TD-4935

lets say you took the 501st out of the equation, pray tell me who the frak are ya gonna sell ya helmets to? huh? if you "artisans", many of whom ARE 501st decide to boycott the selling of your wares to the 501st then, basically, your biting the hand that feeds you!! it's insane that you could even contemplate that kind of business suicide. (when i say "you", i mean the collective "artisans " you. thats not directed at you personally Gino.) Gino, you're obviously not too bothered about selling to the 501st, i see you as a seller to rich prop collectors and people wanting a great display piece, which is totally cool. you've found your market and are happy. Many other "artisans" out there may actually rely on the 501st for their bread and butter. You think they are gonna drop us? This in itself will only make recasting more rife IMHO. oh...wait........it's......... REALITY CHECK!!!!

i'm glad i just read that Seth. you've hammered home some very valid points which i personally feel rather silly about. My aired views on this subject were rather scewed by what i can only describe as a personality clash. I owe Gino an apology in essence. we've had a few clashes before on other forums some of which i still stand by but this one was adolescent obtuseness. It is hard to make a judgement on something someone has done when you have a certain respect for that individual (since being on this forum, Chris has been nothing but helpful and courteous and positively involved when someone needed help or advice) Gino on the other hand comes across rather evasive, accusatory, pompous and egotistical (this is not meant as an attack, just an observation) and i guess i found it hard to get past my personal dislike for his forum persona. Gino was only looking out for his and other artists work and he was totaly right to do so and i do completely agree with him but i couldnt bring myself to side with him because his board persona really gets my blood boiling. its irrational, stupid and childlike and for that i'm sorry. i still dont have to like his forum persona but i must endeavour to not let this cloud my judgement when replying to posts. He is a very talented guy and yes, he should charge what he likes for his work and thus i also apologies for my comments on that. i wasnt condoning recasting, i guess i was siding with Chris on a "he's a good bloke" basis. recasting, however you look at it is killing this hobby. things are definately going underground and from where i'm sitting i thought i WAS underground. just look at the clone thing, nobody can get anything right now because the artists are too afraid to let their product out of their sight for fear of recasting. thanks Seth, you are a truly wise man.

Kevin is in the same boat as me. We're like East and West coast counterparts, slaving away to finish our Clone armor. LOL, you're both a couple of perfectionists and i for one would rather wait just that bit longer for perfection than blow it all on mediocrity. i've seen some piccies though and its looking great.

soon, very soon. dont want to say too much just yet but hopefully it'll be a reality in a short while. i know the man in question is very busy right now but he's not too far away from completion. i'm sure he'll make an announcement on CT.net when he's ready.

they've already got one, the RPF. registration is now open to all those who feel like being belittled, bullied picked on and vilified for being a "noob" by the "elite pre 2002 crew"

thats my whole point G, i was actually saying you WERENT in it for the money. If this IS the case, i'll give you $500 for one of your lids

I have held my opinion on this issue for a while. So, here goes. Yes - that's what it is all about, getting something cool. The only reason you "got something cool" is because you were at the head of the line. And now YOU want to change the rules, so you are the only person with something cool. Simply put, you are not doing your long term reputation of being an elitest any good, (I'll sell one or two of my precious items at 5 times the actual value when I feel like slumming with you little people - trust me, you have that rep). Don't get me wrong, I do not condone mass recasting pretty much in lock-step along with what our XO has stated - but you are just another recaster - since you didn't create your helmet(s) out of thin air. This tells me you just want to control the market and give yourself the advantage, so you can continue to bend people over for 1,000 bucks a pop or more. It's not my intention to flame or start a war, but when was the last time you actually suited up or did anything in this hobby that didn't line your pockets? Trooping for charity causes now are you? Official member of the 501st? Doing anything but selling helmets to people for way too much money? When you start to give as much as you take - then I'll start caring about your calls to ban someone for re-casting - anything short of that - you are just another maker of items looking to sell (JMHO) P.S. If this posting is too controversial, please feel free to truncate, edit or otherwise remove anything that would violate the board rules. I will not take offense, and surely wouldn't go so far as to call for banning someone on a difference of opinion or practice.. amen to that brother, i love the giving nature of costuming for these amazing causes. it's a wonderfull by product of the hobby for me. before i joined the UKGarrison it was all about the prop and the build but now its far more. on a side note however, In Gino's defence (i cant believe i'm actually saying this but....) if he wanted to line his pockets he could flood the market with his product at a far cheaper price. This could also in a bizarre way reduce the need to recast his stuff. if his product was widely available at a reasonable price so even us plebs could get hold of it you wouldnt want to buy a second rate recast would you? you could say then, that recasting is possibly a result of the exclusivity and hard to come by nature of this hobby. mix that with ego and a persons need to feel important and you have two devisions. the haves and the want to haves. when the opportunity arises to own a recast of an otherwise impossible to get item someone is gonna buy it so encouraging the recasters ergo Gino, its all your fault (joke!!)

