Onigiri

These are some before shots...lot of work but worth it

See if this works. This is where I am as of tonight. The Hovis are temp until Stompers arrive. I am putting in Bubble lenses as this will be an ANH hero. The ears are from John and Ive got a full set of decals coming from Mark (Happy Dance). The cap is perm bonded with epoxy to the back and seamless. Ive primed, sanded, primed, sanded etc ad nauseum. The paint on there right now is about six coats of Krylon Prmer sanded down with 1000 grit. Im going to use Krylon Fusion White this week and hopefully my decals will be here soon. Im waiting on knee pads from the UK right now and I still need brow trim but thats it. Im going to fully pimp this hero with pads. speakers and fans.

how do I post photos?

Hawaiin Nutz...yup. I know where THAT face came from and your lid will rock...

Amy from EFX is a member of RPF and updated us today on the helmet. Limited to 500. Oder date is July 8. Here is what she says about the differencers between teh MR and EFX release "We made some minor improvements to the helmet. The Vodaphone (The black thing on the mouth area) the 3 stripes are cleaned up a little and you can now see 3 distinct ridges at the top. We are now using a spray mask for the grey area on the frown. Before it was painted freehand, so this will make the lines a lot smoother. . . As you can see, you can see the new base, as well. . . The base is not approved by Lucasfilm yet so it is subject to change. We would be very interested to hear if you like the clear of black base."

I just filled up at $4.79 a gallon in LA

Oh, yeah...thats right out of the "if I cant afford it its OK to steal it" handbook. Then try and justify because you think youre Robin Hood and AFTER stealing something you give some away to put a salve on your conscience. Heres an idea...why dont you do like a guy did here today and go steal gas from the gas station..you kinow...fill up your car and then call over some other folks to fill up theirs because $4.40 is too much to pay and you like seeing the smiles on the faces of the folks you just 'helped out'. Yeah, youre a freakin HERO... Luckily this topic is about you as per the mods and Im addressing you. In a group thats supposed to be about helping kids and doing the right thing you have a set of brass ones acting like youre some kind of role model by 'helping folks out'. Hide behind your moral ambiguity but a thief is a thief and those that support thieves are not doing so out of some love for you as a person but rather their own weakness of character at being able to get their plastic cheap....youre right ...its just formed plastic...and what a cheap thing to sell your principles out for. The utter lack of character by some of the players here is pathetic.

Contrary to your assertion this absolutely IS a prop and costume board and when there are people that, like you, have shown a complete disdain for our stance on recasting and then show up there trying to buy from a member then it becomes OBVIOUS why the cross posting. Combine that with the fact that a lot of RPF members are also 501st members and we DONT condone recasting which is why several RPF/501st members are now going to approach the 501st hierarchy and press for a more proactive stance on recasting. Now...the powers that be have changed the course of this thread to be about CAP and since my arguments are not directed SPECIFICALLY at CAP then I am going to respect their decision and not discuss this anymore here. I think its pretty clear where I stand on the subject and I would rather stay on my 'high horse' then continue to beat a 'dead horse'.

Good post FYI saying FX is mastered from scratch..? Nope, but thats a whole other can of worms...the Canadian quarter on the original FX belts was one of GFs tells..he made the original suits for resell for the Cantina until Dale decided to recast him and save some money...some folks who have been around for a few years already know about that and feel free to hit up TE or GF if you have doubts... This thread is being scrutinized and followed closely on other boards now. Needless to say so far it has left a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths. The RPF thread about THIS thread is now at 14 pages in length and makes THSI thread look tame. As far as CAP in particular well Ive known Matt personally for over a decade so getting the particulars on that wont be overly difficult but this argument was as much about the GENERAL tolerance more then a specific recaster. Matt has never mentioned an agreement to me about CAP having any implied rights to produce this armor but Ill know soon enough.

Well, Ive never seen anyting Rubies go fro MSRP...the VAder was supposed to be $900 and I see them routinely go for $300-400 on Ebay. If I can pick one up cheap I may well do so...

Got my HERO ears and they are fantastic...the screw hole happens to line up perfectly with the upper screw I used to bring teh back of teh helmet tight to the front so I will simply remove that screw and go though the ear and then the helmet. The only thing I dont have now is Brow trim my bubble lenses Trap and Tear decals

Very nice! Im doing a full blown mod liek wannabe's and my ears finally arrived so Im stoked. I like how yours turned out and I still have another CE to mod..soooooooooooo..... I like your use of teh plastic welder...good idea...i used epoxy, bondo etc on mine but teh welder sounds like a great way to do the frown

No problem 'dude'...you chose to come after me with the high horse commentary...you stepped up so you shouldnt be too surprised. To me its about way more then plastic.

Nope I didnt miss anything and it doesnt make it any more right and once again COP OUT. You can hide behind whatever moral ambiguity helps you sleep at night. Thieves are thieves and when someone is ripping off myself or those that I know Im gonna call em on it. Dont like it? Too bad. What it says between the lines is this "We know its wrong but we're not going to do anything about it because our plastic is worth more then our integrity" Way to represent. When the group fails the moral litmus then the individual has to take a stand. The 501st chooses not prosecute even though they know its wrong but nowhere does it say that the individuals have to allow it to go unchallenged. It damages the hobby as a whole when this sort of thievery occurs and goes unchecked because of the moral myopia of fanboys more concerned with their plastic then with doing whats right

