SethB6025

Looks good man, nice pack too! Just don't try to hold it and pick up sushi rolls at the same time, it doesn't work real well.

Not sure, I seem to remember someone saying they were ABS too, but can't recall who. I think there are a few reasonable ways to tell from looking/feeling but anything concrete would do some damage.

Matt asked me to clarify that he said they were HIPS and that it was Jez who said they were ABS.

Welcome Hairball!

Welcome, we are beginning to have quite a presence in the UK!

No more time needs to be wasted on this.

I have also made a statement here; http://www.mepd.net/forum/viewtopic.php ... c&start=59

For what its worth; http://www.mepd.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=41722#41722 As a DL I have acted rashly in response to Chris recasting Matt's armor. This is the first time this insidious type of offense has thrust itself upon our boards so I was unsure of how to deal with it. We should have clarified our relationship to the 501st charter before acting at all. It may have saved a lot of trouble. Of course, I have a feeling it will cause just as much. The resolution prevents us from being able to ban a member for recasting. A position that I personally disagree with but am unable to change on my own. [removes DL hat for a moment] My only option is to ask you Chris, as a peer, to either destroy your recast molds and "repent", or leave this board. I care about this board and its integrity. As members we have a responsibility to act with honor. By stealing someone else's work, you are not. If you choose to continue recasting I have no power to forcibly remove you, however I will tell you "peer to peer" that I do not trust you or welcome you. You have stolen from a friend, and you have brought venom and unneeded strife to our boards. If you don't care about that than you don't ******* belong here. That is all.

At this point it has been confirmed that we are unable to act under our own volition in regards to Chris' admitted recasting. As a 501st detachment we are bound by the charter, for better or for worse. Read here for clarification; http://www.mepd.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=41722#41722

The MEPD as a detachment of the 501st legion falls under the jurisdiction of the legion charter. So, as DL of the MEPD it is my duty to inform the readership of the official stance that we must abide by. In regards to recasting the language is as follows; Council Resolution 1: Legion's Stance on Recasting Vote completed on 03/13/2006: 35 Yes; 10 No; 3 Abstain Reference Link Resolution: The 501st Legion does not condone, support, or encourage re-casting. It is, however, outside of the scope of this club's mission, charter, authority, jurisdiction, and purview to consume our time and energies as a volunteer organization in efforts to prosecute those who, of their own volition, choose to engage in re-casting.

I think Paul has summed up our positions very well. It would help the already frustrating situation of everyone kept those roles in mind when you read our "official" stances.

I think we are all posting over one another. Let me quote myself just in case. "Weeds people, weeds! This is almost as bad as a meeting at work. The back and forth is deviating completely from the actual issue at hand, which for the time being, is in limbo. Lets hold our tongues for a short while, I assure you this isn't being swept under the rug."

Thats cool man, my project plate is full for the next few weeks anyway so I won't be able to get to anything personal until the end of January. Its funny, as I was feeding stuff into the room I was amazed at just how much I had to put in there. For the past two years it was scattered in various closets, under the bed, on the balcony. A good chunk of my work time was spent getting everything out and cleaning it all up. Now I can just walk in and out of one room where everything is.

Weeds people, weeds! This is almost as bad as a meeting at work. The back and forth is deviating completely from the actual issue at hand, which for the time being, is in limbo. Lets hold our tongues for a short while, I assure you this isn't being swept under the rug.

To all who have seen it fit to declare the boards "theirs" I will remind you that this board belongs to all of the members regardless of their affiliations. That is something that I have defended vehemently and I will take personal issue with anyone who wants to turn this into a private party or try to make a member in good standing feel unwelcome.

Okay, I think we are really getting into the weeds here. Lets pause for a moment and digest the following; 1) We (the staff of this board) are pending confirmation of our obligations in respect to the 501st charter. In spite of the fact that the forum is open to the public it is still part of the 501st hierarchy. 2)Pending the outcome of that confirmation we may or may not be in a position to take action other than publicly addressing the facts, and making the information regarding the recast known to membership. 3)If we are left in a position to act beyond the constraints of the 501st charter we will discuss what action to take at that time. 4)Further circular arguments are probably pointless, but discourse is always welcome.

