Original ANH Stormtrooper helmet and Armor - Just the Facts

Here's a copy of more of his lies.....

"Shepperton Design Studio
76 The Green
Twickenham
Middlesex TW2 5AG

3rd January 2005

It has come to my attention that there have been some concerns raised over the authenticity and provenance of the moulds and processes used for the productions of my new range of SDS helmets.

I would like to assure collectors that we ARE using the original moulds, the same ones we used in 1976 to create the screen-used helmets. Our statement “The Original Maker, The Original Moulds” means precisely what it says!

I’ll go on to explain a little more of the history of the project and the background to the moulds and the “prototype” helmets over the following points.

1 All plastic moulding companies have a mould store. The time and effort in making moulds does not warrant throwing them away after the initial production run. We have had a mould store in the North of England since the mid 1970's where we have stored hundreds of moulds we made before and after this project including those for films such as Alien, Flash Gordon, Outland and Space 1999.

2 When working on Film and Television projects, there is always the real possibility of the film being a success. Hence the further need for the moulds to be protected and therefore available for follow-on work and another obvious reason to store the moulds. We also kept all records of Invoices, Purchase Orders and VAT records relating to the project. Normal business practice requires that records are kept for 6 years, and so clearly these records in our possession after 30 years show's our intention to be involved at some future date. That date has now come, and without the moulds the records would be of little use.

3 The moulds to make the rubber trims for the helmets were already in store, as they were extrusion moulds relating to our car production. Such a crossover of use for a mould is common, and hence a further reason for not throwing moulds away.

4 Moulds do not degrade from non use. If they are strong enough to hold up to the heat and pressure of a vacuum forming process, there is nothing in storage that is going to affect their structure.

5 In the case of the Stormtrooper moulds, the extremities that either take considerable wear in use or are vulnerable in storage have been refurbished. One area is the edging to the `teeth` on the face of the Stormtrooper / Imperial Pilot (same mould). The other area is around the left hand side looking at the back of the helmet, where the tumblehome has been fettled in to align up better with the front face. This area always was a problem and annoyed me, as it caused misfitting of earpieces back in 1976. Given the length of time between the original being made and our new helmets we believe small items of refurbishments like these are totally realistic and understandable and without them the quality of product that you see today would not be as good.

6 There is absolutely no reason to remake moulds, other than the refurbishment described above, and indeed this is the same for the Imperial Pilot and all the other characters that we currently have plans to bring back into production. For example, look at the crown of the Pilot Helmet, where there is a small `nick` out of the mould on the top edge - I just stopped myself repairing it in time - as I noticed the same nick on the screen version.

7 The history behind the `serrated` trooper - When conceptualising the production methods for the Stormtrooper, the overriding consideration was that this character was not human and the head could not be seen to be human supporting a helmet. My initial preferred method of construction was either rotational moulding in PU or PE or slush moulding in PVC. This was to accommodate undercuts and tumblehomes, which would enhance the image of an all-enveloping head shape. However the restraints of budget and the pressure of time forced me to consider a quick compromise with vacuum formed sheet material. The tumblehome at the back of the helmet was problem in vacuum forming, as the moulding would not release from the mould. In an attempt to overcome this problem I conducted an experiment of the rear head detail by constructing a `U ` shaped piece of metal with the gable ends filled in. Over one edge I planted a flexible car heater hose supported well enough to withstand the pressure of vacuum forming. After forming over the make-do mould, the flexible hose could be peeled out of the moulding giving me the tumblehome I required. Although this was no production method, the principle could be developed further to produce vacuum forming moulds that could possibly produce undercuts. After four or five attempts at the `lost hose` process I shelved this until a later date. Towards the end of my involvement in the film I re-visited the` Serrated` Stormtrooper. I took the back part of the helmet from the production item, which was being used on screen and cut off the lower rear section. Gluing on the serrated sections from the initial trials, it gave me a development of the Stormtrooper for future use. Several of the characters were conceived in this way, e.g.: the Imprial Pilot was a result of mating the face of a Stormtrooper and the back of a Rebel Pilot. By the time I increased the overall bulk, changed it to black, added a war like Mohawk, the `Imperial Pilot` grew an awesome presence.

