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Where did the moulds originate please? Saying moulds were obtained in a trade is not an excuse to make FROM them, it's the excuse that you CEATED them. So, he got moulds and then needed to sharpen things up, why? Unless he was trying to hide the origins of the piece. I would never use a mould made by someone else without knowing the full history of it, my reputation is worth more to me. This STINKS.

Actually I think it is about this. The legion and Garrisons are supposed to have a morel standing. As it stands they couldn’t care less. This speaks volumes of the integrity of its staff. And should be highlighted. They are backing a known recaster saying all TM and recasters do is exactly the same as what I do. It’s so not. This was my response posted on my behalf and I think it explains the difference for anyone that doesn’t quite understand. “Some comments in regards to the TM recast saga that have been posted on the UKG forum and it really made me quite upset with some of the opinions about recasting. Let me explain the difference as its clear that some people dont understand what I do and what TM does. It is NOT easy finding, procuring, moulding and casting original Star Wars props and costumes so all of you wonderful troopers can run around in accurate armour and helmets doing the world some good. I spend thousands researching, finding and developing Cast from original props. My original stormtrooper helmet was valued at £120,000. It’s not something that serious collectors like to take apart and mould at a drop of a hat. It takes a long time to get to know these collectors and gain their trust that I won’t damage such an expensive piece of cinematic history. I then have to design the moulds so that they vacuum without faults. This takes again a lot of time, skill and experience to get right. I spend hundreds of pounds on moulding materials for each mould. Just to put it into context I have made 4 sets of moulds and casts of the Set for Stun ANH helmet trying to get the whole thing to assemble and look like it should. Also the sheets of plastic I go through prototyping all the moulds. This all cost money and time. You see none of this is done by a recaster. They wait for me to do all the hard work, spend my money and time developing products, finding props to mould for the community. Then they get a mate to purchase a kit and pour clay in the parts. So your “All I do is cast LFL helmets, it’s no different” attitude really doesn’t represent the trouble I go to and feel an establishment like the UKG should stand up for its trusted vendors rather than ridicule. You all represent the UKG costuming group. Some of your attitudes and opinions do not reflect well in this community. I don’t expect you to suddenly change your mind. Its your choice of how you view this situation but I thought I should just try and explain the difference. Because there is a massive difference. Just because TM “makes nice kits” really should not be a reason to condone recasting. If it wasn’t for people like me, RS and a few other quality vendors who go to these lengths TM and other recasters would not be “making nice kits” and you would all be wearing Anovos and rubies licensed armour and helmets. This is my business and main income and I have a family to feed and bills to pay just like anyone else. So yes, I do do it for the money but I also do this out of passion. I’m a fan and have been all my life. I am humbled that I am in a position to give a little back to the hobby I so cherish. All the best Mark aka CFO. Cast from original. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Paul will have until the end of the week, Friday my time to respond if he so wishes. After this I will make a statement which will be carried over to Legion boards, then I will be locking this thread. It will remain visible as part of FISD history for full transparency as per my promise to the FISD membership. Thank you all

I for one, and I know others will be with me, are very grateful for the publication of those images. They have been instrumental in improving everyone's suits.

So Paul reaches out to me. If you can call it that. This all stems from a deep rooted manifested anger against me for something I didn’t do some 10 years ago. I’m not sure if you’ll remember but there were some CDs being sold of the LFL SDS court case photos taken by TE. now at this time we were just starting CFO and Matt aka TE owed me money from a deal I had with him personally. So as a settlement he gave me the photos. At this time I had no idea these were being sold for lots of money and no idea who was buying them or the conditions of those sales. It was nothing to do with me. This was a private matter between myself and TE and those who purchased the photos and the agreement they had signed to. anyway........ we thought it would be nice to release these photos to the community so everyone had accurate reference. Unbeknown to me TM had purchased these photos himself a few weeks earlier and had to sign a NDA. I don’t know what he paid for them but he tells me it was a lot. I had no idea until I received a very irate message from him after that fact. I brushed it off and got on with my life. TM however didn’t. He was furious at me and Joe. Not sure why because it wasn’t me that actually put them online and Joe was only really a part of CFO for a year or so. His legacy lives on! TM says he acquired some moulds of the JoeR Helmet and out of revenge and to recoup his loss from the photos he would start selling JoeR copies. Whilst maintaining to the community he sculpted it like he sculpts all his recasts. So in essence Paul believes he has the right to rip me off because he paid for something that we gave to the community and he didn’t think it was fair. So this is payback, revenge or whatever you want to call it. way to go mate. I have all this on a PM and can post if required.

