Best Way to Shorten 1/6th Darth Vader?

[thenammagazine]

As for those wary of having to spring the cost for another Trooper figure in order to do this mod, I personally can't recommend it enough. When I first got Vader, his difference in height to the other Sideshow figures is immediately what bothered me most (even more than its issues with the helmet). Whenever he stood dueling next to Obi-Wan or was flanked by troopers, I couldn't get over how obvious his freakishly gargantuan proportions were. I mean, here's one of the most central characters in the Star Wars universe & I couldn't even stand to pose him next to any of the other Sideshow figures that I've purchased at no meager expense over the last several years!

But, after nearly a year of lurking these forums & not seeing any simple solutions to resize him, I came up with doing this switcheroo with the trooper abs on my own. And, not only was it relatively easy to do, but it scaled this Vader figure just enough to make him look good standing next to other figures from this line. It was like he was finally welcome to join the rest of the family. ;-)

So, to those reading this who may be curious about doing this mod, I say go for it! Given the number of people out there who may be upgrading their Stormtrooper figures with Hot Toys slims, getting ahold of an extra armored Prometheus from Toy Anxiety or eBay shouldn't break the bank.

You don't have to do that. For sub $20 you can pick up another armored body from a breakdown retailer like Toy Anxiety or even ebay for the mod.

 

[Anzik]

You don't have to do that. For sub $20 you can pick up another armored body from a breakdown retailer like Toy Anxiety or even ebay for the mod.

(psst, Nam, read the last line... )

 

[thenammagazine]

(psst, Nam, read the last line... )

I read that but most people won't (they skip posts more than a paragraph ). So it was worth reiterating.

 

[shockwave]

I already ordered the sandtrooper corporal body from Toy Anxiety. I hope I can do this mod correctly

PJB-1138 I will follow your instructions to the letter.

 

[The Craw]

i did a shortcut to this mod. i removed that extra midsection piece altogether. then i found a shorter barbell joint from my parts drawer to connect the chest directly to the abdomen. it was the perfect size. knocked vader down to 13.75" tall without the need to buy a ST body.

 

[monkeybat]

Cool mod got to have a go.

 

[Wor-Gar]

i did a shortcut to this mod. i removed that extra midsection piece altogether. then i found a shorter barbell joint from my parts drawer to connect the chest directly to the abdomen. it was the perfect size. knocked vader down to 13.75" tall without the need to buy a ST body.

I will need a picture of that barbell.

Seriously, which did you use? I'd be willing to give this a go if I didn't need to track down a body.

Couldn't I just glue it too? I mean, does he really need or use articulation in his mid-torso?

 

[The Craw]

I will need a picture of that barbell.

Seriously, which did you use? I'd be willing to give this a go if I didn't need to track down a body.

Couldn't I just glue it too? I mean, does he really need or use articulation in his mid-torso?

i don't know where it is from and i'm not taking apart my Vader again to take a pic. i have a few broken body parts in my spare parts drawer. could be dragon but i don't know. i wouldn't buy a body just for that piece if i were you. might as well get a trooper body and swap the entire midsection. i didn't want to buy another body and it was luck that i had this piece.

you could glue the pieces together i guess. or you could cut a chunk out of the long barbell joint that you'll remove and glue the ends back together so it is shorter. i didn't want to permanently alter my figure.


i'd like to shorten the thigh part of the legs too. haven't decided how to go about this yet. if i can get him down to an even 13 inches i think he'll be perfect.

 

[barryo]

im going to do this over the weekend & as it turns out i have a loose trooper body due to a tt conversion...........im okay with vader as is but it wont hurt to give it a second look. thanks for posting this mod.........

 

[barryo]

did this mod today and i have to say that i really like the results..........while vader is still tall & imposing to other figures........the approx 1/2" less height seems to bring a better representation of the character with other figures.........

he's still a bad ass & very much one of if not my favorite figure i own.........


p.s. did the inverted arm change to the stormtrooper as well & i really love that he can aim & look down the barrel of the blaster now...........i cant remember who came up with that mod........but............

 

[shocktrooper_au]

Why I must say it looks better, I always thought it was the upper legs that where to long on this figure which make it look too tall, the best Vader Mod I've seen it to place it on the T2 T800 body thhough that didn't use the SSC helmet

 

[PJB-1138]

Wow, nice to see that folks are still trying out my Vader & Trooper mods. Really, I can't stress enough how such small, simple adjustments end up making so much of a difference. I imagine using that smaller barbell & removing that lower chest piece would yield similar results

did this mod today and i have to say that i really like the results..........while vader is still tall & imposing to other figures........the approx 1/2" less height seems to bring a better representation of the character with other figures.........

Barryo, your Vader looks great, but did you do anything to bulk out the waist? He's looking a little emaciated there.

 

[barryo]

Wow, nice to see that folks are still trying out my Vader & Trooper mods. Really, I can't stress enough how such small, simple adjustments end up making so much of a difference. I imagine using that smaller barbell & removing that lower chest piece would yield similar results



Barryo, your Vader looks great, but did you do anything to bulk out the waist? He's looking a little emaciated there.

no i havent yet...............but i was thinking of putting a bit of thin foam around it to get rid of the pinched look. i just couldnt find any at the time & dont really want to use any type tape with adhesive.

 

[Artoo]

I'm glad I discovered this thread, now I'll have to have a go at this sometime.

 

[Ninersphan]

Gonna try my hand at this. Just purchased a naked clone tropper body from toy anxienty ( only 11>99 plus shipping)

But damn, if I'm not scared to death at the prospect of busting open a $150 figure...

 

[FLOSI]

Gonna try Craws trick. Sounds like the easiest.

 

[klocket]

did this mod today and i have to say that i really like the results..........while vader is still tall & imposing to other figures........the approx 1/2" less height seems to bring a better representation of the character with other figures.........

he's still a bad ass & very much one of if not my favorite figure i own.........


p.s. did the inverted arm change to the stormtrooper as well & i really love that he can aim & look down the barrel of the blaster now...........i cant remember who came up with that mod........but............

This pic makes his arms look super long at first glance...plus, you have Vader posed as a lefty and the Troopers righties.

So, it's a little backwards.

I will be trying this mod when my Vader arrives next week!

M.

 

[Customikey]

Has anyone tried simply replacing the body with an HT Pred?

 

[FLOSI]

Pretty sure it's been done.... Read about it somewhere in the main SS Vader thread.

 

[zankuro]

Great mod PJ

pics of PJB mod Vader standing next to emperor pls