the vader project by triclops studio
ROBOTBOY: We dithered so much about what to do, when we first heard about the project we had tons of ideas that we quickly realised once we received the Vader helmet couldn't be done.
That thing is huuuuuuge! And, it's a proper hardcore replica so made out of hefty fibreglass! Our first big idea was called Darth Raver, we were gonna put a hoodie hood on him made out of acid smiley fabric, a face mask like Altern8 (complete with 2 vicks inhalers) and a spinning light ball behind his eyes but then we saw the coverage of the US show and someone had put a hoodie and shades on thier mask, d'oh! Then, we were gonna make the back of the helmet into the Death Star with tons of diecast Star Wars ships flying round it suspended out on clear acrylic rods but finally, for reasons we still don't really understand, we built a giant replica birthday cake and plonked it on his head. We have entitled our piece Birth Dayder , we felt that nobody had really celebrated the anniversary or wished Star Wars a happy birthday so that's what we did.
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ROBOTBOY: We found out that there are fake cakes available, made out of polystyrene so we built the cake out of 2 layers painted up like a choccie cake. The internet also informed us that film sets often ice cakes with polyfilla so I had great fun in my kitchen mixing pastel shades! Originally we were going to get my Mum to bake us a cake to put on top of the helmet but Lucasfilm get to keep the pieces after the show and we thought it might get a bit stinky.
TRE: cakes are your friends! are you guys Star Wars-fans? are avid SW-collectors as well? what was your earliest memory of Star Wars?
APEMAN: I'm quite moody about it, I am a fan of the 3 proper Star Wars films, anything that involves Bounty Hunters really. I still haven't seen the last one, I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan. I've got all the Bounty Hunter Kubricks and a few crazy super-deformed things. I've got an original x-wing and tie fighter, I always wanted an AT-AT but my parents wouldn't let me have one. I remember my Dad taking us to see Return of the Jedi. I remember thinking that Luke Skywalker was really hard (at the time) cos he walks in to see Jabba with that black hood up and robot arm. The speeder bike chase was the most vivid thing (RObotboy, that's what the pod racing tries to recreate I reckon). And where the AT-At gets taken down by the snow speeder in Empire Strikes Back and where Obi-Wan surrenders to Vader and is struck down and becomes an empty robe on the floor.
ROBOTBOY: Yeah, big fan of Star Wars. I remember that the original Star Wars movie was on TV quite a lot when I was a kid (before they got too protective of it all) and I was often disappointed cos I would tune in all excited and be rewarded with Star Trek which I really didn't like. I always got them mixed up. My earliest Star Wars memory is sobbing all the way home in the back of the car cos my Mum wouldn't buy me the latest edition of the Return of the Jedi magazine, they were packed with behind the scenes photos and information about all the characters and plot, granted it was priced at £1.50 and in 1982 that was probably a month's wage.
I have a shelf in my toy cabinet dedicated to Star Wars kubricks. Also got one of those lush Medicom Tie fighter pilots as a leaving gift from my colleagues at Hasbro (some recompense for the pikey who stole my Boba Fett kubrick from the Hasbro shelf!)
TRE: free Star Wars-toys rawk! LOL - are you both for the Rebellion? or are proud citizens of the Empire?
APEMAN: No, Death to the rebellion, the bad guys are always cooler! Maybe that's just me!
ROBOTBOY: The baddies are better characters for deffo although Han Solo was pretty cool, but I guess he's the loveable rogue like Jack Sparrow so that's different.
TRE: if either of you were a Star Wars character, who would you (wanna) be, and why?
APEMAN: It's a toss up between Bossk, he's deffo my favourite character and I've always wanted a pet lizard thAT i CAN DRESS UP IN THAT PADDED JUMPSUIT. hIM, or Greebo cos he gets shot in the nuts and that would be such a claim to fame.
ROBOTBOY: Well, Boba Fett has the jetpack, Han Solo has the ship (when it works) but General Grievous is by far the coolest for me. The way that he's all wheezy and knackered is genius, plus he's a robot (to all intents and purposes) so I'm there.
TRE: nut-shots hurt, i reckon :p ... If you were both Sith Lords, what would your nick / Sith Lord-name be? and why?
APEMAN: Darth Punk, complete with Sex Pistols mohawk and franco-electronic music
ROBOTBOY: Darth Veggie, I would be surrounded by woodland animals like Snow White but at my word they would turn nasty and nibble my foes to death, yeah, have that.
TRE: i'd have thought you'd wanna be surround by Snow White in a metal bikini (heh) ... any closing comments on your participation in this event?
APEMAN: We're very chuffed to be a part of it, bit of an honour, big shout out to Dan Willett of Dan&Dan for getting us involved, originally it was really top secret and it was just going to be us and Mark James representing the UK but then they got a job lot of replica helmets in and the show was opened up to more artists which is great! We have seen a sneaky peak of the piece that our good buddies at Morpheus have made and it is absolutely awesome.
ROBOTBOY: We've never been so intimidated by a custom project but it's incredible to be a part of something so historic,thanks to the organisers for thinking of little 'ol us.
TOYSREVIL: Triclops Rawk! cheers for your time and trouble gents! in closing, please share with us, WHO ARE TRICLOPS STUDIO?
We are Triclops Studio, the rag-tag remnants of customising Superstore, Triclops. We now try to earn a living from our Design work and juggle a Design consultancy doing graphics, illustration, character design, toys and games concepts and other bits and bobs with a wide range of custom jobs that we spend the twilight hours building! You can see our online portfolio at www.triclopsstudio.com big thanks!
