gino

TK4510, I'm not even going to respond to your comments because if I did, I'll surely be banned for what I'd want to say. Looking forward to the pics even if they aren't comparisons. Anyone else with a Paul helmet that can make comparisons to another maker's helmet, non FX?

Great Tom. Thanks for having the courage to do so. By any chance to you have any other helmet makers stuff to take comparisons with?

You're right. Paul doesn't have to answer. I'm no authority on what anyone has to do. I would think he would WANT to. I got the exact same reaction when I first spoke out against the SDS helmets being film accurate. No one wanted to believe what I was saying was true for several reasons. Now it's just common knowledge. One, because AA was such a nice guy, two, because people wanted it to be true so bad, they wouldn't allow themselves to even entertain the idea that it wasn't. Third because it was something they could easily get and felt personally invested once they had one. Maybe I'm wrong on this one with Paul, maybe I'm not. Don't you want to know for sure? I just don't like it when people make false claims about their stuff (if that is what is going on here). Here's to hoping someone will post some good photos or comparison pics.

So does anyone here have one of Paul's helmets that they can take pics of, including Paul? Just think of it as showing off your goods. Good comparison pics will clear the air. Why the apprehension?

Ok then. I'd love to see more close up pics of your faceplate from different angles.

Obviously, since I don't have one of his helmets, just how exactly is that supposed to happen? Others who do can post photos or comparisons next to other maker's helmets. My whole purpose by saying what I did was to at the very least make people question Paul's word. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think I'm wrong. I guess we'll see. Either one of two things will happen I predict. Either no one will want to show close up pics from different angles because they think I might be right and don't want to contribute to proving my case, or someone will step up and we'll know for sure. So who has the minerals to step up? If you have nothing to hide, then what's the problem. At the very least, you'll get a heavy compliment from me as well as a big fat apology.

Seth, with respect, I don't think it is clear by a long shot that the faceplate wasn't either cast from someone's existing helmet, or cast and modified. Only time, more pics or comparisons will tell.

I don't think the faceplate mold in those pics look like what you posted at all. Keith hit the nail on the head. I see a lot of inaccuracies in the relatively simple (compared to a faceplate) shaped pieces of the armor you sculpted which makes me more than skeptical that you would be able to nail down the face like you did. Maybe better pics of the face would reveal flaws in the sculpt that support your claim...or maybe it would reveal tells that prove the opposite. I suppose the only way to know for sure is to compare your faceplate to a cast off original one.

And just for the record, are you maintaining that you sculpted that faceplate from scratch completely and didn't use someone else's as a starting point? For someone so bent on accuracy, I'm curious as to why you would approach sculpting the helmet (which I'm still not convinced of) to begin with. Any helmet (or armor) coming from a real deal (regardless of it's generation) will still be more accurate than anything scratch sculpted, no matter how good that sculptor is. There are several inexpensive helmets out there right now that are easily accessible. I guess I'm curious why you would not go with at least one of them. If you weren't so concerned with accuracy as you always claim to be, then I would understand why. I would love to hear your thoughts. PS. not trying to fight with you, just to gain some understanding and clarity on what I'm looking at in your photos.

Hey Paul, I know you sculpted your armor, but doesn't appear to me that you sculpted your faceplate. If you don't mind me asking, what was it taken from? I don't mean to throw around the R word, but it seems like there is a free for all these days on trooper stuff. Just curious as there seems to be a lot of back room deals in the realm of trooper helmets.

As you may or may not know, I have the only set of armor molds that touched the inside of an original rotj suit. These molds were left untouched for posterity (and for making authentic rotj style armor). Mold duplicates were made by casting the original molds in silicone, and making new resin duplicates. Great care was put into making sure there was no generational loss in making these mold duplicates. No shrink silicone as well as no shrink resin was used. These duplicates are what are being used to make the anh/esb style armor. So yes, I have two sets of armor molds, one for rotj, and one for anh/esb. I have yet to complete all the pieces to make a full set of anh armor. So far, I have the final chestplate, shoulder connectors, kidney plate, butt plate, belt, and ab details. The ab plate itself is halfway there, but still isn't completely finished. ALL OTHER PARTS are untouched rotj pieces. I formed a full set of what I have to date so that I can assess what changes, level of sharpness, etc... need to be made. That is what you see pictured all layed out on the floor. The knee belt and sniper knee are very old, and need completely reworked, but I included them in the pic anyway. Also, those are authentic esb/rotj handplates. Here are the most recent pics of my v2 armor with v2 hero and stunt helmets. Final shoulder connectors and chestplate, the shoulder bells are untouched rotj style but I thought the pics looked better with them.

With all respect, that's because you've never seen my stuff in person and made a direct comparison.

I knew what you meant, I was just joking.

No prob Mike. I'll be sure to note that when the time comes.

Yep. I'm quite confident that I was the first to notice that and so then integrated that into my hero earcap molds. This was done about 3 years ago and are on my v2. hero helmets (which were formed about 3 years ago along with the stunts).

Yes, the original helmet used on Brak's site in the direct comparison is the Dave M. helmet. The cap/back & faceplate on my helmets were molded from the softer detailed (but still screen used) Brian R. helmet. Although my earcaps came from the Dave M. I know this can be a little confusing but it's all there if you read it carefully.

