BactaReality

Thanks a ton, successfully recovered my account now!

Btw, thanks for the compliments guys. I was'nt sure if there'd be any love for the low brow direction I decided to take with this one. It's going to be tough holding out on buying more of these helmets to replicate all my favorite variations. This particular trooper on the left was the main inspiration in going for a low brow look. I decided to center my face a bit more, whereas this trooper's face plate is shifted more towards his right ear cap. I used this other image as reference and inspiration for which bump to paint on the ear caps. Seems to be the same helmet as above, as there are only a couple of helmets I've seen on ' screen that have their right eye socket shifted over that close to the right ear cap. I debated whether or not to try and match the assembly of this particular helmet but decided instead to go with a hybrid or combination of helmet attributes. If I were to have assembled my helmet similar to the one above, the left side of the helmet would've ended up looking similar to this trooper below. I would've also needed to move my left ear cap towards the the front of the helmet. I still may try and assemble mine this way just to see what it looks like from other angles. The more I look at trooper helmets, the more each one looks completely unique. I think I'm ultimately going to convert this to an ESB version, possibly a Mark II. I've got some accurate trim I've been dying to use.

I've seen em being worn on either sides so I figured it's a personal preference. I was wondering about this recently. I came across some screen shots of one particular trooper in ESB that had a thigh piece assembled similarly to the RS suit. This is the only trooper I've come across with that jagged thigh piece. Could it be the same as the RS thigh piece? I was actually hoping someone could tell me which pieces exactly were needed to be fabricated to complete the RS kit. I can't find the thread, but I remember there being mention of someone having to replace a missing bicep or something?

I used the two main original rivet points(impressions) as a starting point for positioning, however the first set of rivets were shifted from where the original points appeared to be. As I'm sure youve discovered, the overall shape of the helmet changes and shifts once the ear caps are tightened so I ended up shifting the positioning of the face and cap twice before finding a position I was happy with. I ended up shifting the position of the ear caps twice as well before leaving it where it is now. I had to restrain myself from drilling more holes in it trying to tweak it even more. I'll probably end up repositioning the face and cap once more but I'm leaving it like this for now.

Decided to go ahead and post some pics of where I'm at with my RS prop masters armor and helmet kit. The helmet is 1.5 mm matte ABS. No. 38 from their initial run and came in kit form.. Mic tips were upgraded by previous owner and appear to be CFO/Trooperbay. Trooperbay also supplied a set of humbrol paints, Dave M stencils and a frown mesh (not yet installed) Stencils were used for the tube stripes and as a base for the other stripes, however the ear caps, frown, vocoder, and all other outline detailing were done freehand. Trimming and assembly were done in less than six hours, the majority of the time spent screwing and unscrewing the ear caps between sanding and trimming. Painting took a week mostly due to drying times. I've always been a fan of the lower brow look and decided to see how well the RS kit pulled it off. What do you guys think? Armor pics soon!

Hate to break it to ya, but idealized and high brow trim are somewhat of an oxymoron. If you want to send it to me, I could show you how it's done. There's absolutely no reason you cant have a raised brow trim AND flush ear caps, just takes patience, skill, and faith in the laws of physics. Normally, I would'nt bother to comment, but since you seem to be so adamant and downright insulting to those actually willing to offer advice, I could'nt help it. And btw, why on earth would you just post pics of a helmet, without so much as a comment, or mention as to what your intentions are? You've been around long enough to know better than to post that monstrosity of a trim job on here and not expect criticism. They already made an idealized version of this helmet, complete with overly extended, flush ear caps, it's called the "collectors's edition".

I thought for sure the posting of the holiday special would remind everyone of how delicate this balance is between canon and made up filler.

So where was this "established" exactly?

No doubt you guys are busy in the shop filling orders, so taking the time to post build pics and such is really appreciated. I can't wait to start working on mine, which I'm shocked to have heard is already on it's way.

