Ghostbusters 2 Life size Vigo painting

[Utinni]

^ I'm currently working 10 hour days for the next 11 days straight to x-mas so my time is limited. Rhett has PM'ed me but I haven't had to the time to sit down and look at it, I'll look for my masters to compare.

*Edit* Ok, I looked at Rhett's PM. He sent me a couple pictures of resin casts, similar to the ones already posted, no masters yet. I sent him a couple pictures of my Gun Kit, he requested to see them. When I get home I'll look for my masters. I'm looking for some good pictures of the Slo-blo box, the tube connected to it (has the green tubing attached to it), the trigger box and the front sleeve that connects the clear tubing to the gun handle, not the trigger ring.

I did a small run of full resin gun kits a few years ago, before Rhett was selling anything. Sony contacted me and requested I stop selling full kits, but could offer small batches of single parts. I sold most of them off awhile ago and the final batch of parts on ebay last year.

Here's a shot of one of my raw kits:

1st test finished piece

- Jeff

 

[AJ Quick]

With that being said, at this point it would seem that the recasting of phatom50's knob(s) was a firsttimer mistake. If you feel that is not the case, then lets hear it.

Art.

Normally I would agree with you. Someone purchases a knob (for example I sell real knobs) and then says well I need a few more of these.. and I don't want to buy anymore from the original seller. I'll just make a quick cast of it. Its not gonna affect the original seller because he sells the real deal.. I'll sell cheap resin copies.

But. The main thing that you have to realize is this:

-The knobs were custom made masters (2-3 of the knobs in question).
-The knobs were sold to Rhett in resin (he didn't get real/original knobs).
-Rhett took the resin knobs and made more resin knobs (recasting).

You can choose to call it a "firsttimer mistake".. except by the time that this occurred Rhett had already been selling Proton Pack kits and Ghost Trap kits and Ecto Google kits. He was far from a firsttimer. This was in fact long after he screwed up his first round of Proton Pack sales and perhaps his second round as well.

I'm not surprised he was open with you. He is trying to get a bargaining chip. He was never willing to admit it with me. (Here is a Private Message he sent me on the RPF on July 13, 2009):

AJ,
It's come to my attention that you've posted more untruths about me recasting someones work. I have NEVER recasted anything.

From anyone.

Period.

In legitmate forums such as this, you must prove your claim, and knowing that you have no proof, I'm asking you to remove the recasting claim.

I have no problem with you saying my work has shoddy, as was the case during my first runs of props.

I am completely blown away by you vicious amounts of attacks on me, and am not pleased with what I am hearing.

I am warning you that if you continue to bash me in any way in a public forum, by personal name, or company, I will have no choice but to sue you for libel, and claim damages.

Consider yourself warned.

In regards to Brock's posting. I had completely forgotten about him recasting your Ecto Goggle knobs. That is something he still sells on the RPF. It is possible he is still selling and utilizing those.

Similar to what you have stated, Rhett claims he didn't know it was a no-no to recast found parts (even though technically the one piece was machined by you) and when he was confronted about it, he changed his parts and has not been using your recast parts since.

 

[AJ Quick]

Not long after this incident, another member starting offering AN/PVS-5B night vision frames that were Israeli. The actual metal parts were hard to find and someone mentioned for me to make copies of those, then mold the parts. I did and I offered them to the community.

Hotshot bought one of my Ecto Goggle Side Knobs Kit, and within a week was offering his own Etco Goggle Kits complete with said knobs. This was the nail in the coffin for Hotshot as the evidence could not be any clearer. (Sorry, but I don't have the photos of his Ecto Goggle builds as he was banned shortly afterward, thus resolving the issue at the time. Others members can chime-in if they want, and I do have the PMs regarding this very issue, but the photos he posted revealed direct recasting of my fabricated part.)

