Enlighten me

[defstartrooper]

As a complete novice and not having studied cylons in close detail i wonder if you lovely people could educate me a bit.
What are the different suits available out there and what are the differences the only one i know of is the kropserkel one from visiting his site for other stuff so who else makes suits and helmets.
I've seen a few people already say the kropserkel one is not very accurate so i'm wondering what the innacuracies are.
I would love to see some comparison shots between the various stuff available along with descriptions if that is possible

Thanks
Gary

[Galactifan]

You know...actually, you have a good point. How about a pictoral side-by-side comparison between all types of Cylons (original and replicas) to show people what we mean by accurate and inaccurate.

[GoldCylon]

That is a good idea to have a side by side view of an original, next to a Krop. I don't know of anyone near me that has an Krop to do a direct side by side comparison. I know of a few members that have Krop suits, and maybe one lives here in CA, but at best he is about 400 miles away. It might be worth the drive to do so side by side photographs to show the difference between the two. I'll have to go back and study some of the older postings to see who might own one.

[Galactifan]

Hey, Dale, we can even start with some pics taken from the Internet. That'll save you some gas money. This will be a good start to a possible new section of your website. I'll see what I can come up with and start digging for pics.

[Galactifan]

Here's a comparison pic I put together comparing the Kropserkel Cylon with the original Cylon.

Some major differences are;
-Backpack (Kropserkel backpack does not come up as high around the neck area and is a completely different design from the original).
-Gloves (Kropserkel gloves are a completely different style from the original vintage Cooper gloves which are no longer available).
-Boots (Kropserkel boots have a different bottom sole that is too thick and the silver pain scheme is different).
-Undersuit (Kropserkel undersuit is black in color instead of the original purple-ish hue also the ribbing is different. Note the flimsy thigh leg piece parts different from the original which were stiffer).
-Helmet (Kropserkel helmet mohawk is much wider than the original version),
-Eye Scanner (Kropserkel eye scanner is made up of 26 L.E.D.'s and the original had 32 light bulbs).
-Sword (Kropserkel sword handle is pretty close to the original version).
-Chroming (high quality chroming shine).

This info is not meant to bash the Kropserkel Cylon, but should be used as a guide to what the differences are. I hope that some day that Scott Maple at Kropserkel reads this and he updates the Cylon he sells to improve on its accuracy. Thanks!

[Galactifan]

Here's a comparison pic I put together comparing the "We Gotta Find Earth" Cylon with the original Cylon. I prefer this Cylon replica best.

Some major differences are;
-Backpack ("We Gotta Find Earth" backpack comes up high properly around the neck area and is the same design as the original. ***My personal opinion is that if the Kropserkel backpack mold was changed to this style then they would have a winner costume overall, but also noting that the undersuit seems to be the most difficult part to make properly on all replicas).
-Gloves (vintage Cooper gloves were found).
-Boots (boots like the original Georgia Lineman were found).
-Undersuit (undersuit was hand-made by Chris D. and similar ribbing pieces glued on instead of sewn, also different black color instead of the original purple-ish undersuit. Note the thicker thigh leg piece parts similar to original stiffness).
-Helmet (Kropserkel helmet was used with wider mohawk and is much wider than the original version),
-Eye Scanner (Kropserkel eye scanner was used and is made up of 26 L.E.D.'s which is different from the original with 32 light bulbs).
-Chroming (high quality chroming shine).

[GoldCylon]

That is great, your comparison worked out much better that I would have imagined. Very nice, and thanks for the detailed work.

[defstartrooper]

Great stuff Galactifan that is really helpful for a novice like me

[GoldCylon]

Take note how much the chest piece on the original rides lower than the Krop that is riding under the guys chin. I have no idea if that is just bad placement, or the design of the back pack caused it to ride so high.

[matic]

There are few inconsistancies with the desciption of the kropserkel suit.
The first one is the back pack. I does ride high like the original, the problem is that the images are of customers wearing their cylon suits incorrectly.
They have placed the front armor much too high and then have moved the backpack too far back to compensate. If you look at the one image you can clearly see a huge gap at the back where the pack should be against the wearer's body.
Also the eye has 28 leds in it not 26. The eye is adaptable to use 32 light bulbs and as a matter of fact was designed to operate on 32 bulbs originally.
The leds are used because people expect their eye to last forever and to operate for hours and they want super brightness, and they want it cheap.
So far to date in ten years of making these, no one has asked for the bulbs. not one person. I know this because I produce electronics for many costume shops including krop.
The gloves are not original on these costumes,
They are almost identiical however, ive seen them side by side.

The purple undersuit. Kropserkel originally made the undersuits using the purple fabric and glued on the ribbing. Two things happened. everyone complained that the suit was a purply color, and the ribbing doesn't stay on if you wear the suit a lot, like most people do. On a mannequin they were fine. They now use a more black fabric.
In the series, you never did see the color of the undersuit clearly, people want what they saw on screen, so I would guess the kropserkel cylon is an "idealised" version.
Sword. the pommel isn't right on the kropserkel one. it's too long, and the ribs are too soft.
The upper leg portions are not flimsy. the first suit they made was, but that was many years ago. They really should update the pics on their site.

[GoldCylon]

One thing about the Krop back pack, compared to the original besides the detail of the back section is the section called the L's. The L's is the section that rest on your shoulders. The original Cylon L's are arched, to have the back section raise up and give the Cylon more on a menacing look, while the Krop L's are a true squared off look, so the back section doesn't raise up to give the menacing look. I don't think that pulling the front section forward at all on the Krop back pack would help at all.