We do get it. We understand the "elitists" dont like having their wares shared we also understand that it's perfectly fine to recast aquired studio originals and charge ridiculous prices or showboat about owning said original item but claim it will never see the light of day but lets be clear about why its not cool to recast the recasters. Its got to be about exclusivity. With so many so called "cast from a screen used " helmets doing the rounds and as many molds to equal this (most of them probably made by Matt shortly before he sold his "only molds" to some poor bloke) this really is a moot point now. If its about sharing an exciting find with the community and not about money then if someone recasts the recast the issue should be about dilution of quality and thus a simple "buyer beware" not a moral crusade. i've paid for a few turkeys in my time and it was down to my ignorance at the time but if an item looks good and is reasonably priced, i'm gonna buy it regardless of origins. i'm a costumer as well as a collector so the source is important to a degree but when the elitist circle decide to monopolise and covet while charging silly money i'm gonna look elsewhere. I cant buy a Gino lid a) because he doesnt sell stuff to people who argue with him i could buy a whole load of TE2's for the pric of one of his lids and c) i'm a firm believer in ethical buying and thus wont put money into the pocket of a hypocrite elitist snob. thats why i go TE2 every time. the name alone counts so much more to me than "accuracy" believe me, we peasent folk do get it.

morals?? it least Chris isnt charging $1000 for a lid that is, however you look at it, a recast (and lets face it, the only reason you dont want people recasting your work is cause of money, be honest now) He's also given more to this forum than just showing off, criticism and pitchfork waving. Mike and Seth have made the right decision. shouldnt you be checking your auction?

proud to be one of the 100. well done all

great job. as much as i like my scratch built MG-15, a detailed rubber version would be ace. I'm curious as to whether it's possible for it to be reduced down in to seperate parts like a kit and then re-assembled or adaptable in some way to be able to do this as the replica gun ban here in Blighty has put a dampner on importing. this can be gotten round by shipping it as a kit, in seperate packages mind you. Any thoughts?

awesome work there mate

WOW!, thats amazing. totally awesome. great display piece for sure.

essentially you could use a button or coin that aproximates the curve of the tube stripe. i just lightly penciled lines using the two pence as a stencil for the curve. getting the spacing right was the hard part but if you have a lid with decals you could measure the spacing and put little marks down first (darn it, wish i'd thought of that a week ago ) and then use the button or coin and with a steady hand and some patience get painting.

Well folks, i thought i'd try and emulate the look of the Brian R helmet to a certain degree as it wasnt all that beaten up looking, just a few chips and a bit of grime ( the reason being our GML has a penchant for uber clean TK's and i would hate to not be able to troop in it) It was immensly hard deciding what colour to use for the HDPE coat as all reference showed distinctly different shades, some more beige looking and some a darker green so in the end i settled for a mid green colour. Using latex masking fluid i copied the Brian R chips but kind of held back a little and left a few of the bigger chips out. Then came the "appliance white" coat. Getting this on was a real joy as i set out to be really clumsy and really didnt care if i got runs or not. ironically i didnt get any. if anything it was a little light in areas. All detail was hand painted using humbrol and the two pence piece trick worked like a dream for the tube stripes (with the help of my good friend Capt Morgan Rum ) finally i sanded Keith's mic tips a wee bit to make em look a bit old and gave the helmet a rub down with some newspaper to add grime. Still need a bit of work i think, plus lenses and padding but here we are, need to adjust the back bit a little here. luckily it isnt riveted yet photos are a bit poo but you get the idea. Big thanks to T-Guns for the best lid in town

i've tried every paint imaginable here in Blighty and not one of them will stick to tupperware, or the wet-wipes bottles. it all seems to flake off real easy. it's just a case of re-applying as and when you need to. i normally have a post troop repair and re-paint session.

