Andrew Ainsworth the original maker of the Stormtrooper, recalls….



The buyer for Star Wars contact Nick Pemberton ,a scenic artist, to supply helmets, costumes and weapons for a futuristic science fiction film.



Nick had a few meetings with George Lucas and was given some small concept prints by Ralph McQuarrie for guidance. One of the characters was the Stormtrooper, and Nick made an initial clay sculpt to suggest how the character could look..



George chose Nick`s direction and abandoned any efforts made by the studios at Elstree., where the filming was based.



At this stage Nick contacted Andrew, who lived a couple of doors away and who he new had the capacity and talents to turn this concept into reality. Nicks comments to Andrew about the film were

` It’s a no hoper, but if anything comes of it, give me a drink `



As a `punt` to see if there was any work in the film industry, Andrew agreed to create a prototype free of charge. Nick took Andrew`s plastic moulded working prototype of the Stormtrooper helmet to George Lucas for appraisal.

George said great, .. give me 50 as soon as possible, just as it is ……..



John Mollo who oversaw procuring costumes etc, then liaised with Andrew asking him to create more and more characters as the film progressed.



Andrew ended up creating 231 helmets and 102 sets of armour for the Star Wars film `A New Hope`



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