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Hey everyone, as most of you have probably noticed the boards were upgraded last year, and now some of the old assets look outdated (or outright broken). We also can't find the source files for a lot of them, so long story short, I've been tasked by Paul (Daetrin) with doing a refresh on the various icons/awards/etcetera peppering the boards. This thread is to serve as a PSA as well as for gathering feedback from the membership. I have two goals in mind with this refresh : 1. Hi-Res assets - with the explosion of super-high PPI displays we want to future-proof by creating any new art at higher resolution (this also opens the door to potential print and other uses down the road). 2. Streamlining/Consistency - All of the art has been made over the course of several years by multiple people, so what exists right now isn't as consistent as it could be. I'll do my best to get everything to 'gel' together better. Where possible, I will show the new images in regular and 2X (hi-res) versions. Before I dive in, a brief detour into some of the consistency stuff, namely color... there has been an attempt to clean up the "color coding" going on with user ranks and the various awards and other art that tie into them. Here's a brief run-down of the colors I'm using and where they come from: (I may eventually go through the effort of converting these over to Pantone colors, but it's a lot of work so this will suffice for now.) User Rank Images These are the first thing I will be tackling, and the new (proposed) art addresses a few issues. The "classic" FISD logo has been replaced with a (revised) beret flash, AKA the simplified shield logo. This has the benefit of looking better at smaller resolutions as well as being more OT/FO TK agnostic (no helmet!) - a goal of the detachment this year is to make FO TK's feel more at home so I'll be doing my best to help where possible. I am also switching to the same font used in the forum header (logo) for consistency. These are the proposed user title graphics - there is now a "Guest" title which we may or may not use, but completes the set of user groups in current use: Updated Red 7/1/2021 Added 8/1/2021 -- Updated 9/1/2021 -- Service/Achievement Ribbons (Part I) Much like the user titles, we can't find the original files and they had to be re-drawn. The current ones are ever-so-slightly off-center, which I will be fixing: First off, I'm proposing some slight color tweaks to the ribbon colors themselves in the interest of consistency: The Achievement Award Ribbon's center blue strip has been adjusted to match the "official" FISD blue (it also stands out better on the dark gray forum background): The Service Award Ribbon's center lilac strip has been changed to the staff "burple", this way both Admins (Red) and Staff ("Burple") are represented: The ribbons have been redrawn at high res, and the stars have been redone to match the new user titles: Next up will be tackling the other two ribbons (Master Armorer and Attaché Achievement)... stay tuned.

Thanks Jesse...although I can’t take credit for them myself. Dan did them first and kindly sent the file so I could print them off. Looking forward to getting it together and finished. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Alright, I took a quick break experimenting with paint to finish the bolt... Update - Bolt I think one of the last parts that require fabrication is the bolt. I saw T-Jay's and Dracotrooper's bolt end construction using a marker so I figured I'd try the same thing. I hunted through my daughters markers (which used to be my markers) and I found a red one that was the right size and pretty much dried up. She won't miss it. I happen to have a piece of PVC pipe leftover from my spray booth which was the perfect diameter for the inner bolt. I was pretty concerned about taking apart the marker. I had no idea what to expect. In the end I didn't have anything to be concerned about. Just a piece of spongy fabric surrounded by plastic. No large pools of ink spraying out under pressure. So I sanded down the end of the marker, threw out the other pieces and got a little piece of Plexiglas out of my "spare plastic" box. I'm planning on reshaping the plexiglas to look like it's part of the outer bolt (ejection port area). I glued the marker inside the PVC pipe and got to work reshaping the plexiglas using mainly large files and a belt sander to quickly reduce the "thickness". It's a little hard to see, but it turned out OK.... I used the wire from T-Jay's kit and wound it around a 5/8 inch wooden dowel and then manually bent the wire to even out the spacing of the coils. After a quick coat of primer, the bolt is ready to paint. It will need to be painted before I assemble the bolt. The plexiglas strip has to be glued onto the PVC pipe with the pipe already installed in the receiver tube. Once they are glued they are not coming out anymore so I'll have to finalize the painting of these parts before I glue them together. Next I decided to take a quick trip back to the ejection port and make that little pin thing. Not sure what it's called. Probably has "thingy" in the name. I sketched out the size I wanted right onto the ejection port. It was here I noticed that my port strip isn't exactly at the right angle. It's OK, but the bottom-right of the strip should be lower. It means my little pin thingy has to be a little higher than center and maybe not quite as long. I'm also realizing that I'm getting close to the end of the build. This might be the last hole I dremel. Getting misty eyed... I chopped off the end of a nail and went back to my "spare plastic" box and got another piece of plexiglas and shaped it into a vague "U" shape for the pin holder. Then I glued the little parts in place. It's hard to see because the plexiglas is still semi-transparent. I'll post a followup photo once I have some primer down and things show up better. Is that it? The end of the fabrication? I think everything that needs to be made/modified is now done. Let me know if I forgot anything. Next up would be the assembly and paint prep. Mark

