ByYourCommand.net

I was wondering if any of you Vaders would care to post how much (a general figure would be fine) a quality Vader suit would cost to create. Is it around $1,000?

Also, what do you think is the hardest part to get "correct" ... Like the Cylon - is it the under suit?

If the "version" makes any difference (which movie) - Return of the Jedi Vader is the one I would want to build.

Vaders.....an expensive costume for sure if you want to do it right. Being realistic expect to pay anywhere above

I had a helmet for a while. I wasn't really into it, but I did chrome it. I sold it later on to a guy in Australia who was thrilled to have it.

nashslash wrote:I'm not giving you nothing until your cylon is made....

heehee ... no, I'm going to do the Cylon 1st - yes. The Vader question was just a random thought for WAAAY down the road several years.

I have a Don Post Vader helmet, but that's it. Nothing the 501st would probably approve of.

3K to 5K, depending how "accurate" you want to be.. I found a lot of good deals when I did my ROTJ so I'm on the the lower end, but those a few and far between, and I was very LUCKY!

VERY NICE! What sort of sound system do you have in the suit? Breath sound? Voice Changer? Where do you put speaker(s) in a vader? In the chest box, helmet, belt??

Cylon-Knight wrote:VERY NICE! What sort of sound system do you have in the suit? Breath sound? Voice Changer? Where do you put speaker(s) in a vader? In the chest box, helmet, belt??

I have 2 speakers that hang on the chesbox straps at my side underneath the inner robe and a mp3 player with a breathing loop. I also have one of the Vortex2 voice changers, but I'm still tweaking it for that authentic JEJ sound and haven't used it in public as of yet..

The price range depends alot on what you can build yourself. Personally, Im pretty good at sewing so I created all my soft parts myself (the cloak, robes, body suit, etc.).

The best advice is to not be in a rush! If you are patient, you can usually find some good deals on some quality armor products, especially on the 501st Sith Lords detachment forums. The members there are constantly upgrading and modifying their costumes, so you can get a spare piece here and there.

My Vader is a ROTJ style, which is probably one of the easiest to find pieces for next to the ESB style. The ROTS style is gaining in popularity, but quality pieces are still harder to find, in my opinion.

Another piece of advice, if you are going to do a ROTS Vader, stay away from the Rubies Supreme Vader. By the time you get finished modifying it to bring it up to standards, you might as well have started from scratch. Only a few of the pieces in that costume are accurate and you can definately tell the difference when a Rubies Vader stands next to a quality Vader.



Hope this helps.

Regards,
Chris
501st Legion SL-8100

My Vader Armor was really a mish-mosh of all the versions and does not really claim absolute film accuracy. This is primarily because of cost. Besides, in my area, I do not know of any other "as die hard fans" who would nit-pic over such minutia. So, to them, it is cool to see the effort. After all, putting any kind of effort into the uniform makes it a better version than the simple purchase of even the Revenge of the Sith version.
I agree, if you have the cash, you can get some great and accurate stuff. If you can either sew your own soft pieces, or get a seamstress to do it for you, you save a lot of money.
In my opinion, the belt and boxes are probably the most accessible pieces to make for the novice builder. The shoulder armor and helmet should be purchased, unless you have access to vaccuforming equipment and/or the ability and space to do molding. I do not have the resources to make my own helmet and purchasing "quality" is just too much beyond my budgetary limitations. So, I choose to be happy with the most recent Rubies helmet. I figure, at least, I have one, ya know? The helmet alone can be over $1,500 in some cases.
Oh, did I mention the suit is as hot as Hades? You had best have some kind of mini-fan. All the other gadgets, raning from voice and breathing effects, can run a pretty penny as well. Good luck, because you are at the start of a long journey.........

Depending on how far into it you want to go, as others have already said here, you can have something decent at a glance (Halloween style) for a few hundred $. I am a Vader purist and self-proclaimed officianado. I've been building my ANH Vader for 2 decades! I am about 90% there, but will never show it until it's done. I've spent thousands of $ and frankly thousands of hours in research etc. Finding a taylor to accurately make that suit alone took me 15+ years. It may seem a little more commonplace now (though the average ebay and RPF suit is not accurate enough for my taste) but it was every bit as difficult to get someone to do the suit accurately as it is to do the cylon undersuit. An accurate custom codpiece

WOW, awesome info - thanks.
Now, photos of your suit? Please!!!

Well I'm an approved ESB Vader in the 501st and I would say with the voice changer I'm probably at about the 4K mark with my suit, that's with having done a few upgrades over the years.

Very cool! Quality costs, I know from my Centurion.

Which part is the most expensive on a Vader (typically)? The under suit?

Actually the helmet is usually the most expensive at around $700 and up for a good accurate bucket with nice paint. You can get a raw casting if you are prepared to do automotive type paintwork.

Suit you can get around $400-450 from Custom Props out of Argentina, same with the cape and inner robe....if you want to wait forever and have top of the line you can get a KevVader cape on the SLD forums....long wait list and the cape will cost you $600

WOW! 600 for the cape!?! Impressive... most impressive.

Seriously, that rocks. All the various parts, time, talent. It all adds up. A quality Vader like yours is amazing.