Utapau 12"

[MaulFan]

Okey-dokey... opening up Photoshop now.

I don't think you need to

Can you reiterate where the flaw lies. I just scrolled up and down and they look identical to me.

The big ones I know of, the bleed of the visor into the mouth area should be wider, the space between the regulators (I think that's what they're called) should be wider, and the black piece between them is off in size and design, and the grey centers of the regulators are too small.

 

[pixletwin]

Thanks Sean. I see now. The visor would be an issue but the other two are small enough flaws (remember this is a 1:6 fig not a blown up jpeg) that I would honestly never have noticed.

 

[IrishJedi]

That's a pretty good job, MaulFan. That's not all, though... I'll do another.

 

[MaulFan]

The black piece and the grey circles could be overlooked, but the spacing between the regulators throws off the ovearll look for me. I couldn't pinpoint what seemed off when i first saw the images because all the pieces are there, it's just their size and position and until side by sides went up I didn't figure out what was bothering me.

 

[MaulFan]

That's a pretty good job, MaulFan. That's not all, though... I'll do another.

Well, that's all I can spot, so if that much gets corrected should be good enough I'd think. I see the spacing around the black ends of the regulators isn't perfect circles either.

 

[devilof76]

Explained perfectly MaulFan.

(I have no idea what else Irish is talking about; I thought that was all.)

I had two ordered, but I cancelled them both a long time ago. I knew I wasn't going to have the money, and if I did, I'd rather it went elsewhere (Vader, Sandtrooper, PF Slave Leia being highest priority). Besides, I never wanted clones and the order was an impulse. I'd rather have just clone commanders.

 

[MaulFan]

ROTS Troopers are my favorite in Star Wars, mainly because of the paint, but I also like the helmet styles. Stormies are cool, but the abundance of white and the armor designs just don't do it for me, though I do prefer them to AOTC Clones. For me, it's 1) ROTS Clones, 2) Stormtroopers, 3) Biker Scouts, 4) AOTC Clones).

I won't get every ROTS Clone Trooper though, Shock Trooper, 501st and this one to go with (fingers crossed) Cody and Obi-Wan are the only ones I'm really interested in for non commanders.

 

[MaulFan]

(I have no idea what else Irish is talking about; I thought that was all.)

Well, Irish has put a lot of study in these helmets so I trust his word, but I have a feeling whatever else he points out may require a deeper study to spot.

 

[devilof76]

I think he may mean the overall effect of the errors that you pointed out. They change the shape of that area of the helmet. Almost as if it was the right shape once, but someone pinched it together. Where there should be a straight line across the tops of the respirators, that breaks at the corners of the hexagon in the middle, the lines on the proto actually curve down to meet at a rectangle.

ROTS helmets are my favorite too. Particularly, the commanders' versions, on account of the modifications. Just too cool.

 

[sheng_lung]

Only other flaw didn't see get listed is the cheeks should actually curve a bit more into the shape of the mouth where the indents are. The area where the visor bleeds into the mouth is to thin but is made worse mainly from the lack of paint getting between the space. The regulators I think the position looks off do to just what's already been stated as wrong with the area between them and another lack of just fully painting the area. Looks like someone just slacked off and put in two tiny dots instead of filling the entire center of them. If someone feels up to it I would say try photoshoping those unpainted areas to see how much a difrence even just a bit of paint will make on this one.

 

[IrishJedi]

Okay, here's my breakdown...

First off, upon close study of the hi-res I noticed even a couple more thing, but those would really be ticky-tack... especially at this scale... so I left well enough alone.

I think it's important to note (and this is key)... that none of these issues were present in the Kotobukiya, Gentle Giant, or Medicom Clone helmets in this scale. Indeed, even the Hasbro 3.75" helmet were sculpted more accurately. So Sideshow definitely can and should do better here.

With that, here you go....

First, a pic of the Master Replicas helmet (produced directly from the original ILM elements):

Now, the Sideshow prototype with the incorrect areas noted:

1. The bottom portion of the visor is far too thin. The black is not painted all the way down to the top of the frown, and it should be (they should be connected, actually). Even if it were painted in, however, it's too thin throwing off the look and shape of the visor itself.

