VADER HELMET!!!

OH YES I DID!
Since I had no instruction on this I did things the slow way, and a bit out of order, so I will save YOU the trouble and show you how to do it the most effective way.

Found THIS hat at a thrift store for $.50 (score!) It's PERFECT. Turn it around backwards and the angle of the bill is just right for the hood thing on Vaders Helmet

  

FIRST SAND IT. You need a rough surface everywhere you will glue or paint. Next get a permanent marker and mark the middle. I just did a few lines here and there. I used a sewing tape measure to get the exact middle, you can also use a piece of string and a ruler if you don't have a tape measure. ...or just eye ball it.

Now that you have your middle you will need to mark the curve for the eyes. 

It should gently slope back into the helmet

Then I cut it with my jig saw, it went REAL fast and easy. (you might be able to cut it with a utility knife if you don't have a saw)

(I did find this site and I used it as a shape reference for the shape of the hood piece.)  Then I took a brown paper bag (you can use news paper too) And I taped it inside around 1/2 and then drew the basic shape on the paper with a marker. 

 I didn't take a picture after I drew the Vader helmet shape, but basically just hold it up and draw a line around for the base and then up to where it goes around the eyes.

 Then I took out the paper and cut out my shape

 To make sure it's the right shape I taped it back on. It's not usually perfect the first time, so I take my marker and redraw the lines how they should be or mark any changes to the pattern.

  As you can see I cut it too short. I needed it to go to the center line, and I was short about an inch.  Also you want the hood just SLIGHTLY longer then the bill at the very least so you can cover the bill with the craft foam. You can see where I drew the line for the base of the hood, this helmet will work for an adult, just draw the hood longer. (the helmet is actually kinda big on my 3 year olds head)

 I redrew the pattern with the changes

 PERFECT fit this time. WOOT!

 Well slightly long in back, but that's just how i needed it.  Now take your pattern and cut 4 of them out of craft foam. (I got an assortment of colors in a pack of 12  for about $5 at wal mart. They are the big sheets that are about the size of 2 pieces of paper. I only needed 2 though) Craft foam is kind of thin, but I found 2 layers to be just about right

I found this glue at wal mart also, in the craft isle for about $3. You need a glue that says it will work for plastic. 

 Now I glue one layer of the out side of the bill, using tape to hold it in place as the glue dries

 And the other layer on the inside of the bill. You can see the layers overlapping at the seams. I took my scissors and cut the top layers together cutting right down the center seam, and then the bottom layers the same way. Then the fit nicely together.

 Once the glue is set you can add the strip that goes down the middle. Make sure to let it hang off a bit on the front and back. That way you can round it under neath and completely cover your seams (99sorry, I don't know why this one didn't turn) (here you can see the seam taped down in the back)

 Then I glued the edges together, and to avoid finger cramps I utilized my abundance of clothes pins. If you do this, I suggest putting a scrap piece of foam on either side, sandwiching the hood. The clothes pins will dig into the foam and leave dents.

 Now to stiffen the hood use some scraps of fabric and glue and basically paper mache it on the INSIDE ONLY. Do one layer at a time. I also covered my seam from the hood to the helmet on the inside to reinforce the bond to the plastic. I only did 2 layers and it is stiff enough for me. I used just white elmers glue (non washable) and a little bit of water to thin it out just a bit, not too much. I also did a few layers of mod podge. It's just personal preference, or what you have.

 Then I painted the glue on the out side. This acts as a primer for the paint as well as giving it a little more strength. I did about 4-6 layers on the inside and on the out side. (using both glue and mod podge, but either or will work) I also gave the hard plastic one coat of mod podge to help even out the sanding lines and help the paint adhere.

 When it was ALL dry I started painting with my high gloss black paint. (YAY) This was after the first layer.

 I ended up doing 3 layers. And I might actually go back for more touch up, there are a few pin hole size parts that got missed.

 And here is the final helmet! LOVE IT! So does my 3 year old.

