What/who is Shepperton Design Studios and Andrew Ainsworth?
Andrew Ainsworth established Shepperton Design Studio's in 1974 and we produced a range of products and designs for the British film industry in the late seventies, early eighties. He sculpted, fabricated and produced the original helmets used for the first movie in 1976 and using the same moulds and processes is doing the same again almost 30 years later.

For more information on the history of how Andrew Ainsworth and Shepperton Design Studios created the original Stormtrooper read the on-line article here at www.Rebelscum.com

....and also the recent article in UK's "Model & Collectors Mart"

See also the on-line review of our first helmet, the ANH Stunt Stormtrooper, again the review is here at www.Rebelscum.com.

How accurate are these helmets?
These helmets are the most accurate replicas of the screen-used helmets ever produced. Each helmet is hand-made by the original prop-makers using the original 1976 movie moulds. in addition, many of the same materials have been used although where necessary, more modern plastics have been used taking advantage of the improvements in this field over the past 28 years.

These helmets are unique as they are 1st GENERATION facsimiles of the on-screen designs, and feature the same idiosyncrasies as the original helmets. For example the original screen-used Trooper "Stunt" helmets featured hand cut eye "sockets" which have been faithfully reproduced on these replicas. We have reproduced true reproductions of the screen-used helmets, not sanitised toy versions which have made them in effect "blood-brothers" to the screen-used helmets.

What condition are the original moulds in after all these years?
We are happy to report that the moulds are in excellent condition after their near 30 year sleep. They have been well-looked after!.

We have carried out some minor renovation work on the moulds to ensure that the helmets we produce today are as close to the originals as possible. We are confident that our customers will treasure these helmets for years to come.

For more information over the authenticity of the original moulds and some more background information to the development program please see here.

What are your future plans
We are now in the final development stage for the Hero Stormtrooper helmet which should be ready for pre-orders in early May with deliveries starting in June. Photographs and pricing information will be available in the announcement.

In addition we hope to be able to make an annoucement regarding Stormtrooper Armour later in May. Should we go-ahead with this then it would be with or without helmets so existing owners will be able to "upgrade".

We're also looking into a number of other helmets as well as the Chest Box, tubing and Armour for the Imperial Pilot.

What's the difference between Hero and Stunt Trooper Helmets?
Physically, the helmets have subtle differences as the Hero helmet (used predominantly for close-up work) incorporated a number of different facial characteristics to the Stunt.

The Hero helmet features "bubble" style brown lenses, a smaller "frown" and a lower brow, whereas the "Stunt" features flat green lenses, a much longer frown (with extra "teeth") and a higher brow.

For the original film the majority of helmets produced were "Stunt" helmets (over 50) with only a few "Hero's" made (approx 6). We will be announcing pre-orders for the Hero helmet in Q1 2005.

Are you going to also provide Armor?
We're in the final stages of investigation and things are looking good for a summer launch..

How should I care for my helmet?
As with all plastics its wise to keep the out of direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time.

Minor scuffs can be polished out with a mildly abrasive plastics cleaner like Novus Plastic Polish, which is available in a number of countries around the world including the US and UK.

For more general polishing we suggest using a standard domestic household multi-surface polish. In the UK there is a product called "Mr Sheen" which is excellent as it contains a very mild Solvent and also Silicones which provide an excellent finish. Its designed for Plastic, Glass and Wood and is made by Reckitt Benckiser and is available at any Supermarket. Similar products will be available in other countries (such as "Pledge" in the US) although we do not suggest you use anything with a scented fragrance (such as Lemon). As with all these products, you should always test them out on a small area first.

However one could say that to be truly screen-accurate you shouldn't actually clean your helmets at all. Since the ones used in the movie were actually quite rough in appearance having been manhandled by numerous stunt men and extras!

Shepperton Design Studios
www.sdsprops.com
76 The Green
Twickenham
Middlesex TW2 5AG
UK
Tel +44 (0)208 898 4839
Fax +44 (0)208 755 0981