Brock, I couldn't find the thread where he was selling the Ecto Goggles. They are probably long gone.. but I did find someone who was selling their used Hotshot Goggles that they purchased from Rhett here on the RPF.

Thread: http://www.therpf.com/f13/ghostbusters-ecto-goggles-97898/

It would take actually seeing the master for it, but it looks the same to me.

EDIT: Found the thread where he was selling them earlier this year: http://www.therpf.com/f13/ghostbusters-ecto-goggles-shipped-79873/

The knobs are definitely resin but like I said it would require seeing the master to know if he is still using the recast knobs or if he fashioned them some other way. You can also see the problems that occured during that thread.

 

[phantom50]

Art.

Normally I would agree with you. Someone purchases a knob (for example I sell real knobs) and then says well I need a few more of these.. and I don't want to buy anymore from the original seller. I'll just make a quick cast of it. Its not gonna affect the original seller because he sells the real deal.. I'll sell cheap resin copies.

But. The main thing that you have to realize is this:

-The knobs were custom made masters (2-3 of the knobs in question).
-The knobs were sold to Rhett in resin (he didn't get real/original knobs).
-Rhett took the resin knobs and made more resin knobs (recasting).

And this statement solidifies the main problem I have with Rhett. Three of the Trap Knobs I sold were fabricated by me. I don't care if he wanted to go out and find the parts/fabricate the parts in order to sell resin casts. But it is clearly the opposite of his actions. To prove the point on the Ecto Goggles, here is my original mold and prototype casts of the found parts from the AN/PVS-5B frames:

Notice the hex nut and the very thin walls (especially on the bottom) on the left knob in the photo. I found this rather difficult to cast as a part, and it only covered the GB2 style of knob. So I fabricated my own part that resembled that knob and it had thicker walls. As shown in the photo, the knob is reversible for either the GB1 or GB2 style:

As for the original AN/PVS-5B casts I made, I never released them and the only pull is shown above. I only released the simpler version I had made (black reversible knob) and told those who wanted the GB2 style knob to add a hex nut to finish the look. I later found an OEM part that would save me the trouble of casting them (which is the current offerings), however Rhett was not sold these parts nor does he sell them. And for a timeframe, this Ecto Goggle nonsense happened well after the confrontation and probationary period involving the Trap Knob fiasco of '06. So there should be no confusion about a first-timer's mistake.

Again, I have yet to see one master part (even if it is a found part) from Rhett in all of these dealings and thus have regulated it to be a simple act of greed on his part. Has he changed? I don't know. I will never deal with him again and will steer those people with an honest demeanor away from him. I know I can't stop him from making things, just as I can't stop people from buying his wares.

But I've seen enough people complain about his resin builds and his atrocious attitude toward buyers once they receive their items that I feel compelled to speak out on these matters.

And maybe it's more of a code of honor to me than anything. Because I know that everything I have ever sold represents me and my character. And if I screwed up, it should be me fixing the situation. Tenets that should be fundamental to the concept of community.

Again, the painting is the issue at hand and I'll let you folks resolve that issue.

As a slight ice-breaker to the circumstances surrounding your joining, may I be the first to (openly) express my admiration and congratulations on your choice of avatar and profile pic.

Brock
phantom50

 

[AJ Quick]

I've been trying to figure out a timeline to show that this all wasn't a "newbie mistake".

Here are some basic details. I have included Propfan in on the timeline because he would be crucial to provide evidence against Rhett.

Jan 2005 - Propfan is caught recasting Volguus' Booster frame. It is viewed as a first time mistake. (We were all neieve).
Dec 2005 - Phantom50 first mentions Rhett doing somethign bad but waiting for proof.
Dec 2006 - Propfan makes claim to Rhett recasting gun grips (in PM).
Jan 2007 - Rhett changes his screen name. (to distance himself from himself?)
Jan 2008 - Rhett is banned for recasting Propfan's gun grips and Phantom50's Trap knobs. In addition to just plain ripping off dozens of people.
July 2008 - Propfan is caught recasting Dr. Slurpee's Trigger Tip and banned.

