My fiberglass TE "set for stun" TE Helm!

[SethB6025]

<div class='quotetop'>(GINO @ Jun 22 2006, 12:33 AM) [snapback]1265643[/snapback]</div>

Thanks Braks.
I never really frequented the sandtrooper.net forum until tonight.
I see a lot of opportunity for some mass re-educating on what's screen accurate and what's not. It's just that it would be a full time job calling Matt on all the BS being posted over there. I just don't have the energy anymore. Lucky for him, sad for anyone else being taken advantage of.
[/b]

Gino, with all due respect, judging from your reception at sandtrooper.net I think "mass re-educating" is a little bit of an over-statment. Sorry to jump at it, but it makes all users there sound like ignorant dopes, even though I'm sure that wasn't your intention. Many users there are also users here, so again I think it's a little over the top to say members there don't know what's screen-accurate and whats not. If you take a moment and search for your name, it would come up more often than you think, and always in a positive light. I am glad you joined because you have a lot to contribute, and I hope you continue to post there in the future beyond your go-round with Matt.

 

[RKW]

I have seen plenty of members helmets here at the RPF who own bumpy cap TE helmets that are painted, have the correct Hovi mic tips and trim etc. Now considering no one TK helmet was a like in appearance what makes Gino the undisputed champion??

I don't doubt Gino's knowledge and passion for the hobby but ***** that guys ego could knock the earth off its axis.

 

[Helmetman]

"I'm still the undisputed heavyweight trooper helmet champion"

:lol :lol :lol

Modest too Gino. You crack me up.

Cheers,
Steve

RKW.....let him have his ego.

I'm guessing he hasn't got much else going on other than getting lids very, very accurate.

 

[Stormtrooper]

<div class='quotetop'>(Jumpin Jax @ Jun 21 2006, 03:24 AM) [snapback]1264891[/snapback]</div>

[/b]

So has anyone actually signed up for one of these 'definitive, ultimate, next best thing to a screenused' helmets?

No offence, but there's a LOT of work required to make it look like a *proper* stormtrooper helmet:

* Make a line with a scribe or Dremel along where the earcaps should be seperate from the faceplate. Could be easier said than done :unsure

* Dremel off the moulded-on brow trim and replace with rubber trim. I don't care what rubber-effect paint Matt has - it will still look weird

* Drill holes in the earcaps and add screws

Also, I wonder why the aerators weren't included with the scan? Did he have them removed beforehand? The earcaps had already been removed to make moulds for his vac-form helmets' earcaps, so I really can't understand why they weren't removed for this scan, and scanned seperatly?.?. :rolleyes

It's an interesting demonstration of what laser-scanning technology is capable of, but a one-piece fibreglass helmet is little more than a novelty IMO, and won't be taken seriously by those who want an authentic replica of the movie helmets.

Cheers,
John

 

[Jumpin Jax]

<div class='quotetop'>(Stormtrooper @ Jun 25 2006, 04:57 AM) [snapback]1267735[/snapback]</div>

* Make a line with a scribe or Dremel along where the earcaps should be seperate from the faceplate. Could be easier said than done :unsure

* Drill holes in the earcaps and add screws

It's an interesting demonstration of what laser-scanning technology is capable of, but a one-piece fibreglass helmet is little more than a novelty IMO, and won't be taken seriously by those who want an authentic replica of the movie helmets.

Cheers,
John
[/b]

I mentioned the dremel as a joke to some members of the Rebelscum boards, not as something I would dare.
Screws in the earcaps.......that's a pretty good idea. May I use it? (no more warring over rights and theft on this thread, please :thumbsup )
Sure it's a novelty, and so is a stormtrooper helmet that isn't authentic. We could all strive for the real thing, and 99.9999999% of us will never get it. Even with the limitations of construction, it IS proportionally perfect. Nothing was disasembled or rearranged, there's no margin of error on the object. Yeah the gaps are lost, but I'm not really missing it. Gaps kinda bugged me, really.
That also means it won't creak whenever you move like with a styrene bucket (drove me up a wall...) Not to mention that the helmets were assembled to look as if they were one piece. Gaps are flaws, ones that Mollo and crew would gladly have avoided given the chance. Do you remember how many people HATE the bumps and flaws, complained about them on this very forum? It never ended. The one detail that didn't get condomned by the collecting public was the screwy eye, for whatever reason.
The cool thing about these is that since there's no vacuum forming or cutting involved to make them, they are truly identical. Every one is the same. No maker could ever truly grab that claim; there were always minor discrepancies or problems with the mold that required revision or a deeper cut. Worse still were molds that were such a pain that helmets had cracks to be repaired before they were even shipped.
It's uncompromising, unaltered save for the bumps. I grant you, I kinda wished the tube stripes had been left on, as they, like the rest of it were formed in the exact location. :unsure Such is life. I don't know about the mic tips but I will ask. Anything else you'd like to know?

