"tells" on replicas

[blipper]

Since a maker producing a replica ideally aspires to create as true a replica as possible, how do "tells" (if they are used) factor into this? Don't they make it less of a replica than it could be?

 

[Raffles]

A lot of tells are put into areas that are maybe never seen by the public. Such as inside a helmet or a fraction of a mm difference in spacing on a detail. No prop is going to be 100% even items made using the same moulds differ slightly from cast to cast.

 

[TheRealMcFly]

For me it is sometimes as small as using a different colored plastic kitbashed part. Lets say I've tracked down a slew of rare tanks. The original prop builder would have used all of the first release in a darker plastic... but I'll throw in a newer release tan one instead. It will all be painted when its done, but if you needed to know, you could knick it and know for sure.

 

[Rhett J Martin]

I usually add a ding or dent somewhere in an obscure place. That way if it's ever recast, I'd see it. It's actually come in handy twice.

 

[LeMarchand]

the serial numbers on my anime weapons are always the birthdates of myself, my wife or my kids

 

[exoray]

I believe a lot of the "tells" are simply small little blemishes that for one reason or another was not "fixed" prior to mold, maybe a glitch in the mold or something that wasn't seen until later... There are intentional built in tells on some pieces, but I believe many of them are simply unintentional issues or features to the parts that the builder can spot...