I still need to add a small foam piece to the inside for a bit of padding

There you have it! Vader helmet $.50 on the baseball helmet, $1 on the foam $3 on the glue...and used HARDLY ANY for a grand total of
$4.50!

A few more costume props

Just a few more elements to the Vader costume. They are not necessary, but they REALLY add to it. I found these little black shin guards at the thrift store for $1.98. They were practically NEW. But they did have the red "Wilson" logo on them.

Nothing a little bit of black glossy paint cant fix right? I didn't sand them before painting or anything, just painted it on and when it dried the paint was seamless. You can't even tell it ever had words on it.

Then there is also the long robe/vest thing. I used the left over black fabric from the sheet I made his cape out of.
    I didn't have a pattern so I measured the length from his shoulder to where I wanted it, then I pulled out one of his vests that fits him pretty well. I just turned it inside out so I could clearly see the seams, and I placed it on top of the fabric and just around the back of the vest to get the right size and shape, cutting it slightly bigger for you seam allowance. Then I did the same with the sides. Only I didn't make my sides quite as wide as his vest.
   No hemming or anything fancy. I just did a zig-zag stitch all the way around to keep the edges from fraying.  Now I have a simple vest that I can throw in my costume box. It would be great addition to a pirate costume too...or a ranger. I'm sure there are plenty more applications for a simple long black vest. :)

Vest $0 (30 min project)
Shin guards $1.98 (1 min project)

Vader Accessories

I started some of the extra accessories for the costumes, Vaders shoulder armor, his chest box, belt, and Bat Girls utility belt. I wanted them more 3D, so I pulled out my 1 in thick foam. I try to keep foam on hand, you can do SO much with foam, it's fun. 

For the shoulder Armor I watched this tutorial on youtube. It shows you how to cut and measure the foam. However since this is for a 3 year old, I was not precise and detailed. First I took some scissors and cut the width of the foam down to 1/2 inch. I glued 2 pieces for a wire hanger to the back to give it a curved shape. 

For the raised pieces I cut outstrips and glued them on top in the right place with my hot glue gun.

Now if you have ever tried to paint foam it's hard cause of all the little holes on the surface. I wanted a smooth plastic looking surface to it, so I was looking through my stuff to see what I had, then I remembered I had this:

 Acrylic Gel Medium. This stuff is awesome. Most people use it for painting, but there are TONS of uses for this stuff. I originally got it for image transfer. It's suppose to dry completely clear. Mine never did. Not sure why, maybe cause MO is too humid.
    Essentially when this stuff dries it's like a flexible plastic. So I took my finger and smeared it all over the surface of my foam. It filled in all the little holes, and gave it a nice flexible plastic surface.

I also cut out little shapes for Bat Girl utility belt and Vaders belt, and covered them with the gel medium.

And for Vaders chest box thingy, I used a white colored pencil to mark where I wanted it, and I smeared the  gel on the shirt. (make sure to smooth it out before it dries)

 Gloss black paint was my BEST FRIEND for this stuff. Gives it a nice shinny plastic look (and yes, I happend to have some of this laying around too)

This is what the belt pieces look like after they are painted. COOL HUH! They feel cool too. Squishy plastic. The kids LOVE them, and I haven't even put them on their belts yet.

This is how the shirt turned out. I'm super excited about it...I just didn't think about washing it. I did get the paint wet with my finger after it dried and tried to wash it off, and it stayed just fine. So I'm PRETTY SURE it will be fine in the wash...but I just haven't tested that one yet. I will let you know when I do. :)

 This is the ensemble together. Well It's everything I have finished.

 Now that I think about it, You could just skip the foam, and paint everything directly onto the shirt with the gel medium.  It would be a pretty cool shirt to wear with the shoulder armor, chest box and belt all painted on there.
p.s. I tried painting the fabric with out the gel, it works, but it soaks into the fabric a little more. The gel gives it  it's own surface on top of the shirt and makes it look like a separate thing. PLUS the gloss paint wasn't very glossy on just the fabric. The gel makes it keep it's original look. It's like a primer for the fabric.

Total cost for this project $1.98 for the black turtle neck from the thrift store.