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So, the tube stripes were finally dry! So I cleaned them up a little bit and quickly assembled the helmet. I did not install the lens yet and the Hovi mics still need some (lots of) adjustments. I will also also need to add the HDPE green colour to the crack on the cheek. After some research I think I found a very close colour match to use on the helmet. I will redo the crack on the top of the helmet as well. I cobbled together a makeshift thigh garter. 3 inch elastic and 2 inch nylon webbing and a buckle. And a bunch of tape. So I was finally able to do a test fit. My makeshift thigh garter system did not hold up very well and the thighs have dropped a bit in the pictures. The shins have also rotated, I will need to add some Velcro to the boots and the insides of the shins. I also noticed that I will need to hot bath the back tabs on the shoulders so they don’t stick up so much. I meant to add these parts as well. However, my bucket did not have any fans in it, I had forgotten how hot it gets without the fans. So this fitting was short-lived. Hot bathing the tab. The one on the left has been adjusted for comparison. Overall, the fitting seemed pretty good. The true test will be walking around for an extended amount of time to test how the return edges will feel. So, it’s finally time for the weathering. Woo hoo. Yeah, that is what I look like when I am happy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So I just undo the stitching holding the snap on, move it a bit, and re-do it? Also, and this is a good piece of general knowledge, I emailed RS asking about the writing on the TD. They came right back and recommended using nail polish remover. Guess what, it worked perfectly. So now I have a clean, gray TD with no need to paint.

It's the case of the Incredible Shrinking TK! This kit was sized to fit my 5'4" frame, but now I'm going to make it fit someone even smaller. She is five- yes, five inches- shorter than I am. My small garrison buddy came over yesterday for a few hours to get some serious sizing for the (what used to be my) TK. As we begin on this part of the build, here's a "weird but true" story for ya... A few months ago I bought a pair of black leather Chelsea boots on eBay for display on my mannequin. I didn't care that they happened to be a tiny size 5- they were only $10 shipped. I just needed something for display purposes. A few months later- when my garrison friend told me that she wanted to buy my TK- I found out that she had been having a really, really hard time finding approvable white TK boots in her size. Her size? Size 5! I had already airbrushed the boots with white leather paint, so they looked awesome, and are 100% approvable. When she came over yesterday, she tried them on, and it was a total Cinderella moment- they fit! The ab/kidney that I did not cut down was much too long on her. I ended up removing the butt plate and putting it back onto the kidney/ab that I had previously shortened. It fits her nicely! Hurdle one cleared. Next we test fit the chest and back plates with the rest of the armor. The photos are of the kidney/ab that was not shortened. I didn't get much time to stop and take progress pics as we worked. Hm. Again, ignore the longer kidney and cod (not that they are really visible anyhow) because they were swapped out. I thought the chest was riding too low on the ab, so I ended up raising the chest by trimming the neck (making a deeper scoop), and then following up by lowering the shoulder bridges further down the chest. I had to trim some of the ends of the chest under where the shoulder bridges are attached to allow some space between the chest and the back plate. The back plate is clearly not fitting properly on her in these pics. It's eye-opening to see how much larger the back looks on her than on me. That's me in the pic on the left with the same back plate! First thing was to bring in the sides of the back plate by dipping the lower corners into a hot water bath. We achieved a nice curve on both sides and eliminated that back flare. Next was to address the way that the back was overlapping the kidney. Swapping things out for the shorter kidney helped a little, but it still had too much overlap. I didn't want to trim any more from the bottom of that back plate. Instead, I trimmed the back plate only from the top, making the back plate neck scoop deeper and trimming at the shoulder connection areas. I trimmed about an inch from each side, as well about the same amount on the neck scoop. TLDR: By making your trims at the shoulder connection points and necklines of the chest and back plates, you can effectively bring both pieces up. This brings the entire kit into better proportion to fit a shorter trooper. I promise I will take more pics at our next fitting (shrink session)!

