MonCal

Those are all good points to consider. Hmm.. 😕

Interesting idea. It is certainly a drag when the knowledge of thieves sort of disappears over time or gets swept aside. With being in the hobby for 20 years now, I've seen several instances where the knowledge of a "bad guy" was pretty well known for a couple of years but then it fades away. This allows the "bad guy" to actually keep going, almost as if ignoring it perpetuates and even sort of supports it.

Hmm. Yeah. Bad advertising is still advertising. That is tough to calculate. At least those who have and care about morals and ethics would be educated?

It seems like it could be an option. The Blizzard Force has a pinned "Known Recasters" thread in the vendor area.

It is certainly a bummer. I reached out to the C.O. of the Spanish Garrison and he wondered if this detachment could do anything, blacklist, etc. this is our conversation so far: .............................................................................................. From me: Hello Javier, I hope this message finds you doing well. The reason I am contacting you is because I believe there might be someone in your garrison's area who is offering copies of an armor kit that I created. Now, I realize the 501st does not get involved with vendor relations and I respect that. To be honest I am not sure what to do and / or if you or your garrison could even offer any sort of help with regard to the matter. Members of my garrison (Mountain Garrison) have suggested that I reach out to the Spanish Garrison just in case. I have a thread on the forums, where I have posted the maker and information here: https://www.501st.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=101910 Thank you very much for your time and any advice or assistance you might be able to provide. Sincerely, Cal ............................................................................................ From Javier: Hi Cal, Indeed there are members of the Spanish Garrison involved with Armour Factory Props, and I have to say it's really disappointing to see they are doing recast of your works... As you know, I was your costumer last year for a AT-AT Commander kit and I'm very gratefull foy your work and your costumer attention. Yes, we cannot do anything at 501st level, but may be you can talk to the Pathfinder detachment to point that Armour Factory Props Biker is a recast. I know there're some detachments with black list of vendor who are doing recast of others work. I'm really sorry you have to deal with this kind of actions. In my name and on behalf of the Spanish Garrison I want to apologize... Hope you can solve this, and I'm sorry for can't do anything more... If I can do anything more, please let me know. Kind regards Javier Cazallas .............................................................................................. From me: Hi Javier, Thank you for the message and for the supporting words. The bikerscout detachment is aware. In fact, the detachment leader is the one who brought it to my attention. They noticed that their kit looked like mine right away. Would it possible to alert your garrison and let the membership know that while the 501st cannot take any official action, it is heavily frowned upon in the hobby and that new makers really should not copy another artist's work? Thank you again and take care, Cal ..............................................................................................

They deleted my post on their page with no response. This may suggest guilt. I also sent them a PM, which it shows they read and they haven't responded to either.

That would make sense. Yeah, that chest is super stretched out sideways. Maybe because of how he is standing with his hands on his belt boxes and shoulders up. The suit armpit might be pulling the webbing, thus pulling the flexible armor. Who knows. Not that it really matters lol

Hmm. I don't know. I am pretty sure they copied my parts (minus the belt). It would be nice to get better confirmation. I wonder if anyone has one of their kits that they could take better pictures of or compare to one of my kits. They deleted my post from their facebook page and didn't respond. I still need to reach out to the Spanish Garrison but I just haven't had time. Back when I sculpted that kit, there wasn't a lot of reference other than The Magic of Myth display and I think the DVD had just been released so I was able to zoom in on my T.V. I think we did pretty good getting the belt boxes to the right shape and scale. Most of the kits out there (at least back then) had huge oversized belt boxes so we didn't want to follow suit so-to-speak. I will attach a couple of images. We took these back when we first made the kit so we didn't get the photo angles and vantage points quite right so a little imagination is needed to "tweak" the angles of the parts in your mind's eye, plus I can't help but feel there is something "wrong" with that image of the scout in the movie, in the first shot. The chest plate just seems super weird to me.

What's up with the belt boxes?

Hmm, Maybe give him a heads up to this thread. Perhaps he can dig up shots of his old version at a comparable angle. Plus, the artist can see their own tells.

