Ainsworth Case Rulling

This in from the SciFi Wire:

Ruling Splits Star Wars Case

Lucasfilm Ltd. and a British prop designer both claimed victory on July 31 in a legal battle over the iconic stormtrooper uniforms from the Star Wars films, the Associated Press reported.

George Lucas's film company had sued Andrew Ainsworth, who sculpted the stormtrooper helmets for the first Star Wars movie in 1977.

British High Court judge Anthony Mann ruled that Ainsworth violated Lucasfilm's U.S. copyright by selling replica stormtrooper uniforms through his Web site to customers in the United States.

But Mann refused to enforce in Britain a $20 million judgment Lucasfilm won against Ainsworth in a California court in 2006. The judge said Ainsworth's U.S. sales, which totaled 25,000 to 30,000 pounds ($50,000 to $60,000), were not significant enough to make him susceptible to U.S. jurisdiction.

The judge also rejected a claim against Ainsworth under British law, saying English copyright over the outfits had expired. Ainsworth's lawyer, Seamus Andrew, said the ruling meant that Ainsworth was now free to sell his replicas everywhere except the United States.

Mann also rejected a counterclaim by Ainsworth that copyright rested with him.

Armor Pictures

I took some pictures of my progress last night:

Snaps:

Snaps attached:

Gluing forearms:

Gluing sniper plate:

Gluing snaps to thigh:

I ran into a couple of problems - the first thigh part is still too narrow, and the snaps aren't holding, so I took a piece of plastic from the sign and attached snaps, and it fits much better now.
Still having some problems with getting the snaps to actually hold to the plastic. Hopefully, I'll have everything done by this week.

Further Armor Work

I did quite a bit of work on this last night, at the expense of a boring reading assignment, and I couldn't find my camera for photos. I picked up a couple of cheap clamps at the hardware store after work, which have been very helpful keeping pieces together, as the glue takes a couple of hours to dry. I'm finding that the superglue (which dries quickly) and the Gorilla Glue, which bonds harder, but takes longer, is a good combination. The Gorilla Glue is also pretty easy to remove once it drives, and I've been using a knife and sandpaper to get rid of the excess that has been coming out as it expands.

Progress:

Glued: Forearms, Upper arms, Shins, Thighs, thigh straps on Ab piece and the two shoulder straps to back plate. This part was easy with the clamps, as I just glued the seam together and clamped it, and they're holding together very, very well, and the plastic has enough flexibility to put on and over my leg.

Snapped: Backs of one thigh, half of another, waiting for the other parts to completely dry before putting them on. I tried the first thigh piece with the snaps and it's holding together wonderfully. I'm a little worried that the glue will seperate over time, so I'm mixing glues a little, but if the first one is any indication, it'll hold nicely, and make the entire thing easier to get on and off. Already, I can see that the right thigh (which is a big smaller for some reason) fits better because there's a little extra space allowed by the snaps now, which is very handy. Finally, I took off the sniper plate's velcro and glue on a pair of snaps, which I'll finish glueing to to the shin later today. I'm going to leave the bandolier as is, because the velcro works perfectly as it currently is, and there's really no need to change it over.

Next up: I need to finish gluing the forearms, which should take all of two seconds, and then glue the shoulder straps and backplate to the chest plate. I've glued down the velcro on the shoulders, which should actually keep it all together with the shoulder. Next, I need to finish assembling the snaps (square of plastic and a front or back glued together), which I allowed to dry overnight, then affix them to the left thigh and both shins, six sets total. I also need to touch up one of the thighs on the inside, adding in a bit more glue.

Coming out of this, I think that the only parts that I haven't modified are the shoulder bells, drop boxes, bandolier and detonator. Gluing parts together means that I won't be able to completely disassemble the armor like I usually do, but it's a small tradeoff for something that'll make this armor a lot easier to maintain. Because frankly, I'm sick of duct tape.

I'll take some pictures tonight and post them up tomorrow.

Major Modifications

I've done three troops in quick succession in the past month, and as a result, I've had to do a lot of repair work on my armor, particularly the thighs, shins and ab plates, pieces that have a lot of mobility and experience a lot of stress as a result of regular activities and putting the armor on and taking it off.

At the Weird Al Concert, I had to use white duct tape to hold my legs together because the Velcro that I use has been coming undone. There, I talked to a fellow trooper, TK, who showed me the system that he used, and I've talked to troopers since then who've done similar things - snaps and glue. So, getting back from a recent event, I picked up a snap kit, Gorilla Glue, a thin plastic For Sale sign and a bottle of Goo Gone.

Step 1: Removing all the Velcro from the thighs, upper arms, shins, chest / back plate and soon, the forearms. I used my leatherman to strip everything out, and then have started using the Goo Gone to get rid of the residue from the Velcro that I've used over the past four years. Thus far, it's working pretty well, getting rid of all the crap that's built up.

