AA sds versus all the others

[sskunky]

Hi everyone,

 

I just wondered if someone could clear up the confusion I have over all the different Armor/ Bucket producers.

I worked for a couple of years for a friend of mine who owns/runs a modelmaking props company here in England and have produced various items for the Newer Star Wars films. But while working on those I was fortunate enough to work with some tallented guys that worked on the original films and they were all convinced that AA and his father made all the Stormtrooper Kits used in the first films.

I just wondered why alot of people did not think his kits were that good. Is it the price or quality?

 

Mark

[Runnriottt]

Shoot me if I am wrong guys...

 

 

AA did "make" most if not all the suits in ANH, he did not design it.

 

He was contacted to produce the armor off the supplied molds from LFL.

 

It has become a battle that he has now lost in a UK court. Pretty much AA tried to take credit for the design, something that is not true. Liz Moore sculped the armor.

 

LFL won, and shut him down.

[Guest TK-2416]

Hi.. and welcome

 

There are different threads on this forum covering this already.. But basically AA claims that the molds and his current armors origin from the original molds.. However there are different tells that this may be recast from others (TE?).. Furthermore some of the webbing is not that well put together, but thats a quick fix.. Again... You choose you armor yourself and if you love it, well thats the most important thing.. The cool thing about this hobby is all the great alternatives.. we have AP, TE, TE2, TM and so on.. IMO the TE2 is the best and besides Mr. X is a top guy - but that is my opinion some votes for the AP and some for the TM..

 

Good luck and have fun with it!!!

 

Besides - you can never have too many costumes..

[MandalorianWarrior87]

Shoot me if I am wrong guys...

 

 

AA did "make" most if not all the suits in ANH, he did not design it.

 

He was contacted to produce the armor off the supplied molds from LFL.

 

It has become a battle that he has now lost in a UK court. Pretty much AA tried to take credit for the design, something that is not true. Liz Moore sculped the armor.

 

LFL won, and shut him down.

 

I think thats pretty much all of it. Most of his stuff looks good, to me at least, but way over priced.

[sskunky]

Ok,

That said I did speak to AA the other day and he didn't entirely lose his battle with GL and is still able to produce the armor.

I bought Two of his buckets a couple of years back and he is at present replacing the face of one due to yellowing, apparently from some chemical that was used in the early runs. He is doing this free of charge so you can't say fairer than that!

 

I still don't understand why certain other makers are regarded as more accurate when AA originally made them in the first place?

 

As far as I am aware the designs were in fact changed slightly from the originals by AA and his father as they were not vaccume freindly. This is why there is an arguement about who owned the copyright.

 

If not I stand corrected. I only know what AA has told me, wether that is what I wanted to hear or not , I'm not sure.

 

Thanks to you great people for disscussing this with me.

 

Mark

[troopermaster]

I still don't understand why certain other makers are regarded as more accurate when AA originally made them in the first place?

 

Yes, AA formed the originals back in 1976, but he is not using the original moulds today. His helmets are derived from moulds that came from casting he made after ANH which were modified from the original design. The helmets had ribbed tubes at the back and they were made in three main sections, unlike the original two piece design.

 

Other makers of helmets like TE actually moulded a real helmet from ANH and that is why they are more accurate. His moulds are first generation recasts and the most accurate replicas made. AA's moulds are modified from a modifed version of an ANH helmet, so they are far from accurate and lack size and shape of many features to make an accurate replica.

[Billhag]

TK-9135 said:

Shoot me if I am wrong guys...

AA did "make" most if not all the suits in ANH, he did not design it.

 

He was contacted to produce the armor off the supplied molds from LFL.

 

It has become a battle that he has now lost in a UK court. Pretty much AA tried to take credit for the design, something that is not true. Liz Moore sculped the armor.

 

LFL won, and shut him down.

 

Nathan

Nudge up a bit, if they shoot you, they can take me down with ya mate

Liz Moore sculpted the helmet and Brian Muir created the armour

 

Mark

As Nathen and David said, there's no disputing that AA produced the armour for ANH

but our Mr Ainsworth is trying to take the credit for far, far more than he is entitled to.

As well as denigrate all those talented people who WERE involved in the costumes conception.

 

Today's ruling by Mr Justice Mann in the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, affirmed that Lucasfilm is the sole owner of all rights to the iconic costume designs.

 

The court held that Ainsworth infringed Lucasfilm's rights when he reproduced the Stormtrooper helmet replicas and sold them under a false claim that he had created the designs, which were used in 1977's Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Ainsworth was a plastics manufacturer who was hired in 1976 to reproduce designs created by a team of Lucasfilm artists, including costume designer John Mollo, who won an Academy Award for his work on the film.

 

Mr Justice Mann stated that the description of some of Mr Ainsworth's evidence as "inaccurate and

misleading".

 

All this as been covered on many, many forums and serveral posts on the FISD.

And its definitely worth reading the judges findings regarding the case as it certainly makes an

interesting read (if you don't mind wading through the 150 pages )

Here's the link;-

-------------

 

As for the helmets that he produces now, Paul's post says it all (and PLEASE don't even think about

disputing Pauls credibility and knowledge on the subject )

 

Mark, if you like your armour and helmet then that is good enough mate.

It'll be a dull old World if we all liked the same things .

But please keep an open mind when it comes to the claims of its manufacturer.

Edited February 12, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[Star Wars Helmets]

I'm conscious that people have a knack of posting theory as fact. There is a theory that AA moulds are derived from the (incorrectly termed) prototype helmet which was produced after ANH. However there is another line that says that AA is using the original moulds (used to produce the helmets for ANH), but damage/age/whatever means they are no longer in the same state they were in 1976 - which would be understandable. So there's been a lot of discussion/arguing on the boards but no proof. In the legal case the judge didnt comment on the originality of AA's moulds.

 

AA armour moulds DO appear to derive from other fan-made designs such as GF and TE, which were themselves cast off an original RotJ set - which was itself cast off an original AA-produced ANH set in 1976. Complex isnt it!

 

As far as the legal action its incorrect to say AA lost, and would probably be more accurate to say that "LFL didnt win" since they were unable to stop production since the judge seemed to suggest that AA had rights to reproduce his own work, which was classed as "Industrial Design" and thus out of copyright. This therefore posed more questions than answers so its highly likely LFL will re-commence legal action from a different angle

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Jez

[Runnriottt]

Trooping is more than plastic, and its great to see a kid light up in your armor. Get the set you want bro, its your desision anyway....

 

There are long threads devoted to this subject on a lot of forums... You have a ton of reading to catch up on sskunky...

[sskunky]

wow guys,

 

Thanks again for your very knowledgable input. That certainly clears a few things up in my mind as I was really stuck on what armor to get.

So TE2 or AP seem to be the most screen accurate?

I think from what I have learnt from my limited time here that I will steer clear of AA for my armor needs and I hope as soon as TE2 does a new run he will put me on the list

Thanks again guys.

I had truly underestimated how good this forum really is and

how much I really didn't know!

I know now I will have to spend a great deal of time trawling through the various threads so as I don't keep going over old ground.

Please excuse me the newbie!!!

 

Mark.

 

Mark.