I used JB weld, I gather it is similar to Devcon, it was expensive but specified to use as a plastic glue, I didn't want to redo everything over . I still used bondo it fill gaps over the joins, easy to work with and dries within minutes, can start sanding with course 36 paper then to 80 and through to 240, removes most of the scratches. Some areas that needed some flexibility I used E6000, specifically the shins as these take a lot of pressure opening and closing, also used on the spats. I used a high build spray putty as it fills in a lot of small holes and scratches, if you apply a mist coat of black it will show you any remaining holes and scratches after you have wet sanded. I prefer wet sanding as it prevents the paper from clogging, you can also use a much finer paper. I start with 240 grit then end with a 400 grit. If there is any holes or scratches left you then use a glazing or spot putty. Glazing putting is a fine filler, for scratches and small holes, doesn't have a hardner it dries in 24 hours, I sand with wet with wet and dry sandpaper, the paper lasts longer and doesn't get clogged up as quickly. Note, you don't want to add a lot of the glazing putty as it can soften from the thinners in paint, so for deep scratches or holes I would go over with a small amount of bondo first. Lots of tutorials online for automotive body work, pretty much the same process on armor

Thank you both! It was a bit scary at first but really not hard at all. Here is the butt plate before sanding with ABS paste and now after sanding I don't think I need to smooth out too much more. What are your thoughts?

Progress Report for thermal detonator and belt: I ordered these screws to use on my thermal detonator from home depot online since they did not have anything in store. I cut about 3/8" off my TD and tapered the edges. I was planning on using the boiling water method, but after tapering the edges the end caps slid right on and I could not remove them. I could not use my magnets since the end caps were stuck on so I went with just taping the crap out of them. While the TD glue and black screw paint were drying I decided to take on the belt. Again I used Ukswrath Anovos build as my guide so not many in progress pics of the belt. The most difficult part of the belt for me was making holes in the TKittell belt. That thing is solid. I ended up having to use my soldering iron to puncture it. This next pic shows the s-poppers installed thru the torso again using measurements from Ukswrath build thread. I also used the pencil lead on the s-poppers to mark the belt hole locations. I believe all I have left are the shoulder covers and holster.

Thanks for the approval!! I added the requested information to the top of this thread. Forearms have been brought up just a hair over 1/2", strapping on posterior has been adjusted to bring it inline with the kidney, and new shoulder bells have been ordered. Looking forward to submitting for Centurion once the new bells are properly sized and installed. Thanks again, proud to be among the Expert Infantry.

Just a very minor thing to notice: the two small screws on your scope front could sit a bit deeper. On real scopes these two screw heads are placed about 1mm below the surface.

As far as we know yes, but that knowledge only extends to the paint being referred to as "in little tin cans".

Coming along nicely Wayne - the counter numbers look 3D, adding realism to your blaster, wooh hoo!

As many of you know, the 501st elections have come to a close. The FISD membership has spoken. Congratulations to our 2018 FISD Detachment Leader Paul (Daetrin)!!!!