Now trying to find the evidence from Propfan's gun grips is going to be hard. They were posted back in 2008 in the For Sale forum, and were auto deleted 90 days after the last reply. Propfan could be contacted but he was banned from the RPF and other places since mid-2008. I don't know how willing to help he would be.

I also have found numerous excellent posts on Proptopia from Rhett. He purchased a lot of parts from banned users like Jeremy Moore and Propfan, who themselves were recasting each other and selling parts back and forth.

Here is a good one from Dec 2005:

Always classy Namebrand. I love it!
Kleine, I see your point as well . . .but it's a little too black and white.
I've recevied approxmatly 150-200 different parts form profan in the last year. Not one was misleading or badly cast. They also didn't need very much cleanup. Now, I did get some of the same parts in set deals with JMoore, and those were a little worse for the wear, and some were tossed. They may have been propfans at one time, but these were definatly not recent ones. Either way, his photos may be old(update them already!!) but they are not misleading.
As for selling resin parts that have been messy . . .I've purchsed some real goose eggs. . .even from places like Horizen Models(remeber those Stargate beauties!!) had inperfections in 80-100 dollar kits. It really does come with the territory. Pinholes and the like are par for the course. They are frustrating, but they always happen. With resin and silicone costing well over 100 bucks a gallon nowadays, I wouldn't just throw out peices either. And it's not about money, it's about waste v. work.
I should also mention that most of the time, but not always, my propfan parts have arrived with a little bondo here and there, and even though the aren't wash and primed(who would?), Charles is usually nice enough to sand them flat if needs be(like his knobs . . .the set I mean).
Now, if peices had chunks missing or the resin was tacky(bad mix or cure), that's a whole new thread!!!

Oh, and I'm stil lauging at bondo pubes . . . .

My guess is Rhett got tired of buying the same resin parts and just decided to recast them. Lot of the found parts were probably recast and since they are fairly common we didn't notice or care.

 

[mrsmartypants]

As a slight ice-breaker to the circumstances surrounding your joining, may I be the first to (openly) express my admiration and congratulations on your choice of avatar and profile pic.

And allow me to be the second. Olivia Munn - thumbsup

 

[Cythusly]

I ordered some grips about 3 years ago from Hotshot. They were foam and supposed to be coated in rubber, as I remember they were coated THINLY in some sort of latex that rubbed off after very minor use.

I know there was some drama about these being recast from somebody else's grips, but I don't have that information (somebody want to chime in there to confirm or deny?)

I sent Rhett a couple emails and told him about the problem and he said that nobody else had that problem, implied it was isolated just to me and that he'd look into doing something about it. I've never heard back from him about these to this day, this seems to be his M.O. I think I paid something like $30 for these and they weren't even close to worth it. Hope this was helpful.

Not a great picture, but these are now completely bald and worn through. This was after about 2 days of having them. If you need to see the emails I can post them.

-Tyler

 

[AJ Quick]

Tyler,

I bought a set of those too. I just found them in the corner when cleaning up a few months ago. Mine had zero rubber coating left. It would be really great if we could get Propfan to speak out and provide information about Rhett recasting his grips. However propfan himself was banned for recasting. That never really did surprise me. Rhett and him were selling parts back and forth and I think it just became easier for Rhett to just recast the parts and sell them.

He was also using another users parts at the time who is now banned as well. It kind of speaks volumes the kind of people someone associates with.

 

[Onkelpsycho]

Its interesting to see so much Proton gun, ghost trap and parts pictures in a thread named "Vigo painting"...

:confused

I really don't know whats going on, but it looks like a lot of discussion, that leads to nothing...?!? Right?

