Original 1977 ANH Stormtrooper Armor and Helmet

[sskunky]

Interesting.....

 

[89batman]

That was an amazing and educational find for any TK enthusiasts! It has helped confirm things as well as pose some questions, I too hope this is not the last we will see of it.

 

[Treadwell]

But why do so many paint chips, even those that are evident in the movie, expose bare greenish-brown HDPE and not the red primer?

 

[sskunky]

I can only presume that the White paint sticks to the primer and the primer doesn't stick to HDPE. I don't think there was much in the way of polyester primer back in the 70s. Most paint including primer won't stick to HDPE.

 

[voice in the crowd]

Definitely agree on the paint sticking to the primer just HDPE didn't like the primer.

HDPE is a particularly crap material to paint. A good example of HDPE if you want an example of a product that uses it is Alberto VO5 products - shampoo and conditioner etc. Check the bottom of a shampoo bottle and it says HDPE next to the recycle symbol.

I have in a fit of prop nerd experimentation tested paint on one of these - HDPE hates paint

I know Andrew Ainsworth only used it because that is what he had lying about and it only had to last long enough to survive filming and look good enough on screen.

Chris

 

[Onigiri]

silly question but did the Ainsworth helmets have the tear details?

 

[sskunky]

Yes they did.........The tear details are on the original HDPE helmets.

 

[Onigiri]

I guess I need to be clearer. I know they were on the originals but are they on the Ainsworth/SDS helmets currently being offered?

 

[sskunky]

No I don't think it is or at least not on mine.

 

[Onigiri]

I didnt think so...that kind of further debunks the whole Ainsworth original molds claims.

 

[sskunky]

Either that or he's cleaned them up. He's told me he doesn't do the old warts look that we all love. He says that if his products were all warped, lumpy etc they would get sent back. I've tried telling him otherwise but he doesn't listen. But you may well be right. We all know the armour isn't from original moulds.

 

[Onigiri]

but those dont look accidental...they look like an intentional detail

 

[sskunky]

I'll ask him. But you are right they are on all the originals and not on his new helmets.....and they do look part of the original mould. Strange?

 

[bagpus3]

Another silly question: Do the original Hero face plate's show the dimple in the tears?

 

[Onigiri]

Isnt that what we're discussing?

 

[bagpus3]

Sorry Onigiri,

sskunky's pic showed a background lid with the tear design & then went on to mention "all the originals" had this feature.
The topic then went onto AA's new range of offerings. I just wondered if it was on the screen used Hero faceplates aswell. Thats all!

apology for not making my post clear & going OT.

 

[sskunky]

As far as I'm aware the hero face plates are the background stunt faceplates but with the teeth and screw holes on the ears filled in with blutac when vac formed. There was no need to make a separate mould for a couple if helmets. At least that's how we made them when I had a play on his former.

 

[jedimaster]

Ok I have an ap and Gino v2 or 3 whatever his latest offerings were , both in abs as are the ainsworth ones. Both these have the remnants of the tear detail but it is not obviously present. I also have the ata works and te and again there is remnants but no obvious detail these are both made from hips. Finally I have an uknown hdpe which is from the Dave m helmet which has the original tear detail as in the pox above. So my conclusion is that some plastics such as abs and hips don't pick up detail as well when pulled over the mold when vacforming. All these helmets have lineage from screen used stunt helmets but the detail varies from plastic to plastic. The hdpe I have is a mirror image of the hdpe showm above.

 

[sskunky]

Unfortunately the moulds you speak of above have been altered so much in the past years to contain the tear detail or not depending on whether or not the sellers wanted you to ave the detail nothing conclusive can be attained from replicas.

 

[RoCKo]

and screw holes on the ears filled in with blutac when vac formed. There was no need to make a separate mould for a couple if helmets. At least that's how we made them when I had a play on his former.

but that wouldn´t explain why the hero ears only have three bumps insted of four?!