Paul has dragged up some ancient grudge to " justify" recasting ??? I am totally staggered . This is no justification at all .

For those newer folks, Matt = Matt Gauthier = trooperexpert. Trooperexpert engaged in many flame wars here on these boards and was banned for that as well as for selling his molds publicly to Tony Sagun (Guns) for a chunk of money, and then recasting his earlier work and selling all over again. Yes, Matt did a lot to bring to light a lot of what we know about the original suits, but the way he went about his business practices was unethical, and his conduct on these and other boards (yes, he was banned from MEPD and even non-501st forums) was well deserved.

Steve, this really isn’t the venue. If you want to take this issue further please feel free to do so, just not on this thread as I would like it to remain about the recasting issue not how any particular unit is dealing with it.

I am going to agree, this thread is not about any specific Garrisons or groups. Please keep the discussion to the subject at hand please.

Never look directly into Kathleen Kennedy's eyes. But in all seriousness, scenes were shot in Southern California, so... location, location, location. I honestly doubt if it will ever happen again though...

I have a traveling helmet museum

Sorry to hear about this! I hope that newcomers spend some time reading up on this to fully understand the extent of what has happened.

For what it's worth, I've worked with Marc @ Ople before but for my TR. Lens came out great, and he was awesome to communicate with.

He’s not admitting to recasting it he is admitting he got hold of some moulds of my helmet and used them. To me it’s no different really. He still knew they were moulds of the JoeR helmet and used them. And his justification is revenge to make me feel what he felt when joe posted the photos that he bought in a private deal that was nothing to do with me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is almost unbelievable Mark! But it is so outrageous it sounds logical. Knowing this hobby it fits in pretty well. I remember the TE cds and yes they were trading for serious amounts of money back then. Probably enough to buy a suit. this just stinks, it really does.

The attitude from him is appalling! Wholly seperate from the recasting, his behaviour is more than enough for me to never want to deal with him. Or suggest his wares to others. IMO the quality of the product is only part of the reason to choose a particular vendor. Their customer service, friendliness, business ethic and how they carry themselves are all just as important to me as a customer. This guy is striking out hard. Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk

Also, It might help when I get the shims and ab to kidney connections in place, that will hold the front and back together better and it might straighten the top back plate with the O II. might... ill play with it, see what I can do. Well I didn't make my goal of finishing before going back to work, I head back tomorrow, and that also means I have to shave my beard off... it was actually getting to be quite the nice little beard. It was only a month old, and it's the best I've ever grown haha.

Might I suggest that this thread stays on topic. This is not a thread about the UK Garrison. At this stage, Chinese whispers is not constructive to the original post and purpose.

Oh right, I also made this for you guys.

For what it's worth, staff didn't move it here. This is where Mark posted it. I also agree it's a shame a lot of newbies don't pay attention to this part of the forum. There's a lot of history here to learn from.

