Jez,
Thanks for the clarifications. My goodness -- you know, it's amazing that while we type and speak the same language, we sometimes experience communication breakdowns. But I have every confidence that if we were in some pub in England with a pint in one hand and a basket of fish 'n chips in another, I think we'd get along GREAT.
That is until I start cracking American jokes and then see you with a blank stare at me....
So let's try to see if we can recap this whole concept of design.
If I understand this situation, Andrew Ainsworth believed and purported himelf as the designer of the Stormtrooper. In the "End of SDS" thread, crow posted a copy of the SDS catalog.
Now the wording can be read both ways. On one hand, it implied that the TK was purely his concept. On the other hand, he could argue that the text never specifically said he was the designer/creator of the TK, and that these were his personal impressions as he regarded the project.
The arguement of "who" designed the Stormtrooper could be lost among semantics if LFL has been unable to produce evidence of an original stormtrooper helmet that would have been the positive form or template for SDS's vacuum forming production. In the absence of this information in the public, has Ainsworth claimed that it was his design? To further complicate the issue, if you have Ralph McQuarrie's concept work that differs from the look of the final Stormtroopers, does this mean that Ainsworth was merely inspired by RMcQ's work and that his implementation - howbeit different - is a product of his own design?
If so, where is Ainsworth's proof of the original Stormtrooper that he allegedly sculpted?
In a much earlier thread regarding intellectual property laws, I mentioned that it was popular belief that if something held at least 20-30% variance to the original that it would not constitute a violation of I.P. laws. I did some web searches and there were some legal sites that basically said that it was popular misconception.
On a separate note: how accurate are Ainsworth's Stunt helmets? Well, the arguement is that if he has the original molds (hopefully we are referring to posotive bucks and not negative molds), then they must be okay. But when you see photos of them compared with TE or GINO's work, Ainsworth's Stunt troopers seem distorted and skewed. Perhaps the formulations of molds or bucks were such that they don't retain their original structure over decades of time. Or perhaps due to a lot of pulls made on the templates that the templates themselves might get worn or wonky due to wear and tear.
In that regard, I think that TE and GINO's approach of taking actual original screen-used props and making reproductions off of them have produced a more reliable look (I personally feel less so with GINO's since his is an amalgam of two helmets -- howbeit a very nice amalgam -- but not a pure reproduction of any specific one screen-used helmet) so when you compare an AA/SDS against a TE or GINO, I have to say that the TE and GINO helmets by far look more true to the screen look.
Jez, thanks again for the clarifications!