It’s not every day that we get to celebrate a century, but today is that day. Matthew (Mworm1974) TK-11874 is our 800th Legion member to achieve Expert Infantryman status. Please join me in congratulating the 100 troopers who put in the extra effort and time to take their costumes to a higher bar of accuracy and excellence. Well done you! :pint1:

My BBB was yesterday! Thanks Mark at AP for all of your help throughout this purchase. What a great experience! I was very impressed with the quality of AP's product.....even though I've never handled armour before. I was definitely not disappointed with what I received I wanted to work on the helmet first as my under-suit is still in transit....and already found out how scratchy this stuff can get on bare skin

Hey all, two quick questions: I have my old pair of chisel-toe blundstones that I'd like to refinish for my TK kit. I'll be replacing the elastic to white, then painting with Angelus white leather paint and the appropriate finish. Question One: Is the toe (and boot itself, I suppose) appropriate? I see nothing in the CRL about the toe shape, but I'm curious. ----------- Question Two: What finish should I be going for? Matte or gloss? This is certainly something I'm happy to experiment on since I already own the old (very comfortable, and only slightly leaky!) pair of boots, so I'm not fussed if it doesn't work, but I want to make sure the boots are appropriate to start with.

Building this armour has been more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. I loved the process and I now love looking into my office and seeing actual stormtrooper armour sitting there. I thank everyone who contributes to this site, without this I would have been lost. In the context of the 501st, I'm sort of in the boonies but I'm going to find any excuse to wear my armour and troop. My son has a show and tell at school next week - guess what he is bringing. Thanks again, FISD!

Hello Tony and Andrew, Please consider my application for Centurion Status. Basic Information Name: Paul Vezgoff FISD forum name: Mr V 501st Member Page: http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=22255 501st ID: TK-42145 Garrison: Southern Cross Garrison (Australia) Build album: https://www.flickr.com/gp/152422872@N02/79SN7q EIB link: Mandatory Information Armor Maker: RS Propmasters (Self build) Belt Maker: Canvas Belt (Self build) Blaster Type: E11 3D print Hand guards: Latex (Self cast)

This is the one I used, not sure if they are exactly the same or not. BTW it can be sanded.

You've got some fabulous information from gmrhodes up there! That's a pretty important point that I just wanted to highlight. There are tons of methods for gap filling/sanding/painting, you just have to find one you like. If you've never used filler/bondo/etc. before, I suggest testing on some scrap first as you definitely don't want to be diving into your armour without any practice. Regardless, to answer your question specifically, the epoxy putty I used was from Home Depot. All in all, I probably used 5 or 6 tubes of it total. I found it easier to get into tight spaces (using a little bit of water goes a long way, too) whereas Bondo can be a little more difficult to work with due to the fast drying time. Yes, it definitely is a bit of work to sand down, but I did find it less prone to bubbles and divots than Bondo during the sanding process. The Devcon Plastic Weld is an amazing product, but I stay away from it only because the price is so much higher. If you need something fused within minutes, however, it is impossible to beat the Devcon!

Really beautiful finish on the blaster. You're hard work really paid off. The electronics are very nice as well.

OK... decision making time. I started my build with the intent to complete it as a ANH Hero. And the pieces I have done so far were the same between the Hero and Stunt. I was even happy with my belt as it came from Anovos in the Hero configuration. And then I started looking at my helmet and that's how I arrived at this crossroads. I've been working on my build for over a year and I'm getting to the point in this where I want to finish it up and start trooping. But I feel the modifications that I would need to make on my helmet to convert it from Stunt to Hero are (1) going to take time and (2) slightly out of my comfort zone in terms of build modifications. I also heard at my last Armor Party that trooping in a Hero helmet with bubble lenses is difficult at best. Keeping in mind that I have already have a Hero belt. So, I have decided to change directions slightly and complete my build as a ANH Stunt. I've started the conversion on my Hero belt to a Stunt belt: Completed Hero belt: https://imgur.com/uvT9LkZ Removed Velcro patch, cut out swatch for patch: https://imgur.com/UgNtZzZ Removed holster and trimmed leather: https://imgur.com/dXuh2pk Next steps to complete the Stunt belt to follow shortly.

