Old School Toasters had a Vader/Samurai feel

VFX artist Darth Mojo posted an excellent behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the ancient Cylons that were excavated on "Earth I". FX supervisor Gary Hutzel worked with chief model maker and Cylon builder Pierre Drolet looked back to Samurai battle gear to fashion the ancient Cylons, but found it slightly too similar to the iconic Darth Vader, so they trimmed it back a bit:

Click the link above to read the whole article, and if you haven't already, don't forget to check out Darth Mojo's account of designing and created the original series style Centurions seen in Razor.