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Sorry to both of you. Garrison politics will not be included in this discussion. Evidence was provided by Mark that Paul recasted him. This discussion will only ensue to those facts. People have the right to review these facts and comment to the fact that Paul recasted Mark or he did not. We will not allow our forums to be utilized for an internal garrison struggle on opinions. We will not allow what happens on the legion board to happen here. Again, If you all feel that this is necessary then I encourage you to visit the legion forums and either take part in this discussion there or to create a new thread on the legion forums in regards to the differing opinions of the UKG. Thank you.

Well, TBH it's the usual suspects who cause all the churn. 90% of the Legion is actually pretty good people trying to do the right thing. Like any group, there are always bad apples.

And I have responded to this, also on the 501st boards with the below: https://www.501st.com/councilres.php Council Resolution 1: Legion's Stance on RecastingVote completed on 03/13/2006: 35 Yes; 10 No; 3 AbstainReference LinkResolution: The 501st Legion does not condone, support, or encourage re-casting. It is, however, outside of the scope of this club's mission, charter, authority, jurisdiction, and purview to consume our time and energies as a volunteer organization in efforts to prosecute those who, of their own volition, choose to engage in re-casting. As leaders in this hobby, we have an obligation to our membership to ensure that they are not taken advantage of with false claims and misleading sales practices.

Taken the bait because stefan is quite literally making me pull my hair out over his stance. Lets see how this backfires on me I just don't think that someone who has the position of chief armourer in are garrison should see a well known maker recast another makers work and go. And? Like it's nothing. Because it's not.

I just went over the the other forums and read the lot. I am embarrassed to be part of the UKG at this time. Some of those people are in top posts and their attitude sucks balls. As a costumer, I cannot fathom who on earth can not give respect to people who are lucky enough to be in a position to get their hands on any screen used prop, and have the guts to make accurate copies for others at the risk or ruining an item that can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. just unbelievable. I have huge respect for people like Mark and Joe for doing this and I think that being up front and completing above board business practices is paramount and deserves the respect of others.

A long time ago... I was tricked into vouching for a "new maker". I was green at the time. I bring his new helmet make here and announce it and without much waring, I was covered up in a flaming storm from many many members here, but mostly by non 501st users and some makers at the time. Even if I stated that I had nothing to do with the production or business, I was blamed for recasting. It was so intense that I swore never to comeback to the FISD (at that time Paul went all the way and "fished" me back and give it a second chance to the community). Remembering that, and seeing what is happening now, I can only think that those kind of reactions and the ones we see today in the main 501st forums, serve other porpuses and interests. They are orchestrated to serve certain people and business and can't be bothered if you don't touch what they want. Not pointing out anyone, certainly not TM or CFO, and it is not a conspiracy theory either... it is just the only explanation I can find for such different reactions over time. Saludos PS. Man, I missed the boards action. It has been a while for me.

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.

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.

For the record, no Staff member here has taken sides in this. What the Staff has done, as you have read in the Legion forums already, is to do what it has always done, and that is to look out for the members of the Detachment both present, and future by maintaining a list of vendors that operate fairly and skillfully to provide the membership with a quality kit, and a quality experience and support. That, is one of the absolutely primary duties of the Command Staff here at the Detachment. Whether you realize it, I have no idea, but in 13 months you have managed to become one of the "always unhappy, white noise" voices in the Legion. No matter what happens, you have an opinion, often contrary and often based on anything aside from the history and precedent of the Legion, and/or how it, its Detachments, Garrisons, and Outposts have operated over the last two decades plus. Just a bit of advice, member to member, spend a little more time reading and a little less time typing. Understand the history that has been mentioned time and again both here at FISD and at the Legion forums. An informed opinion is far more likely to be taken seriously and respected than a loud one. But, I digress.

IMO people in staff positions have a duty to remain neutral among vendors. I am all for letting people post all the evidence they want as long as they aren't breaking forum rules. If staff members show a preference, I don't think that's fair to vendors.