Hi everyone, It is with great sadness that I have to bring this to your attention. Troopermaster has recast my CFO ROTJ JoeR Stormtrooper helmet. I know this will be a hard one for some people to accept as Paul has always maintained his excellence in sculpting. Well Paul, I’m sorry to say your sculpting skills don’t really live up to what you proclaim. What I’m about to show you are a series of photos of the JoeR faceplate next to the TM ROTJ faceplate I received in a kit from Paul, that a friend of mine purchased. Whilst Paul has sharpened a few details, notably the tears have been sharpened along the edges and the middle bulge has been sanded down. The bridge of the nose has also been sharpened as has the eyes, more so along the underside. Other than that all the asymmetry is identical as are the lumps, bumps, dents and kinks. The way the light cast shadows across the two faceplates is a massive tell. There is no way you could create that similarity to that level through sculpting. I don’t care what you say. I’ve been doing this too long. All helmets I have had the privilege to offer have their own unique asymmetry. That’s something that does not carry from helmet to helmet. A lot has to do with how it was assembled and then taken apart for moulding. The way the parts are supported when moulding and the way the helmet has been glued together effect the memory of the plastic and it’s asymmetry. Moving on to the video I show just how close TMs ROTJ back n cap is when compared to the CFO JoeR. It fits inside the JoeR back n cap perfectly in asymmetry and size, yet the CFO JoeR does not fit inside the TM due to the fact that the helmet was cast from mine therefor shrinkage on a minuscule scale prevents this. The trim lines are identical to the CFO JoeR. Now the most damning evidence I can show you is the TM ears. When I saw these ear vacuum pulls from Paul I immediately saw a resemblance to my old production ear moulds I personally made, moulded and cast. Even down to my tooling and moulding marks and defects. This to me is the fingerprint of recasting. If you are going to blatantly recast and rip off a fellow vendor then at least have a bit of self respect and change the moulds. They pop on my moulds with an almost satisfying click. I say almost satisfying as they are a recast. I have lived with the JoeR and made these helmets, offering them to the community for over 10 years. I know this helmet inside and out better than anyone else on this planet. As we all know, all the original helmets have their own unique asymmetry, details and character. That is also true for each replica. I have many moulds of different original stormtrooper helmets and they all have very distinct tells to them. I also own an original screen used ROTJ stormtrooper helmet. The only way to accurately capture those unique features is by making a carbon copy. And they are obvious to someone with a trained eye, which I dare say I have, as I have not just been studying these, but been making them as well for a good decade now. I have studied these helmets for over a quarter of my life. This is what I do. What really gets me is that I have always shared my company in full transparency, honesty and a good customer service. I go to great lengths, time and financial expenditure to bring you, the community helmets and armour cast from original sources available nowhere else. When I purchased my original screen used Stormtrooper helmet I immediately shared it with Paul, sending him many close up photos and sharing information on the mic tips and internal suspension system and materials. Paul engaged with me knowing all this time he was ripping off me, my company and my products. To top it all off and to show just how confident he is, Paul sent me a message through Facebook to ask if I could help him out as he couldn’t get and decals for a couple of kits he was sending out. Turns out one of those kits was for my friend. The kit arrived without decals or mic tips. So Paul, I would also be interested to see just what your mic tips are cast from. I would also like to invite you to show off all your amazing sculpting skills to this community in a bid to clear your name. Because as it stands if you are happy to recast my ROTJ helmet what else are you happy to recast? I know a good number of very talented sculptors and all, yes all are proud of their work and constantly show pictures of their sculpts. You for some reason do exactly the opposite? This alone tells me something fishy is going on. It’s not normal. You are however happy to show finished products off telling everyone just how good you are at sculpting and how accurate you can get them. Strange that. Shame on you mate. I honestly respected you for your fantastic work. But now all I see is a individual that just can’t stand to see another vendor producing accurate products that are not available to you.. I was thinking about contacting you privately and giving you the chance to explain yourself and remove this recast and any others from your product list. But as you did not pay me the same courtesy when you decided it would be a good idea to try and diminish my business and recast my products I see no reason why I should pay you that respect. This will rock the costuming world and upset a good many people that have trusted you and spent their money on your recasts. For that I’m sorry. Paul, this is inexcusable. To think that you accuse me of being a recaster and criticise the accuracy of my helmets. How ironic. They seem to be accurate enough for you to recast! This also brings into contention everything else you make. If you are happy to recast CFO then I’m pretty sure you are happy to Recast anyone and anything. Nows the time to show us all those amazing sculpting skills you have from the beginning lump of clay to the finished product. I’m giving you every opportunity to show us your sculpting skills. And by that I don’t mean tipping a slurry of body filler and resin into a vac pull. Because let’s face it we can all do that. But to sculpt a stormtrooper helmet from scratch, ground up and get every little bit of asymmetry, exact sizing and detail correct takes some skill. A skill you have so far eluded to demonstrate. So after presenting my evidence and findings I invite Paul to explain himself. Not only is the most frowned upon action in this community it is also a kick in the face to me as a trusted fellow vendor and all his customers and loyal fan base. In a world that is tough enough selling props as it is, to have a fellow trusted vendor whom I share information and photos with do this to me is just soul destroying. Thanks for looking. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am working with him right now for a Mando visor. Been fine so far and Garrison mates have worked with him before.

Alright, I went ahead and made contact with RS Prop Masters and they have shipped some spare ABS. Once again I’m stunned by their excellent customer service! Now to wait for that package so I can get started on my shim. I’ll keep everyone posted as events unfold, I’m getting closer to that EIB Badge. Cam Blair TK-22020

Yes Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Trying to stay on topic, I admire and respect the way Daetrin has replied to this thread , and find great difficulty understanding the attitude of the U.K.G. SSskunky 's posting above pretty much sums up the situation .