Step 2: Once the armor's cleaned up, I'll do a little sanding to give the glue something to stick to. I found that I need to get some clamps for when I actually glue it. I've since glued one side of the upper arms, which I need the clamps for (once I get to the other side). I'm going to glue the fronts of the shins and thighs.

Step 3: On the backs of each leg part, and the shoulders/chest/back parts, I'm going to affix snaps. To do this, I've taken the sign and cut small squares out, to which I've started glueing the snaps to, using super glue, which I'll then affix to the tops and bottoms of each back. With the fronts glued, I can use snaps to keep it together. I'll do the same thing for the shoulder straps and upper body parts, which will hopefully keep everything together a lot better than the Velcro has been, making the entire suit easier to utilize and have it be lower maintenance.

501stCast: Detachment Briefing 02: First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment

Welcome back to the 501stCast’s Detachment Briefing.
During these briefings we’ll be talking with 501st Legion members from the various detachments about the costumes they specialize in.

This episode, recorded on 16 June 2008, features an introduction to the First Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment which is the costuming detachment for the Stormtrooper (aka TK) costume.

Visit FISD online at: www.whitearmor.net

Hosts: Nicky Blum (DZ-8397) and Lor (TK-7883)

Guests: Paul (TK-8020) and Wyatt (TK-4205)

Content Development: Nicky Blum (DZ-8397)

Post-Production: Nicky Blum (DZ-8397) and Lor (TK-7883)

We welcome your feedback via our comment form below or by emailing podcast@501st.com

Detachment Briefing - FISD: Download

Transforming to ESB

There are minor differences between the storm troopers between A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. They're hard to spot, but the Empire Strikes Back troopers are the most different from the ANH and ROTJ troopers. I've been wanting to go to ESB for a while now, and I've finally made the switch over.

There are two differences that really make a trooper ESB. The first is the helmet frown. Where the ANH and ROTJ frowns are a light gray, the Empire Strikes Back frown is black. So, I taped up my helmet all around the frown using duct tape and newspaper, and changed the color of that over. I've given it a couple of coats, just to be sure.




The end result came out pretty good, although I missed a couple of spots, which I've touched up with a sharpie marker. For the time being, this'll work just fine, although I would like to get some hobby paint and finish the job completely.

The second difference is in the hand plates. In ANH, they are flat and angular. In ESB, they are a bit smaller, and curved inwards a bit. I was able to aquire a set via one of our recruits, Frank, who's recently built a vacuformer and made some molds. He used a very lightweight plastic, polysyrene, which is very thin - much thinner than the ABS plastic that the rest of my armor is made of, but much cheaper. Because these plates don't cover the strap on my glove, I've painted that as well, although I suspect that I'll have to replace the strap entirely so that the glove is uniformly black. I'll see how it is for now though.





Hopefully, the inside of the helmet won't be too smelly from the paint...

MR Helmet Stripes

Last night, I made the last external modifications to my MR bucket. As I've mentioned a couple of times now, there are several changed that need to be made to make this already cool helmet better.

Caulk Seam
Replace Lenses
Replace Stripes
Screws (I'm not going to do this with this helmet)

The stripes in question are the vents on the side of each helmet. The MR bucket's stripes are too dark and a little too small. Thus, they need to either be repainted or have decals applied. Fortunately, there's some reasonable and cheap decals out there. I've since purchased a couple of these for people who've also recently gotten the helmet.

I found that I didn't even need to take the old stripes off. These new ones covered it nicely. The decals that I purchased could probably be applied as a stripe, but my experience with that has been iffy, and my FX helmet really shows as the stripes are pretty lopsided. So, I removed the backing and applied each decal individually, over each pre-existing stripe to get the proper placement and orientation. It took me about a half hour in all, very quick and painless, and my helmet is now, for all in tents and purposes, done.

eFX Helmets On Sale

This in from theforce.net, which posted this story (which seems to be from a press release):

eFX ANNOUNCES JULY 8, 2008 AS THE ON-SALE DATE FOR THE STORMTROOPER(tm) HELMET

We are very excited to announce that our very first product, the Episode IV: A New Hope(tm) Stormtrooper(tm) Helmet will go on sale Tuesday, July 8, 2008. In the U.S. it will be available on our website, www.efxcollectibles.com, and Star Wars Shop will have a very limited quantity, as well.