I keep telling myself... marathon, not a sprint. But I'm still trying to make decent time on things, though! Remember how I mentioned earlier that my Bondo-application skills are novice-level? Well, I really found out how bad I am at it when it came time for spot putty. I closely examined everything with a strong light and magnifying glasses. I put spot putty (red areas) where I saw small pinholes or scratches from sanding. The armor looks diseased! I don't mind wet-sanding spot putty, though. It's pretty easy to work with. Wet sanding with a 400 then 800 grit really made the armor silky smooth and eliminated most of the pin holes and scratches. Before and after wet sanding of the chest plate, back plate, and a thigh... Here you can see everything I wet sanded today to silky smoothness. I still need to apply spot putty and wet sand the ab, which is why that part isn't in the pic. But don't you think that the armor looks like it has chicken pox? Overall, I am very happy with my progress (even though my hands are completely shriveled up from hours in the water). I can't find seams or print lines on any of the parts at all! I will apply another coat of filler primer and check for any pinholes I missed from the first round for the next step. I noticed a few tiny areas I want to fill in on the back plate, and I'm sure I'll see others as I proceed. The filler primer really helps to highlight what needs work.

Good to see you. Shame it’s not under better circumstances.

It's always the same handful of folks from the same couple of Garrisons. Rarely matters what the topic is, but you can bet they just won't be happy . TBH they have become white noise to me these last few months. I see a ceetain screen name and my brain automatically tunes them out. Sent from my SM-J320FN using Tapatalk

Thank you, I am aiming for EIB ATM, I think I have every checked off for EIB apart from my helmet just have to wait for my helmet. Dave did an amazing job on my HWT back pack can’t wait to see what he can do with a helmet. I also now have to get use to having nothing to tinker with for a while so I don’t mess anything up for my next approval photos after I clean my armour completely. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Can you imagine if anyone was allowed to have an opinion on Legion boards without it devolving into a raging cesspool lol, It just wouldn't be the legion forums.

Nearly forgot got my rubber gloves! Hand guards have been attached and have repainted my buttons where paint was missing just cleaning and shining up now! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Unfortunately, I've made no progress over the past 11 days but it's for a good reason. Our family grew by one and we've been busy taking care of this little guy. I'm aiming to get back to finishing gluing the limbs today/ tomorrow, but we'll see how thing shake out with the puppy.

Hey man! Sure can! Feel free to PM me and I can get ya all squared away. at 13 years old he will need to be in the Galactic Academy.

Hi guys. It's been a while since my last thread here. Been busy by others projects, personnal life, etc... you know what I mean. Props missed me so I decided to get back to an old project. By the past, I made some screen printed decals for some stormtroopers and TIE pilot helmets in the accurate way. But it was a very very long process and a little bit painfull. I improved the way to create those decals. Still not perfect (but the screen used decals weren't ^^) but I guess better. As you can see on the pics below, ESB style (which appears on ESB stunt, MKII and ROTJ V1) is different from ROTJ style (which appears on ROTJ V2, stunt and "Hero"). Shape and color. For the ESB style, I used reference pictures and close up of screen used helmet and corrected the shape since it's curved on the helmet and that I needed the shape flat. For ROTJ style, I used a resin cast of a screen used ROTJ helmet (those call Hero ROTJ) which was casted with its original decals. The blue stripes are the same for both (I used the ROTJ shape).

Chad, Chad, Chad....... what do we do with you. So true to form as per your continual comments on the Legion boards with matters you simply have no clue about, you feel compelled to make uneducated commentary with no research behind it here. Now you can do that all you like over there, but do not bring your political pot stirring here please.

A little history lesson, I've only been around these parts since 2014. During that time myself and quite a few members here have been verbally backhanded by the vendor who's action are in question here. He's even been banned on a couple occasions for his actions. Up until last weekend I was promoting TM armor. I put my feelings aside and promoted the quality of workmanship that deserved praise and recommendation. As Tim mentioned you might want to do some homework before you question the motives of some of the staff.

I would like to ask everyone to please keep this thread on track. This is about TM recasting CFO. This thread is not about the differing opinions of UKG members. Thank you.

Welcome! You’re in the right place! Check out my build thread. I had absolutely no build experience before doing my ANH Stunt. If you have any questions please let me know. There are a whole lot of other threads that can help you too. Take the time to sift through and find what works for you. Good luck!

Great work mate, I have really enjoyed watching your journey and how far your armour and skills have come.

Do your fore arms have a different dimple count? Left arm has 11 dimples the right arm has 12. as the fore arms might be a slightly different size the inner parts may also to suit. This may impact your Biceps and degree of movement or bend so my advice it tape them together and try them on to see which is more comfortable.