8 I’m aware of the interest in the issue regarding the composition of the original helmets. Let me be categorically clear on this point. The vast majority of the Stormtrooper helmets we produced were made from a batch of white ABS we ordered in after being given the go ahead by the Studio (as a relevant point the ABS order size was so huge it took us a long time to clear – long after the project was complete). My team here who worked with me on the original film are also absolutely clear on this issue. Irrespective of our own clear memories of the project it is inconceivable to suggest that we could have produced the glossy body armour in one material, with the helmets in another. Especially a bumpy, painted material whose finish was so poor on the eye. Quite simply our contacts on the film would not have accepted them and quite rightly so! I am sure that some of the Polythene helmets probably did end up on screen, such were the demands for the film at that time, however I am absolutely positive that the vast majority were ABS and these would have taken a colossal pounding during filming. This point, along with the fact that it was industry practice to destroy all scenery and costumes/props such as this when filming completed, probably goes some way to explain why there are now problems locating original ABS helmets.

It is a shame that so many of the supposed question marks raised over my current production have come from the very people who have had the benefit from capitalising on my original work over the past years. This I find quite complimentary and wish them the best of luck with their endeavours. However, I cannot help who I am and I cannot help that my production of replica helmets come from the original moulds and the original hands that made the screen-used items in the first place.

I will continue to bring back all the characters we worked on at Shepperton Design Studios, and as an artist derive immense satisfaction from the joy that this project brings to so many.

Wishing you a Happy New year

Yours sincerely

Andrew Ainsworth
Director. (Managing)
Shepperton Design Studios
Registered in England No. 4400426
Shepperton Design Studios
http://www.sdsprops.com
76 The Green
Twickenham
Middlesex TW2 5AG
UK
Tel +44 (0)208 898 4839
Fax +44 (0)208 755 0981 "
 
8 I’m aware of the interest in the issue regarding the composition of the original helmets. Let me be categorically clear on this point. The vast majority of the Stormtrooper helmets we produced were made from a batch of white ABS we ordered in after being given the go ahead by the Studio (as a relevant point the ABS order size was so huge it took us a long time to clear – long after the project was complete). My team here who worked with me on the original film are also absolutely clear on this issue. Irrespective of our own clear memories of the project it is inconceivable to suggest that we could have produced the glossy body armour in one material, with the helmets in another. Especially a bumpy, painted material whose finish was so poor on the eye. Quite simply our contacts on the film would not have accepted them and quite rightly so! I am sure that some of the Polythene helmets probably did end up on screen, such were the demands for the film at that time, however I am absolutely positive that the vast majority were ABS and these would have taken a colossal pounding during filming. This point, along with the fact that it was industry practice to destroy all scenery and costumes/props such as this when filming completed, probably goes some way to explain why there are now problems locating original ABS helmets.

Doesn't this statement essentially go in the face of a LOT of photographic evidence that would indicate the bulk of the troopers were painted HDPE? Is this new or has Andrew been making this claim from the beginning?
 
No it's not a new statement. It was there right from the begining when customers wanted HDPE replicas as they were more accuate. It's absolute crap as we know the stunts were HDPE and Heros were ABS.
I would love to see an Screen ABS stunt but it will never happen as all evidence points to the contrary. Just more lies to sell his helmets.
 
I can't imagine why.

You would think that the casual buyer would get one of the nice EFX helmets, seeing how they are nice, licensed and don't really cost an arm and a leg.

If they aren't educated about what they are buying, you'd think that if they'd ask around for what was the most accurate and reputable, someone who was knowledgeable would steer them away from Ainsworth and his scam.

