you will buy a Vader bucket.

 

[Frogfreak]

This thread is making me want a vader bad..

Me too, man!

 

[juajn7fernandez]

I tried simplifying and streamlining this as much as possible, to make it easier to understand the lineage of authentic castings with the most direct connection to the original helmet. This is still a work in progress and I will continue to add information to it. But everything you see here is in correct order:

 

[juajn7fernandez]

Oh and forgot to mention, this is just the basics. There are tons of details that can be discussed and compared. Also the order from top to bottom does not imply anything as far as details got for the castings. This is just to show what derived from what.

 

[Darth Africanus]

I tried simplifying and streamlining this as much as possible, to make it easier to understand the lineage of authentic castings with the most direct connection to the original helmet. This is still a work in progress and I will continue to add information to it. But everything you see here is in correct order:

View attachment 1300744

Awesome my Friend thanks for the help in this thread beautiful lineage tree and definitely the best one
easily illustrates the line of secession of the cast's

 

[vadermania]

I tried simplifying and streamlining this as much as possible, to make it easier to understand the lineage of authentic castings with the most direct connection to the original helmet. This is still a work in progress and I will continue to add information to it. But everything you see here is in correct order:

Yes, that's a great lineage tree! Just a few notes regarding the TM and the different runs:
- initial run ("TM run", 10 castings in total): TM ESB helmet casting (the dome was cast untouched), TM "ANH" faceplate casting (casting of the paint-free and restored faceplate)
- second run (TM ESB JRX, 6 castings in total): TM ESB helmet casting, TM ESB faceplate casting (based on an ESB version of the faceplate created by JRX based on an TM ANH faceplate casting)
- TM ANH dome castings ("TM ANH JRX"): castings of an ANH dome created by JRX based on a TM ESB dome casting
- TM ROTJ JRX: run of X helmets created by JRX based on a TM ESB helmet casting and a TM "ANH" faceplate casting
- TM final run - what's that?

Any chance you could include the Fiberdyne/Jeff White and the GH ANH? If I remember correcty those were the first "commercially" available Vader helmet castings.