I know that Hotshot recasted a lot of stuff, made bad kits and was banned from proptopia, gbfans and maybe other boards.
But till now nothing like that happens in the RPF, he made a run of ecto goggles, some nice runs of the NT olmec planks and a run of vigo paintings and GB paper props, I purchased 'em, too; and NO, I got no OMNI magazine for free...

I was there, when the big drama about Rhett started in the Proptopia, and he was banned, so I think this topic is closed. But now someone came across and start a new discussion about that whole story.

Vigo painting - Hotshots bad Resin parts in the past: connection??????

Know what I mean?

This is a prop forum, a lot of things are going on, no-one knows if its legal, what people do. And this leads to the other topic about props and (re)casting. Is it allowed to cast props, to recast screenused props? to make props from copyrighted movies at all? Who knows?

But for me it looks like it goes back to the old stories of Hotshots past in other boards. And then, a few of the Proptopia and gb fans members appear and start to bash Rhett and his work and I dont see a reason.

There was a wonderful line of Alan

Lets please keep in mind that this thread is about the Vigo painting, not about shoddy quality proton pack kits or similar.

 

[Kingpin]

Vigo painting - Hotshots bad Resin parts in the past: connection??????

Context and history. If a man forges paintings for several years and then moves onto official documentation forging, you'll want a record of previous acts to work from.

The thing is though (and it has been mentioned numerous times), this whole new topic wouldn't have sprung up, had Rhett not gotten territorial about Superman wanting to do his own run of Vigo painting prints. He appeared to quickly jump the gun in assuming that the file that Superman was planning to use for his prints was the one from Rhett's run, and there's still some debate about the true intent for the original file Rhett used, as to whether it was always intended to be the basis for a commercial run, or would be distributed freely for RPF community use.

Is it allowed to cast props, to recast screenused props?

This came up on Proptopia a few years back, someone had gotten one of the Proton Packs from Universal, which was strongly believed to have been directly pulled from a screen-used Pack in the movie (In fact, I believe it may have been PropFan himself who was the person who presented said Pack) where the user was offering to make casts of the Universal Pack. The idea was quickly shot down as it was felt that it still counted as recasting.

 

[vaderman1701]

Tyler,

I bought a set of those too. I just found them in the corner when cleaning up a few months ago. Mine had zero rubber coating left. It would be really great if we could get Propfan to speak out and provide information about Rhett recasting his grips. However propfan himself was banned for recasting. That never really did surprise me. Rhett and him were selling parts back and forth and I think it just became easier for Rhett to just recast the parts and sell them.

He was also using another users parts at the time who is now banned as well. It kind of speaks volumes the kind of people someone associates with.

I wanted to speak up for Rhett in regards to the "alleged" recast grips. These grips were not recast. I was in Rhett's apartment here in Maryland when he sculpted these parts from pink foam and apoxie sculpt. I was even accused by AJ of being Rhett's sockpuppet on GBFans and was banned for no reason. I can assure you, I am not Rhett. I think it is pretty pathetic that after 3 years people are still trying to trying to witch hunt Rhett. Did he cast some bad parts..yes? Did he have some poor customer service in the past..yes? Did he recast some of Phantom50's knobs..yes he admitted to that and has stopped using them. However, he has also had some very positive runs here on the RPF and BikerScout.Net. He has learned some hard lessons and has moved on and has become a better prop builder and provides better customer service.

Let's leave the past in the past and move on. I am sure we all have some props we can go build.

Scott

 

[AJ Quick]

Its interesting to see so much Proton gun, ghost trap and parts pictures in a thread named "Vigo painting"...

The discussion dictates the thread, not the subject.

This thread started when a known recaster tried to assert that he had the rights and approval from the original artist of the Vigo paintings to print his.. and therefore the other user should not be selling his.

I know that Hotshot recasted a lot of stuff, made bad kits and was banned from proptopia, gbfans and maybe other boards.

