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gino

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Everything posted by gino

  1. Ok here are some final pics. Not really happy with the pics so I'm going to try to take some new ones in better light possibly tomorrow. Let me know what you think. .
  2. Thanks guys. I did get it painted up so I'll post pics as soon as I can take them. Still need to wait a bit to start scraping off paint though.
  3. Thanks guys! Here's a quick and dirty camera phone pic of it painted in just the white color. I plan to paint the details later this evening and then take another round of shots. I'm thinking that I'm going to have to let the paint cure for several days before attempting to chip any off. Paint even though dry to the touch is actually still curing for about a week before reaching it's hardest (brittle) state. If I chip the paint off too early it will be more of a tearing effect vs. a chipping effect. I'm pretty excited to be able to chip some of the paint off so it is going to be a long 3 (or so) days to wait. .
  4. Here's one fully assembled ready for paint. PS, no bags under the eyes, although it does appear to some degree on some screen used helmets. Let me know what you think. .
  5. I think there are a few people looking to give these a "field inspection".
  6. I'm in the process of trying to get one of these assembled and painted up. Hope to get some progress shots up. .
  7. All the other helmets/armor were made of ABS. Only the background helmets were made in HDPE. They were made in HDPE because they wouldn't have a tendency to tear when trying to get them off the mold like ABS does. And when you have 50 helmets to make for what would essentially be background props, HDPE I'm sure sounded like a good option. .
  8. Yes actually it is very sturdy. You cannot tear it with your bear hands unless you start a tear with a knife first. You would have to stomp on it with your foot to get it to crack, and then MAYBE. Most likely it would just smush without cracking. Over here in the US, milk cartons are made of HDPE. .
  9. After a long hiatus from trooper stuff I've decided to take my helmets to the final stage of accuracy and make them in HDPE. The HDPE is correct in both color and thickness and forms without becoming paper thin in any area. The HDPE was a custom run with a minimum quantity required, not cheap to say the least. I matched the color using various resources at my disposal. I think it turned out pretty good. I'm satisfied with it. Actually, there were two different shades of HDPE used. Both were a khaki green color, but one is actually more green than the other. For the sake of simplicity, i'll just refer to them as "light green" and "dark green". Out of all the examples I've seen, it just appears to be random in regards to which shade is used on each part. For example, one recent screen used HDPE helmet, the back/cap is the dark green color while the face is the light green color. The Dave M helmet (set for stun helmet) actually was the reverse with the back/cap having the light green color and the face having the dark green. Then there is another example where both the face and back/cap were the dark green color. I've yet to see an example of a face-back/cap combo both in the light green but that does not mean that combination does not exist. My color is matched to the dark green shade. First I want to say that there are a lot of finer details in the original helmets that simply cannot be reproduced without using HDPE. The reason is because HDPE does really weird and unique things when heated up/formed, and these weird phenomenon that occur are a direct result. It takes a long time to thoroughly/evenly heat up an HDPE sheet (about 6 times the time of ABS or styrene), and it takes a really long time for it to cool. HDPE retains heat for really long time, and unlike ABS or styrene, it's window of plasticity (the state at which it can be stretched/formed) it much longer as well. For some reason unknown to me, HDPE wrinkles up upon cooling. The inside of the formed pieces wrinkle up as well as the unused part of the formed sheet. When HDPE is formed over the mold, it has a tendency to initially pull into all the details and all the creases of a mold, but then sort of turn itself inside out in the negative creases. I'm positive it has nothing to do with the vacuum, drill holes, or adequate suction. Apparently, it's just an HDPE thing. For example, on the main crease above the tube stripes on a trooper helmet, the material pulls into the crease tightly, but then within 15 seconds or so, what was once a negative crease, becomes a positive outward bump. Sometimes it's a bump, sometimes it's a groove. You can see this crease-bump (in varying severities) on every screen used HDPE helmet. The severity of this phenomenon is affected by many factors including the stretch as well as heat level. Something that I've incorporated into this V3 HDPE is the enhanced vocoder area. Every vocoder I've ever seen (with the exception of the Brian R helmet that is the origin of my faceplate) is extremely sharp. The ribs are individual with deep grooves in-between. Of course, the sharpness of this area varies from faceplate to faceplate on the screen used helmets. I could see on my mold were all these individual ribs/grooves were, so I very, very cautiously enhanced their depth to be more in-line with the other screen used helmets. Here's a comp of screen used HDPE helmets that show the sharpness of the vocoder as well as the tube crease-bump. Ok enough rambling, here are some pics. The helmet is not assembled, it's just being held together by tape which is why the back/cap is sitting crooked on the face. I just wanted to give an idea of what it would look like. Let me know what you think. Here are some ones taken without flash. And here's a shot of the interior using the flash. If anyone wants to know more about these kits, feel free to send me a pm. .
