Art Andrews

As much as it will make Mike cry, yes, in my opinion the radio needs to be black. Yes, I believe it is just a German MP40 triple pouch. The one thing I don't know is if they made any modifications or if this is an original pouch or a reproduction. By the 1970s there were quite a few reproductions. I have yet to find one I am perfectly happy with but most of the replicas are ok. You can see more of my thoughts on this in the following thread: In search of the perfect canvas shoulder pouch

The Cantina Interior was shot in the UK. To the best of my knowledge, four scenes with the sandtroopers were shot in Tunisia: the opening desert scene, the roadblock scene, the scene outside the Cantina where the C-3PO and R2 see the stormtroopers about to enter the canina, and finally, the scene where the stormtroopers watch the Millenium Flacon blast off outside Docking Bay 94. All the other scenes were filmed in the UK.

T-RAY, been looking at the reference of the radio boxes from the movie and I feel fairly confident the entire radio is a single color... black. However, depending on the way the light falls, the back and the face do sometimes look different. I am not sure if this is because the material is different (I don't know if the leather wrap is still on the radio or not) that the light is being reflected differently, or if it is a matter of it simply being how the light is falling on the different planes... Either way, it still looks to me like the whole radio is black. While I wouldn't consider it definitive, even John Mollo mentions that they sprayed the whole pack black (which we know isn't entirely true due to the blue parts, but you get my point.) Might be interesting to paint the back a different shade of black than the face, but overall, these pieces were made very very quickly and very last minute so I think it is all just plain black. Just my thoughts.

John, I am glad you agree my posts are exposing a "systemic problem." That is indeed my purpose and glad we can agree on something.

No need to apologize for taking offense....and you are right. I have seen this board (as a whole) turn a blind eye again and again to wrongdoing and pretend things weren't what they clearly were because they didn't want to take a strong stand on an issue. It isn't about agreeing with me, but when people begin to waffle and start with the "well.... it is a grey area" (I am not picking on Daetrin for saying that in this thread)... it frustrates me because claiming every controversy is a "grey area" has become a cop-out and a way not to be forced to take a stand. Right or wrong, stand up, be a man, and be counted for stating in what you believe instead of some mealy-mouthed and ultimately uselessly indecisive post! If it makes you feel better, I am not calling you out specifically, but as a whole, this board has shown itself to be pretty spineless in cases like this in the past... as has been posted so much in this thread already... that is just FACT... even if no one wants to admit it.

Thought this image was interesting as I never realized this alleyway was one continuous set.

Not planning on it as these are fairly readily available via millitary reproductions. This isn't a leather pouch, but a canvas pouch. I haven't found the perfect pouch yet, but I believe it is out there.

I agree with you that the shoulder pouch is indeed the original green color. I am looking at my ref now in regard to the two tone color of the radio.

In what photos does it look dark grey to you? To me, in virtually every photo it looks black to me.

Haha... just wait until you see some of the new stuff I am working on with trooper ID... It is very interesting, at least to me, to see who is who and who is wearing what armor in what scene. Interestingly, Mr Move Along changes armor during the roadblock scene!!!

I am going to have to disagree here. This isn't a "misunderstanding." This is John doing the John thing... and then trying to twist it to make himself somehow look the victim. He has done it here before, he has done it ad nauseam in regard to c-e, and has done it at TDH. All Mike can be blamed for is being naive enough to work with John when he already knew John's nature. Let's not be spineless placaters here... lets call it like it is. This is the same old crap coming from the same old people. John, your supposedly damning email shows nothing but the fact that your ridiculous demands had driven Mike to utter frustration. While he was using curse words, which you seem to be quite fond of yourself, he isn't calling names or slinging mud... again, unlike you. Now, given the weak-kneed "lets all sweep this under the carpet and not call a spade a spade" people who are the unfortunate majority of this board, I don't expect anything to happen or anyone else who will be willing to say it like it is, but even if I have to stand alone, I will, and will continue to say you are wrong. You posting in this thread is wrong, unbecoming, clearly envious and based on some desperate jealousy, and is pretty pathetic. The fact that such drivel is allowed is equally pathetic. The fact that no one wants to admit a lot of this simply stems from your personal issues with Mike only proves how pathetic all of this is... but keep on keeping on. There will always be those who are too afraid, too blind, or too dumb to see people like you for what you are so you are certain to always have an audience.

