sskunky

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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.

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

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

I clearly show where Paul has written in his handwriting his full name, return address and telephone number. I covered the address and telephone number for security reasons. I didn’t think it was a good thing to do to anyone to post that kind of information on the internet despite the topic. And No, it was impossible to get a group of witnesses together for the opening. There is a pandemic going on. I’m pretty sure my evidence speaks for itself. I would also like to hear why Paul did it. I’ve invited him to say so but so far he has declined. The real background? The background is that he blatantly recast my helmet. There is no other explanation. I’m sorry if this is hard for some to accept but this is a pretty much open and shut case. I have never given Paul permission to cast any of my props, helmets and armours. It’s as simple as that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

TM has sharpened and changed bits here and there including the eyes, bridge of the nose, traps and emphasised the kink. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is where I was told to post it by FISD staff. Personally I think it should be in announcements. This is a pretty huge revelation in the prop world. . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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

If you can find plastic weld which is a liquid solvent cement then you should make it with this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Liz’s son live about 5 mins from me.

thanks mate. Appreciate that.

It was actually Liz Moore that sculpted the helmet. Not Liz Smith

Looks like one of mine but not one I have assembled. It must have been a kit assembled by the seller. The mic tips are not correct for rotj. The eyes could do with trimming out more. Apart from that it looks good.

The only thing you should have been worried about was receiving it. But Matt seems to be delivering armour these days so you should be good. He was banned from getting in way over his head and simply not having the time to forfill orders and by the time he did he had spent the cash and couldn’t afford to make it or ship it. But if you have it already there is no problem. His armour and helmets used to be the most accurate one to buy. They would only be recast from himself. It’s a reworked ROTJ armour made to look like ANH. Other than RS, TM, myself and a couple of other makers most ANH helmets and armour derive from TE armour as CAP recast him and gave permission for anyone to recast the CAP armour and helmets. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi I make ROTJ costumes. Also I believe ABS80 is AP not TM. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow. They take your money, don’t deliver and then make out you’re being threatening. What a bunch of immature twats.

The helmet is fine. Not sure what anyone thinks is wrong with the construction but it’s assembled like my original. The brow trims were nearly all very low. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I can help you on that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well done. That didn’t look an easy task. CFO ears would have been an easy fit but there you go. Looks great. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would think the helmet liners were installed in the uk as the came from a climbing helmet made in Wales uk. They were re-strapped by the costume dept with the black webbing you see in the liner. They were also used in the uk filmed scenes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You could be getting confused between ESB mkii which you have pictured and true ROTJ. The ESB mkii were probably made for promotional work but we do know of one or two that slipped into production and used in the freezing chamber scene. The ESB mkii were also made using pinseal/Haircell abs whereas ROTJ were made in smooth abs. ESB mkii used foam in the helmets and ROTJ used a suspension liner from an old climbing helmet. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is it a working version? I have a working one that’s great fun. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Sorry late to the party. If you have my old armour the overlaps were as the armour was when it was moulded from the original set. Which was quite tight. As a lot of people had issues getting it to fit I extended the run offs so there’s more to play with. Have you got a pic of the backs of your shins? I can’t guarantee an exact match as the colour and gloss varies from batch to batch. That will be the same with whoever you go with unless you go with acrylic capped. (Which I hate) There’s no point in matching old armour together as it’s different nearly every time. Not a lot but there will be a slight difference. Pm me if you need help with more shins. I’m always at the end of a message or get to me through Facebook which I’m on more these days. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I get that. It’s just frustrating that everytime I make or sell a suit I get people quoting the CRL at me which is incorrect. This has been an issue for years and years. It’s not a new development. I don’t understand how it’s so hard for someone to set accurate standards and use accurate pics to support those standards. Why does it take years? This is not a legal document it’s a standard for grown men or women running around in white plastic! It’s clearly a power struggle. [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why don’t you have a pic of a proper ROTJ armour and helmet in the CRL? The shoulder straps pictured are wrong. Level three says you cannot have overlap? That’s how rotj we’re constructed. They should not be butt joined with a cover strip? What that implies is that to be top level you have to construct it wrong! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk