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C-3PO Helmets- ANH
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If you're interested in Chroming then click here
for the Chroming Project Page |
Update 20th March 2011 - Below - This is the C-3PO helmet I'm
currently selling on EBay. Its a wonderful example of a "Throne Room" style
ANH C-3PO helmet and therefore I believe its fair to say its a very rare
find.
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| SO I'm having to let this
fabulous helmet go. I've had it since 2003 (check out the
chroming page for the trials and
tribulations of chroming) but the reality is I'm not going to make a full
size Throne Room 3PO now so have decided to let him go..... |
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| As you can see its an extremely
impressive looking helmet - although I recon "head" is a better description
as you need to have a very small head like Anthony Daniells head if you want
to be a C-3PO! |
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| Its all the more impressive since
the eyes light up and have the same effect as those in the movie - thanks to
a great lighting rig produced by Steve the Swede. Now that guy is smart! |
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| You can see the connecters from
this reverse shot - although when its displayed I tuck the cables inside so
you cant see them |
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| Above the last of my new photos
(March 2011) and this time a close up of the eyes. You can see some
scratching around them when really close (less than 12 inches away) -
unfortunately its one of the problems with vacuum metalising where the
chrome coating is so very thin so marks quite easily. However pull back to
normal viewing distance and you cant notice them |
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| Above and below some shots of my
Throne Room style C-3PO head - basically this is meant to be the 3PO you see
at the very end of Star Wars - a look thats very hard to produce given the
idiosyncrasies of dealing with of vacuum metalising chrome plating. |
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| Below another recent shot,
interesting as it shows how different these helmets can look under different
lighting conditions. |
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| In the shot below the eyes are not correct and its missing the Antenna and neck bolts
but already looks very nice. the helmet cast came from the UK and I had it
Vacuum Metalised also here in the U.K. |
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| one more photo - I cant resist its such
a cool looking helmet! |
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| Below are images of an
absolutely fantastic 3PO previously owned by Vos which was I believe the
"father" of the helmet shown above. Cast from an ANH original - just
four copies were made. |
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Below, another couple of photos of the same helmet, in
different lighting conditions |
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Below are a few images of Chaucer's fan-made resin C-3PO (note that unfortunately it cannot be worn).
This helmet was based on a Disney walk-around version which has
a fuller appearance and overall less accurate - most noticeable in the face. For more info on the Disney/MGM Star
Tours rides then Kris has a nice site here
with loads of info.
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| A massive amount of work goes into
these - and this is reflected in the price. The main cost that sets this
apart from other characters is the electroplating, which gives it its
fantastic gold appearance. |
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And finally below a complete torso showing the great
detail of Chaucer's fantastic fan-made prop. This is based on the Disney mould. |
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Below a c3po helmet, cast off the excellent Vos helmet
higher in the page. |
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Above, a recent shot of
a finished C-3PO, back from the Vacuum Metalisers. its now been sent to
its owner (Steve the Swede) for weathering and detailing (eyes etc.). More pics on the
Chroming page below
There's
a new CHROMING PAGE HERE featuring my often painful Vacuum metalising
trials and
tribulations!
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Above and below are Work In Progress shots from Steve
showing current progress with his C-3PO. He's going for an ESB Cloud City
look and I think he's got it!!! |
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...eyes are also installed and its looking quite
brilliant!! |
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Below, here's an excellent shot of Bill's 3PO head. This is one of the
helmets that I plated and Bill's now completed it by finishing the eyes
which look superb. |
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| September '06 - Below, here's an
absolutely awesome full size 3PO made by John C. I don't know the background
to this one as to whether its from the Don Post sculpt or another source.
Whatever its source its absolutely superb. |
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| Blow, Jan 08, a couple more shots
from Golden Armor of one of his completed 3PO's, which occasionally come up
for sale on ebay. The head is a new and much improved sculpt which looks to
have derived from the Vos/Zorg head. |
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| and another photo below from GA.
Great work not least the plating which looks superb. |
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| ... below a shot from Regular contributor
Well-Paid-Killer of his great new Display which features his completed
R2-D2 and C-3PO which look really great! |
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| Below, here's some pics of my first
3PO attempt - which Steve the Swede
stepped in and turned it into this wonderful Tatooine Desert C-3PO -
including the correct eye lights. The antenna and neck bolts are Brass and
made by RussRep |
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The great thing about Steve's
weathering is that it looks so natural. The original high chrome
finish still shines through in places but is combined with duller areas of
gold giving this great overall finish. |
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| Its even got the (fake) oil stain
running down the back - wonderful! |
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Below, some older shots taken outside which tbh dont do
it justice. |
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| Some time ago I bought a 3PO chest
piece from the Far-East but never got round to painting it - such are the
pains of Vacuum Metalising. However the other week-end I dug it out and
using a couple of cans of Plasticoat Chrome (both the Gold and Silver), I
painted the chest to match the head - then weathered with black and burnt
umber oils |
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| I'm really pleased with the results.