Its obvious that you are a fond supporter of Rhett. But read what you just wrote. Someone who is a known recaster, whose recasting past is being overlooked because he doesn't do it anymore. Yet the majority of the stuff he sells is based on found items that he has cast, or items that he has printed off at a Kinkos and sells. He goes and tries to assert himself over other people interested in selling paper props at a cheaper price...

Am I the only one who has a BS meter? Its off the charts when ever Rhett does anything.

I wanted to speak up for Rhett in regards to the "alleged" recast grips. These grips were not recast. I was in Rhett's apartment here in Maryland when he sculpted these parts from pink foam and apoxie sculpt.

Looking at your signature "AW Studios". Rhett's screenname was AW Hotshot. Is that a coincidence? Nope. You were his business partner. Lots of people can show up and say they saw a master. Does that mean that its true? Post a picture.

I was even accused by AJ of being Rhett's sockpuppet on GBFans and was banned for no reason.

Just checked. You don't have an account on GBFans and your account on Proptopia isn't banned. I can still see how I could accuse you of being Rhett's sockpuppet though... especially if you are using the same computer.

Did he recast some of Phantom50's knobs..yes he admitted to that and has stopped using them.

I'm glad you both know Rhett personally and ALSO know that he is a recaster. Yet a year ago he sent me a legal threat saying that he would sue me if I said he recast because he claimed he never did.

Again, Why am I the only one who has a BS meter that is off the charts with this guy?

We still haven't seen Rhett refute anything, nor post proof that he didn't continue recasting Brock's knobs in the runs on the RPF..

 

[Onkelpsycho]

Its obvious that you are a fond supporter of Rhett. But read what you just wrote.

What you call a supporter? I know Rhetts parts from the past, I saw Andy's pics, because he was the only one who built this whole proton pack kit, and worked hard to get useful parts from Rhetts bad Resin Casts. And I never bought anything at this time from Rhett.

I had the first contact, when I bought the vigo painting, and yeah, it was a nice price incl. international shipping. I was happy to have a lifesize vigo painting. I think a "normal" buyer dont think about, where the basic file come from. For me it was never a thing of "authentic Vigo Paintings made by Hotshot", for me it was more a thing of "Hotshot is able to print this file out in this big size", and thats for less, than I would pay here at a local copy shop...

Someone who is a known recaster, whose recasting past is being overlooked because he doesn't do it anymore. Yet the majority of the stuff he sells is based on found items that he has cast, or items that he has printed off at a Kinkos and sells. He goes and tries to assert himself over other people interested in selling paper props at a cheaper price...

I know his GB parts, but he wasnt selling anything of this stuff here in the RPF, so there was no reason to dig these old stories out. If someone make a good job, Im the last one who will reproach someone with his mistakes from the past.

His NT olmec Planks were excellent work, for example. And it seems that no-one have any problem around here with Rhett during these projects. These were great runs.

Looks more like a "personal" problem between you and Rhett. :confused

 

[Alan Castillo]

I think its time to lock this thread.

The Vigo Painting is a non-issue IMO.

 

[AJ Quick]

Looks more like a "personal" problem between you and Rhett. :confused

Its not a personal problem between me and Rhett. Its a personal problem against people who steal from my friends. People who are narcissistic and lie to convey themselves as something they are not. It must be my personality flaw.

I think its time to lock this thread.

The Vigo Painting is a non-issue IMO.

This thread has evolved away from the Vigo issue. Information was requested about his recasting past. This thread has exposed Rhett as the recaster and liar that he is. Why this was not enough to ban him? I don't know.

I know his GB parts, but he wasnt selling anything of this stuff here in the RPF, so there was no reason to dig these old stories out. If someone make a good job, Im the last one who will reproach someone with his mistakes from the past.

And that's the thing isn't it? As long as someone isn't doing something now, he can be thought of never doing it before? And I do seem to recall, people having a lot of problems with those Ecto Goggles he sold here on the RPF.