I have nothing against someone making a living, even someone making a living discreetly bending the rules in regards to copyright and intellectual property to a certain extent. I just can't imagine doing that, and having to lie about what it is you are selling to your customers and I don't think that given the vast amounts of evidence in this case, that he's doing anything other than telling lies in order to get people to give him money (fraud, the last time I checked.)

With all due respect the eFX helmet the CE one is just a halloween mask it's not sold as or marketed as a high end collecters piece.
Ainsworth markets his helmets as exact replicas of the original helmets not as toys which is essentially what the eFX CE is.
Believe me there's no shortage of lazy people with money out there that will buy stuff at face value, SDS is a legit registered company so people take what they read as true because they figure a legit company has to tell the truth.
Ainsworth isn't alone in stretching or exaggerating the truth in his marketing, whilst i don't like or approve of him doing that i know that a good deal of marketing on licensed collectable companies sites is also misleading so it seems hypocritic to berate him for it.
The thing that annoyed me was he lied and continued to lie about sculpting the original sculpt thus taking away credit from the true artist who unfortunately and sadly is no longer alive, that to me is way beyond acceptable.
 
I thought I've seen some of these published somewhere? IIRC, they were even more reminiscent of the Metropolis robot. More feminine.
Brian Muir posted one in this thread. It's the only alternative threepio I've seen yet. Interesting to hear there were more.

http://www.therpf.com/f47/star-wars-sculptor-liz-moore-film-footage-found-101502/

Ainsworth isn't alone in stretching or exaggerating the truth in his marketing, whilst i don't like or approve of him doing that i know that a good deal of marketing on licensed collectable companies sites is also misleading so it seems hypocritic to berate him for it.
Not if you berate the other licensed companies too, which I do. Lying about a product only creates angry and weary and distrusting customers that may be swayed against buying from you in the future... though... I guess there are enough people who doesn't care or want to educate themselves to keep these people in business and keep running the business on half-truths.
 
Brian Muir posted one in this thread. It's the only alternative threepio I've seen yet. Interesting to hear there were more.

http://www.therpf.com/f47/star-wars-sculptor-liz-moore-film-footage-found-101502/

That's the one I remember seeing.

With all due respect the eFX helmet the CE one is just a halloween mask it's not sold as or marketed as a high end collecters piece.
Ainsworth markets his helmets as exact replicas of the original helmets not as toys which is essentially what the eFX CE is.

While I understand the difference between the two helmets, I think to refer to the CE as a "toy" is a little bit of an exaggeration. While it gets some fine details most purists would pick up on wrong, the general public who aren't researching the facts aren't going to consider a $125 licensed helmet that gets most of the details right, a "toy". Remember, we are talking about people who might be confused by Ainsworth's song and dance, we aren't really talking about sophisticated, hi-end collectors (IMO) who should know better.

The thing that annoyed me was he lied and continued to lie about sculpting the original sculpt thus taking away credit from the true artist who unfortunately and sadly is no longer alive, that to me is way beyond acceptable.

Me too.
 
Brian Muir posted one in this thread. It's the only alternative threepio I've seen yet. Interesting to hear there were more.

http://www.therpf.com/f47/star-wars-sculptor-liz-moore-film-footage-found-101502/


Not if you berate the other licensed companies too, which I do. Lying about a product only creates angry and weary and distrusting customers that may be swayed against buying from you in the future... though... I guess there are enough people who doesn't care or want to educate themselves to keep these people in business and keep running the business on half-truths.

Thanks i wondered where that thread went.

And yeah like i said i dislike and don't condone or support those kind of marketing strategies and i have spoken out about it before, but it goes on all the time and it's not just in the collectable market it's just about every consumer market you can think of.

The point is though that Ainsworth gets vilified for doing something that everyone does, and we even have people here damning him for infringing IP which is hypocritical in my mind on a forum which is based around infringing IP.
I really dont care about him infringing IP or talking crap about the stuff he makes it's nothing many many people on this forum and many other legit licensed companies don't do.

For me it's soley about taking away credit from Liz that i find truly disgusting.
 