- Full size Stormtrooper(tm) Helmet - Asymmetrical, hero version
- Worldwide Edition: 500
- Digitally scanned and cast of an original screen used helmet
- Fiberglass construction with fully padded interior
- 2 sets of “bubble” lenses, grey and green
- Display Stand
- Numbered Plaque and Plaque Stand
- Certificate of Authenticity

ORDERING INFORMATION AND RULES
- Order date and time is July 8, 2008 at 9AM Pacific Daylight Savings Time.
- THIS IS NOT A PRE-ORDER. Product will be ready to ship in 3-5 business days.
- The limit is 1 (one) per person on the first day. If any remain after the first day, you can order a second one. Any order with more than 1 (one) helmet or duplicate orders on the first day will result in the cancellation of BOTH orders.
- Ordering will be via www.efxcollectibles.com ONLY, no phone or mail orders.
- Payment by VISA, MasterCard and American Express ONLY.
- Please review our Return Policy on our website before purchasing.
- International customers can purchase either through an authorized retailer in their country or on our website. However, if you order directly from us, you will be responsible for all shipping costs, duties, taxes and other fees.

As we had announced previously, if you ordered a Stormtrooper(tm) Helmet DIRECT from Master Replicas and your order was cancelled, you will have priority ordering for this helmet. And now It is even easier since Master Replicas has graciously agreed to verify anyone whose order was cancelled, so you can stop trying to hunt down your cancellation e-mail. So, if your order was cancelled and you are interested in purchasing one of these helmets, please e-mail Amy your contact information with the best time to contact you during business hours, at customerservice@efxcollectibles.com and she will contact you to give you the ordering instructions. You must contact Amy by July 1, 2008 to reserve your helmet.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Amy at customerservice@efxcollectibles.com

Random Costuming Things

It's been a little while since I've done anything on what I've been up to costuming wise. Currently, I'm slowly putting together a Scout Trooper, which I've done a little work on over the past couple of days, as I had a nice, free weekend to putter around with.

For a while now, the parts have been trimmed out and sanded, and it's just a matter of doing the following:

- Trim and Sand Armor parts : Done
- Attaching straps & Velcro : Done
- Sew on Straps on upper, fore arms and knees: Not Done
- Sew Cummerbund : Not Done
- Paint & Affix Resin Parts : Done & 1/2 Done
- Assemble Belt : Not Done
- Get Gloves : On their way
- Get Boots
- Get Head/Neck covering

Over the weekend, I cut up some of the Velcro that I had around the house and assembled the shoulder bells. With Industrial Velcro, I've put contact points for a strap to hold the shoulders in place, as well as to keep the shoulders together. So far, it's holding up nicely, although I may try and go for something more permanent in the future.



The shoulder bells have four points of contact. One on the top to link up the shoulder, two on each side for a strip to hold the part on my shoulder and a fourth on the bottom to hold the forearm part in place. This part is where my newly painted greebles have been glued in place. To demo the entire arm, I used duct tape and found that I'm going to need something sewn in place, rather than velcroed, so I have to cut holes for the straps at some point, then get them sewn on.






This setup seems like it should work pretty nicely. To get these in place, they will need to be taut, in order to better fit my arm. I need to buy more webbing.



I'm contemplating whether or not to save up and get a pair of CA Scout boots. They're $160, but it'll save me a lot of trouble. On the other hand, I can build the boots myself for a lot less. Hm...



While I painted up the Resin parts, I also touched up my E-11, which has been getting some wear and tear over the years, and touching up the spots with a sharpie marker just doesn't look all that good. I did two at once, mine, which just needed touch up, and Mike's, (our new VT Member) who needed the entire thing repainted. Both look pretty damn good. I'll need to pick up some resin parts to make mine more accurate, but that's not really a priority at the moment.



Next, I did a quick build of some handcuffs that I plan on bringing out for pictures and the like. While driving home, I came across a PVC pipe joint that was left on the road, so I picked it up. I can stick my hand entirely in it, so these aren't really going to be any good at securing people, but for pictures, it should be helpful.

The first thing that I did was cut the proper section off into two rings, one for each hand, and then cut those in half. I initially wanted to get some small hinges, but I couldn't find any on my dad's workbench, so I went with the next best thing - duct tape and random bits of velcro. One side of each ring is attached with a couple reinforced strips of duct tape, which allows me to open and close each loop. On the other opening, I've created a tab with a bit of Velcro on it to close the loop. Then, I tapped both rings together in a cross and reinforced it. To finish it off, I looped tape around at intervals. Screen accurate? Not on your life. But, it doesn't look horrible, and it should be an interesting thing to pose with.


And lastly, my two buckets, an FX and MR. I'm really, really liking my MR helmet. I have the stripes which need to go on, but after that, it should be finished. I need to touch up the seam a little more, and clean it up a little first though.

MR Bucket Refits

I got a Master Replicas bucket! Finally, I can replace my FX one with something more accurate. Now, I'm not the biggest person on screen accuracy, but I do have to say that it is a good thing to strive for. This helmet is a lot more accurate, and overall, it looks a lot better. However, there are some things that I need to do to it first.

