ML Style Darth Vader – In Out Around and About
The article includes an in-depth guide on how to duplicate the ML-style Darth Vader I made a while back. I’ve also included additional ideas I’ve seen adapted by other customizers using this basic recipe, and concepts and ideas I’ve had for advancing this custom figure toward the ultimate goal of being perfectly on model.
Figures Needed:
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| Epic Force Vader | Dr. Doom (ML2 or Fantastic Four Box Set) |
STEP ONE: Preparation
Vader Preparation
Start by dismantling the Epic Force Vader. You will find that he is a very durable hard plastic statue. His entire torso and legs are hard abs plastic that require lots of force, prying and breaking to get apart. His arms and head are both soft plastic. You wont need the arms, but if you want the saber lop the top off, as it’s the only part you can save. The head can be removed easily by cutting it off – you won’t need the neck peg since you’ll drill a hole in it later.
After removing the head now’s the time to take off the cape and decide if you want to reuse it or go with something else – I didn’t because I had already used it for a Batman custom. The rubber cape is fine and perfectly serviceable, so if you don’t want a lot of work, just go ahead and keep it. The other part to remove is the belt and tunic, which is all one piece around his waist. If you manage to break his waist apart you’ll get it off, or you can do what I did and cut it apart in the back – you’ll probably need to do this anyways, to make wrapping it around Doom’s waist easier later.
Once Vader is torn apart, you should have the torso without arms and head. The only important part to save is the chest plate and control box. This requires tedious meticulous dremelling and sanding. Because it is all one solid abs front torso section, cutting with tools like an exacto blade is dangerous and hard. I found dremelling with good grinding bits worked better. Grind off the bulk of the front torso, leaving the basic shape of the chest plate and control box. Then go to work on the inside, smoothing it and thinning the inside so when its placed against Doom’s chest it doesn’t sit up too high. You may also consider sanding those areas of Doom’s chest to make the plate sit even better – you’ll notice mine still rides a little high. Once the inner side is sanded thinner and smoother, take easier sanding bits and smooth out the edges. I left the box connected to the chest plate, but you can separate them if you prefer.
Once you have the chest plate/box part done, then it’s onto the head. The modification is simple – if you are using Doom, his head is pegged to a fairly long neck section that sprouts a simple ball peg. Cut the bottom of Vader’s head flat from the base of his mouth area back to the base of his helmet. Then whip out the dremel with the ball bit that you use for drilling and create a peg hole.
I found the best method for fit and look is to dremel a wide area to fit the actual NECK of doom, and then in that area dremel the hole and shaft for the peg itself. Periodically test fit it to be sure, and make sure you have the armor plate on Doom when test fitting even if it’s just being held up temporarily so you know where you want his head on his neck.
Doom Preparation
Once Vader’s head is ready, move on to Doom – this is really just stripping him down.
Doom is simple, remove the cloak, and cut the belt/skirt off. You’ll find he has a small waist which is fine for what we are doing. I did find the Vader belt was a bit big, so I put a rubber band around Doom’s waist to thicken it up.
Once Doom is stripped, it’s time to remove his head. I’d like to say its a simple boil and pop, but frankly for me it wasn’t. I ended up having to cut the back of his head nearly in half to get his peg out. It’s a rather tall peg and his head is very tight. I used a box set Doom – I don’t know if its different with others. Just do your best to conserve the neck and the neck peg.
STEP TWO: Assembly
Once Doom’s head is removed, it’s time to assemble your Vader.
First, test fit the chest plate where you want it to sit, and then glue it to him. I used superglue, but you can use different adhesives – whatever floats your boat. Put the belt around his waist, using a rubber band under it if it’s too big, glued to fit tight. Assuming you are using Vader’s rubber cape, attach it now.
Now it’s time to attach the Vader head. If you dremelled well and test fit along the way, it should pop on easily. Check for fit with your glued on neck plate. Once that’s done, assembly is complete – now its time for paint.
STEP THREE: Paint
Paint on my Vader originally started as just flat black everywhere. I then moved on to try to emulate some of his armor and suit style by mixing flat and gloss. The final version goes as follows:
- Flat black on the torso, lower half (to the knees)upper arms and elbows.
- Gloss on the gauntlets/gloves, boots/feet and the plate design sculpted into the top of the shoulder- you should see the lines there that emulate Vader’s shoulder plates. I used gloss on these since I didn’t have actual shoulder plates.
Once paint on him is done, you’ll have a fairly complete Vader, matching the design I’ve used. For the lightsaber you can go a couple of different ways. One is simply to add a lower handle to the top part you salvaged from Vader’s cold dead hands, and stick it in the new ones hands and move on. Or you can go the extra mile I did and make it accurate. The handle I used for mine was a silencer from Plan B cut down for size and glued on, then painted, and small thin rubber strips added and painted to match the style of Vader’s saber.
STEP FOUR: Extras
I recently added a crotch pad using the back of a Star Trek Mirror Kirk’s shirt (rubber material) for the base pad and a small piece of nylon string from my Clone Commander’s zip line glued together in a circle and glued to the pad in the shape of the long oval that is on his pad design. It’s thick, but it gives the design that is common. You can do other methods if you like – whatever fits your tastes or abilities.
If you choose to make your own cape or want to replicate mine, here’s how I did it:
The cloth is a sheened thin cloth from the old X-Men Movie 12-inch Magneto. It is very delicate and frays easily – that is why its edges are sewn. It was cut to shape and size, edges sewn and attached to him with a chain I took from a regular piece of chain jewelry. I opened the links on either end, placed the cape edge into them, and clamped them down. Technically, Vader’s cape chain is black – if you want to replicate it exactly, I suggest you use that. I find the silver works for me – even the Hasbro figures like VOTC Vader use silver rope to emulate the chain like I do.
The final product:
OTHER VERSIONS:
This recipe has been duplicated in better ways by other customizers who use their unique spin and make something very interesting. The one I find most interesting is Maddog’s – he used Xavier’s pant legs to emulate Vader’s slightly baggy heavy leather sewn pants, which in my opinion look a lot better than Doom’s naked legs:
I think this is a much cleaner, more experienced approach to the basic recipe I designed. So if you attempt to recreate, try your own unique spin as well – you’ll be surprised with what you can come up with.
For possible modifications in the future, I’ve recently purchased the Mysterio figure from Spider-Man Classics. I’ve found this figure to have what could be the perfect texture pattern for Vader. Despite being slightly muscled, it’s still a good concept base:
The texture pattern fits Vaders leather body suit. The only requirement would be probably a new torso, maybe reusing Doom’s if it’s not too small for Mysterio’s larger limbs. New forearms and good gloves would be the idea to fit Vader’s style. My first thought for those is the ML Ultimate Cap. Mysterio has decent boots for Vader, though they are not really tall enough. You could simply use them with the bumps cut off or replace them with others, though none really strike me right away as being great boots for Vader.
These, so far, are my concepts, ideas, and creations of Vader. Hopefully this was a helpful guide. Feel free to use whatever you find here – I hope to see more amazing Darth Vaders produced from it. If you have questions about something I didn’t cover, feel free to ask.
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