A few things from EIB submission that I worked on. The gap on my right side of my ab was a bit large and was the thing that I thought would get called out Before: To bring the ab and kidney in tighter all I did was apply additional E6000 to the strap, shortening the distance it had to stretch. Also I tightened the belt down. Back of my shins (ooooh shins.....) Bit of a gap at the top, was not an issue for basic, but could look better. The fix to bring them in was to peel off my top elastic strap move it over about 1/4-1/2 inch and hit it with some E6000. only a slight gap on the right leg. I have to use needle nose pillars to fasten the top hook but much better. Very tight! I removed additional return edge on the top of the shins and will report back with the fit after I get my first troop done tonight! All packed up and excited!

In Memoriam Detachment Officer  Executive Officer Provost Marshall Deployment Officers Pre Approval Forum 3D Section Now On Forum Fire Teams Hall of Fame Just For Laughs Competitions Trooping Imperial Attaché Program EIB & Centurion: What do these terms mean? Advanced Tactics Awards EIB - The March To 1000 Merch Reform Merchandise Public Relations Follow FISD David Hearn (TD-24122) recently passed away, 27th June 2018 Our condolences go out to his family and friends. "Buckets Off" With the trooping activities in full swing and the new staff all settled in to their roles, it's amazing that we've hit out 12th anniversary (on July 6th) like it's just another milestone. In some ways a detachment turning 12 is similar to a person turning 12 - not much to get excited about. It's not like your 5th or 10th birthday, and it's still a year away before you can be a teenager. It's an awkward period where you've gone through a fantastic amount of growth and are now trying to figure out what the future means. What does the future hold for FISD? We've actually gotten quite a lot accomplished this year so far, but we have much more we can do. Consider this my ask for a retrospective: 1. What are we doing well that you want us to continue to do. 2. What are some things that we're not doing, that we should start doing. 3. What are those things you want us to stop, do less of, or do differently? The mission of a detachment is to serve our membership, so ultimately we answer to you. Are we being all you need us to be? Feedback is a gift, and we really want you to let us know how we're doing. Emails, PMs, or even posts to the forums are always welcome. With Unquestioned Loyalty Paul Hoeffer TK8020 “Daetrin” Detachment Leader Greeting Troopers It is great to see the new 3D section taking shape, I would like to thank the 3D printer savvy members for filling it with useful information. This is exactly what we had hoped for, so I would like to introduce a scheme which rewards individuals who bring value to the section and membership. The 3D Contributors Award The how to earn will go live in the 3D forum section shortly giving full details, but in brief the award is in the form of a side bar badge, and awarded based on merit. There are many ways you can earn the badge plus it can be earned multiple times depicted in the number of Silver cubes on the badge. But wait there’s more!! The Gold cube contributors award is available to those who attain 4 silver cubes or contribute at an astonishing level that deems them an honorable recipient. Without further adieu, I am delighted to announce we have our first recipient of this new award. His in depth research threads, incredible quest for accuracy and unparalleled generosity consistently sharing his 3D files set him as a benchmark for this award. I am sure you will agree, this more than warrants no less than the Gold cube contributors award for Germaine (The5thhorseman) Congratulations Germaine, you have certainly gone over and above on numerous occasions and this award is well deserved. Thank you for your contributions that have made printing fantastic First order blasters and accessories affordable for more and more members. I would also like to thank Harbinger - Brien for designing the Contributor award badges. With Unquestioned Loyalty With Unquestioned Loyalty Andrew Franke TK-11469 "Sly11" Executive Officer Greetings troopers! I just wanted to say a quick blurb on how great things have been around here for the last couple of months. The FISD is full of positive energy again and our members are working so hard assisting future and current troopers in achieving their dreams of being a white plastic spaceman. I may not post in every single thread but trust me, I am always lurking around. I have seen some potential members looking to pull the plug on their dreams because they are getting frustrated with their builds or are feeling overwhelmed. Then our amazing members step in to lift up their spirits, offer stellar advice, and push