Lenses - Lenses have to be replaced with these. They're green, which isn't a problem, but they're very thin and you can see the wearer's eyes. I've since bought replacement lenses, which are thicker, but also gray (I'm not a fan of the green look). I screwed them in and it looks pretty good, they fit very well.



Seam - The biggest drawback is that there's a seam along the front of the helmet, and that needed to be filled in. I bought some caulk last night and started working on filling the crack in a little. I found that it helps to tape up the front a little so that you don't make too much of a mess, and that several coats of caulk might be needed. I did this in stages, filling it in a bit, smoothing, then letting it dry before doing it again. I'll do another coat tonight just to get the last little bit out. It's a little noticeable, but not a whole lot, so once that's over with, I'm done.


Decals - Decals are good except for the side vents, which are gray, and they need to be blue. I didn't get to it last night, but tonight, I'll put on the more accurate ones that I got.

After this, I'm going to work out how to put the fan and speaker in. Because this is a bit of a smaller helmet, there's less space (the FX has a TON of space in it). I think I also need to add in a little more padding to make it fit to my head better. Other than that, it's off to a pretty good start!

Armor Build Night

My friend and former classmate Mike came over last night for a cool project - building an FX suit. He purchased one through me, after I convinced him that the legion was a good group and that Storm Troopers were cool. (It didn't take very much convincing at all.)

Armor kit laid out.

So, first thing, I pick him up from work and we headed to my place with the FX Kit, a box of CA Boots and two Master Replicas Helmets. Remember a couple weeks ago that I mentioned that there were $90 buckets out there? Well, Mike picked up two and sold one of them to me. More on that in a little bit.

Armor kit laid out.

The first thing that we did was unpack the box of armor pieces. An FX kit, for those of you who don't know, is a pre-cut set of armor, which makes it a fantastic beginner's kit. Since Mike already has an MR helmet, we skipped putting the kit's helmet together, which is probably a good thing, because the FX Bucket isn't the most accurate helmet out there.

After unpacking the box, we drove up to the Berlin Mall, where we bought industrial-strength Velcro, caulk for the helmets, gray and black spray paint, gloves and sand paper at Walmart. After picking up that stuff, we walked past the toy isle, which was a big mistake. I ended up leaving the store with a much larger bill, and two Star Wars Lego Sets, the Imperial Troop Transport and Clone Trooper set. Mike got a set of Storm Troopers as well. No action figures though, because our Walmart sucks.

Belt screwed on

We returned to my place, and started putting together the set. The first thing that we did was look at how the pieces went together and from there, sanded the joints a little, to give the Velcro more grip on the plastic. This is something that I didn't do when I first built my armor, and I've regretted it since, because I've had my armor fall apart when I first started trooping. Since then, I've replaced it with the industrial strength stuff, and glued it down.

Mike cut out the Velcro for the seams, and we soon had the thigh pieces done. There seems to be a difference between my FX set and Mike's. The legs have been redesigned, so they're a bit wider, and a lot more comfortable. My right thigh piece currently digs into my knee, and it's pretty painful at times, even though I've trimmed it a little. There's also a notch at the back of the leg in the new suit, which also helps. I started building the Landing Ship, which came out pretty cool.

Mike putting velcro on the thigh pieces.

After Mike finished with the legs, he started on the chest piece, and I bore out some of the holes in the stomach armor with a screw driver, and put in the ab buttons, then assembled the belt, while Mike continued with the arms. We also spray painted the detonator, and left it to try.

Trying on for size.

By this time, it was 10:30, and I drove Mike back to campus. We still have the shins, upper arms and detonator to assemble, as well as the TX Bucket. We might as well put it together. Then we'll get working on his helmet.

Lego!

Mini-Me

The other day, while driving up to Burlington with my younger sister to see Iron Man and pick up a gift for my mother for Mothers Day and her Birthday, we starting talking about school, and she mentioned that it was spirit week, and that one of the days was Future Day. Somewhere along the conversation, I suggested that she borrow my TK helmet. Ended up that she borrowed the whole suit and spend the entire day in armor, going to class. My little sister officially rocks.

Practical Armor Applications

The 501st doesn't really appear to have any practical applications if you pass one of us walking down the street. We are a costuming group, and while we donate a lot of money to charity, we pretty much have the appearance of geeks dressing up.

Today, I came across one of the most interesting applications that I've seen for Storm Trooper armor - Anti-Squid armor. Yep, someone's actually using the armor for something besides blaster protection. Squid, which are predators, capture their prey by grabbing them with their tentacles and using a beaked mouth to rip their food apart. I guess if you're studying them, you also run into that risk, and having a hard shell is probably helpful.