While I understand the difference between the two helmets, I think to refer to the CE as a "toy" is a little bit of an exaggeration. While it gets some fine details most purists would pick up on wrong, the general public who aren't researching the facts aren't going to consider a $125 licensed helmet that gets most of the details right, a "toy". Remember, we are talking about people who might be confused by Ainsworth's song and dance, we aren't really talking about sophisticated, hi-end collectors (IMO) who should know better.

Maybe toy is the wrong term but they're not sold as collectors pieces they sell them in costume shops, and costume shop masks to me are toys they're not serious collectors pieces.
But the point remains the same if you go to the SDS site it all looks very legit on the surface.
The company is a legit company and there's no shortage of people who have a few hundred quid they will drop on something that as far as they are concerned is the real deal without doing any research.

As the old saying goes there's one born every minute.
 
Maybe toy is the wrong term but they're not sold as collectors pieces they sell them in costume shops, and costume shop masks to me are toys they're not serious collectors pieces.

Personally, I've never seen one in a costume shop, and they do market them as collectors pieces:

eFX Inc. - SANDTROOPER HELMET - PRECISION CAST REPLICA PRE-ORDER

They limit the edition to 1000 and include a numbered certificate of authenticity. They also state that they are "based on an original helmet in the Lucasfilm archives". All that would lead a reasonable, less detail oriented collector to take this easy route to having a truly nice Trooper helmet, albeit one with flaws experts might not tolerate.

I agree that it might not be a "serious" collector's piece, but it is a "collector's piece" none the less by virtue of the features I've mentioned above and I'd think that this would be the surest route less educated collectors took before they went to Ainsworth.

But the point remains the same if you go to the SDS site it all looks very legit on the surface.
The company is a legit company and there's no shortage of people who have a few hundred quid they will drop on something that as far as they are concerned is the real deal without doing any research.

As the old saying goes there's one born every minute.

True, but my point is that in order to get to the SDS, they have to start doing research. I don't think that SDS is a known quantity the way that licensees are. You've got to be looking a little harder to find him.

At what point does a person skip an easily accessible option for a nice, licensed, well-made and accurate to some degree helmet like EFX, and then do just a teeny tiny bit of research and uncover Ainsworth without also finding out that he's selling snake oil?

I would think that the process would weed out a lot of potential customers, unless there are enablers out there abetting Ainsworth's fraud by driving customers to his site.
 
Theres a classic example of less than completely honest marketing the eFX CE has nothing in common with the original helmets but that's another thread.
And as for limited edition that's just twaddle, edition size is just about how many they want to manufacture and think they can sell comfortably.
Everything is a limited edition nothing is manufactured forever limited edition certs are just another marketing tool for suckers.

As for SDS you dont need to do much research just type stormtrooper helmet into google and up it pops on the very first page of results.
There are certainly faults with Ainsworths helmets but to compare it with a eFX CE helmet is like comparing a car with a cracked windshield to a totalled wreck.
 
Theres a classic example of less than completely honest marketing the eFX CE has nothing in common with the original helmets but that's another thread.

There you go exaggerating again! ;)

And as for limited edition that's just twaddle, edition size is just about how many they want to manufacture and think they can sell comfortably.
Everything is a limited edition nothing is manufactured forever limited edition certs are just another marketing tool for suckers.

You can question the marketing techniques, but the fact is that if something is made in limited quantities, is priced accordingly, and comes with some sort of certificate it is designed to be a "collectible" and those buying them are likely going to purchase them based on that designation. There are people who are going to buy those who will put them on a shelf, and look at them lovingly because they have a limited edition, decent quality Stormtrooper helmet based on the originals. It doesn't really matter if they are the very best available or not.

As for SDS you dont need to do much research just type stormtrooper helmet into google and up it pops on the very first page of results.

Tried. Failed. :lol Though maybe I missed it somewhere.

"stormtrooper helmet" - Google Search

I went three pages and still didn't find a link to Ainsworth on Google. However, there were a bunch of eFX links.

