Shepperton Design Studios Stormtrooper - Accurate or bull**it?

[jhfagan]

Sorry if the question was already asked ( recently anyway ), but upon my recent RS Propmasters Stormtroopers, I've discovered a new level of accuracy and attention to detail than I ever had access to, even including my eFX and Master Replicas pieces.
But, I've always heard of them, yet never physically saw one, or anyone showing them next to anything else.
Does anyone have one, or access to good pictures of one that highlight if indeed the pieces are as accurate as the owner ( Ainsworth ) touts them to be?
I've heard varying opinions on the guy, to be honest.
Thanks everyone!

 

[gizmo]

Stay VERY far away from his s$&t.

Ben

 

[jhfagan]

Stay VERY far away from his s$&t.

Ben

Noted! lol
But, why???
What do I not know about this guy?
Does he actually have the original molds used to pull the helmets for the films?
If not, what happened to them, as I think it's true that he did make the helmets for the film?
Which would mean, the helmet RS used for their master, is an Ainsworth product?
I'm not trolling for Ainsworth here..... I literally know nothing about this guy, and why his stuff isn't regarded accurate/good, etc?

 

[Synz314]

No, he does not have the original moulds. His claims that his present stormtrooper is accurate lineage is completely false.

 

[lethyry]

Yes he was the one who made the tk helmets for the film. No he doesn’t have the original molds as I believe those are long gone in a fire or from deterioration, I’m not sure on that though. He’s talked poorly about because of his claims he created the stormtrooper, sculpted it etc, which is no where near true,Liz Moore sculpted it the helmet and Brian Muir the armor. And then his claims about his armor and helmet offerings which are quite in accurate to what he says they are. If you’d like more info on this guy just search up the court case about him. I believe the prop den still has the thread from when it happened and details about it throughout the case,

 

[dcarty]

Ainsworth was subcontracted to fabricate the Stormtrooper costumes for the original film back in 1976 -- as well as X Wing and TIE Pilot helmets/armor (costume parts that were vacuum formed).

After he finished his work the molds were either destroyed or returned to the studio (this part is vague). He did keep some pieces of a Stormtrooper helmet and X Wing pilot helmets as souvenirs.

Where it gets grim is that instead of just claiming that he fabricated the original costumes on a contract from LFL-- which would be enough earn him hero worship from fans-- he has lied repeatedly claiming that HE created the designs and sculpted the mold masters for the costumes (including creating a ludicrous video where he attempted to demonstrate how he made them with a hand grinder and Bondo). This work was done by the late Liz Moore (helmet) and Brian Muir (suit).

His claim that he uses original molds is a lie. At best he has reverse engineered some of the parts he sells from the bits he kept as souvenirs -- and rather poorly at that. The rest is recast from fan copies. Those who know more can go into specifics but I understand that there are "tells" in his suits that match those added to certain fan made suits (details not in the original suits).

It's a pity as the guy really could have been a resource to fans but instead he decided to inflate his reputation and claim work that was not his and rip people off.

 

[jhfagan]

Then I am even 200% more happier ( is that correct English? lol ) with my RS Propmasters pieces!

 

[Gerard2567]

Ainsworth was subcontracted to fabricate the Stormtrooper costumes for the original film back in 1976 -- as well as X Wing and TIE Pilot helmets/armor (costume parts that were vacuum formed).

After he finished his work the molds were either destroyed or returned to the studio (this part is vague). He did keep some pieces of a Stormtrooper helmet and X Wing pilot helmets as souvenirs.

Where it gets grim is that instead of just claiming that he fabricated the original costumes on a contract from LFL-- which would be enough earn him hero worship from fans-- he has lied repeatedly claiming that HE created the designs and sculpted the mold masters for the costumes (including creating a ludicrous video where he attempted to demonstrate how he made them with a hand grinder and Bondo). This work was done by the late Liz Moore (helmet) and Brian Muir (suit).

His claim that he uses original molds is a lie. At best he has reverse engineered some of the parts he sells from the bits he kept as souvenirs -- and rather poorly at that. The rest is recast from fan copies. Those who know more can go into specifics but I understand that there are "tells" in his suits that match those added to certain fan made suits (details not in the original suits).

It's a pity as the guy really could have been a resource to fans but instead he decided to inflate his reputation and claim work that was not his and rip people off.

What's even worse is that his earlier claims were that he sculpted the stormtrooper based on a small painting, but later when questioned in court, updated his claim to say Nick Pemberton (If that's his name) sculpted it and that he simply sharpened the tool (Which is later claims is his definition of sculpting.

Honestly, AA and Nick are real tools.

I'm pretty sure the court did in fact rule that he was basically a liar and that his story didn't match up, but because it was a battle of copyright over film prop vs artwork, they ruled it as expired copyright since they deemed it as a film prop, not artwork.

But the media in the UK totally ignored that because it didn't sound heroic as "Brit takes on US megacorp and wins"

What's even sad is his falsified photos of the sculpt filtered to make gray clay appear terracotta because "Liz only sculpted in Gray and the stormtrooper was terracotta! ". What a lunatic.

Here's a photo from originalprop blog

Last photo is gray clay with Brian Muir

 

[geordietrooper]

some good old reading

AA case begins

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,347428,00.html

www.therpf.com

LFL v SDS

Well it appears AA's new strategy is to toss in the towel, ignore the US courts and let a default be entered against him... It should be very interesting from this point on... And so much for getting some real answers to some of the questions brought forward in this case... Docket

www.therpf.com

Origins of the AA/SDS Armor

If you don't like SDS threads where people try to hold him accountable for his products, then don't read this thread. Since we can't discuss this in a show off thread l'd like to give this topic a home as was suggested. I'm very curious as to the source of the molds used to produce SDS's...

www.therpf.com

https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/docs/uksc-2010-0015-judgment.pdf

 

[Marv]

I picked up what I thought needed replacing part for a stormie a short while back. It went back.
Not a patch on my Anovos armour.

 

[Jediwannabe]

I purchased a full set from SDS back in 2005 and it sat in a box until late 2019. I was amazed at how inaccurate it was now that we have such a wealth of information. I decided to try to make my SDS more accurate and I started by replacing the SDS strap system with the accurate "centurion" system. Here's a look at its current state.