According to his website, Scott Cassell has put the armor to good use - he's been attacked by a group of squid, and the armor's protected him. He's wearing a modified suit of FX armor, minus the helmet, obviously. There's a documentary out on DVD, where he talks about the suit of the armor.

There's some video of him in the armor here.

Interesting Picture

This picture comes out of the recent lawsuit (previously reported here). I just thought that it was a neat depiction.

Armor in Court!

I've gotten a number of e-mails regarding this - George Lucas and LFL has sued Andrew Ainsworth, the original maker of the Storm Trooper armor, for selling the armor as costumes without proper liscening. LFL has for years guarded its copyrights very closely, bringing up numerous court battles for infringement. In this instance, the armor was being sold for profit, with Ainsworth saying that he was the owner of the armor, and I believe has counter sued. I personally don't think that he has a case, as he was hired for the job, and was not the owner of the armor. The case was first won in 2006 in the US, and it has now gone over to the UK, where it will likely be resolved.
Armor makers for the 501st, I don't believe will have to worry too much. We have good relations with LFL, and we don't sell our armor for profit.

Here's a couple of articles:

Court to rule in Star Wars costume battle
Sarah Knapton
Monday April 7, 2008
The Guardian

Star Wars premiere in Leicester Square, May 16 2005
'Stormtroopers' gather in Leicester Square for the premiere of Episode III. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
They were Darth Vader's feared henchmen and some of the most recognisable figures in cinematic history. Now the imperial stormtroopers of the Star Wars films are at the centre of a new epic battle.
The British prop designer who created their famous white helmets and body armour is being sued by director George Lucas for £10m in a case starting at the high court tomorrow. Andrew Ainsworth was sued by the director's company, Lucasfilm, after reproducing the outfits from the original moulds and selling them for up to £1,800 each .
Ainsworth is countersuing Lucasfilm for a share of the £6bn merchandising revenue generated since the first film in the series premiered in 1977. The row centres on who actually owns the copyright to the stormtrooper uniforms.
Ainswoth said: "As far as I am concerned I am the original maker and I'm using the original moulds."
The prop designer was recruited to design the outfits in 1976 and sold the firsts 50 helmets to Lucas for £35 each. But in 2004 he discovered one of the original helmets in a cupboard in his home in Twickenham, south-west London and began to manufacture the uniforms.
A message on his website said: "Now's your chance to own your own piece of movie history."
A California court has already ruled in favour of Lucas who was awarded £10m in damages. But because Ainsworth lives in Britain Lucas needs the high court in London to enforce the order.
A spokesman for Lucas Licensing said: "We would never want to discourage fans from showcasing their enthusiasm for the movies. However, anyone who tried to profit from using our copyrights and trademarks without authorisation ... we will go after them."
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2271561,00.html

Lucasfilm Wins Lawsuit Against Stormtrooper Pirate
October 11, 2006

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has awarded Lucasfilm Ltd. $20 million in damages in a copyright infringement and unfair competition case against the British firm Shepperton Design Studios and its owner, Andrew Ainsworth.
The court found that Shepperton Design Studios had been marketing unlicensed copies of stormtrooper helmets and costumes, and TIE fighter pilot helmets from the Star Wars films, as well as making misleading claims about the authenticity and origins of these items.
The judgment, by U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner, awards damages to Lucasfilm Ltd. for copyright infringement, unfair competition and trademark infringement and permanently bars Shepperton Design Studios from copying, reproducing, importing, licensing, marketing or displaying any of its unauthorized Star Wars products in the United States. Lucasfilm is also pursuing legal action against Shepperton in the U.K., where the company is based, to ensure that the judgment is enforced there.
"Lucasfilm vigorously protects its intellectual property rights in Star Wars," said Howard Roffman, President of Lucas Licensing. "Infringers like Shepperton need to understand that we will pursue them anywhere in the world to shut them down and seek restitution."
Roffman noted that many Star Wars fans around the world produce replicas of Star Wars costumes for their own personal use and enjoyment, an activity to which Lucasfilm Ltd. has no objection. One such group, the "501st Legion" of stormtroopers, is a global organization that has often worked with Lucasfilm and its partners. "We appreciate that Star Wars has sparked the imaginations of fans around the world," he said. "We would never want to discourage fans from showcasing their enthusiasm for the movies. However, anyone who tries to profit from using our copyrights and trademarks without authorization crosses the line; they become an infringer and we will go after them."

