TooMuchGarlic

Honestly, it's beginning to look more and more like a Rubies costume.

Too cool! .)

Really good to hear. That commercial is just awesome! .)

Hope all went well.

This is really cool. .)

So that's what he tried to vac-form from that rough mold? He had all that time to make that mold... but he only barely finished half a side in what is a classical *do a quickie from a mold* version. Yup, I'm not buying it.

And just wondering how he would actually try to vac-form over something looking like that POS.

It's very easy to see how that "cleaned up" side was made. Outside mold, splash in some resin or filler, plop it onto the rough grounded mold, let it cure and you have clean, somewhat accurate looking shapes. Not proving anything with that shot, as that is so simple to fake. And it's note-worthy how the face buck is only roughly finished on one side and not at all on the other, even with a sharp dividing line between "rough face shape" and the blank side... and the same sharp dividing line is seen in the cleaned up version, again, suggesting the use of a mold even for making the initial rough face shape side and again for the cleaned up version. Too easy to spot how he did that.

It will happen, but it's sad that even before his armor is out, people are speculating in when it will be recast. Recasting is only worth it if there are buyers for said recasts - meaning people who don't care about SiMan or his efforts in bringing this to the community. If you want 100% perfect sandtrooper armor THIS is the one to get. You still need additional pieces to make it into a stormtrooper, such as ab details and proper knee plate, drop boxes and other things. Will the other armor makers be out of a job? Probably not. The legitimate ones may experience a lag in costumers. The recasters just switch over to the new armor and start making that for people who don't give a hoot about the original maker.

Man... I can't write a short post... Have a great weekend guys. <_<

Never be sorry about having an opinion and let it be heard. We may not all agree, but that's better to disagree than keep quiet. I was only quoting the parts I had something to say something to. Anyone can go up and read your whole post, so no need to quote the whole thing. It really wasn't meant to single you out, as much as it was to just make somewhat general statements from what you said. Hell, what you guys do, the charity and the trooping and visiting kids in hospitals. That's commendable as hell. I don't do it. I don't have the stomach for something like that. I'm not into wearing armor. I don't like the feeling. You guys don't just wear armor, you use it for good deeds. That's is your strength. But not to care where you get your armor from or the history of it and respect where it originally came from, is hurting people's appreciation of what you do. I know it's a bad analogy, but to the prop community it is similar to a bank robber donating his loot to charity. Doing something negative to do something good... well... it sorta cheapens the good. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I see it. You can't choose accurate armor and not care about the community and the rules in that community where it came from - otherwise, why not just stick with FX armor. But then again, that armor had a creator... yet he let it go and wasn't compensated from all the recasting happening. It didn't just come from nowhere - it came from someone taking the time to sculpt it and make it available. I know it's a moot point now... Also, you don't have to be the first person to own an original armor to make your version of it. If you own one, you can make one. And NO ONE would have an issue with it. If you want to be an armor maker - go buy an original or buy molds someone else made from an original along with the rights to produce more. Don't just recast someone else's offering. And a recaster can't grant anyone else permission to do anything. I'm just saying: there are options... Oh yeah... some of the armor makers sure have helped muddy the waters a great deal. And yes, I am peeved that armor cost so much - it's a lot cheaper now - but still expensive. But that's the prerogative of the seller and not the community to decide. Something costs as much as someone is willing to pay - and seeing as there are cheaper legitimate sources... there's no need to recast the expensive stuff... 'cause all that is showing the greed of the recaster and those buying: they want the good stuff but don't want to pay what it costs. The kids don't care if it's accurate or FX armor, so it's not done for them. It may be $100 dollars or less worth of plastic, sure... but then again... do you think a car and all its parts really is that expensive as you are paying when you buy it? No, you pay for loads more things than just what it is made of. If I can't afford something, I don't buy it and don't complain about it. There are INSANE AMOUNTS of cool stuff I want and where recasts are affordable to me to acquire, but I don't. I'd rather have the original and know that I'm helping protecting our small community in the world and making sure more new cool stuff becomes available in the future. The new ANH armor and the CFO armor really IS a thing of rarity... they are special because they take a leap of faith and they should be commended for it and protected by the community, so they'll know that their effort is worth it and are more likely to do something like that again. I will fight with teeth and claws against anyone recasting these armor makers. If the recaster bought the original and made copies of it and STILL sold at his cheap prices, then it would be something to see. Until then... they are just helping undermining the community and the people who actually CAN bring something new to the hobby. You may not care about the hobby... but you care about the armor and what you use it for... and you're shooting yourself in the foot and everyone else in the back by choosing recasts. The soap box is now clean.

Oh... it wasn't directed at you. I was agreeing with you, but wanted to emphasize that it wasn't just hypothetical scenarios and theoretical scare tactics, but have in fact prevented people from offering what they have to the community.