That is correct. The Brian R. faceplate and cap/back was much softer than the Dave M. My v.2 helmet matches the sharpness of the Brian R. helmet which still makes it screen accurate. It would take away from authenticity of my molds if I were to use any artistic license on them which includes sharpening any areas. This way they stay true to the helmet they were taken from.

Mike, I think we have some stuff in common. A lot of people I went to school with had aspirations to do work for the film/commercial industry including myself. Once I realized that I'd have to move to Cali and work for slave wages moving from job to job quickly set my sights on a more marketable career in advertising. I still get to live out my dreams (to some degree) as a costume/prop maker but as my hobby and not profession so that skill set does not go to waste.

Please understand, although I have a lot of confidence in my stuff, I've never said it was perfect. I don't have v.2 armor completed yet, just a handful of pieces. One day it will happen but it could be a long while.

I say it's a fine line between skill and talent. Speaking from my own experiences, I went to art school for product design (althought now I work in advertising). I've seen what people who have some natural talent can be turned into with some training, education, and experience. After that, the line of skill/talent becomes very blurry to me. You are right in saying that it only takes skill to perform some tasks that are necessary to produce some replicas. And I believe it shows in those. But it also takes an artistic edge to be able to distinguish the subtle differences between one thing and another. It doesn't matter if it is drawing, sculpting, or looking a two different photographs. A good eye for distinguishing differences between two things is what I believe is the MOST important quality. That's where the talent comes in. Everything else can be practiced and learned. If you have a good eye, but no ability, can always learn ability. If you have skill, but no eye, sadly this type of person is at a loss. Those who have both are the ones who stand out from the crowd and there are some good ones here. I have an education in product design which gives you a solid background in materials/processes/production. Product design education teaches you to hone your artistic abilities with engineering skills. I'm not saying you need to have this background, but it sure doen't hurt either.

Also, just wanted to note that the text on that site was written by Braks as he had the opportunity to check out that specific helmet in person.

I have made 2 versions of stunt and hero helmets. The v.1 which is what was made available to a number of people, and the v.2 version. The v.2 version of helmet has been around for about 2.5 years now. It is different and vastly better than my v.1 version for a ton of reasons. I've posted pics of this helmet a long time ago on various forums including here, but these comparison shots are new. Also, please take into consideration that although my goal was to try to match the Dave M. helmet, I only had earcap molds taken from it as the cap/back and faceplate were taken from the Brian R. helmet. The Brian R. helmet is much softer in sharpness of pull than the Dave M. helmet so my helmet ends up looking much less sharp than the helmet that it's being compared to. I did not want to modify the molds to sharpen them as that would detract from their originality. Keep in mind that the parts I make do indeed match the sharpness of the helmet it was taken from. Here is the link to the comparison shots. It's in the section labeled NEW!!! Gino v2 Replica Helmet www.looksirdroids.com

Also, just wanted to add. Of all the things that were said here on this thread, the one thing that just disgusted me more than anything else was the sentiment that its okay to recast something just because it wasn't sculpted from scratch. If you are someone who feels this way, and are into collecting authentic props/costumes, you seriously need to re-evaluate this thinking. Sure it is the property of the studios and I think we can all agree that none of us have any legal right to these things. That being said, I have to say that in order for this hobby to exist at all, we have to brush that aside and apply some ethical template to what is allowable to be recast and what isn't. Otherwise it becomes prop recast anarchy and that would be devastating to our hobby. I've tried in the past and talked with people over the years about this issue of recasting and how to apply some black and white rules to it. I've come to understand and believe that you can't set clear cut rules for this. Each situation is unique and different. That being said, I believe that still 99% of the time, it's pretty easy to know when it's right or when its wrong. For those who say, well if you just scratch build it, then it would always be clear cut. I would say to them, that doesn't help me or anyone like me who is ONLY interested in items that come directly from screen originals. For people like me, anything scratchbuilt holds little value. To each their own, but I know I'm not alone here. People who are lucky enough to come into possession of screen used items or cast off screen used items etc... will never want to make them available to others if they have to fear a total free for all on others recasting those pieces. In the case of the stuff I make, that is why you never see it in large quantities and only to select people who I've gained trust and respect for, and most especially agree with this way of thinking. This mentality hurts the people who want to acquire authentic cast off pieces because no one will ever want to risk having them be recast. It is happening right now as we speak, most people not ever knowing what sweet delicious items COULD be made available to them but never will be due to this. I've heard some people mention that it takes no skill or talent to form, put together, and detail what they consider some mere pieces of plastic. To that I have to wholeheartedly disagree. There are so many factors that need to be considered along every one of those steps that it gives me a headache to think about trying to list all of them. To this very day, I still strive to perfect and improve upon the minutae that makes these pieces match their screen used counterparts and there is always room for improvement. I do take comfort that the room for improvement is getting smaller and smaller with every effort though. Just some food for thought.

Will do. I had hoped to do it today but too much unexpected stuff came up.

I plan on posting a full documentation of the history of these armor molds including all it's derivitives as soon as I get a chance. Hopefully early this week. One thing I know for sure is that there was not more than one set of molds taken from the original suit that all the others were spawned from. But I'll get into that more specifically later in my post.