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Tyranus

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Posts posted by Tyranus

  1. If AM armor were re-introduced, but with the new NE helmet, and correctly-sized NE upper back plate and chest plate, would that make everyone happier?

    My first order of business, as anyone who has ever dealt with me knows, is to take care of the wants and needs of my buyers. I'm tired of fighting the attacks on the new design.

    This solution retains the larger armor with trim-to-fit sections for larger troopers, while also keeping the more accurate helmet and chest/upper back pieces that AM was criticized for.

    Please let me know what you think of this idea.

  2. As posted on the other NE thread:

    Let me be very clear on one issue . . . I am the face of the maker, and have been the face of the maker for almost 13 years, but I am not the maker. I have been the public face of someone who prefers to be out of the main picture and spotlight.

    I am assured from that maker and friend (the same maker you refer to as being the most scrupulous in the game - the maker of FX and AM) that there are no recast parts in the NE kit. New sculpts were made for each piece utilizing available images and information from existing screen-used kits in an effort to give people what they wanted, which was a kit that was more screen accurate than the FX or AM kit. Accuracy became an issue for the maker because it increasingly became an 'want' from the troops.

    If someone says "Make me a Rolls Royce", and we produce one, and then they say "It looks too much like a Rolls Royce", it leaves us a little baffled. We're just trying to please people with the product.

    With that said, to settle the obviously ruffled feathers, the replacement of some pieces (not the helmet faceplate) is a possibility in future runs, perhaps by reverting them to AM pieces.

    IF that were to happen, which pieces would you like to see exchanged?

  3. Let me be very clear on one issue . . . I am the face of the maker, and have been the face of the maker for almost 13 years, but I am not the maker. I have been the public face of someone who prefers to be out of the main picture and spotlight.

    I am assured from that maker and friend (the same maker you refer to as being the most scrupulous in the game - the maker of FX and AM) that there are no recast parts in the NE kit. New sculpts were made for each piece utilizing available images and information from existing screen-used kits in an effort to give people what they wanted, which was a kit that was more screen accurate than the FX or AM kit. Accuracy became an issue for the maker because it increasingly became an 'want' from the troops.

    If someone says "Make me a Rolls Royce", and we produce one, and then they say "It looks too much like a Rolls Royce", it leaves us a little baffled. We're just trying to please people with the product.

    With that said, to settle the obviously ruffled feathers, the replacement of some pieces (not the helmet faceplate) is a possibility in future runs, perhaps by reverting them to AM pieces.

    IF that were to happen, which pieces would you like to see exchanged?

  4. Accusations like this seem to rear their ugly heads whenever ANY builder makes a more accurate kit that looks like another. A LOT of time and effort has gone into making this a fantastic suit, including direct feedback from the troops themselves!

    It’s very easy to claim “recast” when someone creates a product of extreme craftsmanship and accuracy that rivals screen-used, and it’s quite the conundrum for all builders: create something more and more accurate to look exactly like the original without looking like the original!

    The look and feel of screen-used armor is the goal of ALL armor producers. When a new, screen-used suit surfaces, it should be studied and scrutinized and used as a goal to strive for, as was the case here. People want accuracy, and eventually almost every ANH suit out there will start to look like every other for one simple reason – because the sculpts are getting better and approaching a near screen-accurate sculpt.

    Most of the original NE sculpts were destroyed at the foundry where the final aluminum molds were created, just as they were for the AM gear. The casting at the foundry kills the clay.

    These photos show the beginning of the new helmet project, with it being sculpted in late 2008 / early 2009 clearly showing the original 2-part accurate design, which was eventually changed (as I have already spoken to here) to the 3-part design.

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    This is a comparison photo from 2009 for making sculpt adjustments:

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    And the resulting January 2009 face which was shelved and not produced at that time:

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    When the new project began, the helmet was taken off the shelf and tweaked to make it even more accurate. Tell me this is a recast. Looks like clay to me.

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    The NE gear may be very similar, but as far as I can see, and others see too, the lines are cleaner, sharper, deeper, and so on, not the classic look of weak pulls you find on original screen-used ANH armor. They are similar, but troopers have already spoken out about the upper back plate for being the wrong size and too crisp and sharp!

    If this is a recast, a monumentally terrible job was done.

    In the end, nothing I say will change your mind if it is already made up, you must decide for yourself. Any interested parties know how to reach me.

  5. Thanks guys!

    The helmet is a NEW SCULPT.

    The helmet was not produced in a traditional 2-part format, because in order to vac ABS plastic over that deep of a mold, it stretched it far too thin and made it far too brittle.

    It was tried, but abandoned in order to keep the durability and dependability people have come to associate with FX/AM intact.

  6. Great feedback, thank you!

    I have another question for you, this time about helmet decals. I think I know the answer, but want to ask anyway.

    If you had the choice of using decals that mimic hand-drawn lines as seen on screen-used ANH helmets, would you prefer that as opposed to the perfectly straight and aligned look of the FX/AM Armor decals?

    OK. Having asked a question, I now have the first of several reveals to make.

    As the thread name says, Always in motion, the future . . . and keeping true to that, the AM (Armor Master) kit is now evolving into NE Armor - No Excuses.

    The time has come for a partial reveal of the redesign, with more reveals coming very soon.

    There are sweeping changes to the kit in this evolution into the NE kit to make it MUCH more ANH accurate, but the biggest revelation here is:

    THE NEW HELMET!

    Yes, you heard that right - NEW helmet

    This has been a long time coming, and will be a day long remembered.

    I will have more images to share with you of the armor soon, but for now, here is the chest and upper back, and a few views of the NEW helmet pieces. The pictures show them untrimmed, but you get the idea.

    And yes, the Frankenstein FX bucket dome is now a thing of the past.

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    And a side-by-side comparison to a screen-used helmet:

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