Master Replicas AT-AT question

[Spiker]

Be sure that AMT needs that license from GD. It is the same with Bburago (DIE-Cast Carmodels) they have licenses from Ferrari, Porsche etc... It is so that Ferrari gives extra licenses for single cars, so is the license for the Ferrari Enzo not at Bburago but at Mattel (Hot Wheels). What i want to say is that its not so easy.
MR has (in this case) only the license from Star Wars. I don't know if ILM really asked the kit-producers back in 1978 but i could imagine they did. But they probably did'nt ;-)
MR wants to sell their products, but they need parts from other companies for their products so they have to get a license (even if they only reproduce the parts).

 

[STEVE THE SWEDE]

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spinner 44 wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
Steve,
I hope you kept your uber detailed ATATRon. It seems that finally you model was much more studio accurate than the licensed one (How many times we'll have to read this

! )

And Tim, thank for pointing this issue. I'm afaraid I will not be buying the thing. Too expensive for me for being a model that still need super detailing and upgrading).

Regards
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I still have it. The problem with that build was that the main structure that I detailed and rebuilt was to big. Therefore it was hard to get some of the parts to look right, they were simply to small to be used. The harrier parts are a good example, they looked tiny on the AT-ATRON.

I have MR's version on order and I'm still gonna get it. However, I will try and shave off the details and use the correct parts from my AT-ATRON project.

Are the details on the MR version glued on individually or are they just molded in the cast? Their website states that each model is build up from over 200 separate pieces!?

Steve.

 

[Dymerski]

this is going to get me in trouble...do you all have to be soooo anal??
It is a mass produced REPLICA, YES A REPLICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and damn impressive at that!! I am surprised you are all not mad about not being able to animate it in stop motion!!
GEEZZZZZ

like I said...I am in trouble now!!
Dean

 

[STEVE THE SWEDE]

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Dymerski wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
this is going to get me in trouble...do you all have to be soooo anal??
It is a mass produced REPLICA, YES A REPLICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and damn impressive at that!! I am surprised you are all not mad about not being able to animate it in stop motion!!
GEEZZZZZ

like I said...I am in trouble now!!
Dean
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!!?? This is the studio scale forum, right? Yes, we do have to be so anal. Trooper helmet and saber threads can go on for page after page beating out the same old issues without anybody thinking it's strange. Why shouldn't we be allowed to do the same thing here!?

As I said in one of my earlier posts, most people won't give a damn but some of us DO! Modeling is a completely different animal then prop collecting, it's ALL about the details being 100% right. It doesn't matter if were talking old WW-2 fighter planes or studio scale models from a certain movie, it's still all about the small details.

I think most members here who's been into modeling, studio scale or not can relate to this issue. That's why we have a studio scale forum, to be able to talk and ventilate the little details, that's what this hobby is all about!

I for one think that your post was TOTALLY un necessary, especially when this thread was posted in the STUDIO SCALE forum and not at the regular RPF.

But hey, that's just me.

Steve.

 

[Deleted]

Steve, I would not modify the MR ATAT. All of the parts are cast with the body parts. Not glued on separately. (the 4 wheel body is separate and the flak shields too, but pretty much everything that does not have undercuts is one piece.
I think the part count of over 200 parts is due to MR counting the screws and the caps that cover them.

Also, if you look at the photos above, you will see that some of the parts could not be replaces because the MR ATAT is too small (in certain areas)

I still like my MR ATAT. I just do not see why they did not use the real parts. It's not like there will be other companies producing ATATs. So if someone does it, why not do it right?!

Then again, maybe we are up for a new MR AT-AT, more limited, Edition: "As First Built By ILM".

Tim

 

[Dymerski]

I for one think that your post was TOTALLY un necessary, especially when this thread was posted in the STUDIO SCALE forum and not at the regular RPF.

But hey, that's just me.

Steve.
[/quote]
What does the posting on this forum have to do with the regular RPF?
Are you saying, that I do not have the experience to post in this forum?

An observation was made
End of subject

 

[STEVE THE SWEDE]

No, I do not. I'm not making any judgment at all of your skills, interest in the subject or your right to post in the Studio scale forum. I'm just saying that I thought your post was un-necessary since it wasn't exactly contributing to the discussion.

Tim,

Are there more parts then the ankles, which have the round discs with inserted hex bolts that are undersized? I was under the impression that the walker was made of resin, there fore most of the details should be able to be sanded/milled off. Sure, it's going to need a lot of sweat and filler but this was basicly how I dealt with the details on the AT-ATRON.

Does this sound like an impossible work? Does anybody else have the same plan?

Steve.

