Arsenal Models is also known as Coolmodels.
They are thieves of other people's work
(a practice known in the propmakers world as "recasting")
and they produce some of the most craptastic castings in the hobby.
They are hated and reviled on the Replica Prop Forum.
The River Maidenhead Bar casting shown in the first post is a HORRIBLY inaccurate casting
that was recast from another propmaker known as "tyragbphoto" on eBay.
Tyragbphoto made three generations of River pistols.
I have one of the third gen castings; with a little work it makes a super-nice replica.
Arsenal Models casting of the Jayne, LeMat based, pistol, "Boo" was based off an original casting by RPF member "JimTwo".
His original attempt had the sight rail mounted backwards and Arsenal Models recast it exactly the same, wrong way.
But they must also watch the RPF, because people were posting that the sight rail was backwards.
Both JimTwo and Arsenal/Coolmodels corrected the rail.
Their Mal pistol is the worst of the three.
It was recast from the first-ever fan attempt at making a Mal pistol.
Obviously it was basically produced from memory, POSSIBLY from screencaps,
but it is so OFF in shape and size it is hard to imagine that the original builder had much to go on.
But, Arsenal wanted to jump in the game as soon as possible so they recast this undersized, fuzzy imagining of Mal's iconic sidearm.
The good?
Arsenal Models/ Coolmodels is prolific and they are cheap.
Their sh!t is EVERYWHERE, and they continue to offer things that the original makers lose interest in.
The only other maker of the River pistol
(every bit as inaccurate as Arsenal)
and the Jayne pistol
(also a little "mushy" and inaccurate like Arsenal)
and a Mal pistol
(which is not accurate but is a MUCH better interpretation)
is Wilco Models.
Wilco are also accused as recasters, but are not as brazen as Arsenal and Wilco does try to make some of their own stuff.
Wilco's own fan-made Mal pistol isn't accurate in the details,
but captures the essence of the original.
I would recommend cruising eBay and Wilco Models first,
saving Arsenal Coolmodels as a last, desperate hope.
Mike
My Firefly Serenity Collection:
fireflydvd.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3541
