The Build
This set has probably one the best Vader head and body sculpts around. The likeness and body proportions are perfect IMO. The build was fun and satisfying. The best part was the helmet and how glossy it is. Just like the movie. The accessories are great too but more on that later.
The biggest downsides to this set are the cape and the stickers. The cape looks good but is impractical. It hinders posing greatly. Plus mine actually broke when I tried to take it off the back pegs. One of the pegs snapped. The stickers are very frustrating. Many of them are too tiny and are not cut the proper size leaving them hanging over the edges, especially the fine button detail work on the chest plate and the belt. The lightsabers had zero stickers and are cast in black. WTF! Because of these reasons, I would highly recommend you add the painted highlights yourself. It doesn’t take that much effort.
Paint
Colour Palette (Tamiya Acrylic Paints)
Gun Metal X-10 for mask pattern (see reference picture below), and shoulder pads
Semi Gloss Black X-18 for collar accents, should pad accents. X-1 Gloss would have been better.
Clear Red X-27 for eyes, accents on lightsaber hilt and lightly applied to head scar/ears
Gloss Red X-7 (chest buttons)
Light Green X-15 (chest buttons)
Royal Blue X-3/White X-2 mix (chest button)
Gold Leaf X-12 for circuit chips under helmet but I probably will darken them a little more
Flat Aluminum XF-16 for lightsaber hilt, belt and mask accents, plus circuitry accents on top of helmet with dome taken off
The skin on the back of Vader’s head is exposed with some scars when the dome is taken off. To achieve that pasty skin looks I mixed a bunch of colours together. If I recall correctly I used a mixture of XF-78 Wooden Deck Tan, XF-18 Medium Blue and probably some XF-2 White as well.
The tooth pick method I described earlier was used a lot. Just safely scrape off the excess paint and it looks professional.
The best part of this set was I learned something about Darth Vader I never knew before. In Episode IV his face mask is actually not all black. There is metal on it and in a weird pattern. I had to rewatch Episode IV over and over to convince myself I wasn’t going crazy.
The Cape 
Bottom line, it sucks. Mine broke. It’s not functional. So I put the black series Vader cape on The Bandai kit. Much better! Just need to paint the chain black.
Verdict
Most impressive. I’d give this set a solid 9/10 once all the finishing touches are added and cape swapped.
