Darth Vader Head and Neckerchief Woggle

There are 4 STL versions available.  The “Vader_Head” is the original design file.  The “Vader_Head_w_Eye” has a cutout for various color replacement eyes. The “Vader_Head_w_Eye_Flatbottom” has a flat bottom for ease of printing.  And, the “Vader_Head_Neckerchief_Slide” has an additional cut-out for a neckerchief woggle.  The “Vader_Eye” fits all versions; just print multiple copies on the platter.

Most Darth Vader figures have black eye lenses.  You could print the eyes with black filament.  I used poetic license to print gold and silver lenses to provide a contrast. Besides these lenses may block harmful radiations……

Printing

I used a 0.15mm layer height and put about 1mm of plastic on the outside surfaces as a shell for the heads.  Since my printer has a 0.5mm nozzle I used 2 vertical shells and 6 horizontal top and bottom layers.  The eyes were printed with a 0.25mm layer height.  I set a honeycomb fill pattern with a 15% honeycomb fill density.  Support is needed for the heads (especially the eye sockets) but not for the eyes.

Assembly

The eyes glue into the head with the flat-spot in.  Any acceptable glue may be used to hold them in place.

Since I printed with ABS, I used a couple drops of acetone to glue the eyes in place since it dissolves ABS. 

Finishing

The acetone vapor polish smooths the surfaces, eliminates the strings and merges the eyes with the body.   The before and after photos illustrate the improvement.