Keep in mind I haven't actually worked in it yet. I will be sure to take some shots once it is messy. I will try very hard to keep it clean or at least organized though. I am lucky to have so much space to work in, I don't want it to turn into a cluster-frak.

Final confirmation is pending but it looks like at this point, we will wind up having to fall under the 501st charter. Its (the amendment on recasting) not an amendment I agree with in particular but if it comes down from the council that it applies to us it will & we won't have any say in it beyond that. The same will go for all other detachments of the 501st. I can't really add anything that I haven't already said. If this were a stand-alone prop board or if it were solely up to me and my personal preferences I would just like to toss him but I felt that it would maybe be a better cure to the issue to leave him on the board. This is the first time that this has happened here so this is what the growing pains look like. If nothing else going to the Legion should clarify to what extent the 501st charter applies to detachments and perhaps put an end to us all having our own set of general standards and rules. Gino; to answer your question I don't see any difference between the two from a moral standpoint, but from one of an objective mediator who has to deal with a lot of different attitudes there is a perceived difference that I am unable to ignore while trying to make everyone happy. To everyone else, please don't buy from recasters they are wrecking our hobby from the inside out.

I agree with you, but as I have said before it doesn't seem to be applicable in this case so we thought it might be more effective to let him remain but make the info public. As for all the people contacting you I wish some of them would bother to contact the staff. I know I would like to hear from them if they don't care to post on the boards. No one should be afraid to share a viewpoint here, public or private. I don't mean to bag on the RPF, I like the forum a lot & read it almost every day. I'm just saying that its clear that banning people doesn't solve any problem. The problem keeps on and those people keep doing it. Just because the threat of a ban looms it doesn't stop people (many of whom you'd never have suspected; like Helmetman for example) from recasting. I don't consider this particular case closed so I am open to debate.

1- I think the first point is debatable. In this case the person said they expected to be banned and that it would have no effect on what they were doing. So if he was flat out banned it would have been a completely impotent gesture and nothing would change other than his access to posting and a couple forum sections. 2- We already do this. Recast items are not allowed to be sold on this forum. 3- I don't see how this is effective. How many people bought a Meatsock because they didn't know what it was, when the community was perfectly aware of its origins? Early on in the hobby I made the same mistake, because of the issues being taboo. Plenty of others do the same, because no one discusses it. It has been noted that it is not an accepted practice. As far as consequence there is the embarrassment of it becoming a public issue. Other than that there is nothing. He has said outright that a ban will change nothing, what else can be done in terms of a "punishment"? That isn't a rhetorical question either, I am looking for input. The only option anyone has been able to offer up is one that is ineffective against the recasting. You try to single out FISD and MEPD, but take a look at the RPF ban list. It looks like the problem is everywhere. I agree about the rift between strict costumers and strict prop collectors, many costumers could care less about the contributions of artists. I think it is an absurd viewpoint, but ignoring the problem won't make it go away.

The issue of recasting & the ill-defined honor code is anything but black & white and there is a lot to it. We as hobbyists have made it very complex in an effort to simplify it. Honor amongst thieves is a broken concept, its sad but its a fact. Turning recasting into a "scarlet letter" type of situation has historically done nothing to stop the practice. Just because someone cannot post to a forum doesn't mean they are out of the loop. Just go to a con and see the dozens of recast hand props for sale. Its high time that we create a dialog instead of putting up a brick wall. There is already a paradigm shift of opinions happening in the hobby, if we don't open our minds to different ways of dealing with these type of situations it will go the wrong way.

Behold the man-cave Its still a little messy, I only had a few stolen minutes to organize it but I am amazed at just how much stuff I had stowed throughout my old apartment. I want to get to work on a spray booth first, so I can paint over the winter. As you can see, there are a few things waiting for my days off next week.

