RS Prop Masters Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 OK guys, just wanted to get this out there, some of you guys will have seen these on our facebook page so will not be news but most will not have seen them yet. We have been working off and on with this for many months now. The "HDPE" family of plastics are a horrible plastic to work with but we are now getting a consistently good result. So, we decided to paint one of the test pulls to see the reaction with paint, and evaluate the colour of the plastic contrasting with white. We found that the paint came off real nice, so handling it and moving it around the place for the past few weeks has added a nice weathered look. the white is painted over a red etch primer, and the ears are white abs. So please enjoy these images, we think we are just about on top of a pretty accurate stunt helmet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locitus[Admin] Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 It surely is "Craptacular" and very, very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW1 Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Very nice Rob, as you know been following this from the start and i think we can all say that you have nailed it , any chance you could bring it to london Expo mate would luv to see it in the flesh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich330[TK] Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Doesn't come much more authentic than this. Well done for perservering with waht must've been a right pain in the bum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyoda Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Mate, you just keep on getting better. I've been following your topics and love what you have done. Just wondering if you will be selling any armour components? I've a Follano outfit with hero lid and I wouldn't mind changing the leg armour. Is my GF outfit (see link below) the ROTJ armour with hero helmet? I'm in the process of building a museum static display and would like some of your opinions Cheers, Andy. http://s1184.photobucket.com/albums/z321/andyoda/?action=view¤t=GFHeroStormtrooper1-1.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X[TK] Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Awesome!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK_LEPER Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Gimmeeee!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinSivertsen[501st] Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Wow. Already commented and discussed this on facebook, and I would really like one, despite the HDPE not holding paint at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmartigan Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Looks incredible! The chipping on the top and sides is fantastic. How well does it hold the paint with the red etch primer? Is the chipping and flaking on the bottom just from "handling it and moving it around the place for the past few weeks" or did you have to actually make it come off like that? Just curious if one that was not handled roughly would still retain most of the paint.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbonitekid Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Looks superb. And as a bonus will pee in Ainsworths conflakes to boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Prop Masters Posted May 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Thanks guys. Some areas were masked, but it was really not required, to create an actual chip you just need to create a flex in the plastic, the paint will flex to a point, but as its not bonded in the way say ABS and paint bond, it doesn't really flex with it, it's then likely to chip off. I think that describes it? It's almost like the paint is an outer shell. That said, this helmet never had the rubber added to the bottom, which would help to protect it. If you are wanting to troop it I would think it would look lie a screen used lid after a couple of troops, the biggest issue would be transporting it between events, I would imagine it would get more damage that way than when worn. It may be possible to 'flame' the pastic to hold paint better, but that is not really the spirit of the helmet and we don't feel it's a test we want to perform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turrican Posted May 21, 2012 Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Well that's what i would call a collector helmet. Put behind a class case with some nice light Looks realy nice. How thick is the material? And is it realy HDPE? I'm sure it's more harder to pull as ABS, so what's happend with the details ?Still all there? I know questions ,over questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Prop Masters Posted May 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2012 Details oh yes, I will get a photo of a finished face plate tomorrow. We are still finishing the back and cap, but it's so close...... This was more about the paint at this stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 This is awesome! Much better than any other HDPE replicas that have been produced so far. Though I suspect this is PP and not HDPE as what was believed to have been used originally (which we agreed wasn't the case). I remember holding one of these when I came to visit you and it was hard to distinguish it from the real deal! The weight and feel of it was virtually identicle to the original when I had both in my hands. This is going to be hard for anyone to beat. Have you tried painting it with regular gloss house paint like Dulux? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verne Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Nice results guys!!! You certainly bring the proof that the HDPE is way more a urban legend now!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Prop Masters Posted May 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 (edited) OK, as SW 1 enquired about the level of detail the plastic would capture, here are a few shots of the finished faceplate we are using. This is from a brand new tool, from our silicone rubber internal master, created just for this plastic type. Thanks for the great comment Paul, we are indeed pleased with the results. Edited May 22, 2012 by RS Prop Masters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich330[TK] Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Love the waxy look this plastic has. It even looks like it would be really unsuitable for painting. I reckon AA must be a right cheapskate. He gets a massive order for all these WHITE film prop parts and insists on using up some really nasty unsuitable green plastic for fish ponds for the helmets. "It'll be allright, we'll slap a bit of paint on 'em, they'll be none the wiser, I'm buggered if I'm buying in any more white plastic!". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troopermaster Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 The new pull looks incredible. The detail is phenomenal. Well done guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Prop Masters Posted May 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Thanks Paul. Yes, these are the finished face plates, I am sure the one you saw was our first sample material pull, which is actually became the paint test helmet. It has that "wide face" look and a few other issues. We have refined every part of the process since then. The cooling lines were a real issue, and using this plastic explains totally how helmets vary from the Brian R soft back and cap, to Simons really tight back and cap, we achieved both from the same tool, and vacuum was nothing to do with it, it was all temperature based. We should have a finished back and cap tool soon, we made a couple that we were not happy with, we want these to be as close as possible. I was sent some comparison shots with another "hdpe" helmet that were interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJCG Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Really nice guys, absolutely stunning! Cheers A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinSivertsen[501st] Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Really stunning, and such great work for the stormtrooper-community! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vecspeed12 Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Purely awesome! I would love to own one of these. Even one of the crappy pulls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripcode[501st] Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker[TK] Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 What Ripcode said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonnenschein Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 SHOW-OFF! Really, what everyone else said; this is truely awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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