them towards the finish line. This is what we are all about here at the FISD. We come together for the greater good of the legion because we always want everyone to succeed. All of this positivity has made our provost's job easy lately and it's been great to watch. So lets keep this up moving forward. Again, if anyone needs any assistance from our detachment guards for any reason, please do not hesitate to reach out to Aaron (pyrates), Chris (themaninthesuitcase) or myself for anything! With Unquestioned Loyalty Steve Sheades TK-10466 "starsaber25" Provost Marshall Hey Troopers, first off congratulations to all the new EIB and Centurion applicants who earned their badges this last month, well done . Though the badges earned have slowed a bit as we transitioned seasons and families go on vacations we're seeing a lot of exciting builds here and on the FB pages, not to mention a massive influx of new BBB (Big Brown Boxes) arriving on doorsteps. The FISD is about Trooper Helping Troopers and we have an outstanding group of attaches and willing members out there lending a helping hand and giving great advice. As we anticipate the new rush of builds, let's gear up and continue with the fantastic work I'd like to thank our new DOs, Joseph for his tireless efforts as he hit the ground running eager to learn and wasted no time popping out L2 and L3 applications, and Shane for stepping up and tackling some administration tasks, helping out on build threads and applications. Great job gentlemen As we move forward into next month let’s not forget we’re a family of plastic spacemen looking to fulfill someone’s dream. Encourage, support and guide one another. Measure twice, cut once, but most importantly, enjoy the ride. With Unquestioned Loyalty Tony Jobe TK-10116 "ukswrath" Deployment Officer With Unquestioned Loyalty Joseph Pedigo TK-10963 "justjosepth63" Deployment Officer With Unquestioned Loyalty Shane Aubrey TK- 71969 "Shanester" Deployment Officer The FISD is pleased to announce the addition of a new area in the Advanced Tactics forum dedicated to those ready to submit for basic 501st TK approval. This section will allow future Troopers the opportunity to submit photos of their completed build to be reviewed by the Staff, Imperial Attaches and others in preparation for forwarding it to their GML for approval. Any and all advice/suggestions given will be specific, constructive, helpful and respectful. Please note that this program will NOT take the place of your local GML, as Detachments are not chartered for costume approval and can not override a GMLs decision, but is instead a peer review program designed to help you look your best and offer guidance and positive feedback. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about your completed armor, weapons (if applicable), accessories, etc. and get accurate information from the experts here at the FISD.. the definitive home of TKs worldwide. For more information on this program, please visit the link here Don't forget to check out the new 3D section, and please contribute where you can, also see the link at the bottom for the new Contributor award details Contributor Awards Main forum title: 3D Parts and Technical Sub topics: 3D Printer owners Your place to discuss what printer/s you own, recommendations, tech talk and the like, It’s a place to learn something new 3D CAD Designers Home of talented 3D cad designers, show off your 3D renders, of FISD related costume parts and accessories. Offer help and advice on programs, or offer to commission a piece for a fellow member 3D File Depository A home for 3D file sharing, Troopers helping Troopers is what this section is all about; yes a single location to keep any 3D files offered up by our extremely generous membership. This will be a 501st member’s only section and rules will apply to any usage of the content. I will be looking for content to get these new sections started so If you are interested in helping drive these new forums, then please send me a PM and let’s get the threads and the filament flowing. 3D printer heads will understand that last comment Here is a link to the New FISD 3D Contributor program. With Unquestioned Loyalty Andrew Franke TK-11469 "Sly11" Executive Officer Greetings Troopers, I just wanted to check in to see if all your Fire Team information, such as active/inactive members and logos, are all up to date. In the case of the Logos, are they still showing? Seems as if Photobucket has lifted the ransom on free sharing, we'll see on long that lasts. If you need anything updated, please drop me a PM. With Unquestioned Loyalty Mark Ryner TK-4584 "captsafe66 " FISD/Fire Team Director With warm weather finally upon us and bucket fans buzzing - the field Reports are on fire this month! So let’s get right to business! This month please join me in welcoming TK - 