Question about the original stormtrooper hero mold

[Stormie1977]

I’m very curious about how the face plate differences came about between stunt and hero. From what I’ve been able to find it seems that the heros were manufactured after all the stunts were made and the molds were a bit damaged at that point, hence why certain details like the elongated frown were lost on the hero helmets.

Is this why the frown is completely different on the hero helmet, due to mold degradation? Or is it possible that Andrew Ainsworth altered the molds himself and intentionally made the frown smaller on the hero helmets?

Excited to discuss and hear everyone’s thoughts, thanks!

 

[Gerard2567]

I’m very curious about how the face plate differences came about between stunt and hero. From what I’ve been able to find it seems that the heros were manufactured after all the stunts were made and the molds were a bit damaged at that point, hence why certain details like the elongated frown were lost on the hero helmets.

Is this why the frown is completely different on the hero helmet, due to mold degradation? Or is it possible that Andrew Ainsworth altered the molds himself and intentionally made the frown smaller on the hero helmets?

Excited to discuss and hear everyone’s thoughts, thanks!

Relation to molds
The molds naturally degraded. I'm pretty sure they were plaster molds since the plasterers at Elstree studios made the molds.

Hypothesis
The idea of plaster molds are further backed by some of the helmets having edges that have been worn away.

If you look at Mr. NoStripes here, just below his teeth, where it meets the jaw, you can see chunks missing.

If it was a hard resin or a fibreglass mold as AA now claims, that should be a rare occurrence, however, if they were plaster, the hot plastic would've ripped the sharp edges off or trapped enough moisture to damage the plaster. England has a... wet atmosphere... I guess is the best term to explain it.

However, RsProp Masters helmets doesn't have this issue, suggesting their sandtrooper armor was actually one of the first armors produced before the mold started to degrade. Explaining the super sharp edges on their helmets.

Image by RSpropmasters


Since the teeth area was the most worn part of the mold, I think it's okay to assume they needed to be repaired.

That's where the Hero comes in.

Explanation
Lucas needed some helmets that had to been seen closeup, so I'm assuming from what I've read, AA repaired the mold (likely only the faceplate and ears) and produced 6 closeup stormtrooper helmets from Haircell white ABS.

He probably sent the first 50 off and was then tasked with the heroes. And at that point, I wouldn't be surprised if he filled the teeth gaps and forgot it.​

Conclusion

So. Yes, it's both because of mold degradation and because AA altered the molds.

 

[Halliwax]

thanks for that excellent explanation! i never knew this

 

[Stormie1977]

Thanks Gerard, that’s fantastic information. Appreciate the detail.

 

[juajn7fernandez]

Relation to molds
The molds naturally degraded. I'm pretty sure they were plaster molds since the plasterers at Elstree studios made the molds.

Hypothesis
The idea of plaster molds are further backed by some of the helmets having edges that have been worn away.

View attachment 1061337
If you look at Mr. NoStripes here, just below his teeth, where it meets the jaw, you can see chunks missing.

If it was a hard resin or a fibreglass mold as AA now claims, that should be a rare occurrence, however, if they were plaster, the hot plastic would've ripped the sharp edges off or trapped enough moisture to damage the plaster. England has a... wet atmosphere... I guess is the best term to explain it.

However, RsProp Masters helmets doesn't have this issue, suggesting their sandtrooper armor was actually one of the first armors produced before the mold started to degrade. Explaining the super sharp edges on their helmets.

View attachment 1061339
Image by RSpropmasters


Since the teeth area was the most worn part of the mold, I think it's okay to assume they needed to be repaired.

That's where the Hero comes in.

Explanation
Lucas needed some helmets that had to been seen closeup, so I'm assuming from what I've read, AA repaired the mold (likely only the faceplate and ears) and produced 6 closeup stormtrooper helmets from Haircell white ABS.

He probably sent the first 50 off and was then tasked with the heroes. And at that point, I wouldn't be surprised if he filled the teeth gaps and forgot it.​

Conclusion

So. Yes, it's both because of mold degradation and because AA altered the molds.

Great post! The edge chunks make perfect sense.

However, if the mold for the hero face was the exact same mold repaired, what would be the reason for the overall wider look?

 

[Gerard2567]

Great post! The edge chunks make perfect sense.

However, if the mold for the hero face was the exact same mold repaired, what would be the reason for the overall wider look?

Good question!

AA is terrible at repairs!

Joking. I actually have no clue since I don't own a hero replica and can't compare it to a stunt.

Therefore I can't answer it without any factual basis.

My only guess it that's it's perspective distortion.

The brow on the hero helmet is weirdly Low. Like Levelled low.

On top of that the faceplate isn't level on most heroes, but actually point upwards into the brow, thus creating an illusion that it is wider, but really it's just closer, compared to a high brow stunt.

Also, because the faceplate would be further out, the flange on the sides will be wider as there are more plastic showing.

Another possibility is that it might not actually be wider, but the cheek line gets narrower towards the jaw area from possible sanding. I had to quickly look at some images for my eyes to seem like they're hallucinating. I kinda see a much steeper angle in comparison to the stunt.

Really that question cannot be answered by me as I have not done enough research to compare the two.

I'll just leave an image here of RsProp Hero v Stunt

(Couldn't find a good enough image of the stunt from a straight view)

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Plastic reacts differently when cooling and even after cooling - shrinks and warps differently. So the stunts and hero helmets would get differences because of the plastic used, cooling times, having to be pried off the mold before it cools completely, etc.

At least that's what I've read and heard from various people over the years.

 

[juajn7fernandez]

hhhhmmm These are all valid points. However I dont think they would affect the face mask as much as we see there being a difference in shape. ( just my humble opinion. Not saying that it definitely didnt happen that way). I assumed that because they had trouble pulling the parts from the molds, perhaps the shape was widened towards the back as to make it easier for the face plate to let go of the mold. Just a theory.

 

[Stormie1977]

So if AA really did fill the teeth gaps it’s very interesting to me because he is then solely responsible for creating a fairly drastically different look for those heavily featured hero Stormtroopers. Definitely not the look that was initially intended based on the original helmet sculpt.

 

[MadCowRebel]

So if AA really did fill the teeth gaps it’s very interesting to me because he is then solely responsible for creating a fairly drastically different look for those heavily featured hero Stormtroopers. Definitely not the look that was initially intended based on the original helmet sculpt.

Yes so we have AA's poor repair skills to thank for the iconic hero helmet? And by that logic his SDS hero helmets ARE in fact using the original or cast off original molds?