Nope thats a straight up cop out and that mentality will get you banned on just about any prop board out there because it DESTROYS the hobby and prevents makers from bringing things to the table. The fact is that folks like MATT invested large sums of money to get their hands on something screen used, modify, make bucks and put it out there. Low life recasters invest NOTHING but the time it takes to get their hands on the product and knock it off and if you cant see the difference then its not my horse that is high but rather yours that is hobbled and on its knees. Just about every other board out there knows the difference. and what your questionable ethics suggest is that nobody will bother to bring anything new to this hobby because people such as yourself make excuses for others to simply steal from those people so why should they bother? and as far as high horse go you really wanna piss me off spew that crap again. Im no longer a propmaker because of how hard it is to make a decent living at it these days and when you add in scum sucking lowlife a$$holes that recast and steal it makes it a waste of time. Whoever would lock this thread is not only a coward but morally bereft in this hobby. Take this garbage to another propboard and find out how quickly your banned and thrown out. High horse? Try getting off your knees and investing tens of thousands of dollars in to making something before you say something as assinine as its only plastic. Contemptible. Lock this thread and Ill make sure every other board that deals with prop collecting, t501st etc knows teh type of behavior allowed and condoned here and by who. Disgraceful.

Yes and no. You can inform about what is out there wityhout letting the individual use the board to make money off the practice. The RPF for instance BANS recasters AND lets everyone know what it was they were recasting. This is a hobby that must police itself.

Good to know. As a former professional propmaker Im making mental notes of who I will and will not do business with. Recasters are teh bottom feeders of this hobby and the reason why so many no longer offer things. Why put your own money in to sculpting or acquiring something when some no talent can come along and steal from you. This isnt the grey area that so many people who value their toys more then their integrity like to point out. It takes one of two means in this hobby to bring something 'legitimately' to the table...money or talent. You either sculpt or you pay for it. By pay for it I dont mean you buy a suit of armor from someone and then knock it off. This lowlife bottom feeding mentality is destroying this hobby and I am dumbfounded that it not only allowed here but apparently condoned. If this is indeed what CAP has done then he is on my radar as is anybody who does business with him and Ill make it a point to let all the other boards I am a member of know too. I tend to keep a low profile but I am still very much tied in to not only this hobby but the profession and recasters are an automatic black mark and they go on teh list of untouchables as sdo those who put money in their pockets. And before someone pops up with some lame as hell excuses about recasting lucasfilms save your breath. I know the expense that Matt put in to making his armor as well as the time and effort and money that folks like TN and RT put in to making theirs and POSs that recast them because they have neither the time, skill or money to do anything other then steal from others are worthless sacks that should be taken outside....my opinion of this place just took a nose dive.

So was there an agreement to recast the TE suit? The term recast gets thrown around a lot more loosely around here I have noticed then what is generally accepted in the hobby and it raises all sorts of flags.

Any update on your ears? I still havent received mine.

Frown/tears/traps = Testors #1138 Grey Prob just about any satin or semi gloss black

Tried something new today. I needed to attach the cap to the helmet and fill in the gap to make cap and look like one piece. I purchased some of that 'as seen on TV' instant epoxy at Target and figured this would be a good experiment. The putty comes in clear plastic tube and comes out like a giant green on the outside white on the inside tootsie roll. You cut off a section and then kneed it till it becomes one color. I then placed it in teh male/female grooves on the top of the helmet and inside of the Cap and attached them. After that set up I used some more of the epoxy putty to fill in the to fill in the gap between dome and helmet and create that seamless bond. Wetting your fingers helps to work it in and you have about 20 minutes before it starts to kick. I also used the epoxy to reinforce some of the stress points on the lid. In the morning Im going to start priming. Still waiting on my ears and and need some brow trim but this is really starting to look up

Luis Did you permantently attach the cap and putty it? It looks like there is no gap but you didnt mention whether or not you filled in the gap between cap and helmet on the back. Ive been holding off on that only because Im concerned about attaching the brow trim afterwards as theres not much room and I dont want to accidentally break puttied seams trying to get the brow trim on.

Lookin good and Im right behind you but Im going for an ANH hero on my first. Couple of hopefully helpfull hints I can add from doing this. 1. The screwing together of the front and back to flatten the sides: the top screw has to be rather high as in right under the outline of where the earpiece goes or it wont flatten out. Look at the pics here to determine location. I went too low the first time and didnt get that nice flattened side. 2. I didnt wait for my white putty and used bondo glazing putty. WAIT FOR THE SQUADRON PUTTY It dries MUCH faster, is easier to sand and because its white does not show like the red. Ive gone back with the white and am MUCH happier. 3. If you pay carefull attention to your filing on teh frown you can get that screen used look. Add some height to the center tooth..aside from teh ears the thing that really makes an MR look like an MR is the frown which is too low and rounded in the center. As I make more mistakes I will post them

Yep, waiting on my ears too....

Actually with teh exception of the helmet that armor is a very accurate ROTJ suit taken from an original INCLUDING the neck. I was watching the Star Wars SE Trilogy Bonus Disc 'Empire of Dreams' Documentary and at 35:24 Robert Watts is speaking and behind him on a mannequin is an ROTJ trooper with the same scooped neck design as on the Rubies. So the look is accurate for that particular armor and teh helmet is godawful and looks to be taken from the DP deluxe. So, if someone goes this route and teh armor stays as it shows now MINUS the helmet how can they be told 'no' when what they are wearing is screen accurate. Seems that is you want to be an ROTJ trooper then swapping out the helmet and adding 2.5" nylon belt you should be just about there. This looks like a MUCH easier fix then teh Vader Supreme was and that can CERTAINLY be modded in to a very nice 501st acceptable piece. Im not a Rubies defender but I see something in those pics very moddable but I think it will depend on what the final material used is