Studio Stasis

Yes, AA did claim this. Perhaps you didn't witness it in all of his press releases and magazine ads. Original molds, original maker. (before the story changed again and again) And this comment only implies that he still had the original skins, but made modifications while restoring them. Clearly, some people don't understand how this works. Have you seen an original forearm piece from ANH next to an SDS forearm? It isn't that things were fixed or altered. It's that they were never alike. The squares in the forearm are not spaced the same, similar size, similar sharpness, or similar anything. There aren't even an equal number of squares and they are entirely different sizes. SDS armor parts, all of them, match a fan made replica of a ROTJ suit, altered to look more like ANH. Are you familiar with the ridge under the chest plate? How is it that the AA ridge also matched exactly to another persons (ROTJ reworked to ANH) fan-made replica suit, and in no way matched the original ANH chest plate? 50 points if you get the answer right. There is no reworking the original molds to look exactly like someone else's work. If you sincerely believe otherwise, then you simply don't understand the gravity of the impossibility of your claims.

You are completely missing the point. If AA still had original skins, why did he recast a suit from a fan that is a reworked ROTJ suit and call it original ANH? I know a few people have said this here, but I wanted to reiterate the point that - AA's products don't match ANH. It doesn't even remotely match up with ANH "original skins". There is irrefutable photographic proof of this. There is no need for "more scientific" proof, as the photos speak volumes about the differences, and I myself have seen Ainsworth's parts fit like a glove onto other fans bucks. Do you know why they fit like a glove? Shhh, don't tell anyone. They were "copies". Why the original maker would have to make copies of a fans suit is beyond me. You know he had the original skins from ANH, right? He could have just used those, but he probably felt that this fans work was much more accurate. /dreamworld Being lied to extensively does hit a nerve with some folks, yes. You weren't around for this, but back in the day, one of the primary armor replica makers was discussing all of this Stormtroopery business with AA because he wanted to develop a partnership with AA to pay homage to AA's work on forming the original suits. This was right before SDS started producing Star Wars related products. These two guys didn't really see eye to eye and AA wasn't willing to share the limelight (big surprise). In the end, AA dug out what he still had of the Stormtrooper parts and went to work to carve out his own niche in the costume sales market. Your assumptions about the Christies helmet are simply an issue of chronology. AA had forgotten a great deal about how he originally assembled the helmets and rightly so, since a lot of time had passed. He hadn't held one in his hands for many decades. By the time he went into recreating his own previous work, he had devised new ways to assemble helmets, such as using brads instead of rivets, and many strange differences of that sort. The Christie's helmet had all the telltale signs of something that had either been sitting in pieces over the years and was finally tossed together in the later years to fetch some cash. Regardless of when it was produced, it was obvious that it was the donor for what came to be the cap and back of the current SDS helmet. The lack of rear swoop in both the rear tube and the equator ridge, combined with the odd cranial shape was a dead giveaway that the "prototype ribbed cap and back" was reworked to attempt to make it look like the cap and back of the screen used helmets. The face assembly (also seen in his video) with the cap and back was also very different, causing a less than accurate appearance. This is a provable fact when comparing any existing original helmet to that of the SDS product. Original skins? Maybe an old face plate - which by the way was over-trimmed on the underside, so it created a strange issue with the S trim being visible at almost any front angle of the helmet. The ear forms don't match screen used helmets when compared side by side either, so there's that. Just because someone says that the ribbed back helmet is a prototype, predating the screen used trooper helmets, does not make it so. Obviously, some aspects of the production remained in his shop, and he openly admitted that he had "some remaining parts" in his shop to the armor maker that tried to bring him into the costuming community. Mind you, Ainsworth had no idea that replica helmets and armor were in such demand until this resident armor maker told him so. I believe he had an original faceplate remaining and the very odd ribbed cap and back that was later reworked to look like the original helmets. The ears don't match so they are a new sculpt entirely, but that makes perfect sense. The ribbed helmet didn't have ears at all. You used the term "those trying to emulate his work". I don't think you want to believe that they weren't his "work". I saw this same kind of debate years ago on the RPF when his supporters would say just about anything to explain away the inaccuracies in his product, only to later eat their words when they realized that AA changes his story and his claims on his website so often that he has contradicted himself more times than anyone could count. Why change your story if the original story was true? He vacuformed the parts for the production, using bucks given to him. His own sculpture video was the best proof of his lack of ability. Even the court system does not believe that he sculpted the original suits. Did you watch the video? And somehow you were convinced by his methods that he somehow came up with all of this himself? I have to say, even if he wasn't caught in endless lies about his product, and had not repeatedly changed his story, his "sculpting" methods and ability was glaring proof that he was not the sculptor. His response to there being an original "clay" sculpt was hilarious. He went on to say that clay is not a good material as a buck to form plastic from because it is not made from the same heat resistant materials as what he uses to sculpt from. I....think...he's basically clueless. The clay was never meant to be a forming buck and that is not it's purpose. Really?? Your comments about JM's sketchbook doesn't really carry any weight compared to the endless facts of Ainsworth's proven lies over the years. The omission of something does not account for evidence. Did Brian not sculpt Vader because he wasn't mentioned in JM's sketchbook? That is another really big stretch.