You are super close on the forearms, but still a bit to go. 100% of the return edge will need to be removed for Centurion, so it's best to do it at this stage before final fitting/gluing. "Any reason I shouldn't cut all the way to the main surface edge and remove the returns completely on these next pieces, or should just a tiny bit be left"? My feelings on return edges are well known, lol. The examples below show that there were none (or very minimal) on the arm pieces. "I am personally right handed, but had planned on carrying my E-11 left handed, with the magazine pointed forward away from my torso, as is most common in ANH". That is an entirely personal preference, and since both biceps have dimples, are interchangeable and the tops are usually covered by the shoulder bells, do whatever works better for you! Odd Fact: The original Sterling machine guns had crazy long magazines on the left hand side, as they assumed most soldiers were right handed. When modifying them the prop makers cut down the magazine significantly, but the actors found that the magazine/power pack was still to long and awkward, causing it to constantly hit the chest piece when gripping it with the right hand. It was then decided that they should grip the blasters with the left hand for comfort reasons, thus, most of the TKs were "left handed" in the film(s). Since we don't do a lot of stunts, (well, not intentionally, lol) I carry mine right handed. It also helps me to keep my dominant hand free for adjustments, etc.

I’m glad I’m not part of it by what I’m hearing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

how do you think i feel lol not sure the target on my back is big enough

Well done mate!!

As you say,"just cleaning and shining up"... Remove glue and paint residue and start to shine.... Very, very good Job Nadas...

Waiting for the black acrylic paint...

I hope the puppy doesn't like ABS ... On the other hand, you are doing a very, very, very good job...

Thanks, best to have them all grouped in one place so I don’t have to hunt for them across this thread. i also joined the FISD’s Facebook group just now, and I also dig out my old TK boots, neck seal, and under suit.

Mark, I've stood by your reputation for honesty and excellence for over 8 years now and continue to do so...period.

WOW! I remember those CDs and the big price tag they had, not to mention the NDA and politics you had to go through to even be cosidered by Matt as a suitable buyer. I do remember the day those images were released. I considered it a game changer just as the discovery of RS's Armor years later. I also remember that in the post making the images public, it was stated that they were being made public because Matt owed money or product to the poster, and after a lot of going back and forth, the owner thought that even if he would not get what was owed, that would prevent Matt from charging hundreds (or thousands) of dollars for the CD. Also, remember how the ppl that had paid Matt for the CD were really upset. The one thing I don't remember (but I might be wrong) is Mark being the poster of the images, or that it was done to harm Paul. It was always about Matt and whoever posted the images (Mark, Joe or whoever else). But oh well... This just gets sadder. Saludos

Yes, I think that's exactly what has happened .

Wow!! hes behaving like a child! I cant believe,, well i can.. that someone would hold a grudge and act like this! Personally i think he recast your helmet and has been caught out and come up with this childish excuse!

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.

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

For the visors, has anyone used Ople before? https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/682238330/ople-props-first-order-stormtrooper?ref=hp_rf-1&cns=1 Reviews look good and images seem to look right as well.

If you were making a copy just for yourself I see no issues. Think of it this way... if you were to purchase the original mask that Bane wore in "The Dark Knight rises" film and wanted to cast a replica to wear, no biggie. But, if you were to start selling them, DC comics (or especially one of their licensees that have them for sale) could have an issue. Even though you own the actual mask, they still own the rights to the image. Some companies can be very protective of their intellectual property, especially when there is money involved.

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

It's rainy again here in SoCal, so just wet sanding away but no fresh paint. I'm going to try to find plastic sheeting (and maybe a Husky crate!) at Home Depot some time this week so I can finally lay final gloss white soon. Feeling okay, just not motivated... Got my mic tips in from Tony/@ukswrath - I appreciated him reaching out to confirm that they were for R1 builds, so he left the interiors painted black for me. Sweet. The ones from Jim are fine, but the tip and mesh are cast in one piece, like the BS ones, so I chose to upgrade them on this fiberglass helmet and my BS conversion. Inspection of the new crate has also begun... Also kinda cool - was watching this week's episode of Disney Gallery - The Mandalorian, the behind the scenes documentary about the making of the show, and hey look - there I am on set without my helmet on! Neat. Still unsure what made Matt laugh so hard, but Kevin looks guilty as hell... Haha More updates this weekend hopefully!

I think ArmoryShop Props on FB sells them

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.