I am envious!!!!! I can not wait to be able to do the Esb and the Centurion for my .... [emoji20][emoji20][emoji20] Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

Very nice build. Good luck trooper!

Hey Matthew, sorry for the delay Andrew or myself will be with you shortly

Hey Giles. If you are planning on higher level approval (and you should be ) you are going to want to remove the return edge at the wrist now, before deciding on final sizing. For the wrist opening, I sized mine down to the point where my hand just fit through without too much trouble. I have skinny wrists so the forearm piece fits much like your picture above, but once I get my gloves on it is not nearly as noticeable (try fitting with your gloves on and cotton liners - you'll want liners eventually so you can remove your rubber gloves and they will thicken your wrist area a bit) . As for the butt return edge - aim for 15mm total width but you can adjust a bit to whatever works for you - just keep in mind that all your coverstrips need to be proportional (i.e. if your biceps and forearms are a little less than 15mm then your legs should be a little less than 20mm). You can cheat a little on the back coverstrips compared to the front ones (they don't have to be exactly the same if you need to squeeze a few mm here or there). I hope that all made sense. Keep up the good work!

My forearms are a little big on me...can't recall how Anovos arms tend to sit. You should be fine, assuming that you are going to be strapping the forearm to the bicep. If you find that they are really too loose, you can just add some foam in there. You need enough room to get your hand through and you can only size down to a certain point before you'd start removing the ridge, which you want to keep.

Ear holes will not be an issue at all, I have them in mine and Tony and I are only interested in CRL requirements and getting you looking the absolute best you can for Centurion. Cracks as you well know are a fact of life for a trooper, so as long as you are repairing them so they wont get worse , all is good. ABS paste and some sanding and polishing will conceal them and would always be a recommendation we would make but it wont affect an approval.

Summary of where these ideas are today: FOTK Merch * FOTK FISD Blue Patch (finalizing artwork, will do run soon) * FOTK specific coin design: Riot Squad (finalizing artwork, will do run soon) * FOTK specific coin design: Prior run (will see if we can still use the design) ** coins will be spaced throughout the year Other * FOTK Hoodie/Shirts (needs a design) ** We may be changing vendors soon anyway * FOTK Racing Shirt (finalizing artwork, will be done after regular shirt run) FOTK L2/L3 Approvals * Perception that they are slower than OT TK (investigating)

I had this happen to me as well but not so badly that I needed to take corrective actions. It was the grey for the helmet (I don't recall the number off hand). I assumed it was because paint was drying around the edge of the tin and I was using that to wipe off excess paint from the brush. The blue had other issues - shaking did nothing to mix it, I had to stir with a toothpick for several minutes every time I used it. They were from a local hobby shop, and if memory serves me, I had to brush the dust off the little tins - so I assume they were fairly old. I just assumed Humbrol paint was garbage and that was the way it was in 1976 - so my paint job is a little grainy in a few spots.

Nice! Good thing you said wife, at first I didn't read the post clearly and...was wondering.

I'd say it's good. I mean, you can only see it up close and in a certain light. Heck, unless you submitted close-up, it probably wouldn't be visible in submission pictures.

Same issue I have I'm hoping I won't need to clean up the teeth, because getting that mesh off will be a real pain. Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk

Your build keeps serving up eye candy; jaw dropping craftsmanship once again Mark. I like how you go about sourcing materials you have left over; I wouldn't think to use plexi-glass for the exposed bolt next to the charging handle as I've seen it done only with MDF. Great execution and with the grey primer, piece looking pristine as usual. Totally, as for your clearing strip and 'thingy' (extractor and plunger I believe), relative accuracy will do just fine especially so, with the serial number in place - that's a whole lot of detail that will be the envy of many! haha, thanks for the documenting, having gotten some inspiration, I may very well circle back and upgrade my 'thingy' - cheers!

Nothing better than BBB day, good luck with the build

Congratulations and welcome to the ranks trooper

Oh yeah, I hear ya. I did some research on the popular product Bondo here in North America, and you absolutely cannot do that in doors. Car surfacers stink world-wide! I explored spot putty but the thing is, that's exactly what it is best for, evening out divot spots on a surface. I need to resurface my scratch-build magazine. Glad you chose the right product Yup! That's how I've been approaching my build; breaking down tasks to smaller ones and celebrating wins - it's immensely satisfying, have fun!