 

[Lynn TXP 0369]

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STEVE THE SWEDE wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>

I have MR's version on order and I'm still gonna get it. However, I will try and shave off the details and use the correct parts from my AT-ATRON project.
Steve.
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Steve, are you giving up on the ATaTron project all together then and not going to finsih it???
Lynn

 

[Deleted]

The only other part (so far) that varies in size is on the small "hydraulics" parts that slides up and down under the belly when the upper part of the leg moves. The one that is broken in the picture above.
Another part that is wrong is the panel with the 4 screws in it on the upper part of the leg: There are two hydraulic pieces that slide up and down on the models in the film. That panel is flush with the two pieces that sluide up and down. So they could never slide ÚNDER that piece.

Tim

 

[stonky]

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Steve, are you giving up on the ATaTron project all together then and not going to finsih it???
Lynn
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Yes, please don't say that you're not going to finish it!!! Your paint job alone is worth the price of the MR replica.

 

[Treadwell]

Agh! With an MR AT-AT on the way, why couldn't you leave me in my blissful ignorance?

j/k, thanks for the comparison photos. It is perplexing.

Is there any chance the donor kits have been retooled over the years, or maybe the MR researchers got kits by the wrong manufacturer?

 

[Deleted]

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Treadwell wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
Is there any chance the donor kits have been retooled over the years, or maybe the MR researchers got kits by the wrong manufacturer?
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Nope. I have both, old and new, kits.

Tim

 

[DARKSIDE72]

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Dymerski wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
this is going to get me in trouble...do you all have to be soooo anal??
Dean
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Studio Scale modeling is PROP building.It's much more extreem than obtaining a Stormtrooper costume or buying a lightsaber hilt. We have to build these models ourselves. Correct dimentions and THE DETAILS are what make the models what they are. One of a kind, perfect replicas of the studio props. Yes, being ANAL is only way to do this.

 

[BrundelFly]

Good Question.

Easy answer.

MR is composed of a bunch of LAWYERS! Except one.

MR wanted to make sure that a MR Replica was NEVER passed off or sold as "an orginal" its called. COVER YOUR ASS FOR LIABILITY ISSUES. ILM has also a say in this.

IE.. ILM AND MR gets SUED by Some BONE HEAD cuz he BOUGHT what he thought was a real ATAT and finds out its not film used.

Frivilious? Yes. Will he Lose? Yes. But still at a great expense to the Studio as well as MR.


Remember the RUBIES VADERS? Looked like Crap right?
Well MB FX actually made them. However MB was told BY ILM to make certian changes and produce them a certain way.

Im not doggin MB...MR,.ILM.

Its just the SUE HAPPY reality we live in were Studios go to great lengths to protect themselves from litigation as well as protecting thier copyrighted property.

So, you THINK your buying an EXACT replica of a SCREEN used model. But sadly, your not. SO close yet SO FAR.

Brundelfly

 

[PHArchivist]

DING DING DING! Bingo! Beat me to it...!

Why did Don Post reverse the color scheme on their deluxe Vader hat? Lucasfilm directive for the above stated reasons.


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BrundelFly wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>


MR wanted to make sure that a MR Replica was NEVER passed off or sold as "an orginal" its called. COVER YOUR ASS FOR LIABILITY ISSUES. ILM has also a say in this.

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[Deleted]

Yes, Don Post and other companies do make changes to replicas so they cannot be passed on as originals, but I doubt that MR replicated these model kit parts from scratch for that reason. THAT would be splitting hairs.

What were they gonna do when someone bought one of their replicas as a real one?! "See those two little rivest on the lower left corner of the left Flak shield on the back of the ATAT, they are about 1/8th of an inch too low. So it should have been obvious that this is a replica".
RIIIIIGHT!

Even with ALL the original kit parts and ALL the measurements, a replica would NEVER be 100% accurate.

Tim

 

[BrundelFly]

Tim,
I agree to an extent.

But like Greg Jein once said to me....
"its all BS anyway, and YOUR BS is as good as anyone else's"

A replica of a make believe vehicle that doesn't really exsist. Funny we are all so ANAL about it.

The nicest version I have ever seen of it remains the one YOU scratch built Tim.

........that is til you Moe and I finish ours. hehe

Frank

 

[Deleted]

Thanks. But mine is too small. :-(

What do you mean you amnd Moe? Forgot someone you have, I would say?!

Tim

 

[Wistanley]

What a shame. I would have thought that producing a non-articulate model would be enough to distingish real from repro. Or producting certain parts in patently different materials (you don't have to protect yourself against eBay knuckleheads, just from the high-end auction houses, I would think).

I suppose that's far too reasonable to expect from lawyers, though.

 

[STEVE THE SWEDE]

Lynn, Stonky,

No, I will not finish it as an upstanding model. I am however toying with the idea of making a "crashed" walker diorama with it.

I always liked this display!

Besides from that I'll try and see if I can do an improvment on the MR walker factory paint job.

Steve.