You’ll always be BIG in my eyes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh thanks! I was planning on reaching out to them soon, with the research I’ve done, haha. the Z-6 was a commission from ZenSfxCosplay on Etsy. He normally does regular miniguns and Sci-fi suits. I reached out to him to ask if he’d be up for doing the Z-6 for me. He said yes, found some files, and rigged the whole thing up. It was the first one he’s done and I’m thrilled with it.

Nice progress Dan

A few?...Amazing collection of helmets. Congratulations...

It's a 10 year old thread so I'm not surprised. I used the following image, I placed in publisher and made the page size 50 1/4" to match the size of the blaster then when printing it overlaps on standard pages, tape together then cut out. Here is a link to my thread: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/21392-t-21-build-im-bored/#comments

I'm not surprised in the comments made by my own garrison It's disgusting Essentially condoning recasting Disgusting

I added my $.02 to the Legion boards. They really are going to bully anyone who disagrees with them. Sigh...

It's heartening to see so many other vendors popping in here and elsewhere with words of support and encouragement. It shows a real sense of community. A shame then at the direction the thread on the main forum seems to be taking. Last time I looked there were a couple posts that dismissed the issue and almost defended TMs actions. I guess personal friendships can and will get in the way of morals and ethics... Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk

Back plate is coming along nicely. There is 1 issue I need to fix however. As I scaled in only 2 planes, the O in OII is oval. I have a plan to fix this but I'll come to that another time. Also one thing I would do differently next time. As it is I cut things neatly into a grid essentially: Next time I will cut more like "a brick wall". Not only should this make things stronger as there are less long straight cracks, it will also make lining stuff up easier as you can use the overlap part as a reference. I would still use fibreglass to reinforce things but it wouldn't need to work as hard. Also one back part (top row above) had some big over hangs using a lot of support, almost as much as the part. So I have split one into 2 to allow me to re position it reducing the support need but adding 1 more seam to glue and weld.

I found it odd too It's open and shut given the evidence But given the way command staff are its not surprising if it's swept under the carpet as usual

It is sad news. Sorry to hear about this Mark. Just want to know, is TM recast only the helmet or the whole armor too? Right now, all I can see only the helmet.

That has a lot of presumptions. The reality is that recasting hurts our hobby. See FYI if you want to discuss recasting in general, please start a new thread. This thread is specific to a particular situation.

I haven't put one here yet, just my local garrison. I'll start one.

I was really disappointed when I first saw the info, as this hobby is in a difficult spot right now - and the one thing it really doesn’t need is one producer ripping off another’s work. The evidence is pretty conclusive. For me the slam/dunk moment was how TM's casts have the exact same 'tells' as the CfO - yet these give-away tells were specifically added by CfO as part of his mould-making process. Hence the TM can only have derived/been recast from the CfO. Such a shame as there are so many opportunities for propmakers to come out with cool and exciting stuff, rather than poaching off others hard work. Cheers Jez StarWarsHelmets.com

I remember that troop well, Jeff! We teamed up to escort Lord Vader. Do you still have that sharp looking E-11?

Nice work

Can never have too many clamps . Your work is progressing very nicely. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mark approached me about this, showing pics without pointing out things or naming anyone. Not only did I instantly see the tells of it being recast, but also knew it was TM's work from the distinct mesh pattern on his vac former. Quite the shock! Although rumours like this have been going around ever since I joined the community over a decade ago, his parts have always been so uniquely sculpted (some would say modified) that there was no clear trail to the work of others. Not so much on this one... I am surprised TM has not replied to this himself yet.

