gino

There are some pics on www.looksirdroids.com of one of my old suits that I assembled and Braks finished up. It's under the replica armor section. Easier to direct you than it is for me to post.

What's up Matt. I didn't know that they allowed sockpuppeting on this forum.

"Recasting a TE or Gino is nothing more than honor among thieves. Unless you sculpted it from scratch, you really have no position to complain about recasting as far as I'm concerned." It's this mentality that prevents me from making any of the good stuff available to just anyone who wants it. That's why if I don't know someone or know of their views on subjects like this, they aren't getting anything from me. "Like Mike said, there really isnt any difference between the TE, TE2, AP, GINO, GF, and SDS other than the parts mentioned." I couldn't disagree more. Everyone I know who has something from me as well as something from any of these other guys to compare to in the same place will say the same. "They are very nice,but the heros are still not rite..the hero movie helmets had three raised bumps on the ear caps and everybody else after has four.plus the eyes of the movie hero helmets had no bump in the right eye,they must have been made off completely different molds..." Actually, I was the one who first identified the 3 bumps in the ear and made it known. This is old news. My hero has the correct style earcaps as well as no bump in the eye and I made those about 2.5 years ago. Check out the link earlier in this thread for pics showing it. And yep, I believe very strongly that the original hero's were not painted and were left white just like the armor was. "Hey, this just crossed my mind. Jez, do you know where to get pictures of the original ROTJ armor that was used to make the current "accurate" molds?" Not the original suit, but I am the only one with molds that touched the insides of an original suit. Everyone else's armor is taken from those based off of the rough vac formed parts given to GF. Everything else from there was recast including TE's stuff. And yes, they are different and possess all the warts/uneven surfaces that all the screen armors had even in ANH. Lastly, the pics Jez posted were of my v.1 helmets that were made like 5 years ago. My v.2 helmets were made like 2.5 years ago and very few people have them. There are some new comparison pics on Braks' site www.looksirdroids.com for those who are unfamiliar with my v.2 helmets.

I agree. "Best" is a subjective term. All depends on what you have planned for you suit/helmet/etc... I do recognize the distinction between best and most film accurate. I was only claiming the most film accurate part. Steps are being taken to put this whole lineage thing to rest. I am willing to bet that most people don't know and will be very surprised to hear.

No, I don't put my stuff out for mass consumption, but there are some who do have it. I'm not bashing people who choose other options. For example, my stuff is made just like the film stuff. It is not durable. It is not meant for repeated use time and again because the film suits were not either and matching them as closely as possible is my goal. For example, I can totally understand why someone would want a thicker more durable armor built for repeated costuming. All I'm saying is when it comes to film accuracy (what it was like as a prop for the film) that my stuff is the closest out there regardless of how available it is/was. Just because some people can/can't get access to it doesn't mean it shouldn't be counted in when talking about film accuracy. And lets be serious, that OMM guy is TE. I know his writing style anywhere and the stuff being said by him regarding mold lineage is totally untrue.

Here is a link to a thread that I posted here in this section a long time ago. http://www.mepd.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1439

Yep. You won't find any of my new stuff on Jez's site and the decriptions/facts regarding my old stuff is currently incorrect. Ever since his whole involvement with AA I've felt that the entire trooper section had a VERY strong bias towards AA/SDS. I feel Jez has let his personal feelings get in the way of his fair and true reporting of the facts of fan made trooper items. I also feel that he has let his personal feelings regarding me get in the way of either representing or describing my items (not just trooper). For example, (to date) no one makes a more film accurate trooper helmet (stunt or hero), or vader items than me. However they are not even represented on his site. Even if he were to put them on there, I fear that his personal negative feelings towards me and his pride would not even allow him to admit that these are the most film accurate helmets/items out there to date let alone praise them. I suppose I'd rather not have them be represented than to be bagged on and have untrue statements made about them. My hope is that Jez will one day let go of these feelings as to let his site be free of personal bias and give fair, true, and deserving praise to the descriptions of items of even people that he doesn't like. Then and only then will SWhelmets.com truly be the site people think it is. Fair and unbiased even in the face of personal difference.

Look at the top left trooper's pauldron. Could it be that it is orange on the underside and white out the outer? Sure looks orange on the bottom to me.

Same here.

If need be, I can take the payment in 2 chunks (one now, one a month from now) for those burdened by the holiday shopping season.

