The RS is excellent. It's the only suit cast from an original from the original movie which is cool in itself. And it will always be the best option for replicating Simon's suit.
To me though, it's not the best option for the generic stormtrooper look that I was looking for.
It's cast from one specific suit and that suit is also pretty damaged and has its own irregularities.
I think I’m right in saying that the guys at RS didn't take the suit apart to cast it. As a consequence I don’t think the results of casting the suit are as good as the helmet. The helmet turned out incredibly well.
A lot of the natural curve and lines of the armour parts have not been reproduced particularly well. There are a lot of very flat parts which don’t follow the contours of the body and some detail is missing from those parts (e.g. the lines at the sides of the torso – I think this area is quite heavily damaged and worn on Simon’s original suit).
Simon's suit also has two right arms (i.e. not a complete left and right set). So, what you get in the kit is one right arm (cast from the original) and one replacement left arm (according to RS an original sculpt).
I initially thought that this was an old TM part which TM had allowed RS to use because it has the old more rounded shape featured on previous versions of TM armour (TM has reworked his forearm design and made them flatter).
The right arm cast from the original suit is on the excessively flat side because of the limited casting results.
This all makes for a poor match.
The biggest negative I have to say about the RS concerns the shins.
Again, the original suit is quirky and has incorrectly assembled shins. On both legs the shin armour is assembled from outer parts only. There are no inner shin parts. So the shins never fit properly on the original suit. No real biggy, let’s just call it ANH mojo. If you want a replica of the only ANH suit currently being cast, this is the way it has to be.
Now, here's the real bummer … It seems the guys tried to resculpt it and make it more like a proper set of shin armour. I don’t like the results.
The moulds have been altered and all four parts are completely different and no longer resemble anything on any original suit. It’s neither a replica of Simon’s suit, nor is it a successfully resculpted full set of shin armour.
In my opinion they should have just left them as they were.
Simon’s original suit …
Parts from the RS kit …
Built up the looks excellent apart from the shins and you can probably shape the flat parts with a heat gun to make assembly easier. I personally didn't.
Have a look at my photos and see how the TM (which is the same size) fits much better because the curvature is correct. There is no extra trimming on any of the suits, the dimensions of all the parts are almost exactly the same …
RS
TM
So what about TM then ....
Don't forget that Paul has had access to Simon's suit. He has all the measurements, a stack of photos and has seen all the things he hadn't already picked up on from reference material over the years. He also knows what is missing from Simon‘s suit and which still needs to be included in the ideal generic stormtrooper armour.
The TM suit's dimensions are near perfect as far as I can tell. It also includes all the detail that has been lost on the RS.
TM has spent 12 years engineering his suit, working from reference pictures. It has all the correct left/right parts and fits together just like the kits that they would have had in the props department.
There is allowance in the moulds to trim the parts as you want, with varied width fittings. This is barely possible on the RS because it was cast from a suit trimmed in one specific way and the parts have very little or no usable allowance. The original moulded parts originally had more material on them, you can see that from the way some other original suits were assembled significantly differently (bigger/wider-fitting).
The only tangible advantage (i.e. mystic mojo aside) I can see that RS has over TM is that it will include some of the bumps and blemishes and the texture from the original moulds. The TM is cleaner and smoother as it is a first generation pull from original moulds. A bit like a bumpy cap helmet versus a smooth helmet.
But, is it possible that some of the bumps on Simon’s suit are from the forming process itself, i.e. again specific to one suit, and not a feature in the moulds? Who knows?
What I do know is that TM’s armour is perfectly engineered and fully functional and –whether it’s a bit smoother, more sanitised looking or not – it is so close to a correctly assembled original that I wouldn't be able to tell them apart without getting really close.
He also keeps on developing and improving. The TM is never finished.
I think it speaks volumes that RS are using his cast-offs (which he donated) to make up the missing parts from their suit!
He has never stopped looking for the best possible material (the new stuff is a really good match to the original shade and grade), he has managed to track down original Newey snaps and can provide them with all his suits.
I think if RS had done a perfect job of casting the suit, the decision as to whether to own TM or RS would be more difficult. If it was a really perfect cast, a direct unaltered copy, I would be torn. I really, really like it, but it's fallen short for me in a few ways.
And I personnaly also like idea of having a kit which resembles the basic kit which the props department were give to build the suits. Undamaged parts, with all the detail, all the allowance to trim the parts to size etc.
The RS kit is a replica of a suit of armour which is already 35 years old. TM allows you to travel back in time to the point before the original suits were assembled.
The only thing that could replace TM directly would be a kit formed from the original moulds.
It’s not so much a case of whether the TM is better than RS because they are fundamentally different products.
Forced to choose between the two, I prefer TM for my own particular needs and approach to the hobby.
If money and space were endless, I'd like to have both. But I'd want the RS to be a direct replica of the original with the two odd arms, unaltered shins etc.
And I'd probably put in on a mannequin with a proper HDPE helmet as a full replica of the original suit (OK, I’d leave out the felt-tip pen!)
And I’d still use the TM for trooping as an almost perfect representation of the generic trooper costume.
I'm afraid people assume that RS is the holy grail simply because it is cast from an original suit. For me, it‘s not the be all and end all; there is room for improvement on the RS kit and TM offers me something different.
You judge. In which pictures do I look more like an original correctly assembled stormtrooper? I know what I think.
RS
TM