55550 Daniel to the Stormtrooper Hall of Fame! With Unquestioned Loyalty Aaron Gibson TK99725 "Pyrates" Imperial Propaganda Alright, Troopers, it's time for another contest! What we are looking for is a short story about your favorite troop. It could be one that was unusual, heartfelt, funny, etc. and should be at least one paragraph in length Photos of the event would be a bonus! The contest will run until Midnight, July 15th, and the winner will be announced on July 20th. So what is the prize, you ask?! Randy (magni) and myself are supplying the First prize, which will be a new hardcover copy of the latest book by NY Times bestselling author Ryder Windham "STORMTROOPERS: BEYOND THE ARMOR". Mr. Windham is also the author of over 60 SW related books and comics. Second prize will be an official 501st Legion decal. So, one more time, here are the rules: 1. Should be at least one paragraph in length. 2. Must be submitted ON THIS THREAD by midnight, July 15th, 2018. 3. Judging by Imperial Attaches/Staff. 4. Winner will be notified on July 20th, 2018. To enter or ask any questions, please go here: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/45063-new-contest/ GOOD LUCK! With Unquestioned Loyalty Joseph Pedigo TK-10963 "justjosepth63" Deployment Officer Want Your Troop to be Included? Post your troop report in the Field Training Exercises section here Those with troop logs please post a separate troop report as it is easier to link too. June - July Edmonton Pride 2018 More here By: Teresa, Soulart, TK41307 Supanova Convention Day 1 More here By: Glen, gmrhodes13, TK85421 Supanova Convention Day 2 More here By: Glen, gmrhodes13, TK85421 FIFO Families Fun Day More here By: Glen, gmrhodes13, TK85421 Serve proudly, ladies and gentlemen, and as Tim (Dark CMF) says: "Keep doing what it is that got you here"! Are you an approved TK that spends more time on the boards than the average Trooper? Do you enjoy using your knowledge to help out future and existing Troopers? If so, we would like to invite you to join the Imperial Attaché program! Members of the I.A. team are chosen to help out not only those here on the boards, but on a local level as well. Our aim is to have at least one in each and every Garrison, Squad and Outpost in the entire legion to be the eyes and ears of the FISD on a local level. A suggested level of EIB or above is preferred, as part of the duties include assisting those aiming for levels 2 and 3, but is not a requirement. Being active on the boards on a regular basis , welcoming new members and helping out where you can is, though. Some of the benefits: 1. Access to exclusive Attaché merch., including patches, etc. 2. Having the Imperial Attaché title under your name. 3. Being a part of the team that welcomes new and prospective members of the FISD. 4. Being the "go-to" person in your Garrison, Squad or Outpost. 5. Exclusive access to the Attaché HQ area, Imperial Propaganda Machine (newsletter) and merchandise discussions. We are currently in need of Attaches in many units, especially International Garrisons/Squads and Outposts. For more information on this program, please head here and if you should have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at any time. (Pretzel) For a complete list of Imperial Attaches, go here NEW ATTACHES! Please join me in welcoming 5 new Imperial Attaches to the FISD: 1. Alan @Thumpy~- A SkyTrooper extraordinaire! Alan is a grizzled 501st veteran with loads of experience and is coming back from retirement to assist the FISD and encouraging fellow troopers to pursue a TK costume. We are pleased to have him part of the team! 2. Colin @menschie - A newly approved Stormtrooper ready to serve on the front lines of all things TK. Colin is honored to be part of the program and already making strides with his local garrison my spreading the word of the FISD and what we do. Keeping the moto strong. Troopers helping Troopers! 3. Asa @SgtGarand - Asa is our newest Attache from Japan and has been helpful in guiding new members on their build threads. We are happy to see him on the team. He is working on F-15's when he is not trooping. So if you want to be a flyboy, he may know the ins and outs of some flying machines! 4. Jeff @StrmTRPR85 Jeff volunteered the for the program with much enthusiasm! A specialist with building his own fan systems and battery packs! We look forward to his contributions to the program! 