Peaches_DC

Its quite pathetic that they STILL find buyers for those things. It does look pretty ridiculous

The original Don Post from 1997. Those things take a ton of modification to look decent (I should know... I did it). You literally have to tear the entire thing apart and start from scratch. When they're done though... they look pretty good if a little small. The molds were actually fairly screen accurate, but the vinyl used to make the helmets was HORRIBLE. Couldn't hold its shape at all which is why the helmet looks so horribly flared out. The Deluxe version that was fiberglass was actually considered an excellent helmet. Those fiberglass models were also made by Altmann's in Australia under LFL license and they are absolutely AMAZING, but extremely rare these days. Bottom line on the helmet pictured... good intentions gone horribly wrong. This is mine just prior to finishing several years ago. The same base helmet, just reconstructed and reinforced in the right areas:

Tube stripes look off to me, but the rest of the helmet looks okay... but that shouldn't be comforting since it IS on eBay and the description could just be lies. Seller says he got in on eBay himself which is another red flag... could be MTK then.

Was gonna say... Email ATA and see if he can hook you up. I've heard he's good about sending out replacement parts if something goes wrong.

The curve in the "stalk" of the ear that goes over the tube should be going toward the back of the helmet. Its definitely on the wrong side of the helmet. Hopefully you got a second set of ears in your kit (for that exact reason).

I have an ATA and its fantastic. He usually has helmets on hand ready to ship. Going with a recommended kit will save you a lot of headaches and cost a lot less, plus you get to have a lot of fun building it yourself. The one you posted there looks like it has the same mic-tips as an AP, but it also looks very thin (can see outer details from the inside). Not sure what make it is, or what material (could be thin ABS).

HERE is a link to one of the most important threads in the forum. The eFX helmet is another one that is very sub-par. It takes a lot of modifications just to be acceptable for the 501st because its not a true representation of a screen-accurate helmet. The reason that the "flaws" in the originals are reproduced by the artists that sell their work here is because the entire goal of the 501st and the prop makers is to be as SCREEN-ACCURATE as possible. That's essentially the whole goal here. That's why FX armor is now frowned upon. For a long time FX was all that was readily available, but there are now several good, hard-working people that have put a TON of time and effort in to changing that for the 501st. Now there are several choices for great armor out there, and the Legion has moved away from accepting the less accurate costumes. As far as your refund, that's between you and him. I seriously doubt that Scootch sent you a defective product. I'm not really sure what you mean when you say that the "teeth weren't centered". My only real question is this: Did you contact him about these "problems" before sending it back, or did you mail it back and then contact him? To me it seems like you did the latter, which would explain your frustration when he told you that he doesn't give refunds / accept returns. As far as size goes... you must have an enormous head if it didn't fit into his helmet. Were there pads inside? If so, remove them. You need to spend a lot of time looking around these forums. There are a ton of examples of Scootch's buckets on here, maybe you can use a picture of someone else's to demonstrate the issues you're having. The search button is your friend.

There are a handful of others that make a very good product as well. Check HERE to see the full list of vetted sources. Many of these are side-jobs for people so turnaround times are long. Be prepared for that.

The FX helmet is HUGE compared to a real screen accurate helmet (or screen accurate replica; ie ATA, Scootch, AP, TE, TE2, etc). That, combined with a lot of other details, are why FX helmets are now considered junk. The increasing availability of very accurate helmets and armor has relegated FX stuff to the trash heap. A full FX armor kit used to cost around $600 with a helmet. For that price you sacrificed accuracy and detail for affordability. Nowadays you can get a set of VERY accurate armor with a helmet for just a little bit more, and you have your choice of makers to deal with. Another thing you may not realize (from your post above) is that the original helmets are NOT AT ALL symetrical. Things are crooked and wonky looking because the original molds from the movies were hand sculpted. Accurate reproduction helmets carry all the same traits because they are ACCURATE. Scootch's helmets are considered to be some of the best available, so I highly doubt there was a problem with the product (especially if it was a finished helmet). It may just be that you have a problem with the way you're perceiving the product. The two helmets you have cannot be compared to a CAP-W (Scootch) helmet. You're basically trying to compare a Pontiac Aztec to a Bugati Veyron. As everyone else has stated in here and in other threads that you've posted, do some research to learn about stormtrooper helmets BEFORE you buy. Everything you need to know about stormtrooper helmets can be found here and here. Do your research before you spend anymore money, and hopefully if/when your Scootch helmet comes back to you, you'll be better equipped to appreciate it.

Looks a lot better now, but you want to take a small file to the edges of the "teeth" to square the holes. Also the right eye (the one with the bump) needs to be trimmed out a little more. You're doing it the right way though, little by little. Great work so far.