Stormtrooper In Court For Star Wars Legal Fight
By REUTERS
Published: April 8, 2008

Filed at 9:08 p.m. ET
LONDON (Reuters) - A judge in a wig and gown gazed down on a Stormtrooper costume and nine masks from the "Star Wars" films at London's High Court on Tuesday at the start of a high-profile copyright case.
George Lucas, creator of the blockbuster intergalactic sagas, and his billion-dollar merchandising arm are suing Andrew Ainsworth, a small-scale prop designer who sells replicas of the film characters from his southwest London studio.
Lucasfilm and related parties have already won a 2006 court case against Ainsworth in California, where the judge awarded the firm $20 million (10.1 million pounds) in damages, and they are now seeking to have a similar ruling enforced here.
According to a short summary of the case provided by Ainsworth's lawyers, he argues that the copyright on the items in the courtroom has expired, and even if it has not, that he owns it, and not Lucas.
"Hence the defendants are counterclaiming in respect of unauthorized making and issue, distribution and sale of toys and costumes which are copies of the disputed items."
Michael Bloch, lawyer for Lucasfilm Ltd, opened proceedings by arguing that the design for the Stormtroopers and other key characters from the films were well advanced by the time Ainsworth was asked to produce the costumes in 1976.
"By the time Mr. Ainsworth was brought in to make the Stormtrooper helmet, the look to be created had been worked on by a large number of people for perhaps more than a year," he said.
The designs "were pretty well fixed in 1975 and they involve the initial idea of George Lucas worked on then by Ralph McQuarrie and others." McQuarrie was the conceptual artist and design consultant for the original "Star Wars" trilogy.
At stake are the rights to merchandise worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Total merchandising revenue since the first Star Wars movie in 1977 is estimated at around $12 billion, and total box office takings from the six movies is about $4 billion.
As well as the full Stormtrooper costume, masks of characters including a TIE fighter pilot and Tusken Raider were arranged on the front bench of the court room.
Ainsworth sells his replicas of the Stormtrooper helmet and armor, as well the masks for an array of other key characters, from Shepperton Design Studios.
The full set of armor normally retails at 995 pounds ($2,000), although the company does not supply U.S. customers.
Lucas' side is expected to argue that Ainsworth was working for the studio under an implied contract, whereas the prop designer counters that "no written contract was entered into and Andrew Ainsworth was not employed by Lucasfilm."
There may also be legal debate over whether the uniforms were industrial design or works of art, which could affect the length of copyright protection.
The case, expected to last for 10 days, continues.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-starwars.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=star+wars&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Post Con Repairs & Modifications

Any event that I go out to generally has a bit of wear and tear on my armor. I was in for extended amounts of time this weekend, up to 5-6 hours at a time over the past couple of days.

Looking over my armor, I need to do the following things:

- Clean shin/thigh pieces - interiors has gotten grimy from use and could use a good washing.
- Polish various parts - I've accumulated numerous scratches and marks all over, which need to be buffed out. I've got some cleaner that I can use, which works great.
- Reglue velcro and seams - Mainly on the legs, which moves around the most. Taking them apart and putting them together a lot has been pulling on it. DONE
- Wash Jumpsuit. Yeah, this is needed.
- Wash Camelback. DONE

So far, I've reglued the seams on my Right and Left thigh pieces, the left shin and the interior velcro pieces that hold the thigh plates in place.
Looking over a couple of photos from the event, and a consistant problem that I came across while suiting up was the mic wire going to the amplifier.
I found that placing the amplifier under the chest piece didn't work too well - people couldn't really hear me, and the volume wasn't loud enough, so it'll stay on my belt for now. Additionally, I found that where I placed the mic was not great - it was too far from my mouth, so I placed it towards the center of the snout, near my mouth, so it should work better now.



Because the wire kept coming out in the front, I've adjusted how I'll put it on, running the wire up my back through to the back of the helmet, and through the side of the helmet with duct tape tabs and velcro, so it can be easily removed if needed. I also numbered each tab and velcro strip to keep it straight. Now, the wire doesn't go go out the front, which is good, and it's got enough slack so that I can take off the helmet and hold on to it comfortably.



Lastly, I found the best placement for my Camelback, which I've started wearing to Troops, especially once it starts warming up. TK armor traps a lot of heat, and I'm guessing that I'm loosing a lot of water when I'm in it. Given that I'm wearing a helmet, it's not practical to carry a waterbottle, and I found that the Camelback that I used for hiking works perfectly under the water. It's small and thin enough to fit under my chest plate. I found that wearing it on my back doesn't work well, but wearing it on the front works really well. From there, I looped the tube up and around and under the edge of the chest plate, where I can get to it easily when I need it.

Lastly, I really need to get a neck seal and some fans.

Sound Check!

It's hard to hear when you have a TK helmet on - small wonder because your head is encased in plastic and whatever padding you have to be comfortable. One of the last things that I've needed to get for my TK armor is a small voice amplifier, so that I can be heard when I say anything, and to also have that electronic sounding voice that a trooper is supposed to have.