 

[Stormtrooper]

<div class='quotetop'>(Jumpin Jax @ Jun 25 2006, 12:19 PM) [snapback]1267740[/snapback]</div>

Gaps are flaws, ones that Mollo and crew would gladly have avoided given the chance. Do you remember how many people HATE the bumps and flaws, complained about them on this very forum? It never ended. [/b]

True, but where do you 'draw the line'? I'm sure Mollo and his crew would've liked the Stormtrooper helmets to be symmetrical too, but as we all know, they weren't. And a symmetrical helmet looks great to the casual observer, who was willing to pay the $800 or whatever Don Post used to charge for their Deluxe Stormtrooper helmets.
Granted this new helmet from Matt isn't symmetrical, but the one-piece construction, missing bumps, gaps etc., moulded-on brow trim are all features that simply don't appeal to the well-informed stormtrooper enthusiast, but would go unnoticed by the average Star Wars fan.

If anything, he's pitching this concept to the wrong market and at the wrong pricepoint. IMO this helmet can't be viewed as an alternative to an SDS / GINO / Authenticprops or TE2 (from the new owner of the moulds)... although it *is* a step-up from an Armor F/X helmet I suppose


<div class='quotetop'>(Jumpin Jax @ Jun 25 2006, 12:19 PM) [snapback]1267740[/snapback]</div>

Worse still were molds that were such a pain that helmets had cracks to be repaired before they were even shipped.[/b]

Sorry, I don't buy that. Over the years I've owned replica helmets from Armor F/X, GF, Authenticprops, SDS and Matt.... only *one* of them had cracks which had been glued and filled-in before I received it, and that was the helmet I received from Matt.
Therefore, this is not a problem which is unavoidable with vac-formed helmets, but is simply sloppy workmanship :thumbsdown
I'm not attacking him for this however, but it's NOT an argument for making trooper helmets in fibreglass instead of vac-formed plastic. :rolleyes

Cheers,
John

 

[_Lee_]

I think TE made a mistake with the timing of these,seeing as MR are going to be releasing a similar item for probably a lot less money :confused This to me,is no more than an idealized helmet and doesnt look right.

I suppose this is a case of apples and oranges really,it depends what you want and how close to the real thing you want it to be.An example of this is Johns ESB trooper blaster that he is kindly making replicas of for some people(me included ).I looked at a MR blaster,but IMO it looks way to clean and idealized to what was seen on screen.I stopped my hunt for one of the MR after i saw Johns ESB replica complete with all the nooks and crannys of his original,and IMO it adds so much more to the replica itself.Ok,the original may have been put together using somewhat indifferent techniques to nowadays,but it has more of a story behind it and looks amazing IMO.The same can be said for Gino,TE and SDS helmets which all have their own unique historys behind them.

However nice this helmet looks,the construction just doesnt do it for me,and reminds me of some of the FG helmets that are seen on Ebay now and again.I remember seeing a thread here a while ago about one of the FG helmets on Ebay,and most couldnt bear the fact that the ears were molded/sculpted onto the helmet.

One last thing i have to ask,i thought TE had retired?

*****,this Stormtrooper prop lark is hard work

 

[PMTrooper]

<div class='quotetop'>(_Lee_ @ Jun 25 2006, 04:11 PM) [snapback]1267780[/snapback]</div>

I think TE made a mistake with the timing of these,seeing as MR are going to be releasing a similar item for probably a lot less money :confused This to me,is no more than an idealized helmet and doesnt look right.
[/b]

agree with that
think this one is just a mix up between screen accurate and modern thinking
+ sharpnes
- details

imo going for an GINO/TE for a screen accurate bucket
or a MR for a collector helmet

 

[rocketeer25]

<div class='quotetop'></div>

One last thing i have to ask,i thought TE had retired? [/b]

He's not only supposedly retired, but he's also considered a banned member here. And although there are generally two sides to every story, it also sounds like he may be messing with one of our current members. :unsure

We won't allow current runs of banned members to be promoted on the RPF.