I can see it. Obviously it's difficult to see past the overly trimmed features to see the benefit of having the correct dimensions and proportions to use as a base. Yeah, there's a lot of detail lost around the edges and you're missing the areas that've been trimmed, however the contours of the original mold are still there, which is without a doubt going to put CFOs even closer in lineage than before. It's hard to focus on the good when you're slapped in the face with a display like above. Yeah, it's assembled and trimmed horribly, but other than that, in the right hands, you actually have something to work with. Hell, I think it was worth picking up for the shins alone, not to mention it is pretty cool just to own something like this regardless of how it measures up nowadays. Go for it Mark, can't wait to see how this pans out.

Thanks!

Great news Mike, glad to hear you were able to pull through for eight long months.

Really like how your latest version has turned out, Paul, cant wait to see the rest!

I would'nt be surprised if they still don't have power in Porter, there's stll a lot of areas that have'nt been fully restored. I did hear on CNN today that apparently restoring power is'nt very high on the list of priorities, which is pretty f'd up considering that a half million people are still without any basic necessities. A lot of us are living paycheck to paycheck and just simply can't afford to loose a couple weeks of work either. It's interesting how for a while, the media was'nt even allowed to cover some of the hardest hit areas, something that's apparently unprecedented. I also just found out that Ike's death toll has risen to 50 something, and less than half of them from Texas. I'd no idea that bastard f'd up so many people up north as well. Btw, although Ike was labeled as a category 2 hurricane, it's been said that the storm surges were more like a category 3 or 4.

Being a single parent, I can relate to being in that scenario. I coped the same as you and many others have T, with lots of alcohol and easy women, something I would not recommend, but can sympathize with. It does'nt happen overnight by any means, but it does get better eventually, not something that anyone in that position really wants to hear though, lol. It'd be a shame to loose such an integral trooper from this.

I'd be surprised if you could'nt find an FX for the same as the black. Unless you already bought a black kit and wanted to convert it, I'd just look around for a white kit for the same price. Why not just do a shadow stormtrooper?

Can't say I'm surprised either. I always thought Rubies was crap, but now their putting themselves pretty close to SFP level disgust.

I'm a little confused. Gino, you stated that AA's helmet was derived from those prototype skins, or a hero lid? Those pics you posted have that tear detail, so if he used those, then the detail was cleaned up or what?

Bagpipes? Why not.

So what's the deal with black armor? Is it really that difficult to find black HIPS or ABS? I've been asking several armorers about pulling black helmets and armor for a while now, and while most have expressed some interest, I've yet to see anything besides one black TM pop up. Not only would it help some of the TX guys, but I think the overall finish would look ten times better than paint. I have to agree the paint job looks slick (literally), but almost too glossy. Btw guys, don't use that H2o crap. Just stick to regular ol' Krylon. Even that fusion stuff to me is crap. Here's an example of what a black HIPS TE would look like. Much better IMO-------------

Oh no, that's horrible news Scott. I'm so sorry to hear about this. My thoughts and prayers are with you guys.

I believe Mark has already been quoted as saying that while wearing the helmets during the filming of episode IV that everything looked "sickly green".

Will the size of the final version be the same as the prototype? It almost looked a little on the large size.

I dunno about you but if I'm getting jumped, any shots fired are'nt accidental. I'd be trying to blast a fool.

This is what's so entertaining about the original SW. Noticing things after careful examination that made perfect sense or at least did'nt seem odd at first. To answer the question about the mysterious appearance of everyone's boots and clothes,... they were in Chewie's bandolier, simple. Nah, seriously though, being a smuggler, it should'nt be surprising that Chewie had a back pack covered with wookiee fur that he could secretly hide various types of contraband in. Part of the reason he kept the bandolier on was to help conceal it. Unfortunately seeing a wookiee wearing an ammo belt being held under custody seemed a bit too odd for the imperial officers, prompting them to check for clearance. Dammit Chewie, why did'nt you leave the ammo belt?