Rob .T .

Originally , I thought high brows looked odd, but the more I see of them , the more I like them ...higher.......higher !!!

Ideally , its would be easier and quicker just to buy some new Hovis , all finished with mesh and paint . Member SS SKUNKY Does some good ones, cast from an original.

Another interesting thing about this famous photo is the ammount of paint already scraped off some of the helmets, one on the outer right of the pic has practically no paint left on its lower cheek , and you can see how one helmet in row 3 is scraping the paint off the foregead of the helm below it ..in front of our very eyes !

Pop Rivets available in the U.K. back then would have been 1/8, 3/16 or 5/32 however , this measurement refers to the shank that goes through the hole, the head size would depend upon manufacturer. I guess a 1/8 or 3/16 rivet could have a head size of 3/8 . ???? It depends upon weather you want the inside or outside of the helmet to be screen accurate I suppose. Im guessing they were 1/8 pop rivets , as thats the most common size, with a 3/8 head . ??? but maybe 3/16. Simons anh helmet has lost its rivets , it only had one per side by the looks of the holes, and the indent into the plastic indicates there was a strengthening washer on the inside of the rivet .

I always assumed the marks had been made with a thumbnail ... that`s what it looks like on Simons original anh helmet , maybe it was a kind of "signature" ...who knows, maybe the original thought was that a small indent detail would go in there and cover the mark up . It certainly isnt a bump , just an oval mark in the original mould. The inside of Simons helmet picks it up nicely (as it would, seeing as it was formed OVER the mould).. It isnt a smooth little oval line , its jagged ..like a (long ?) thumbnail was pushed into the clay in stages , forming the oval. -----------

Back in the 70`s in the U.K. , red colo(u)red primer was known as "red lead " or "red oxide" .A left over from the days when rust proofing undercoat was allways red in colour . Ainsworth used red coloured undercoat underneath the white top coat on the background helmets which were made from green hdpe plastic.

"he is the messiah..." I think we ought to remember that this thread will be read by a lot of American troopers who casually read the Fisd. They famously dont have the same grasp of the sarcastic or absurd as we Europeans do , and will probably believe everything written , and that Paul is a recaster. Maybe its time to eddit this thread in Pauls defence ? Just a thought ...............

Id rather see the finished article any day ... a vac form mould is just a big grey bondo mess...

I have a s.d.s. helmet , and comparing it side to side with Simons original a.n.h. one, its not even close ... so if he does have original moulds , he aint using them !!!

I also have a laser in my E11 But dont use it for trooping ...why .. ? When you are wearing green lenses in your helmet , you can not see the red dot ..the green cancels out the red. You never know weather its on or off , and as you cant see it , run the risk of hitting some poor kid in the eyes,,... not good. The only real use for a laser in a hasbro is for playing with the cat ...they love chasing lasers.

It seems the Prop Blog page has been taken down . Simons email to him must have brought a few home truths to Dan ... maybe he`ll enrol on that Journalism 101 course now.

Apparently he was 10 and using it as a dressing up suit that he customised ....with black Airfix paint and white aerosols.

The Prop blog was sent the pictures it featured by someone without permission to do so . Those pictures are now "out" and the owner is now O.K. but disapointed about that . However the discussion on the Prop Blog is totally fictional , and no credit to Dan Benton. The suit is still in the posession of its original owner , who is undecided weather to sell or not . The owner has given permission for these photos to be published,to show its is complete, but at this moment isnt ready to enter into discussion about the suit details or sale of the suit. If and when the decision is made to sell the suit , more photos may be released to allow prospective purchasers to view it .

Anyone paintinga New Hope helmet has to realise that two differant shades of HDPE were used , so best to do the cap chips a slightly darker green than the face plate chips.

Excelent .. Great feeling eh ? So amny troopers moan about lack of flexibility or lack of movability ... Maybe we should start a new biker club ??

Excelent Paul, one step closer to locating the exact suit. The suit in these photos still resides with its owner by the way.

The doopydoos ebay advert shows a black blaster with white resin parts glued on , thats about all the instructions you need . As Julie says, its pretty self explanitary.

You can hold it up with one hand ? Excelent ...whats it made from that makes it so light ? Its an impressive build thats for sure.

zoidbergo, Ima ssuming you havent trooped in teh helmet yet , You will allways overheat stood still , but you will find that most of the time when out trooping , you are constantly on the move , and the circulation of air cools you down , I allways fog up in my helmet when I first put it on , but after moving a few yards it allways clears and usually stays clear (and cool) whilst Im moving .

Just to be awkward.... Back in 1977 Britain didn`t have much metric stuff .. the snaps/rivets etc used at the prop dept would have been 3/16 5/32 1/4 etc etc inch sizes . For you American builders I would have thought this was still the case ? Or do you have metric stuff now ?

Buy a new voice changer helmet and take the bits out a tad more carefully ??? Im guessing that reversing the power wires fried something on the board. Remember this board is made to go into the helmet and stay there, its not a hobby store "build it " kit , those kinds of things are built to take bad wiring etc and survive..because they are made to be built by people as fun experiments. The Voice changer part isn`t , and will have no safety circuits and everything in it will be the cheapest part to get the job done. Sorry mate.

If We`re talking about the legalities of armour production for sale ...what I say stands. As to my own activities in this hobby , I would love more screen accurate armour, and as Im not associated with any copyright owners I dont care who makes what or if they make a profit out of me, as I said , Im just pointing out the legalities of copyright theft. Im just joining in as someone experienced in copyright legalities, and as an outsider to the armour production community, to point out the legal side of this argument. Blatant advertising of copyright infringers may bring this community down for good..non of us want that to happen.

Ther is one simple fact. The sale of illegal replica stormtrooper armour is small scale... A few hundred suits a year split between many makers. Its just too much like hard work and expensive for LucasFilm to send their copyright lawyers after all the minions. If Rubies or one of the people who PAY Lucasfilm for the rights to produce star wars stuff felt their market was being infringed excessively by the illegal fraudsters (hard words, but true remember) they would complain to Lucas and he would have to act in their defence. The secret is , keep your heads down and your nose clean and at this present time you can continue making a profit from your stolen ideas.(again, hard words but basically true) The fact that the END PRODUCT is being used by people for non profit/charity events is not the point ...its the fact that these illegal producers are making money out of selling stolen copyrighted designs that will/might eventually lead to prosecution by Lucasfilm ... and possible an end to our hobby. Recasting is a pointless argument .. how can anyone complain if someone copys their work??..they copied it off Lucasfilm in the first place. The only people who have any legitimate right to sell likenesses of Lucasfilm copyright designs are people who pay Lucasfilm for a liscense to do so ... Hasbro, Rubies etc etc . The only people who have the right to complain abut recasters are people who produce ORIGINAL ideas that are copied. No stormtrooper armour is anyones original idea except Lucasfilm. This whole thread is risky, and should be considered by the mods for removal. Just my twopenntworth...

Why not just use your normal trooping helmet ?

Because I can ...... And because Ill be dead one day ...