"Stop that Ship, Blast him"


Original Sandtrooper Helmet

Remember this Sandtrooper? This is the trooper who wields the huge and iconic Lewis rifle, who questions the mysterious informant Garinden and then orders his squad to rush into Docking Bay 94 where they attempt to stop the Millennium Falcon leaving Tatooine. This troopers last words were "Stop that Ship, Blast him!" moments before he is killed by Han Solo.

well this is the same guy below..........

For the 3D Rotating photo of this helmet go here

Again working with Braks Buddy and Brandon Alinger the following comparison's been produced showing how we can precisely match this helmet with the screen-shots. Again this process was made a little easier as we know there were only SIX (now confirmed) Sandtroopers so it was just a question of finding out which one was which!

The key areas that show us its the Stop that Ship/Garinden/Lewis Gun trooper are the crack running from the fifth air vent down to the base, and the "joker" type smile or kink in the grey frown.

The paint finish is now quite dull (like a matt possibly a dull satin finish) although whether this is due to the 30 year gap its hard to say. Without the ears the helmet is still firmly fixed together with the side and base rivets which the maker, Andrew Ainsworth and Shepperton Design Studios used on all these helmets.

Mic tips were very good. Made of resin I could just make out what could well have been the "Hovi Mix pa" writing at their base, although without removing it was too difficult to actually make it out precisely. Where the black paint has worn off it gives the impression that its metal coming though when actually its the base injection moulded plastic.

As with all the ANH Stormtroopers, the cheek vents are all silk-screened on. All other detailing (greys and blacks) look like enamel paint and Humbrol has been suggested given it was the most popular brand at the time in the UK.

John Mollo told me they kept having to repaint them as they chipped, although the two at Christies this year don't look like they've been touched up (apart from a couple of obvious places). It looks like these were ditched not long after they came back from Tunisia in April 1996.

The helmet itself is quite smooth although there are the occasional bumps and you can also can see a number of paint runs, which match up with those you can make out on-screen.

There are a number of small bumps which seem to appear on a number of helmets in the same position. However you cant match up all the bumps, just a few.

This helmet was clearly sprayed with the ears on. Some of the helmets were sprayed with ears off and this can be seen on the pics of the helmets outside SDS in '76. Initial painting was done by Andrew Ainsworth himself using his own car-spraying equipment.

And above a shot from behind for those of you guys who like to examine the fettled tumblehome!

"Good night and thank you for watching"

Below, some more shots, courtesy of Jeremy (Gonk)

Here for more shots of Move Along Sandtrooper

Here for New found Original X and Y Wing Helmets

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