Modification of a costume piece

Hi Gang , Iv'e been listening and talking to several people recently on the subject of making Modifiacations or Improving Armor and Helmets and there has been a question raised as to how much or what percentage of modifacation has to be done to a poorly cast or damaged piece before any Item can be concidered something new or different?


I read through as many threads here as I could ( one stood out dealing with Recasting and arguing the burden of proof. ) but I would like to be a little more clear on how the members of the TDH or RPF stand on the issue.

The Helmet that was the topic of discussion was Sgt. Fangs Boba Fett Helmet in that it's been recast so much and the castings usually have to be completely reworked , reshaped and filled .

I bought a set of two on late night Ebay for cheap and cheap is what I got, (These two Helmets inspired the conversation). My wife said the top looked like a golf ball , the cheeks and back are warped and it had to be heated and streched just to fit on my head, the ears needed work as well.
Iv'e done alot of work to one of them and it'll do fine for Trooping but not much more.

I understand that Fangs Helmet ( The Lava Helmet ) came to him in pretty bad shape off of Ebay? and he did a Great job putting it back into shape.

So using a poor Recast of Sgt Fangs Boba Helmet as the model for discussion what percentage of work beyond just a restoration do you think would have to be done before you call it by a different name? or reconize it as a new Helmet?

If it truly is a "poor Recast of Sgt Fangs Boba Helmet", it is still a recast of said helmet no matter what you do to it. Condition of an item should not be used to justify transfer of creation of it from one person to the next. All it is now is a "Recast of Sgt Fangs Boba Helmet" that you fixed up. Even if you added horns to the sides and feathers out the top, the helmet is still a "Recast of Sgt Fangs Boba Helmet", except now it would look worse.

SgtFang is just a distributor of the "Mystery Helmet." You can find mystery helmet makers all over.

I think your splitting hairs in justification.

I think that if its recognizable as someone elses piece, youll run into problems.

If you make a plug. grind it down, add a tun fo pieces, change angles, and cast it, and it doesnt look like the original piece, you may be ok. But just saying you did the above, is going to throw red flags to a lot of people.

Its a strange thing, because if you have the skill to make an identical replica of someone elses item, without actually using it, your an artist.

If you cant, your a thief.

So your going to have to decide what your comfortable with.

Graphically if you change something 30%, your ok.

Musically, you only need change 1 note in a riff.

Morally, you only need do what your conscience will allow.