I've had grainy tins before, usually when they are about a million years old. I had to bin my first #14 which I got at a local small hobby shop as it was just no good no matter how much shaking/stirring it got. If all cans are from the same shop try a different one. If they are the new designs maybe add a small stainless steel nut to the tin before shaking to act as an agitator. You can buy specially made balls for this purpose but their mainly aimed at acrylics which can rust some stainless steels.

You really have to shake the shit out of the cans to break up the pigments.

Daaaaaaang! Prettyyyyyy!

Great work! Good to know the structural bracket is raw aluminum, another thing to note for finishing my build...

For starters, no return edge on the front of the forearms — aside from it being required for Expert level, it’s a huge comfort thing. The last thing you need is the armor digging in your wrists. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow awesome - well done

Nothing better than blaster building while waiting for delivers to turn up

This version of the Anovos Helmet does not have excessive overspray but actually has too little paint around the gum line. Here is a shot of the teeth before and after:

Jeff you're an animal. Awesome work . Reminds me of when I had to rebuild my ATA

Well I went for it. Started to make my return edge on the top of the butt plate. But the butt plate on the jig and a few boxes to hold up the other end. I found working on the kit from this angle was much easier than the scrap as the part I wanted to bend was in front of me and pusing down. Starting in the middle I put the edge of the sealing iron on the line I drew and allowed it to heat up than gently and slowly rolled the sealing iron down over the jig to bend the ABS into my return edge. The sealing iron did leave a few edges that I will sand out to give it a smooth appearance. I started with 120 grit sand paper and wet sanded the edge as I had originally have a very sharp 90 degree and I wanted it to have a more rounded appearance. I will be working up with sand paper to 2000 grit wet sanding along the way to give it a great luster. Overall much easier than I thought it would be to make the return edge. Next up the kidney plate!

Great work troopers, another 200 to reach that goal

Ok, now that my minor crisis has been averted I can get back to it.... Just before I continue with the Front Sight I thought i'd mention that I ground off the large resin screws at the front of the blaster and replaced them with the hex screws from T-Jay's kit. I also installed the bayonet lug. I strengthened the lug by inserting a piece of a nail into the lug and into the body of the blaster. Ok, back to the front sight... Update - Front Sight (Part 2) Once the sight pin was assembled, I spend quite a bit of time grinding away at the original sight frame from the Doopydoo's kit. Eventually I got all the inner resin removed so I was left with just the sight frame. Next I held a piece of sandpaper against the tube and sanded the bottom of the sight frame to better hug the curves of the main tube. And then came the task of cutting the hourglass shaped channel into the main receiver tube. I sketched off the shape and started with a large flat file. Then later moved to angled needle files. Checking constantly to see if the sight would slide in yet. (Some of these photos are out of order. For example, here I hadn't actually cleaned out the T-Track holes yet.) Next I used "green stuff" to add the texture grip to the sight frame... And here's what it looks like.....nothing glued in yet.... Mark

A quick update-- I'm not dead! But the extremely cold MI weather makes building in the garage a pain, so I've slowed down considerably. But in other good news, I've lost nearly 30 lbs since I last posted, so it's actually a good thing that I didn't work in the torso for these past few months [emoji23] Just tried it on and I no longer need the shims Will be back soon! Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