I was present during the all out flame war on the RPF when all that SDS offered was a helmet. There were only rumors of a complete set of trooper armor on the horizon at the time. Even before the armor was offered, the helmet was an enigma and a topic of much debate. The cap and back perfectly matched that of a 2 piece cap and back with the ribbed rear tube which had been filled-in to match the look of screen troopers, while totally lacking the rear swoop. Even the equator line under the rear trap details was oddly straight and sharp in ways that confounded every trooper enthusiast that was willing to question the great makers claims. Many people offered up blurry photo screen shots to illustrate that there might have been some helmets on screen that didn't have the rear swoop, and it was a stretch to say the least. The face plate seemed legit but the underside of the tubes had been heavily trimmed away at the opening, causing the S-trim to be visible at almost any forward angle. That was only the beginning of the era that we now remember as "WTF SDS?". Once Ainsworth sold some armor, it was painfully obvious that he not only recast a set of ROTJ armor that had been reverse engineered to look ANH, but it was also obvious which armor he had in his possession, based on the custom, unique, hand sculpted items that were fabricated by that armorer to complete the suit, as not all of the original parts were present. The primary reason that anyone in the hobby has a bone to pick with Ainsworth is that he constantly lied about the origins of what he was offering, and then poured salt on the wound by lying about what he sculpted for the film originally. So what if the original molds burned in a fire? He should have been up front from the beginning about how he was putting his product together, even if his ugly helmet came from skins from a prototype that he had to heavily alter to even begin to resemble a screen used helmet. The moment that the deal was sealed for me was when I saw the photos of Ainsworth's product next to the original ANH suit and helmet parts in the archives. That proves that he had no armor molds, he had a faceplate (at best) for his helmets, and a prototype cap and back that he had to alter significantly to attempt the look of an original stormtrooper helmet. The photos say it all. I don't buy for an instant that he sculpted the suits or the helmet for the production. I believe he could have come up with a few accessories or details, none of which makes up for his trail of lies and intention to deceive the public every step of the way. He was a hired vacuform service, and decided he would be willing to lie to have a big tasty piece of the star wars franchise pie. He basically lost the entire court case, and yet won by a completely BS default judgement that threatens ALL copyright property in the UK. Someone asked why RS Props isn't chastised for making replicas of what was originally Ainsworth's work on the original film. Ainsworth fabricated the suits, he didn't design them, and he certainly didn't sculpt them (as his video is now undeniable proof of). RS Props, as with any other armor maker that recast a film used suit, paid a hefty price for their original piece and has privately offered to the public a duplicate of a costume that we all loved over the years. I am sure that if it were feasible, they would prefer to offer them on a mass scale, complete with licensing. Since they aren't licensed, they aren't advertising in publications about their wares. Ainsworth blatantly advertised in magazines, on websites, and in publications that he had a right to the product beyond that of a licensee. He was now the "creator", and claimed to still have the original molds. How much of his tale was actually true? As far as any of us have been able to surmise, so little of it is truth that it leaves us to wonder if any shred of it is. I would have purchased his product if he would have been truthful. It's a shame that he has to spin tales and fabricate nonsense for profit.

You are allowed to remain unconvinced, but there is more than enough proof to prove you wrong. The fact of the matter is that even GF and TE had to sculpt their own parts for any portions of the ROTJ armor that they were unable to acquire. GF can recognize his own center-abdomen detail plate because he sculpted it himself. How is it possible that AA has all the exact same details on his armor that GF and TE had to sculpt from scratch? All you have to do is compare a GF suit to AA and they match up exactly. Compare them both to an ANH suit and you'll find that there is not a single part that matches. The forearms are detailed with squares that appear a certain way on the ANH suits. Why would AA alter his ANH skins to look exactly like a GF forearm when they look nothing like original ANH forearms? He even posted a swooped shoulder bell in black ABS the first time that he was hinting at making armor. It was the same swooped shoulder bell that Dan Laws of Imperial Armor had sculpted/reworked from ROTJ. There were no original "skins" in AA's possession. Any idiot can see that when they look at the comparison photos. It is all glaringly obvious when the suits are compared side by side. I am not on anyones side. I simply state the facts. AA is a liar, period. His helmets have a good face plate, although he over-trimmed the underside. The cap and back to his helmet is a joke. It was a reworked 2 piece cap and back from a prototype helmet that had the ribbed tube around the back. He merely filled in the ribbing in hopes to achieve the look of the original cap and back. The shape, contours, details, and alignment are nothing short of unique and not at all accurate. By all means, remain unconvinced. It goes to show that there will always be people who will stretch the facts to believe a lie that isn't even a well fabricated lie. You believe it because you want to believe it. The reality of it is too painful. It's tough to imagine Ainsworth as the kind of person that would just acquire a fan made suit and pretend he made it from the original skins. Go ahead and purchase an RS suit, and an AA suit, and prove us all wrong. Show us some comparison photos that illustrate how he managed to extensively rework the original skins to perfectly match a GF/TE reworked suit, but look entirely dissimilar to the original ANH suits. If you can do that, I'd eat my hat.

Hey Terrell, I just spoke to Tony today cause I didn't know that he sold the TE2 foam master. I was just wondering if his story matched, and of course it does. Great to see that someone is going to be making more of these. How are you going to use the foam master to produce resin helmets? Will you add material to it to smooth it out or some other process? josh

You aren't alone in the excitement department. I've had 8 suits of stormtrooper armor in the past and it NEVER gets old. It feels like Christmas morning when anything arrives on my doorstep. I will never get tired of it and the excitement will never dwindle. I am getting 3 more sets before the year is over and I can't tell you how excited I am. To this day, stormtroopers are still my favorite display in a prop room. I'm dying to see some build pics. I'm still building mine differently each time, trying new things.

Here is another set of ANH TE Glossy Styrene for you. ----------- I wont have my set much longer Clutch, so I will have to live vicariously through you. These are my favorite suits to date, even though the color is too white and too glossy. It just looks death star pristine. Oh, I almost forgot to mention too. I have a Glossy TE ESB helmet to part with if anyone is interested in it. I don't have pics to post of it yet, but if anyone is looking for a glossy styrene TE helmet, this would be one of the few out there. I'd take highest offer for it.