OP (MV) Post #17 Here I am with my second post in three days with more images for community consideration, as well as the flexible hand guards and gloves I received from Joseph. As with my previous post, below are some labeled armor part photos which I could use help properly identifying. As a reminder, clicking on the images, which may appear blurred in the shrunken/compressed versions below, will open full-sized high-resolution copies. And any thoughts on the A, B, C, and D forearms? Do I appear to have them labeled for the correct arm? E & F = Which bicep? Larger thumbprint and curved top edge. G & H = Which bicep? Smaller thumbprint and flat top edge. Moving onto shoulder bells, my understanding is that the sweep on the ridge should bend to the front, so in that case "I" should be on my left shoulder, and "J" should be on the right. Am I correct on all those accounts? As for the thighs and calves, I already have those sorted out after corresponding with Terrell, but I'm posting the images below for the sake of documentation. For the purpose of what I'm assuming is to account for the sniper plate, the ATA left thigh is around an inch shorter than the right thigh. My calf pieces also arrived labeled and the right and left pairing are shown below. Now on to the excellent pre-attached latex gloves and flexible hand guards I received from Joseph. I had already purchased some guards from Joseph months ago, but I've been considering using them on nomex gloves, so getting these ready-made ones from Joseph (screen used from his demo) will provide me with Centurion necessities, and then I can decide what to actually troop in. And finally, today we had take-out from Panda Express, and I'm going to assume my fortune cookie message is reference to my Stormtrooper armor. Seems logical, right? Search your feelings, you know it to be true. Thanks for following along on my journey and gifting me with your feedback! It's 3:18am now. Bedtime. MV Quote Responses: Robert - Thanks for this tip; I'll definitely be trying out multiple techniques, including that one. I'm going to be obsessed with getting perfectly straight cut lines, so wish me the best! That's also a good idea about leaving extra material to account for sanding. Joseph - Your visual reference guide is GOLD, and has already been printed and filed in one of my reference folders. Christine - I'm glad to hear that about the mask I got, as well as the filters. I know the cartridges I got are intended for fumes, so one they become more available I will likely drop down to the round particle filters you're using. Thanks so much for also describing your holster-stretching technique. On my first read-through I was confused why the blaster would need so many layers for "moisture protection," and then I realized it was enlarging the blaster profile to stretch the leather. Looks like I will soon be trying this in a 5-gallon bucket, and I'll also snag some holster lubricant on Amazon. Paul - Wow, I'm honored that you've enjoyed my thread that much. To even be mentioned in the conversation about a "Threads of Fame" is incredible, and hopefully I my final armor product will be worthy. Your insights and tips are very helpful and always welcome! I hadn't considered how filling my bucket with various items could possibly be a bit stifling, and I'm with you on the current expectation and necessity for voice amplification. You also make an excellent point about at-home fittings providing a false sense of movement and fitting needs; I will definitely be sure to do ample testing before setting on something permanent. Perhaps Justin's (@TheRascalKing) sourced ultra-thin velcro will be something worth trying out. I suppose I will find out if my 8oz holster from Darman marks my thigh armor; do you add a layer of protection on the back (unseen) side of the holster, or simply wipe/buff the armor on a regular basis?

VaderPainter Studios on FB supplies bubble lenses

Looking awesome, glad you are enjoying the bondo work, coming out a treat. I personally can't stand bondo after using it for years on car restorations, I only use it when I have too. Found a great way to get rid of a lot of lines was using a file before adding spray putting, cuts down on the bondo work. Great work.

Slow progress, but progress nonetheless... I discovered that I actually enjoyed working with the Bondo so much that I slapped it all over the other parts to smooth them out as nicely as I did the chest plate. This took me a few days, and I totally forgot to take pics of the process. Not much really to see on that, though. It's dusty, noisy work sanding it all down. But I am sooooo glad I did! The parts all look seamless now, and the extra weight of the Bondo on the parts gives them strength and a more substantial feel to them. My son is thrilled because it really feels like solid armor. The ab hasn't had any Bondo added to it yet. I wanted to get a coat of filler primer on it so I could better see where I needed to fill in low areas and smooth things out. In normal light, it looks fine, but when the light hits it just right, you can see the horizontal seam in the middle. I couldn't see this at all before I applied the filler primer. Here you can see how the light shows the areas where I need to work. There is no WAY that I'm letting my son go out in armor looking like that! I have to fill in the vertical seam in the middle as well. I glued on the buckle greeblies on the limb parts using E-6000 instead of using CA glue. E-6000 has more flex and I feel it's more resistant to popping apart than CA glue- and these little buckles might get knocked a bit while out walking around. For me, CA glue is just too brittle to hold the buckles, and I don't want to take my chances with it. I Dremeled out the areas where I had extra Bondo in the creases and sprayed everything down with filler primer. I'll be adding spot putty next, followed by a 400 grit wet sand, then another coat of filler primer. It's starting to look like armor now!