Here's the facts surrounding the weathering job.
I've examined all the helmets in the archives, as well as the one now owned by propstore (previously owned by S.Sansweet).
I can tell you that the weathering on all the originals still around have a LOT of variance to them.
Some had more intense weathering, some had less, but they were all done in the same manner.
When I weathered the prototype legend, I modeled it directly off the original we used from the archives (which had about a medium level of weathering compared to the others). Some were lighter, some were heavier. The one we modeled the prototype after was about in the middle.
If you don't prefer the styling of the weathering of the prototype, then what that really means is that you don't really prefer the look of the weathering on the original helmets, not that we did a poor job replicating it. It actually is a very close match.
Here's a shot of the original helmet we referenced that Bryan posted over on Rebelscum:
http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/.../Biker Scout Helmet/ScreenUsedScoutHelmet.jpg
If you closely examine the weathering on the original helmets, they appear to be a bit on the random sloppy side. But that's how they were done for the film.
Paint overspray. But performed in a deliberate random way if that makes sense.
On film they look great and the weathering doesn't really stand out with the rest of the costume and environment. Holding the helmet in your hands the weathering just sort of becomes more 'noticeable'. It's like you are for the first time, truly noticing the details and styling of the original helmets.
But rather than perform an idealized weathering job, we chose to match the weathering as it was done for the originals.
And since we had fantastic in-hand reference of an original helmet, that was the one I used to match the weathering to.
Here's a shot of a guy wearing the weathered prototype at NYCC this past Oct.
For me seeing it on a person just drives home how important using original molds is regarding the correct look.
Just awesome. Looks straight out of the movie. And in a shot like this, the weathering just looks totally as it should and you don't really notice it standing out.
Now if you just have a preference for 'as first built - clean' props, then that's an entirely different thing.
http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums...30C2D862-717-0000007CEECE2EE4_zps1a5c43dd.jpg