I only have a few helmets and I will try and list them. I also have 12 full sets of armor. Helmets: Coffin Animated Series Clone DW Design Studios Phase 1 Clone DW Design Studios Luke X-Wing Pilot Clone6 501st Phase 2 Clone Penny Bark Bark Stormtrooper Protomatic Darth Vader Marco Stormtrooper TM Hero WTF Animated Series Stormtrooper WTF kids Tiefighter WTF Flametrooper WTF Kids Biker Scout WTF Republic Commando WTF Kids Sandtrooper WTF Kids Stormtrooper WTF Hero WTF Gino V2 Sandtrooper WTF Smooth Pink FX Stormtrooper FX Shadowtrooper FX Super Trooper 1 FX Super Trooper 2 FX Mega Dork 2 850 Armorworks Shoretrooper Flashback Props Biker Scout Studio Creations Biker Scout Kropserkel Dirty Biker Scout Kropserkel Biker Scout TE Hero TE Brown HDPE ESB David M Stormtrooper TE Tan HDPE ANH David M Stormtrooper TE 25th Anniversery ESB Stormtrooper TE HDPE ANH Sandtrooper Chipped Dan Laws David M ESB Stormtrooper Dan Laws ESB Snowtrooper CFO MKii CFO Set for Stun Stormtrooper CFO Joe R ROJ Stormtrooper Altmanns Limited Edition Stormtrooper RWA ESB Acrylic Capped Stormtrooper Anovos TFA FO Stormtrooper Bloody Anovos Classic Stormtrooper Anovos Fiberglass Limited Edition FO Stormtrooper VT Stormtrooper Master Replicas Stormtrooper Master Replicas Phase 2 Clone AP ANH Stormtrooper Don Post/20th Century Fox 1977 Stormtrooper RS Props Classic Stormtrooper Shepperton Designs Battle Spec Stormtrooper DA props Khaki HDPE Chipped no ears DA Props ABS old version Stormtrooper DA Props HDPE unpainted DA Props HDPE ESB Chipped Stormtrooper KB Props TLJ FO Stormtrooper Branfuhr Studios Patrol Trooper AM 1.0 custom LA Dodgers Helmet AM 4.5 Matte Black Shadowtrooper AM ANH Stormtrooper AM 1.0 Custom Hero Stormtrooper AM 1.0 Shadowtrooper AM 1.0 Sandtrooper AM 2.0 Rudolf Sabdtrooper AM 2.0 ESB Stormtrooper AM 3.0 Shadowtrooper AM 3.0 Custom Paint Stormtrooper AM 4.0 Prototype Stunt Stormtrooper AM 4.0 Hero Luke Prototype AM 4.0 Hero Han AM 4.5 ANH Stunt Prototype AM 4.5 ANH Sandtrooper AM 4.5 Chrome Prototype AM 4.5 Chrome AM 4.5 Gold AM 1.0 ANH Stunt AM custom Darth Maul Stormtrooper AM 4.5 Stunt Reveal Section display 1 unbuilt AM Chrome 2 unbuilt AM 4.0 Hero 2 Unbuilt AM 4.5 Stunt Stormtrooper Mixed AM Frankenstein Hero AM/ATA Frankenstein ATA Sandtrooper RT-Mod ANH Stormtrooper MTK ANH Stormtrooper German FX ESB Stormtrooper EFX Stormtrooper EFX Boba Fett Unknown Maker TFA FO Stormtrooper Unknown Maker Jango Fett Rubies Supreme Darth Vader Rubies Boba Fett Rubies Supreme Stormtrooper Rubies Collectors Edition Stormtrooper Rubies Kylo Ren Hasbro Black Series Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot Hasbro Black Series Shocktrooper Hasbro Black Series Boba Fett Hasbro Black Series Poe Dameron Fighter Pilot Hasbro Black Series Rogue One Stormtrooper Hasbro Black Series Rogue One Sandtrooper Hasbro Black Series Reveal Darth Vader Hasbro Black Series Shocktrooper Hasbro Black Series Darth Vader Reveal Section display Disney Stormtrooper Bank Helmet Disney Mickey Vader Minutefett Mandalorian

Fantastic ! great Work.!

He beat me to it. Makaze Squad is an outstanding group of Troopers! I'm in the Tampa Bay Squad and we often troop together. In fact, my second TK troop was with justjoseph63 for the Clermont Christmas Parade. I have plenty of close friends in Makaze. Both our squads have a regular Armor Party to get together to build costumes, to help each other out, or just to talk. Let us know what you decide and we can help get you on the right track!

I am near Houston

Presumably TM will now be removed from the Vetted Vendors list? Im a proud owner of a CFO kit, saddened to hear this. TM has always had a 'holier than thou' mindset and his attitude has been downright rotten at times. If hes been ripping off one vendor...I wonder if there are more? Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk

Sanded the tear vents today, made slow progress. Nothing worth pictures... So my kids and others in the neighborhood have been painting and hiding rocks for others to find and rehide. Here's my contribution! Not too bad, for 2 reasons: 1) I did this free-handed and I'm not much of an artist, and 2) I used no references (not the CRL or even Google!), only from memory! Hopefully my R1TK bucket turns out better lol!

Hi James, welcome to FISD. I could suggest to contact Ross Walmsley @Ross8008 at RWA Creations, I think He has Armor pieces for big Guys. Hope this can help you . Cheers