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but this is not just hypothetical: it is FACT! We know for a fact that other cast from screen used projects that was in planning stages were pulled because of the blatant recasting happening with the trooper armor. If there had been a sense of self-control and less acceptance of recasting, we would have had cast from screen used Biker Scout helmets and Royal Guards and so many others. That's a FACT. All that was lost with the recasting of trooper armor and may never be offered - except from licensed sources and then we all know it will be idealized. That's just what's so sad about this whole issue. All that is lost, so some people could get trooper armor cheaper.

You're mixing up PT and VT here. Two different guys Ah, my mistake. Sorry. Then I have absolutely no idea who VT is. I would call the DIY an underground forum, like there are underground forums for the model kit community and other communities. Usually underground communities feel it's okay to steal from others, but have a strange ideology of not recasting each other and being strongly opposed recasting when it concerns members of that tiny community... which just shows me that they have screwed up notions of loyalty and interests. Why recast others and not each other... what's the logic in that? Just seems so misplaced. But I guess it's just me that thinks I'd rather try to protect future possibilities of new things rather than get what is already out as cheap as possible and not caring where it came from. My avatar shows current and future projects I'm working on... ALL with permission... and I can tell you I have serious concerns about recasting, as why should I waste so much time and money bringing these things to the communities only to get recast. But I'm taking a leap of faith and hope for the best, that people will actually help prevent it... but I guess it may or will happen... but it's sometimes the reaction of the rest of the community that helps decide whether it's worth continuing offering stuff to the community or whether it's simply not worth the effort.

News to me that VT should be TK-4510. Always heard he was a Danish chap. It wasn't introduced to the costuming community. It was introduced to the prop community. And yes, there are sadly great differences between the two regarding what is accepted and what is not. And we could have had a lot more people doing it sooner if it hadn't been for blatant recasting and people not caring. So many people who had access decided NOT to share. That's what recasting helps prevent. But I'm glad you're happy. I would like to see that. Until you do... it's just hot air. You spend the money on the original suit. You spend the money on the molding materials and risking damaging the original. You spend hours and months refining the molds, reverse engineering it back to ANH shape... and offer some kits and see the blatant recasting happen almost immediately. Yup... I think the sting will prevent you from ever doing that again. You all seem to think that the community gains from recasting. As long as you get your suits cheap enough, then you are happy. Not caring at all about all the options and opportunities lost for other costumes and armor. Just because the original seller is a jerk doesn't justify recasting him. It's a matter of principle, otherwise, there is no consistency. If you come with the rebuttal that it's all recast anyway... then I can only shake my head at you... but it is clear that you have no interest in having the community prosper... as it's only going to deteriorate with more and more recasting of the same old crap over and over and over again. It's sad to think that the new ANH armor will be recast in this community and will likely not be stopped or prevented. He's taking a huge risk molding and casting his original armor... just to feed the greedy masses, who'll just turn around and recast him... I just hope he'll feel it's worth it. At least in the prop community he'll be protected to a higher degree than in the costuming community. And it's really sad there is this difference between the two communities.

Looking awesome. If you are going to re-do the frown, perhaps go for a semi-gloss or matt finish instead of gloss?

Just got permission. A good friend helped me acquire it, so I'm in his dept. More on this soon.

Frankly, I'm confused. I'm not quite following. Hey wait... just noticed... 'you called Nairod on other forums?

With outside molds, they should do resin/fiberglass casts instead.

I'll hold to my comments about the CFO. It's not reverse engineered into ANH. It's RotJ. If they molded the pieces from the outside, then they can make fiberglass/resin statues with the perfect fit and accuracy of the screen used suit and not bother with vac-forming. That could be an option for the CFO as well... but I guess I may be the only one interested in such a thing.

Tbh, I think it will faze out the reverse engineered RotJ to ANH armor... and bring forth the untampered with RotJ armor, such as the CFO, next to the SiMan ANH armor - as the armors to strive for. No need for the reverse engineered versions anymore. Not meant in any derogatory fashion towards those armors as they served their purpose over the years. Can't wait until they show off their stuff.

Yeah. It gives some credence to my observations, but still also doesn't explain the similarities, such as the way the stripes in the tear and rear traps matching up and the damage to the right tube decal matching details faintly seen on my cast. Either the stripes in the traps were done from a template, making similar cut-out stripes in the traps on several helmets... or... something is not right with the explanation. It's really weird.

Mods, I think this is as close to the truth as we can come, for now, so though I'm not the topic starter, but I'm the current owner of this cast, could you please rename the thread to "TE RotJ Fiberglass Helmet" with the subtitle "Mystery Solved" and have the thread moved to the TE derived armor section!? Would be much appreciated. This is the response I got from TE:

Regardless whether I can believe TE or not... he was still apparently the only one who could provide the truth about the cast... and this was what he provided, so that still ends my quest, unless someone else who knows can come out and shed some additional light on this to corroborate or dismiss TE's claim. As it stands... the history is as TE stated it.

Well, it WAS TE who was responsible for these, so my quest stopped there.