For anyone wondering what the various logos, bars, and titles to the left of posts is all about, this is the thread for you! User Ranks Found above the avatar, rank is determined either by post count or other criteria: Private: 0-24 posts Corporal: 25-49 posts Sergeant: 50-99 posts Lieutenant: 100-149 posts Captain: 150-199 posts Major: 250-499 posts Colonel: 500-999 posts Commander: 1000-1499 posts General: 1500-1999 posts Field Marshall: 2000-2999 posts Grand Moff: 3000+ posts Expert Infantry: Users who have received an EIB Award Centurion: Users who have been granted Centurion Status There are also special ranks given to Command Staff and Extended Staff, such as Detachment Leader, Deployment Officer, Combat Photographer, Hall of Fame Curator, etc. Achievement and Service Awards The FISD Achievement Award is granted for exemplary service to, or outstanding achievement for, FISD. Tradition holds that persons currently serving on staff cannot be granted Achievement Medals (or else it can become too self-serving). Thus, if you see a staff member with an Achievement Medal, they've all earned them prior to joining staff. To date only two people have ever earned a second medal, and no one has ever earned a third. Award Levels FISD Achievement Award (1st Award) FISD Achievement Award (2nd Award) ... FISD Achievement Award (6th Award) (and so on) The FISD Service Award is granted to recognize the contributions of Command Staff for their commitment to keeping the detachment running. Each award represents a full year of service. Additional awards are denoted by a star (1 Gold Star = 5 Silver Stars, 1 Silver Star = 5 Bronze Stars, etc.). A frame denotes fifteen years of service, with additional stars for further years. Award Levels FISD Service Award (1st Award) FISD Service Award (2nd Award) FISD Service Award (9th Award) FISD Service Award (10th Award) ... FISD Service Award (16th Award) (and so on) 3D Contributor Award This program, as with others, is an optional Detachment-only award incentive. It recognizes members who have gone above and beyond in contributing to our 3D forum section. The Silver award can be earned numerous times over the years. The Gold award is given to those that have contributed at such an astounding level that it is deemed appropriate. All awards are given at the discretion of Command Staff. Award Levels Silver 3D Contributor Award Gold 3D Contributor Award For more information please refer to this thread. Attaché Outstanding Achievement Award This award is bestowed to those who consistently exemplify the meaning of an Imperial Attaché and have gone above-and-beyond in helping their fellow troopers for at least one full year: For more information and a list of recipients please refer to this thread. FISD Master Armorer The FISD Master Armorer program is an optional, detachment only incentive award to recognize individuals who have directly helped another 501st stormtrooper to achieve Expert Infantry status. Some people spend countless hours helping others, and want to reward their results as well as incentivizing new people to help as well. Award Levels FISD Armorer (5+ "wins") FISD Senior Armorer (15+ "wins") FISD Master Armorer (25+ "wins") Centurion Badge These are awarded to those who have reached the highest levels of costume approval for FISD. These are awarded only once, to the person, regardless of costumes: Expert Infantry Badge (EIB) These are awarded per costume, thus a person can have more than one EIB award. Stars (like the awards above) indicate multiple awards, and appear above the EI badge (1 Blue Star = 5 Gold Stars, 1 Gold Star = 5 Silver Stars). Award Levels Expert Infantry Badge (1st Award) Expert Infantry Badge (2nd Award) Expert Infantry Badge (3rd Award) Expert Infantry Badge (4th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (5th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (6th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (7th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (8th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (9th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (10th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (11th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (12th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (13th Award) Expert Infantry Badge (14th Award) NOTE If you are approved with a "2nd Version" of a particular costume that you are already approved with you do not receive an additional award, there is only 1 award issued for each costume version ie: only 1 x Hero, 1 x Stunt, 1 x HWT, 1 x ESB, 1 x TFA and so on. If you have a second/additional version costume approved you will see "2nd Version" and [APPROVED] added to the thread title, no additional profile stars For more information on the Expert Infantry and Centurion programs, please refer to this thread. EIB and Centurion requirements can be found in the corresponding costume CRLs (as Level 2 and 3), additional information on how to apply is available here for EIB and here for Centurion.

OK, I got a little bit of desk time today so I worked on that rear sight. Most of the measurements were straight forward, and reference images of the disassembled parts on this site helped answer some design questions. So, here's how my model for the outer part turned out: I chose to chamfer the sides of the notches on the rear curved edge because they really don't look like 90 degree edges on my part, research on other examples also seemed to indicate the edges are kinda beveled or something. Anyway, it's one operation in the history stack, so I can easily remove it if I don't like the way the print looks. I'll try and pop out more of the rear sight parts tonight. Enjoy! -Dana