I had a voice amplifier a couple of years ago, something that I purchased off of e-bay, a popular model that the legion uses. It's larger amp, one that can be strapped around someone's waist, and it's white, matching the armor. The problem that I had with it was that it had rechargeable batteries, and I left them charging too long, damaging it. I'm not sure where it ended up, as I haven't been able to find it for a long time, so a replacement was in order.

I had planned on picking up a Skullworx kit, which can easily be installed in a FX TK helmet such as mine, but I've had bills to pay, and sadly, wasn't able to pick one up. So I've gone for a cheaper and probably simpler route - stopping over at radioshack and picking up a couple of components.

After a little research, I came across a really cheap unit, a Radioshack Amplifier/Speaker, number 277-1008C. It's white, which fits with the armor, and just a couple inches on each side, with a volume control and with a speaker and microphone jack.

When I asked around my Garrison and the Legion, I got some mixed reviews. The most common complaint was that it wasn't loud enough, while some people said that it was a good volume for what they needed. I also got some good instructions on how to dismantle it and install it in a helmet. I might do that down the road, but for now, I'm going to throw it on my belt, attaching it with some leftover industrial strength Velcro that I have from when I refitted my suit's seams a couple months ago.

My main problem was that my microphone didn't work - this unit requires a powered one, so I also went back to get one of those, and I got a Clip-On Electret Condenser Microphone, 33-3013, which comes with a small clip. This actually worked out better for me, because I can mount this directly into my helmet.

I did this by cutting a small strip of Velcro and attached it to the clip and one of the helmet cheeks. The clip can be easily seperated from the microphone and with the Velcro in there, it'll come apart easily if I take my helmet off and forget about it. The wiring is stowed under the chest plate, out of sight, and goes down to my left hip, where I've attached the speaker to my belt with another piece of Velcro. I've also added a piece under my chest plate, so the unit can be affixed there, but I won't be able to test how this sounds until I get out in the field with other people.

The only issue I've come across is feedback - this microphone seems to be a pretty good one, and if I put the volume up too high, it'll squeal. This is pretty easily adjusted though, so I'm not too worried about it.

The last thing, I wrote a reminder to turn off the microphone and amplifier on the inside of my chest plate, because I'm just going to forget to turn it off one of these days and drain the battery, something that I don't want to do.

Total cost here was $48.20, which gives me an extra $76.80 that I would have spent otherwise. Granted, this doesn't have any fans, but those'll be pretty cheap, probably another $20 when all is said and done. That'll be the next project for my set. The only other things that I really want to do to it is replace the lenses to flat ones (the curved ones blur my vision a bit), get a E-11 Conversion kit for my Hasbro Blaster and to get a neck seal.

Then of course, there's all the work on the Scout, which I'll hopefully be getting to in the next week or so.

TK Suit Types

One of the things that I never really got when I was starting out in the Legion was the different varieties of suits out there. To recap slightly, all of our suits are made by fans. Nothing of what we make is licensed by LFL, and as one trooper put it, we're a walking, talking copyright infringement that LFL tolerates. This is why we want to stay on their good side.
I have an FX Storm Trooper suit. This is fine for me - it looks like a Storm Trooper, and the people who I'll dress up for, kids and parents, aren't likely to notice that it's not the most accurate suit out there. There's some small differences with the helmet and armor, as it's completely sculpted from scratch, not based off of the original molds. Something like 90% of the legion's storm troopers use this suit, because of it's cost, I suspect. At around $475, it's a pretty good price.

However, there's a number of other suits out there, and I found a terrific resource that shows some really good images of each suit type and how they differ from one another. I highly recommend checking it out:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/bingo275/fanstormsubmen.htm

Personally, I'm happy with my FX. I might go and get a new helmet someday, if I get the urge to go for something more accurate, but that's nothing that I'm planning on doing for a long time.

Birth of the Storm Troopers

Earlier this year, I picked up a wonderful book on the making of the first Star Wars movie - The Making Of Star Wars, by JW Rinzler. I was paging through and started looking for where they started doing things with the Storm Troopers in the film.

The first reference I came across was on page 138:

"One item that stood out, howere, was the cost associated with the stormtroopers, who ran up a tab of £ 40,000 ($93,000) - and whose final outfits were still not ready a week before location shooting was to begin. 'Stormtroopers were the nightmare costume' Mollo explains. 'We got a model in of suitable size, did a plaster body cast, and Liz Moore modeled the armor onto this figure. Then everybody used to go in and say, "Arm off here, arm off there," and George changed all the kneecaps. This went on for several weeks. Finally that was all taken away and produced in vacuum-form plastic - but the next question was: how foes it all go together? And I think we had something like four days before shooting, but we just played around until we managed to string it all togetgher in such a way that you could get it on or off the block in about five minutes.'
'On top of all this, George announced that he was going to take some Stormtroopers on location, and he wanted them in Combat Order. I said "Oh yes George, what's combat order for Stormtroopers?" and he said "Lots of stuff on the back". So I went into this Boy Scout shop in London and bought on of these metal backpack racks; then we took plastic seed boxes, stuck two of those together, and put four of those on the rack. Then we put a plastic drainpipe on the top, with a laboratory pipe on the side and everything was sprayed black. [laughs] This was the most amazing kind of film! George asked, "Can we get something that shows their rank?" So we took a motorcycle chest protector and put one of them on their shoulders. George said "That's great!" We painted one orange and one black and that was it!' Mollo concludes, happily." (Rinzler, 138)