Daetrin, I don't think anyone is disputing John's contribution to this project. His claims of participation are not what is making his current actions "villainous" it is how he is publicly making a spectacle of this and making every effort to trash Mike when Mike has bent over backwards to do the right thing. To me this is little more than sour grapes stemming from the whole C-E fiasco. This isn't about defining a hero and a villain but about handling an issue with incredibly poor taste, especially considering the history here and all that Mike has done for John.

No fan boy here and I have no rule book or list of favorites. It is unfortunate that it seems to annoy you that I like working with reputable people who do a great job and lack the psychological and sociological issues people like you continually vex this hobby with. I am not "beating" you down, just observing your character and nature and your response above only proves my point. Sci-Fire and I have currently shelved the radio project after seeing Mike's radio unless we are able to get out hands on an original radio. Your self-congratulating assumption that we would use your parts is all-together laughable. Unlike you, John Bush and I feel no overwhelming need to prove ourselves or force our way into a market that is being adequately served. We are both just happy that better radios are being made available. And no, I haven't gotten anything from Mike and won't be getting anything from Mike in the foreseeable future because I am funneling all my funds into non-prop projects and can't afford to buy one of Mike's radios right now, as much as I would like one and as much as I think the purchase would be well worth it. So, no radio for me unfortunately. Sorry your innuendo that I was getting a kickback for my support didn't work out there...

What does all this mean? It means some people can't leave well enough alone and just go on their way. For anyone who knows anything at all about this situation or the wider circumstances that are prompting it, you knew it was just a matter of time before John did this. Utterly inevitable and utterly contemptible. So many shades of TE in this kind of post I can't help but wonder if John's maiden name was Gauthier...

Since we do see the pack without the tape and since the tape was clearly only added because the pack was falling apart, I say do it without the tape. The packs are hodge-podge enough in their construction. If the pack had tape in every photo then tape would be a must beut because you have a choice and because it obviously wasn't originally intended to have tape, I say leave it off.

Glad to help guys! I have finally gotten off my butt ans started work again on identifying all the armor, pauldrons, weapons, and backpacks from each scene... and this just popped out at me while I was doing it. I look forward to seeing the first person do theirs little cylinders like that! To me, it looks a lot more functional and interesting!

These aren't great shots, but hopefully this will help you see the pieces in context a little better.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but now that I go back and look at this closeup... it seems that it should have been obvious these pieces were raised.... If you look closely, you can see the hint of the understructure.

Some may know this already but it is on screen for such a brief second I thought it might be worth posting. On Pack #3, there is a detail on the side that a lot of people have called "shotgun shells." I always thought they reminded me of the little metal cylinders of face paint the army used to use... We almost always see them from the side and they just look like little cylinders. However, when viewed from the back, they have a very interesting shape... The little cyllinders that we see are actually not directly attached to the main box as I have always thought, but are held off the box by tapered pylons. In fact, they almost look like a single piece of perhaps rubber that was designed to lock some sort of tube of long shaft (like a boat paddle) between each of the little cylinders... Just thought it might be of interest for anyone who didn't already know. I certainly have never seen anyone add the detail like this...

Mike, Congrats on a truly astounding job! I am not impressed by much but this has blown me out of the water!

Definitely not throwing it out. It worked great on repairing a small prob with Mirax's snowboard bindings!

Well, I gave the E-6000 a try today on some test plastic. I am going to try very hard not to trash it and will just say... it isn't what I am looking for. E-6000 is a very thick (thicker than honey or toothpaste) gel-like glue. It reminds me quite a bit of Goop, which is funny because when I looked them both up, several sites say that E-6000 is basically an alias for Goop. E-6000 solidifies slowly and "hardens" to a silicone like rubbery compound. If you lay it down on a piece of styrene and let it dry it creates a great little area of traction and reminds me of the rubber you see drizzled onto non-skid gloves. While I know a lot of people use this and love this for armor, it simply isn't what I want. I think I am going back to looking into adhesives that melt and fuse the two parts in question, like the styrene cement John recommended from IPS Weldon. Please don't misunderstand, if E-6000 works for you and your armor, great! It just isn't the type of glue I was looking for.

You are right. For trooping purposes I can see people wanting a durable color.

I am with Keegan.... spacepack strap.

After looking a bit more, I am going to have to say that the sandtroopers don't have the hooks. You can see at least the Move Along and Lewis troopers inner biceps and it is fairly clear there are no hooks. However, because my arms are so long, I am going to add the hooks to my armor. They are subtle enough that I am not too concerned about them showing and hopefully they will help a little with holding the biceps up.