It sounds like the moderators are going to chalk this one up to Rhett making a first timer mistake. Even though he was doing it for 2-3 years before getting caught. I hardly call that a first timer mistake. And since it was recasting multiple parts, from multiple sellers... I also wouldn't call that a first time mistake. Maybe a second or third or forth time mistake. Then you have the fact that Rhett lied about recasting and even threatened me with legal action claiming that he never did it? Come on RPF. Seriously?

 

[vaderman1701]

:rolleyes Was I Rhett's partner for awhile? Yes. Are we partners now? No. I think my wife and son would love to know that I am some other person. There are several people on this site who know me personally here int he Baltimore area who can attest that Rhett and I are two different people. I did have an account on the old GBFans site. I posted one or two times. I believe it was to defend the fact that Rhett did not recast Prop Fans grips. When I tried logging on the next day I got a message the my account was no longer active. This was over 2 years ago. Frankly, I could care less about being a member on GBFans. It is your site and you can do whatever you want.

In a way, I can understand why Rhett has decided not to respond to this. This is nothing but an attempt to bait him into an argument. I am sure he has decided not to play your game.

Do I have pictures of the grips? No. Again, this was 3 years ago and I was just getting into model and prop kits. You don't have to believe me about the grips. Truth is, I was there and I know the truth. The other parts I did not know about until after the fact. But the grips, nope. Built by Rhett. say what you want about him, but the guy is a pretty good sculpter as evidenced by his Davey Jones Pipe and the National Treasure planks (both of which I saw him sculpt as well).

That is my $.02. I agree that this thread should be locked. No more witch hunting.

Scott

 

[exoray]

This came up on Proptopia a few years back, someone had gotten one of the Proton Packs from Universal, which was strongly believed to have been directly pulled from a screen-used Pack in the movie (In fact, I believe it may have been PropFan himself who was the person who presented said Pack) where the user was offering to make casts of the Universal Pack. The idea was quickly shot down as it was felt that it still counted as recasting.

Just a drive by historical correction...

That was Joel aka Xenepp that wanted to cast up the Universal shell, after Sean called him out for recasting a shell Sean hooked him up with, all the while Joel was using his girlfriends Ebay account (and registered the same nym on Proptopia so it looked legit) to pawn the shells he was recasting...

I'm now in possession of that Universal shell in question, it's cast from the discarded cut up Universal mold that was tossed in the trash and salvaged by someone that did a small run from the mold after making repairs (I heard it was cut in 4 pieces)... The shell does have direct lineage to the screen used shells as I can match up sanding marks and other minute details, but it was heavily modified in several locations at some point in it's lineage, and it is from a tired worn out and repaired mold...

 

[Art Andrews]

Context and history. If a man forges paintings for several years and then moves onto official documentation forging, you'll want a record of previous acts to work from.

You might consider removing that part about "official documentation forging" unless you have hard proof of such because if you don't have proof I can't help but point out the absolutely ludicrous nature of making a statement like this and also note that if your remark was completely speculative or hypothetical, making such leaps of logic is not only reckless and dangerous, but undermines the rest of the point you are trying to make. If you want to make an argument against Rhett based on fact, that is fine, but if your above statement is hypothetical, it makes you appear hypocritical due to the nature of the hobby you are in, but also borders on trolling.

 

[Art Andrews]

I'm now in possession of that Universal shell in question, it's cast from the discarded cut up Universal mold that was tossed in the trash and salvaged by someone that did a small run from the mold after making repairs (I heard it was cut in 4 pieces)... The shell does have direct lineage to the screen used shells as I can match up sanding marks and other minute details, but it was heavily modified in several locations at some point in it's lineage, and it is from a tired worn out and repaired mold...

This one paragraph sounds more interesting than 90% of this thread! I know nothing of Ghostbusters, but having something you can trace back in any way is always awesome and what a story to go with it! :thumbsup

 

[ThrowingChicken]

*sigh* SMH