2. The frown is too rigid (it should be more curved... see pic at top) and also too small. The gray/black paint scheme of the vents are also incorrect. Again, this is something all the other licensees got right.

3. The aerators are just wrong, wrong, wrong. Not only the wrong color, but the wrong shape and size. Also (and even more notable) the entire shape of the underside of the helmet is off. The aerators should sit against a flat backing within their "loops" (shaped almost like a sideways "p" or "q"). Here, they're just stuck inside portions of the helmet that jut out. This will especially affect the look of the helmet in profile, as well. Again, the aerators are off... but so is that whole underneath area (also something all the other licensees got right).

4. Mic area is the wrong size/shape. And the mic itself is inaccurate.

5. Chin area is "pinched" to a near beak-like look. It should be smooth and gradually fade toward each side (again, compare the reference pic and pretty much another other EP3 clone helmet out there).

6. Not a deal-breaker, but the top fin sits a bit too low and doesn't have the gradient flow into the top of the helmet like it should. It almost appears as if it were sculpted separately and then stuck on.

And here they are to compare, side-by-side (with Sideshow's without my color boxes and numbers):

Again, one of the biggest qualms is not that Sideshow's is incorrect... it's that they didn't even nail it as much as Hasbro did on their little crappy 3.75 figures! And certainly not anywhere near as accurately as Master Replicas, Kotobukiya, Gentle Giant, Medicom, you name it.

Cool?

 

[devilof76]

Yes. Cool. And now, completely undeniable.

 

[apache_rulez]

Yup agreed

 

[nash]

Great job Irish. I noticed ALL of those myself, but who can blame us? We've been in the 1:1 replica game for some time now and have seen all of the most accurate replicas in hand and in person. Most of the people on this forum have not.

I think part of the problem with people not seeing the flaws in the SSC trooper is #1. they mainly have to do with subtle angles and curves of the design. and #2 the helmet is WHITE which makes it even harder to see the subtle angles and curves from online pics.

This really reminds me about how most casual people react when seeing the Obi TPM and Obi AOTC lightsabers. "those are the same damn lightsabers, how dare they make a rehash!"

 

[toystales]

I was collecting Hasbro's 3.75inch figures for several years before moving on to 12inch and PF figures.

But even for a novice like me, the "beak" on the SS Utapau Helmet just sticks out like a sore thumb. The more I look at it, the more I dislike that beak-like look. I can live with the other inaccuracies but the beak is just too much for me to take. In the end, I cancelled both figures I have on pre-order just before Christmas last month.

 

[Darth Waller]

That's a good summary, Irish. I don't see how anyone can deny the inaccuracies of the sculpt now.

 

[Anzik]

I see them. I still plan on buying it.

 

[The Josh]

Irish, question. At Comic-Con, could you tell or did you find out if the Stormtrooper helmets were going to be like Medi Boba Fett with a fake head stuck inside that would go on the neck post or does the helmet just have a hole for the neck peg?

I'm pretty darn sure they said there would be no face under there.

It does befuddle that some people think they look exactly the same. I suppose that explains how Sideshow goofed and why Lucasfilm missed it in the first place.

Carl most people aren't that picky about things. I'm personally not anyways to notice that. I've seen SW a ton over the years and especially ROTS since thats my top SW movie. Unless someone posted a diagram with that stuff I would never notice. There are still only a couple spots that really seem off to me.

Honestly these are the two tiny spots I can really see as an issue. The first is a simple measure of painting it black. The other is the shape being off which I think causes the rest to be off.

I did my markings on the MR Helm

 

[IrishJedi]

While there are indeed times where people are "picky" about things, in this case it's not that pragmatic. There are some obvious discrepancies between Sideshow's sculpt and the actual EP3 Clone helmet design. This is not at all like topics such as sticking on cloaks and whether something is the exact right color tone. The design/sculpt itself is wrong.

And, again... the 800 pound gorilla in this whole thing that no one can overlook is the fact that every other license (Hasbro included) has produced EP3 Clone product with much more accurate helmets than this. Sideshow's stands alone in its inaccuracy. They can and should do much better.

 

[Darthrazz]

Thanks for taking the time to put that together Irish, didn't realize that there were so many discrepancies!