Alrightythen ... here are the comparison pics, as promised
There's a lot to say. As usual. So I'll make it as brief as I can. I'm sure there will be some of you that probably don't care to here it, as the pictures may speak for themselves. But I feel that I should give a general rundown of some of the basic mods from V.2.
But first, a little bit of a reminder, or a small new tid bit of Fett education for our newer members here that may be trying to catch up .... as I've been asked nearly every day this week about "Fiberglass".
"Vacuum Formed Armor" is "Screen Accurate". Fiberglass is NOT. I did offer armor in fiberglass, very briefly in 2005. Yes, it is more durable, in some respects. In others, not so much. The chest armor for instance ... they just lay there. There is no reason for bullet proof there. Vac formed is lighter, and more comfortable. And they "flex" when necessary. Fiberglass does not. Knees in fiberglass, are just a very, very bad idea. I can go on. There are pro's and con's to both. Will I offer them in glass again in the future? Probably. But at the moment, I'm more interested in accuracy.
Chest Armor -
New sculpt. They had to be. Modifying the exhisting vacuum form molds would have taken weeks because the concave changes were so drastic.
As I stated before, V.2 was pretty close. But mainly it lacked some dimension. They weren't flat by any means. But the real Fett armr is almost ridiculously shaped. I can honestly say, whoever sculpted the original vac molds for the screen uses Fett armor, must have sculpted them over David Prowse's body builder boobies
The other main problem with the chest plates in general, is that they were "compressed" in a manner of speaking. Because of 2 dimensional photos, and no real world reference until now
So in implementing the new "dimension" to the armor, even the shapes changed .. pretty drastically. The reason for this is when you take a two dimensional shape, and put a compound curve in it ... the shape will appear to be smaller, and compressed. The shapes of the V.2 armor looked correct ... "straight on". But turning slighty to the right or left if you're looking at someone wearing the armor ... something happens. The bottom line is ... the armor shapes are a whole lot stranger looking than I would have expected if you were to imagine taking the real armor and "flattening" it out ... they would look like over exaggerated FP V.2 Armor
So I had to reverse that . What this yielded were armor plates that not ended up being very much different in basic shape. As I stated before, the V.2 looked right straight on. But from any other angle, there's something wrong. The shapes had to be made larger, to average the plates out to the same size as the V.2 dimensionally, so they would still look right straight on
Now, they look "right" from any dorection
It seemed to all fall right in place ...
Other minor mods include, the DENTS obviously
And you may not be able to see it in the pictures because it's stark white styrene, bit there is a "mound" onthe real chest plate around the chest light slots. It appears that this slight "mound" was sculpted in to help accommodate the chest lights themselves. This "mound" is now there. I can try to get a pic of it later on the primered set I posted earlier. It's actually quite interesting.
Collar -
The collar was actually still undersized in proportion to the armor. SO this obviously had to be changed. In the process, some of it's "dimension" was actually removed. The real collar is very "flat". And has a much wider neck opening.
The dents are all different now. Same placements, but more realistic
dents. Most notably is the large dent illustrated in the next pic ....
Cod Plate -
Where to begin here? I won't even try. This one was actually a revamp of the existing mold. I should have re-sculpted , because it turned to be a bear of a job. The most notable change here, is that it has an added geometry to it. The V.2 cod piece was very round and sleek, with no real geometry to it. As you can see in the pics, there are "angles" around the edges, very similar to the Jango codpiece !
Years of seeing the cod piece through a camera lens, and plexi glass, this little detail slipped right passed us. Well, me anyway. I'm sure there will be some of you that won't confess that you hadn't noticed it either
What I do know is, if it had been noticed before, someone, somewhere would have incorporated it. Because it's just, well, COOL ! I know I would have stepped up tot he plate a lot sooner
Aside of the new "lines" planted on this one, the dents are completely different, and the captain's bars (as I like to call them) are much more defined, and "canted" or "cocked" slightly to the left as the screen piece.
Kidney Armor / Butt Plate -
This one is short and sweet. V.1 and V.2 were flat pieces of templated styrene. As most armorers provided for years. It's now vacuum fomed, with dimension. The kidney plate is 27 inches long. Between this noted length, and the cod plate that attaches to the kidney plate, there's approx. 38 to 42 inches of room for you at MOST, depending on how you trim it. This is with a 2 inch overlap on each side for attachment. So it should accommodate most average sized Fetts. If you need more room than this, please specify, and I will include an extension.
Knees -
To be perfectly clear, as I'm still being asked about the need for a heatgun
The knees are not only formed in one piece, they are formed already bent/curved, just as they are in the pics.. This is why the mold was so difficult to make, because releasing the formed plastic from the mold had to be considered, given they are formed in the exact shape you see in the pictures. NO heatgun to form anything, no assembly. Just trim, and mount your darts and strap system. They are extremely flexible. You can add additional support to them from he inside if you prefer, but they should last a long time, as there are no glued seams to crack or break.
What's been changed since V.1? Everything. They are a completely new sculpt. They are larger than the previous version, both width and a little in height. The dart housings are longer, and now have that accurate "wrap" that wraps around toward the back of the leg. And MOST notably ... there is a compound "bevel" at the bottom of the front of the knee. It's there. In every picture of Fett. It's easy to miss with them being painted and mucked up. I've known they were there for a long time. I was just too lazy to incorporate it. I figured now was the time !
Backplate -
New sculpt. Again, would have been way to difficult to modify. The V.1/V.2 backplate, had too much dimension. Too "stylized" and sleek, for lack of a better term. The real backplate is really pretty plain
But it still looks good I think
Most notable ... the "mouth" or "opening" is MUCH wider. The dents are different, and new beveled lips were added to the bottom. The lat wings are bigger. And ther eis now a bevel around each of the jet pack strap opening's, to strengthen the styrene after triming to prevent cracking.
That's a WRAP !!!
In the first post above, I posted a new picture, that shows the kit in it's entirety. As the old time "Kenner" commercials said ...
"It comes with everything you see here. Some assembly required"
Any questions ... now's the time. Post away. I'm waiting on the price of the plastic to give the price quote. It appears that this tun won't be much more than the last, because I have had a shipment of plastic laying in my shop since the FPH project took me away in JUNE !!! So it will go for nearly the old prices. Keep in mind however, that with the extra pieces, it will be a little more anyway. The next run, will definitely be a bit of a bump. Probably around $50 - $60 more the next time around.
Thanks everyone, for your kind words as always, and for you're continued interest and enthusiasm in 'Ol FP's work !
FP