ABS80

huuum I don't agree, lets say you form a helmet using a original helmet mold you will get a exact imprint of that mold, by pouring into that helmet you will get a exact copy of the original mold, and when you form your helmt from that mold it will end up being the same exact size as the original helmet, the plastic can't shrink more than the molds, that's the whole idea of vacuumforming, the plastic gets vaccumed around the mold extremly thight can;t shrink any further even when it's cooled. Good casting materials don't shrink at all, some cheaper material do but so little it's impossible to notice by eye and even by measuring your talking mm's. Mark

Great review but lets not forget even more important details! To give credit were it's due, the original sculptor for the complete FX armor was Canadian maker Gerardo Follano back in 1997 which FX recasted, massproduced and and sold without authorisation, all facts were proven, the tell, a Canadian coin imprinted in belt which FX had no idea when they recasted it, basically AM is following FX steps and selling GF recasts. If only GF got 10% of FX/AM sales he would be a rich man! People should know the real backround of this famous armor which started a chain reaction in armor making we have today. Mark

Do not overtrim the front AB plate, the belt needs to be attached on each side of the AB, I would mostly trim the back plate and the AB just enough so it's flush with the belt. I would add some foam to fill up some space instead of overtrimming Mark

The ESB should be much bigger than the ANH hand plates. Mark

Better looking in shape but way too small. Just look at the hand plate compared to the forearms in the ESB screen shot, now look at TM forearms with the handplates, either TM forearms are too big or the handplates too small. TM handplate strip should be wider than the beginning of the forearm grooved strip, should be almost as wide as widest point of forearms strip, the handplate should be overall bigger. ---------- Mark

Great job!!! I would sand down the bump a little more, you have to see the bump but not be too obvious. Mark

No blue in person and made sure of that. I sent a plastic sample of the white color and told the plastic maker I wanted absolutely no blue tint in it, when I see my plastic in person there's no blue tint in it, I buy the plastic locally from a company that makes my ABS plastic and is not just a supplier, I can send them whatever white plastic sample and they can very closely match it. Mark

Your armor is made from the same exact plastic supplier I currently use with no blue tint, the blueish tint plastic was a very small batch long gone used over 3 years ago, in person the color is white no blue tint at all, Damian explained it perfectly it's very difficult almost impossible to photograph white and capture the same exact tone as if seen in person, reflection, lighting ect...play a big role, color of the surroudings is absorbed or reflected into the white color giving you various tints, some plastics are shinier than others reflecting different shades. The photo with the various troopers clearly show the AP has no blue tint, even the older AP has no blue tint, I can see it's not made from the old blue plastic, it would have showed way more than that though not as much as the AFX which has a very high blue tint to it. Mark

That's from a few years back, he will compare with the new plastic I currently use which is pure white.

No more blueish tint plastic, that was many years ago, our original supplier suddently went bankrupt and the new supplier sent us what they had in stock, we now deal with a plastic company which custom makes our plastic to our specs. Mark

NICE JOB!!!! All AP helmets line up the exactly same, the premarked holes are in the molds so every single helmet part line up exactly the same, unless you made your own holes. Mark

All helmets derived from original go on sideways, unless the maker or builder overtrimmed the bottom, I have a small head and still need to fit my AP sideways, I leaves all the undercut so you can trim off opening to your liking. Take a look at Han Solo in the control room scene, he removes his helmet twist style.

The cleanest and fastest way is the score and snap technique, but this works best for straight cuts on leg, arms and armor parts, for the curved parts I use a dremel at full speed using fiberglass reinforced cutting discs, it cuts like in butter. Mark

BE CAREFUL DO NOT use a heat gun, ABS has very high rubber content, it will just distort and you will ruin your parts, leave it as it is. it's better to trim off the lip if you have some, many leave the trim which sink into the skin, the original didn't have any lip on the forearms and biceps Mark

I'm sure he will forget about the shredded bits when he sees himself in the mirror wearing the AP Mark

Ryan, Check link below to see the differences between a FX/AM (fan sculpted) and a movie replica armor(originates from a real movie suit) It's obivous how inaccuratae the FX is when compared side by side ---------- Mark

YOUR ABSOLUTELY WRONG! Material is a big issue I have formed everything, styrene easily splits just by trimming if not carefull, ABS is used for bumper cars and interiors, shower cabinets ect.. it's a heavy duty plastic, styrene is mostly use for packaging purpose and very cheap. ABS cost alot more because you pay for durabilty!!!! Styrene in time will only get more brittle and turn yellow. Mark (AP)

Getting softer pulls using ABS is a MYTH, the main difference is the gauge of plastic used, the thinner the plastic the sharper the details, if the machine is set perfectly to the type of plastic used the sharpness will be the same with any type of plastic used, I must say, ABS is harder to work with and requires industrial strenght forming machine to achieve sharp pulls. ABS is the best plastic money can buy and doesn't come cheap, double the price of hips, styrene ect... Our ABS plastic is custom made from non recycled plastic pellets for a higher quality. The ABS we buy is used to make Shower cabinets at a thicker gauge of course. Remember you get what you pay for! Mark (Authenticprops)

No glue, it should stay in place if not cut too short, it's better long so it creates a pressure . Mark

Definetely go with a TE lineage helmet, TM is a fan sculpt. Mark

From looking at the eyes shape and size it looks like a TM. Mark

I improved some areas to more match the ANH, it doesn't mean I reduced any size by doing this. Mark

I never told you that, I said I reworked some areas on my original GF molds to closer match ANH, I didn't make new molds, but I correct myself my molds are not 1st but 2nd generation since they come from 1st generation TE pulls and not 4th generation. Again whatever shrinkage your talking about your post is misleading by making it sound like they shrunk by inches! Mark