LOL, certainly dont need encouragement to give THAT method a try

nearly finished mine, just got to paint the tube stripes. Any hints and tips for a tantrum free painting session would be greatly appreciated

hey buddy, dont forget that trying to gauge what colour was used from film stills is gonna be near impossible as different lighting and filters would have been used. just looking at the weathering pictures you posted elsewhere you can see how varied the same costume looks over a number of images. in '76 in England the costume production team would have used Humbrol which i think we can safely say is true. at this time there were only a handfull of colours and 47 was one of them. it also came in a bigger tin back then me thinks. i've used it and once weathering was applied looked pretty good. yours certainly doesnt look far off though

I need to sand the molds a little on the sides, but just have not had the time to get over to my buddy's and take care of that, and also pull a set for you. This month is a going to be a little crazy...it's almost Fall, and the mrs. wants to constantly take road trips on the weekends, eat out, yada, yada... I've also been spending a lot of my time working on Commander Gree. Took this entire week just to fabricate one shoe. i hear ya buddy, you cant rush these things. i'm attacking little bits at a time while trying to maintain a semblance of continuity with the weathering and detail. this isnt easy. i aint going nowhere so whenever my man.

this is why i dont post very often over there. it comes across very clique and a little intolerant of noobs. i only ever really pm people on CT.net and to be fair all the people i've contacted have been tremendous. MEPD is a joy to be a part of. i like to pop over, chew the fat, hang out and have a giggle. Rock on. any news on them thighs Mike

bloody **** Angelo, you dont muck about!! Looking awesome dude now lets see one of the whole ensemble.

Mike, you're totally right and i know this has also come up before but artistry plays a bigger part in my mind. to me it's less about where the armour came from and more about what the individual does with it in a creative manner. I'm sure you'll agree that we've seen awesome costumes here for example and the work thats gone into them is immense and i for one dont care if it's TE, FX, AP or whatever else as a base kit, it's been made to look outstanding. Take also your recent foray into clone sculpting. fantastic artistry, by your own hand using your own attention to detail. THATS worth shouting about. Top marks also to you for speaking out about TM's faceplate. These guys cant stand the fact that someone has pulled off something they can only dream about and all they can do to draw the attention back to them is question its authenticity. MonCal has also been a victim of this and it makes me really angry. it really is time the prop community just simply ignore them and let them fight it out amongst themselves so we can all continue to help each other in a positive light. can i get an Amen?

good points well made. i guess i'll have to just try and ignore the one-up-manship mentality and get from it what i need. i have no doubt that we all owe these guys a debt of thanks for the kits we own but c'mon, the secrets and lies that surround this subject are so complex i'm beginning to feel i cant trust what any of them say (Guns and TM NOT included. top boys both) i'm beginning to think that some people are only interested in the Kudos and will try to ****** it at any cost, the sale of armour is secondary to them. to be the first to discover something and in some cases NOT tell us, just hint at it is BS. i even had a particular armour maker from a european country recently tell me that HIS armour had been recast by just about everyone while standing there picking holes in my AP kit i felt the need to tell him go away. there are only a handfull of people in this community that i have great respect for and could hold a conversation with without getting annoyed and a lot of them are here but hey, MEPD ROCKS Can i get a hallelujah?

good luck on that one. i'm trying to see it from both sides point of view but i'm afraid i cant get my head that far up my jacksy seriously, i'd thought we'd have all learnt by now to just not open that can of worms. i dont know who to believe and now frankly i just dont care. never did to start with if truth be told. As soon as you say 'armour history' the egos kick off and nobody gets any more information than they did last time and toys get thrown out of the pram and hey-presto another forum tainted. bloody shame if you ask me that newbies have to witness two grown men arguing online about it like a couple of teenage school girls. If you ask me, who needs a history lesson when the teachers cant decide who's account is the real account. still, waddyagonnado huh?