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Post Info TOPIC: Darth Ugly to Don Post C/A comparison


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Darth Ugly to Don Post C/A comparison
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Good day, all

Recently I received a Darth Ugly helmet from another member here. I would like to attempt a fair comparison between the "DU" and the Don Post Classic Action from which this helmet is based from. The DU is advertised as an entry level helmet. With that said lets see what makes it worth the $500.00 asking price.

The sculptor for the DP was Brian Muir before it was recasted by some unknown ebayer for resale. CS MacClaren bought the recast knowing what it came from and was subsequently unhappy with it. "Mac" told us he spent the better part of 7 years, "sculpting" a new helmet from the old before turning it over to have it molded and cast for sale.

DU

 

The Don Post was never the best shaped piece out there. The side skirts of the dome and neck line of the mask often fell out of shape just as this example has.

Don Post

One of the many "tells" with a Don Post is this angle of the mouth in relation to the left side tube. On the left side the nose of the mask almost seems to be drawn back slightly from a normal Vader mask. There are two different linage types of helmets out there. The moulds made in the USA such as the PD and what other licensed pieces come from. And there is the UK mould from which the film used pieces come from. This tell is very common among many of the US mould castings.

Shot of a 20th Century helmet.

Another big tell for the DP and even the efx line is the habit of LFL to fill in the upper side tubes, taking away much of the normal deep recess normally found on Vader helmets. Look for this on your own DU helmets.

 

One thing that I must touch on, paint work.

The Darth Ugly is available as painted for an extra $100.00 charge. Nothing unusual about that price as many makers of helmets charge about the same to paint their own pieces.  But the quality of materials is always left up to the painter. And in this case this level of quality is just something else.

Lower end finishes are often made with low grade solvents which dry very slowly and can look very different even 3 to 6 months after they are sprayed. The problem is as they dry out and tend to shrink badly and can even effect the finish underneath the surface in a spider web, crackle kind of appearance. This example of the DU is more than a year old. But it is exactly the typical type of appearance of most any spray can finishes after a short period of time. The finish turs dull, and almost lifeless.

 



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I still troop with my classic action, at least until I get yours, mine has had the starring and orange peel, but it still iS comfortable to troop in. It has been repainted but is a classic.


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DU on the left, DS on the right.

 



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What's not shown in these pics is the weight difference. The DU is very very light weight, but I think that makes it more fragile and prone to showing the defects in the craftsmanship even more. To hold a DS epoxy and a DU pound for pound the difference is amazing.

I'm more than happy to wait for a DS after having the opportunity to get my hands on a DU. If I'd gone the DU route, for one I'd have been very disappointed in the paint job and second I'd be terrified of something happening to the helmet due to it just feeling flimsy.

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