Thanks again. John, xmas decorations were the girlfriend's doing. I had no choice in the matter. Thought they would make a fitting backdrop.

Thanks guys for all the kind words.

I thought I would post these here for fellow trooper enthusiasts. I've had these parts sitting around for about 2 years now and I've finally finished them. They are different than any that have been publicly made available in the past. So far, I've only built and taken to completion 1 hero and 1 stunt which I've shown on the rpf about a year ago. With my schedule, it took me about a year to finish these. I have one that is not accounted for if anyone is interested. Won't be any more of these.

Definitely not a meatsock, or any other fan made helmet either.

All I see are ? boxes.

I am practically certain that these were not recast from any fan produced items. They share charactistics of some of the AA faceplate photos I have from back in the day (hero/prototype style with no undercut under the chin or cheek tubes). We've all seen pics of the "prototype" helmets that AA sold which were later discovered to not be true prototypes but made later after SW was made. The undercuts were removed by the time this version came around and I believe that these molds have a relation to them. Definitely not fakes, but definitely not the molds that were used in the original production.

Ha. Boring would be just fine with me.

I'm not firm in one belief or another on whether it is the correct part. That is why I suggested a thread be started where photo comparisons and discussion can begin.

I think someone should put together some really good photo comparisons, start a new thread about it, and let the discussion begin.

There are lines (bumps and texture) all over the surface of the cap back on all the original helmets. It was part of the mold and is why you see the exact bump/texture pattern in all the same places on all the film used helmet. Like star constellations. Ugly, yes but that's truly how they were and if you want a helmet to look completely authentic, they need to be there. See the link I posted a few posts ago. There's a good pic of what the back cap should look like. On the fiberglass helmet being offered in this thread, the bumps/texture have been removed.

well then I suppose I better send one over to you right away for inspection

There are a lot of people who just aren't informed about what makes a helmet accurate. The first post of this for sale thread made a claim that as a fellow trooper helmet enthusiast could not go unchallenged. Rather than just post negative comments, I offered a link so that people can view and see for themselves what the original helmets were supposed to be like. For that kind of $, I would want to know the differences. Not everyone is a trooper expert. Not trying to start a flame, just trying to be helpful.

In regards to the comment of this being the "best helmet out there", I have to strongly disagree. Everyone has their opinions, but mine is that a fiberglass trooper helmet is just silly especially when they were all vac formed in the films. Bold claims require bold proof. See this thread for a full explaination: http://www.sandtrooper.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1439

Thanks guys. I've received questions about who made them. I made them. No one else has molds that can produce helmets like these. They are unmodified and unaltered.

I just registered and thought what better first new topic than to show off my trooper helmets. There just isn't anything more film accurate out there besides original helmets themselves. sigh. ANH STUNT TROOPER HELMET Here are the features that the originals had that I've incorporated into my STUNT version: I tried to match as closely as possible TE 2nd original helmet (Dave M helmet). - Painted finish. - Correct thickness. (It's very thin.) - Faceplate taken from TE 1st original helmet (Brian R helmet). - Cap/back taken from TE 1st original helmet, bumps/texture included. - Earcaps taken from TE 2nd original helmet (the one that was identified on screen!) . Correct shape and size. - Accurate brow trim. - Accurate neck trim. - Cast from original hovi-mix mic tips accurately assembeled and detailed. - ALL hand painted details. NO DECALS anywhere. - Green lens material attached at the earcap screws. - Correctly shaped yellow foam head insert. - Accurate chin straps. ANH HERO TROOPER HELMET Here are the features that the originals had that I've incorporated into my HERO version: I tried to match as closely as possible the promo hero trooper. The one used for the cardboard standee and found in the Chronicles. This trooper was also extensively used in the film. - Accurate color and gloss level plastic. Unpainted. - Correct thickness. (It's very thin.) - Faceplate taken from TE 1st original helmet, slightly altered to be ANH hero accurate. - Cap/back taken from TE 1st original helmet, bumps/texture removed and details sharpened to hero specs. - ANH hero accurate earcaps derived from TE 2nd original helmet (the one that was identified on screen!) . Correct shape and size as well as 3 humps on the grey block instead of 4. (I'm pretty sure I made that discovery). {SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif - Accurate brow trim. - Accurate neck trim. - Cast from original hovi-mix mic tips accurately assembeled and detailed. - ALL hand painted details. NO DECALS anywhere. - Green bubble lenses - Correctly shaped yellow foam head insert. - Accurate chin straps.