I am late to this ball-game so I apologize in advance. I have been catching up on the banter regarding Chris' recasting of one of Matt's TE suits and helmet, and Mike & I's command decisions on how to deal with it and future incidents. I will try not to jump around too much between my personal morals & standards and the decisions made in the role of a DL of a 501st detachment and admin of a board that tends to bridge the gap between a pure prop board and a pure costuming board. As for our command decision; my first reaction was to ban Chris. The precedent exists in the prop world and we felt that is how we had to react. To ignore the information and look the other way, even though it was shared in private, would have done nothing more than to validate what was being done. After this of course the reaction from many members was negative, and Mike & I continued to discuss the issue throughout. We decided that from a command standpoint we reacted too rashly and rescinded the ban. Why we would do that is somewhat simple. When you ban someone they don't disappear, they just continue what they are doing and fall off the radar. Chris indicated he had no intentions to stop, so a ban would not be effective at all in slowing or stopping the activity. Instead the seemingly odd decision was made to keep the user on board, at minimum the linage of his armor would remain public and hopefully it would save some people from buying a recast, and perhaps letting someone know that they will still be accepted after making a mistake will give them perspective & maybe change their mind about what they are doing. It is not meant to condone recasting, and certainly does not mean its open season for recasting on this forum. Our decision making is dynamic, therefore if it has a "free-for-all" effect it will force us in the other direction, excising all those who choose to violate the "Honor amongst Thieves" concept in respect to screen-linage items. Now, for my own point of view. I don't like the idea of not banning a recaster. If someone can justify copying one thing I think it will be no trouble for them to rip off something else. I hope I am wrong about this in the case of Chris (prove me wrong bro!). I am also alarmed at the increasingly lax view on recasting by a lot of people in the hobby, both on this board and in general. Although seven years on I know I am sick of the subject, so I think most other people who have been around for more than a few years probably are too. Maybe that is a big part of it. It will hurt the hobby though, I know there is something on my table now that will only go into the hands of people I socialize with regularly. The main reason being I don't want to see it bastardized by some hack who wants to get something for nothing. I think its wrong to copy someone's work period, even if its copying a direct copy of a screen used item. No matter if you respect the person or not its about respect for the work, which is almost without exception degenerated in quality by the recast (possibly the most offensive part of the illicit recasting process). You have to make sacrifices to respect your own work, a recaster makes no sacrifice. Almost no money, almost no time, almost no effort. The end result is a product they don't love; and it shows. In this hobby you get what you pay for, no amount of cheap armor would make me want to forgive crappy quality. I know not everyone shares that point of view though. So for them it will be no big deal, as long as it looks okay and doesn't break the bank. Sorry for stirring the pot on this, but its been on my mind over the past couple of weeks and I wanted to share my angle with everyone. I also want everyone to understand the decision that Mike & I came to was determined by us as command of this detachment and not in our personal "off the clock" roles. In closing I will put my DL hat back on and let everyone know that price bashing is unwelcome on this forum. I see Gino taking a lot of flak over his helmet auction, and it is totally uncalled for. An artist is entitled to charge what they want for something. If you think its too much; just don't buy it. If it really is too much, no one will buy it. Take it as what it is and don't be a ***** to the person asking the price. It will only cause venom and drag the board down. Thanks crew, you all rock in your own special way.

I've never seen a HDPE chip on any of the screen-used helmets ears, I think its reasonable to assume most if not all of them were pulled in white plastic.

MG34's had both woodgrain & bakelite stocks, depending on when they were manufactured. With that in mind, bakelite ranged in color from black to a reddish swirly color that looked a lot like woodgrain. That is what I tried to replicate with mine, even though the one Sci-Fire cast clearly had a wooden stock (which was both stained & painted black on real vintage ones). I agree that the film production probably used the bakelite stocks which looked almost black on screen. So I would say that a darker reddish woodgrain would be the way to go.