Close up the weathering is more obvious but maybe a little less so on these
photos. By the way a big "Thank You" to Art Andrews for his photo tips on
how to take the best still-life photographs. |
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C-3PO - AOTC
I just cant get enough of this stuff, so here's some
more images of Chaucer's C-3PO, this time reflecting the Droid earlier in
his "life" from AOTC. Again based on the same Disney
walk-around suit. |
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Excellent weathering! |
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| So if you feel up to it, you can
have either a AOTC or ANH, or pretty much any derivative you want, by
popping down to your local dealer (ha ha) and picking up a vac-formed set
like this. All that's then left is a few (tens of) hours assembly, and of
course not forgetting the all-important metal plating. |
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C-3PO - McQuarrie Concept |
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| Following on from the
Darth Vader Concept page and the
Stormtrooper Concept Page, here's some more
fabulous work from Koo Koo. Its his C-3PO, based on Ralph McQuarrie's
Concept artwork produced in 1974 when the project was first being
visualised. |
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| This really is superb. RMQ's
original concept had a more human-like appearance. It almost reminds me of
the Woody Allen "Robot" butler seen in Sleeper (although without the glasses
of course). This base design was also used by Alex Tavoularis in his
storyboards. Ultimately of course, the design was based on Maria from Fritz
Lang's groundbreaking 1920's fillm, Metropolis. |
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| Now I'm guessing that Koo Koo's
produced this in fiberglass and then vacuum metalised, but the finish along
with the great weathering makes it almost look like it's hand crafted in
Copper. Back in 1976, Liz Moore (who was the Chief Sculptor on the Star Wars
project) produced nine different clay sculpts, before the final C-3PO design
was agreed by Lucas. |
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R2-D2 |
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Thanks again to Anson for these photo's of Hannon's
excellent scratch-build R2, following the
design of the Droid in Dublin's Planet Hollywood.
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| Above and below, four images of
regular contributor Well Paid Killer's wonderful R2 which was built by
Krider. WPK really does
have a fantastic collection R2's now got his friend too (see above) |
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| Above and below, three shots of GA's
R2 unit, which goes quite nicely with his C-3PO (this one in the AOTC
styling from the older Disney head sculpt). Both are made in small quantities by the producer. |
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...and below a shot of the Fiberglass kit and a
partially completed unit. |
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R3-B2 |
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| Now this one is just fabulous! Like
the R2 higher up it was make by Krider and is just awesome. Now if I lived
in the U.S. I'd get in my car and drive to this guys place and stuff a wad
of cash into his hand and walk away with it, it's awesome. The way I look
at it you only "need" one Kidney! |
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Gonk |
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| LOVE this one!! - It's by Dr Maul
and I think I read somewhere that there's a theory out there that this
little chappy is actually the central most pivotal character in the entire
Star Wars universe. Dr Maul's still got some work to do weathering but it
looks pretty nice now, with that "straight off the production
line" look, ahhhh, ain't he sweeeeet! Isn't this typical - just when I thought I'd found my
first Gonk when
another one turns up, this one made by Skaught, with a piccy of him
carrying out some much-needed maintenance.
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...and below a great Gonk from Riley Replica's |
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...and below a couple of shots of Jay's scratch-built
Gonk Droid - Very nice! |
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Bug / Death Star Droid |
| Goldenarmor (see C-3PO above) has
also done a really excellent looking Bug (Death Star)Droid kit. This guy's
stuff is really good. See also his Tie Pilot, ATAT etc. |
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| Update Jan 08 and Goldenarmor's sent
me these shots of his superb completed Death Star bug droid |
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| I'm not aware of anyone else who's
gone to the effort of recreating this great design, which for the original
movie was sculpted by Brian Muir. |
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Battle Droid |
| These shots of a completely scratch
built battle Droid show just how damn clever some people are! It was made
by Mardon Collanta (MLC) and is now owned by Well Paid Killer. |
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Not only does it look bloody brilliant it is also fully articulated.
Now that is impressive! |
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| A couple of final shots showing the
weathering on it. Whatever way you look at it that is just superb work!
Well done MLC and congratulations for a great prop WPK, I'm green with
envy! |
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