Fan made replicas and helmets

[sergiurusu]

The thing is, eFX is using shared molds and methods which you yourself have said you don't approve of, for authenticity's sake. So on the one hand, they are trying these sorts of things, but on the other that audience is not entirely receptive to their efforts when the price is so high and the results aren't 100% perfection.

And of course, it's one thing to make 2 versions of a helmet, but quite another to expand that to 2 versions of an entire armor. The helmets have the most character to them, they have more appeal for it; the armor is a lot larger and yet carries less of the personality, so it'd attract less buyers.

Fiberglass helmets and armor that aren't meant to be worn shouldn't be concerned over cracking since they're not generally meant to be bumping into things. ABS is difficult to use because it discolors over time, it generally has a very short shelf-life, around 5 to 10 years I think, and coatings aren't a real answer because it needs to impregnate the material to keep it from decaying. Carbon Fiber sounds very expensive and doesn't take color well, but as an undermaterial it could be strong enough.

When I want perfection in a SW prop, perfection for me means something else. I need that prop to be as close as possible to the original, and not to arrive with the problems Luke or Vader helmets arrived - and more recently the TIE Fighter. I don't want my props idealized, but I do want them without any production flaws like magnets put wrongly on Vader lids, scratches on the domes, decals/stickers with bubbles on Luke lid, or problems assembling the TIE Fighter.

Regarding ABS personally I would advise to go to FISD and RPF and read the threads where they discussed about fiberglass and ABS. You might find out that the ABS is not the same that was used when SW was released, it evolved a lot during the years. It SURELY doesn't have a 5-10 years shelf life, just look at the old screen used ABS SW helmets, they are still ok today. Yellowed, maybe, but no other problems with them, just read CfO or RS threads. No SW licensee nor fan creator ever made a fiberglass armor exactly because of its fragility and brittleness, and not just because of price. Rubies and Museum Replicas also made ABS armors.

Serg, its an SDS model. I got it from an outfit in Canada, so it has to go through customs before it arrives here. I'll bet the customs agents had no idea what the value of this thing is, maybe thinking its a cheap halloween mask and thus handled it accordingly.

Rubs are not a big problem. You can use Novus polish to take care of them and in the end it will look like new. I tried it on the chest plate of my armor which had some scratches and now looks as new.

It is not easy to take photos of a big black shiny thing. I'd advise to use as much natural light as possible and go without flash.

[Snowtrooper]

Heres some pics of the helmet/chestbox/armor and the extra helmet. They're better, but I'm still not satisfied with them. I'll try to add some better pics later. I didn't notice before, but the "extra" helmet's faceplate is assembled rather cockeyed.

[sergiurusu]

Very nice! So both helmets are SDS?

[Snowtrooper]

Yes. I got the first one from a guy in the UK earlier this year. I was originally thinking of just getting the helmet, but after seeing several pics of the whole setup, including yours, I decided to get the rest of it. Also, since I'm on Dan Laws list to have an AT-AT driver helmet made, I just might get the whole thing made of that as well. We'll see how the finances work out for that.

[sergiurusu]

The DL AT-AT is really neat. Did you go for white or gray?

[Snowtrooper]

As of right now, I'm on the wait list so I haven't officially picked a color yet. I'm most likely going with white. I know its not the accurate grey, but I always seen it as white in the movies. I don't expect to hear from him for awhile, but he said the wait list is a few months instead of a year, so hopefully its not too far down the road. I thought I read somewhere that hes on v2 of the helmet sculpt. Do you know what differences there are between v1 and v2?

[sergiurusu]

Yeah, the wait list on DL items is HUGE. Then there is the wait on the items themselves. you need to pay a $50 or $100 deposit and then all you need to do is to have patience. But the wait is well worth! I'm still waiting on my Snowtrooper Commander which I ordered last Christmas. I ordered my AT-AT Driver armor and helmet after that and I got it months ago. Dan is very busy, but in the end, when you receive your item, you will be simply amazed.

Indeed he upgraded the AT-AT Driver helmet some time ago. Make a comparison of the old Clutch version attached and mine. Even the one shown on his site is not 100% upgraded, but he now delivers ones that look like mine. Quite a big difference regarding sharpness (just look at the vocorder for example), the forehead "clock greeblies", or the tusks. The new one is much better, and the "clock greeblies" for example seem to be the most accurate compared to all other AT-AT helmets out there. And this is just the helmet. He also improved the chest box a bit too.





BTW just ask him if he will include the hoses with the helmet or now. Hoses attached to an AT-AT lid look better than without. The same with the TIE Fighter helmet without the hoses, the helmet will have 2 big holes in front where the hoses would be attached.

[Snowtrooper]

I can definitely see the difference in the vocoder and tusks, as you said. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the faceplate seems to be more accurate, width wise. I looked up some old comparison pics of DL v1 and the SDS TIE pilot helmets, and the DL seemed a bit narrow compared to the SDS.

[sergiurusu]

It's more the way they are assembled and the difference in colors white vs gray. They both use quite accurate face plate, and the top part from the helicopter helmet is also accurate.

[Snowtrooper]

Dumb question to ask, but is the stand you're using for your DL AT-AT driver the same one that comes with the SDS TIE pilot? It looks that way from the pics, but thought I'd just make sure.