There are certainly faults with Ainsworths helmets but to compare it with a eFX CE helmet is like comparing a car with a cracked windshield to a totalled wreck.

Fair enough comparison. Though, I'm guessing 90% of those in the market for a Stormtrooper helmet wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and if they did their research and the details really mattered, wouldn't bother with either!
 
I started a thread showing footage of Liz sculpting aged 21 and have added photos of some of her work in the Movie Forum and I'll be adding a tribute page to my website

Awesome, very cool of you Brian!

You know, a public timeline of her involvement might help keep some facts straight...
 
Another Ainsworth Interview (for Streetcarnage on Facebook) :-

A STORMTROOPER WEDDING
.by Street Carnage on Thursday, 18 November 2010 at 15:00

Trying to get to the bottom of how something like this is even possible, I spoke to the creator of the Stormtrooper, Andrew Ainsworth. As nerds are wont to, he is currently embroiled in a massive argument about Star Wars — though actually with George Lucas.

Stormtrooper helmets (photo by Andrew Ainsworth, 1975)
STREET CARNAGE: That’s insane that you designed the Stormtrooper helmet. How did you come up with the design?
ANDREW AINSWORTH: I was given a small painting by Ralph McQuarrie, which had a sort of a trooper depicted in it, about two inches high. That was enough for me. I made my interpretation of it to help a mate out. I didn’t know that it was for a movie.
When George Lucas saw it, he ordered 50 helmets and asked me if I could make armour to go with it. I said no problem. I knocked together 50 sets of armour in about four weeks. After that, I continued working and made about 200 characters. It was fun! They took anything I threw at them and just wrote them into the script.Tie Wing Pilot helmet (photo by Andrew Ainsworth, 1975)
Which characters did you design?
Made about 200 characters overall, many of each type: Stormtroopers, Tie Pilots, X Wing Pilots, Imperial Gunner, Tuscan Raider, Rebel Troops, etc.
What Did Lucas pay you for designing and making for the helmets?
I got paid OK at the time and never relinquished any design rights or intellectual property rights. No one paid me for designing the helmets, just for goods delivered.

Imperial Gunner helmet (photo by Andrew Ainsworth, 1975)
Did you get screwed over later on?
Well, 30 years passed and I decided to reintroduce the Stormtrooper for the memorabilia market. George Lucas’ licensing people rang me up and said, “Who the hell are you?” I said, “I’m the guy who sold you all those characters 30 years ago. Who are you?” They said, “We are the guys who have registered these designs as ours and sold licenses on them for the past 30 years ($14 billion worth), and now we are going to put you out of business!”
I wrote them a nice letter asking if they would like to go into business with me on the project. They replied by sending me a writ for $20 million.

X Wing Pilot helmet (photo by Andrew Ainsworth, 1975)
So what’s up these days?
They are now trying to enforce a US default judgement for the $20 million on me. (U.K. law makes this void.) The case is going well; I am on my home-ground with all the evidence I saved from 1976. Chapter and Verse, as far as I can see. They know jack **** about the subject.
MAXIMIZER
 
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OH MY HOLY ****ING GOD. I just threw up in my mouth. Next thing he'll claim is that he came up with Star Wars and made it happen... wasn't Lucas at all, you see, nor where there any other sculptors or artists working on the show.

Did he just lose any connection with reality?
 
Seems like Giger didn't think much of him either on Alien. Some quotes from Giger's Diaries while on the production:

12 August 1978-
Andrew has still not come up with any satisfactory result. The moulds have been badly damaged by his experiments and by the great heat, and have to be patched up by the plasterers in meticulous detail, or even made all over again. The only conclusion that Andrew has reached is that what we want can only be done with metal moulds.

Once again i'm deeply disappointed. They always told me we should have the best experts in the world to work with us in such a big production, and instead of that we've got a lot of do-it-yourself amateurs without the necessary experience.
 
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