Thanks everyone. It definitely does suck Like I have time to deal with more stuff. I am so tired of having to fight for everything, especially when it is either already mine or I am legitimately entitled to it. Please help spread the word. Thanks for looking! Cal

. I was informed by members of the detachment that my scout kit may have been copied. I laid out one of our kits in the same configuration as the suspect kit and other than the belt piece, it definitely looks like my kit. You might have to wait for the photos to load. For some reason my host is being really slow. This first photo shows the comparison of the two kits. The kit on the red background is from "Armour Factory Props" and the other kit is mine (MC / FAC): Image: This next image is their facebook page: Image: This is the message I posted on their page, with no response so far:

I am unable to spend a bunch of time at the moment studying it but with a quick comparison I would say there are more than just a few similarities. It pretty much looks like my kit. You might have to wait for my photo to load. I seem to be having some issues with my host. I will try using the attachment feature too. The belt is the only piece that I can say for certain isn't copied.

How is your kit coming along Jason?

I would have to study it more or see more photos but many of the parts do look like my sculpts.

Nice! I will look into those. I definitely have hated both drilling the alice clips and making others struggle with them as well.

Nice Job Jason! Thank you for the compliments on the packaging. That is one thing that I have always prided myself on, well that and I try to take pride in everything that I do which can be to a fault at times. I think it is important, not only to package and protect the goods but it is also part of the experience. When you order something online and it is packaged well, you know that the person takes pride and care in what they do. There definitely aren't many vendors who package their kits nicely ... not even Anovos. With regard to the alice clips, yeah those are a booger. I once pursued getting accurate clips manufactured but I seem to have a difficult time finding manufacturers who will follow through on things for me. I would definitely like to find something easier, not only for myself when we assemble detonators but I hate putting people in the predicament if they don't have the means to drill them. I sharpen all of my bits with a bit sharpener, then I have to drill the spring steel clips, with each size bit and cutting oil (wd-40 works too), working up to the 1/2" hole. Which, the larger hole is primarily so that a rivet gun can fit. Then I have to grind off the flashing with a dremel or I actually use the disc on my bench sander. Then I get to re-sharpen all the bits again after I am done. Yeah ... they are a bit of a pain. Help me find something better

Thank you for the supporting words, Mickey. Jason, I just got to thinking. One thing you will want to make sure to do, is trim and form the shoulder straps to fit your build. I originally designed those to be long and the curve is an approximation for an "average" shoulder. My intention was for those to be longer than needed so put the chest and back plates on your person and mark both of them to be cut off, where your T-shirt seam line is. Try to hold the armor so it is even on each side (your left and right sides). It is easy to get those off center a bit. Then you might need to gently warm the shoulders with a heat gun and get them to conform to your shoulders. You will get a much better "form fitting" look if you can do that.

Nice! It isn't done yet? lol ... I am excited to see the progress on this build. If you run into any snags, find a method to be better than what I have on the tutorial (feel the urge to document a better tutorial than what I have ), or if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out either via facebook or here through PM. Since I got a shop PC up and running (thanks to a buddy) a few months ago I have been able to get on to the forums again. My time is still limited but at least I can check in again.

I finally had some time to take pics of the new greeblies we are including. I could benefit from a new camera but it's o.k. : A painted set: We tightened up the pull on the detonator box so it sits nice and flat: thanks

Wow. Nice eye. Those are definitely white zip ties. I don't know if I ever noticed that. If I did I forgot it long ago Dear CRL gods, please don't make that a CRL requirement. That would look terrible in person and well... definitely not practical I think I have a lead on more accurate clips but I won't say for sure just yet. I'm waiting for some information and with the holidays upon us I don't expect my emails back and forth to go too quickly.

Fresh from the printer: Since half of the Ackbar greeblie is the same, we made that version. We will mold this and then split it in two and have the upgraded scout detonator greeblie in our armor kit. It should be under silicone today I updated my original MC armor creation thread here: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=286&st=0

Nice It's kinda like the landspeeder. Kathy and I have been trying to replicate the original weathering as closely as we can and when it came to splattering silver paint on top of all the other layers... we just had to grin while we were doing it. Perhaps Wamprats have silver blood

Thanks Jeff! I bought a new computer, with a bluray player and well.. I can't get it to work. I had a friend tell me how to get it to work but I don't have time .. or patience with computers I'm still amazed at the sub-par weathering job the costuming dept did on this costume for the movie. Hey, it's easy to replicate at least.

Who has a screen cap from the behind the scenes part of the blu-ray? I can probably get one but I have to go through a bunch of software rig-a-marole .. to get it to work on my blu-ray player on the pc. We are going to model this part up and 3d print it so we can upgrade our kit If anyone has some good pics please let me know. thanks, Cal