Reading over that, it seems that the storm trooper armor creation was very typical of the creation of the movie - very quickly done, with a lot of improvisation, all on a fairly tight budget. The price really surprised me - $93,000 for six suits is a lot of money, especially for a film that is on such a low budget.

It appears that the troopers were created by much the same way as we make them today - vacuum-formed plastic, although there also seems to have been a lot of working out how exactly the suits would be put together, and after the fact, the sand trooper variant was created almost as an afterthought, with fairly commonly found items.

The Original Six

Further on in the book, on page 147, there's a picture of seven people - the six original storm/sandtroopers, and an unidentified person. None of the men are named. One points his gun at the camera, while the rest hold their helmets at their sides, looking at the camera. One of them is sitting on the Dewback used for the shot, looking over his shoulder at the camera. A side panel explains a little of the costuming here:

"'We had a black all-in-one leotard for the stormtrooper costumes' Mollo says, 'over which the front and back of the body went together; the shoulders fit onto the body, the arms were slid on-the top arm and the bottom arm were attached with black elastic - a belt around the waist had suspender things that the legs were attached to. They wore ordinary domestic rubber gloves, with a bit of latex shoved on the front; the boots were ordinary spring-sided black boots painted white with shoe-dye. Strange to say, it worked'" (Rinzler, 147)

Indeed it did. All components that are still used today, although in some cases with the 501st, we probably use higher quality stuff - boots that are specially made, gloves, etc.

The stormtroopers aren't really mentioned any more in the book after that point, although there are several behind the scenes images of the actors in costume, and a mention of Mark Hamil's experiences in armor (wasn't pleasant).

By and large, the original storm troopers were very expensive prop pieces, played by local Tunisians. It's a pity that their names aren't listed - it would be absolutely amazing to try and track the six men down and have them inducted into the 501st as honorary members – after all, we have them to thank for our group.

Another person who should probably be inducted into the legion would be John Mollo, the costuming designer, who took the concept images and created our suits. Mollo entered production on the movie as the department head in January of 1976 - he had been recommended to Lucas, who was looking for someone who was familiar with armor and military costuming. According to Lucas: "I wanted designs that wouldn't stand out, which would blend in and look like they belonged there." (111). Very true, and it worked - looking at the storm troopers in the film, and how people interact with them, it's very clear that these are commonplace soldiers in the Empire, and that they are wearing a very functional protective suit (although naysayers will often cite how often troopers will go down with one shot. Argument for another time...) While Ralph MqQuarrie was the original designer of the look and appearance of the storm troopers, Mollo seems to be the one who brought them to life.

(Rinzler, JW. The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film. Ballentine Books, New York, 2007. 138)

More Licensed Armor?

This looks interesting, especially after hearing about the Rubies full suit of armor that's to be made:


You Say You Want Great Licensed Star Wars Costumes?
Museum Replicas Joins With Lucas Licensing for Star Wars™ Collectibles

New Agreements Begin This Month for Collectible Replica Clothing and Armor
Fans and collectors will find new lines of collectibles from Museum Replicas and their new licensing division Windlass Studios in 2008; it was announced today by Museum Replicas. Lucas Licensing’s STAR WARS replica clothing and armor licensee will assume the design and production of the high-end, collectible ensembles and full sets of the iconic armor including stormtrooper and bounty hunter armor.

Museum Replica’s line will debut in the spring and continues the remarkable popularity of high-end collectibles for discerning STAR WARS enthusiasts. The line will feature replica clothing and armor of such unforgettable characters as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Maul, Padmé Amidala, Anakin Skywalker, Boba Fett, Han Solo and Princess Leia.

Newly formed Windlass Studios will develop, manufacture and distribute collectible, limited-edition replicas of full-sized and wearable ensembles. They expect the first ensembles to be available for pre-order in the spring while the armor is set to be unveiled for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con International in July.

The STAR WARS clothing and armor collection can be seen in person at the Museum Replicas/Windlass Studios exhibitor booths at the International Costume Show Las Vegas, San Diego Comic-Con International & Atlanta Dragon*Con 2008


Q&A


I wonder how good this'll look - I get the feeling that it'll be a lot more accurate than the Rubies armor.