  10. Thanks guys. Looking good Rolf! Can't wait to see it finished.
  11. Thanks! Yep they are sculptures. There is a ton more in-depth info about them on my site. Yep, that's ANH. .
  12. Thanks Caleb, and pm sent.
  13. I was reading the posts over at FISD, and once again saw my name being brought into the mix. I'm not able to post over there, so I'm going to post here in hopes that some of those same people will see what I have to say. #1 Here's a quote from someone about me in that thread: "good point brian. but I'd still think that perhaps there should be a posting location in the "trash compactor" for individuals like matt G or let's say GINO. maybe call it the BANNED list? or somthing like that. or somthing a little more clever than that? newbies don't know the details of the situations... it would be good to see a place where new recruits can be warned about bad practices..." Now, I was banned from FISD for voicing my opinions on recasting and the stance the 501st had taken on it. I was very frustrated over a particular situation at the time, but even so, I still did not resort to actually breaking the rules, or name calling. But what I said was so offensive to some, they felt I should be banned over it. Ok, I get that. But what is unfair is when I see posts like what I quoted above. As far as not being a reputable seller (although I don't really offer items all that often) is complete untrue. To compare me to matt in terms of not delivering etc... is just wrong. I've never not delivered on anything someone had paid me money for. And even in instances were a delivery time when on for longer than planned, I was always super easy to get in contact with, and always kept that person updated all the way up until they received their item. What I'm saying is, you don't have to like me for my views, but when it comes to the quality of my items or me delivering on them, my reputation is golden. #2 Someone mentioned that I somehow offered a reward for finding tie pilot hose then never paid up when found. This is also completely untrue. At the time, I thought it would be a good idea to offer a bounty to anyone who could find it for me. I was looking also, but thought the more people looking the better the chances were. I never had intentions on making the source public whether I found it, or if someone found it for me. That is why I offered a bounty for it in the first place. Otherwise I just would have posted a thread saying, hey lets find this, and not said anything about me offering a reward. Now during the search, I ended up finding the item on my own. To this day, and it's been years now, no one has found the correct hose besides me. So to say someone found it and I didn't pay up is completely incorrect. Now, one could say someone pointed me in the right direction. Well, that is not the case at all. There was nothing that anyone contributed that led me to the source in any way shape or form. However, even if it had (which it didn't), that still was not worthy of the reward I was offering. They had to actually find it, provide it to me, and promise to keep it exclusive between them and myself. That was the deal for the reward. I had spent several hundred dollars over the course of a couple months buying up tons of samples in order to find the correct hose. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. And if you have to ask why I wouldn't just share it with everyone, there is a million reasons why I wouldn't, but i'll tell you the one at the top of the list. There are a handful of people in this hobby that I've had serious issues with (putting it mildly), and I'd rather no one have it, then let it fall into those people's hands. So in a way, a few a-holes ruined it for the rest. Lately I've been trying hard to soften up on this feeling but it's not something that happens overnight. Trust is a two way street, I'm trying to take the first step. If I see that people respect me at that point, then maybe I'll feel even more comfortable and start sharing even more. But again, one step at a time. This may not seem like a lot, but for people who know me at all, for me this is a super huge step. Anyway, just wanted to clarify these things for people. Feel free to post this over there. I'm not interested in getting into heated debates over any of this anymore, but I definitely wanted people to know the truth about me. .
  14. They are super busy right now, but as soon as things let up they will get back to working on it.
  15. Just for clarification purposes, the Dave M helmet was never cast. Not from the outside, or the inside. Only the ears were directly cast. Whatever molds are being used for this helmet come directly from a foam rapid prototype made from a 3d scan of the Dave M. This rapid prototype had to be heavily modified, cleaned up, and details added in by hand to become a usable helmet platform. To even further remove things from the original source, if these helmets were based from this rapid prototype, they would have had to have been vac formed over the top (outer surface). Here are a couple of pics showing it. I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone, but I can't abide incorrect information (even if it is not intentional) being put out without being refuted. .
  16. A good deal of the members of that forum are members of this forum as well. It could be argued that not standing up to that kind of behavior, or abiding it, is almost the same as supporting it. The company you keep and all.. I've always felt it is a community's responsibility to toss out the bad apples or end up being counted with them. .
  17. Don't sweat it bro. At least Braks and I won't hold it against you. .
  18. I'll give this little cookie an hour before we're doin' the no pants dance. .
  19. There was no 'C' If you do not believe recasters should be disgraced, then you support them. Period. You can't slice it any other way, that's what it means. Glad to know where you stand. Shameful. But I already knew that because of your support on Chris' DIY prop forum. I just wanted to hear you admit it. And BTW, the other 501st board I was banned from was because I refused to share the a fabric source for the guy that runs that board. Nice huh. .
  20. I could ask it in a different way if it make it easier for you to answer. A. Do you think Chris (or anyone) recasting other member's work is a good thing and should be encouraged B. Do you think Chris (or anyone) recasting other people's work was terrible and believe anyone who does it should be disgraced. A or B? I'm very interested to hear what you have to say, especially with you being the DL of a 501st board with the power to ban people because they engage in anti-recaster debates. .
  21. That's no kind of answer. Do you PERSONALLY support or denounce Chris' actions as a recaster? It's one or the other. Don't pussyfoot around with some mealymouthed answer. Which one is it. If it's not one, then it HAS to be the other. Do you have enough integrity to answer the question as I have asked it to you? .
  22. By the way, here is a screencap of the PM I sent to you from my sent items folder. It was a standard PM that was sent to everyone. Those that didn't respond were banned as per the PM. .
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