Saw my first SDS "battle spec"helmet in person this weekend...

[DarkLordSalvo]

... I won't mention who spent WAY too much on it (because I consider him a friend) but I have to say, other than it being pretty solidly put together, it's an expensive turd. This opinion has nothing to do with the discussions about AA's "business practices" but the helmet was warped way out of shape. The faceplate was almost flat and assembled at an extreme flare from brow to chin. All the trapezoids looked tapered towards the centerline of the helmet. Are the grey earcaps supposed to be a separate piece from the ears?

He plans to turn it into a sandtrooper helmet. I hope it helps.

 

[trooper70]

IMO AA assembles his helmets with the chin sticking out waaaay too far. And my AA Stunt face plate was too flat across the face as well. It bugged me so much I ended up taking it apart and gently heating the face plate in order to bend the sides back slightly to make the centre of the face plate stick out more, from the middle of the eyes down to the vocoder. Then put it back together with the chin pushed in more. It looked loads better.

Got to say though, for that much money, you shouldn't have to :unsure

Lol don't even get me started on the back of the Stunt helmet, although I understand AA has improved the back of the Battle Spec.

I believe the separate grey bits on the Battle Spec ears were just to save time and money. Grey plastic stuck on, instead of paying someone to paint them by hand? Hence the price difference from the Stunt to the Battle Spec. Same with the stuck-on black plastic vocoder, and grey tape on the frown instead of paint from what I gather

That said though, much of the AA Stunt helmet uses stickers instead of hand painting too, such as the tears, traps and the thin black line around the afore mentioned grey piece on the ears

 

[SithLord]

There's a difference between being warped and being assembled incorrectly...I know what you mean about the angle of the face and I would have to agree that he could make it steeper. Perhaps you could show photos of that particular helmet if it was showing something unusual? I don't have photos of a battle spec helmet but here are comparisons I did a while ago of my stunt helmet against an original. I just repositioned and narrowed the face. Seems fine to me....

<div class='quotetop'>(DarkLordSalvo @ Sep 17 2006, 04:57 PM) [snapback]1321808[/snapback]</div>

This opinion has nothing to do with the discussions about AA's "business practices" but the helmet was warped way out of shape.
[/b]

Then why mention it?

 

[AnsonJames]

Why not mention it?
This would be a pretty dead forum otherwise - are we not allowed to make criticisms about certain people based on your likes and dislikes?

I think his whole point is that you shouldn't have to tinker with an item that's so expensive - the mark up is huge on these helmets.
We are talking about £5 worth of plastic plus decals, hovi -casts and a bit of paint.
Correct assembly wouldn't be too much too ask I think.


Thomas your camparison photos of the SDS and the original helmet are great - the SDS looks really very nice indeed.
If it weren't for the extra stuff on the bottom of the faceplate it would look spot on.

Anson

 

[voice in the crowd]

I am currently sitting with SDS, TE, GF and CO helmets in front of me and the faceplate on the SDS looks no flatter than any of the others. It does have the well documented problems as stated by Anson.

Anson I don't think there is a correct or incorrect way of assembling a bucket (outside of putting the faceplate upside down ) its all down to personal choice.

Each stormtrooper helmet used in the movie were just thrown together and each has a different look. The fan made ones we are used to seeing all the time on the forums is the TE helmet which is assembled by Matt exactly the way his screen used helmet was and it does look great and it has now become the standard.

One good example of how helmet builds differ is the two screen used 'stop that ship' and 'move along' helmets if you check the side on picture of them sitting next to each other on www.starwarshelmets.com you will see that the assembly is very different on each making the 'stop that ship' look flatter as the faceplate is more pushed into the helmet the 'move along' helmet chin protrudes more. Each of these helmets has a distinctly different look and even though both are screen used I have a much greater prference for the 'stop that ship' helmet and its look.

As for the price of the SDS remember something is only worth what you are willing to pay for it. Your buddy should have maybe considered going for one of the new 'set for stun' TE helmets.

Anyway I am sorry you and your friend are so dissapointed with his purchase. Hopefully a wee bit of assembly changes might help.

Cheers Chris.

 

[SithLord]

Thanks, Anson....agreed that for that money it should be assembled like the majority of the screen helmets. That being said, it's the original maker who's putting it together...so it's inherent value is based on it's source and the claims of it's source, independent of what the materials are worth. Whether we accept the claims is personal opinion (do we know for sure?) and we've had many of those about it ...that will affect our impression of value. If he's overcharging for the helmets, and that is considered poor business practice, then let's have a thread about that issue (about the worth of ABS TK helmets)...if that's what you mean? It's basically a $200-300 premium over the cost of other authentic helmets...a premium based on who made it. Do you think the other helmet makers are not making a profit as well? But if it's a discussion of the qualities of the helmet, let's focus on that.