5. Tino @T-Jay Tino finally decided to volunteer for the program. He is basically a legend with his contributions to his E-11 expertise. If you have not seen some of his tutorials, you may want to check them out. Honored to welcome him to the Attache team. Serve proudly, Gentlemen, and as Tim (Dark CMF) says: "Keep doing what it is that got you here"! IMPERIAL ATTACHE AWARD Imperial Attaché Award for those attaché's who have gone above and beyond [minimum 1 year of service] This month, I would like to highlight the newest recipient of the I.A. Award. Please congratulate Ben (Buttons) of the Central Garrison who has been serving with the FISD as an Attache for well over a year! Ben is recognized for his continued efforts in the Attache program, but most recently hosting and re-opening popular FISD ID Badges for the community. We love the new designs! Thank You. I Salute You You can find a list of prior recipients here With Unquestioned Loyalty Preston Christman TK-91488 "Pretzel" Attaché Ambassador ATTACHE MERCHANDISE Attaché Patch Attaché patches should be back up and running soon, please stand by So what exactly are EIB (Expert Infantry Badge) and Centurion levels? These programs were designed for those who choose to take their armor above and beyond the minimum requirements for basic 501st Legion approval. It gives you the chance to show a level of dedication and pride that takes your armor closer to being as "screen accurate" as possible, without as much extra work as you may realize! It also works on giving a better look to the Legion as an entity, and you can bet others will take notice of your hard work. The 501st has a list of detailed requirements for Basic approval, (level 1), EIB, (level 2) and Centurion, (level 3) which can be found here in the Costume Reference Library, (CRL) http://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:FISD_CRL Here are a few of the questions people may be wondering about: 1. "I am a (tall/short/heavy/thin) Trooper. Can I still apply? Of course! These programs are open and encouraged for all sizes of TKs, as long as the costume is correct and meets the guidelines. There are many specific build tutorials to every option, as well as a vast network of fellow TKs on the FISD to help you out and offer suggestions. 2. "How much extra will I have to pay for extra items"? The cost is actually quite reasonable, considering the few extra supplies you will need, which are listed in the requirements area. While it may run you a little more to implement these additions to your costume, they will go a long way to improving accuracy. All needed items can be found for sale on this thread: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/16-ongoing-sales-project-orders/ While blasters are not required for basic approval, for EIB and Centurion levels they are, and may need upgrades (also listed in the CRL). 3. "I haven't even got my kit yet, is it too early to start planning"? Actually, aiming for Centurion is easiest to do right out of the box. 4. "I have my basic TK approval, can I still get in these programs"? In a word... absolutely! 5. "Are there any "perks" to this extra work and cost"? Besides knowing that you have a great looking set of armor, the 501st and FISD believes you should be deservedly recognized for your achievement(s), and allows you to wear the appropriate embroidered "rocker" badge of rank (available for a very minimum cost) on your shirt, helmet bag, etc., as well as rank decals to put on your armor bin. You will also have access to select "challenge coin" runs, receive (free) a cool certificate for your new rank, and have your title posted below your name in your FISD signature. Plus, once you reach these levels, you will have the extra knowledge to help out those who are looking to apply as well. 6. "Is it hard to apply, and what happens then"? After basic approval, all you do is make sure your armor is up to the standards set forth in the CRL, post a thread with the required photos in the appropriate area (see below), and wait a bit for the D.O.s (Deployment Officers) to address it. (Hint: Studying other people's threads before you submit can be a GREAT help). These are also listed on the main page of the FISD site. While waiting for approval, you will get some comments from others who will offer suggestions and constructive advice to help you out. If you should need any changes, the DOs will let you know, so you can adjust accordingly. Don't be dismayed if you do need changes... it's all for your benefit! After you are approved for EIB, then you can submit for Centurion. EIB https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/19-request-expert-infantryman-status/ Centurion https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/72-request-centurion-status/ Just remember that the FISD is here to help you every step of the way with whatever other questions you may have, but if you can't seem to find what you are looking for in your research, just ask away here on the forums! This area lists all those who have gone above and beyond basic approval toward screen accuracy. FOR JUNE-JULY the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment would like to congratulate: Expert Infantry Badge Award: Josh Hopkins "Silverback73" TK 20112 EIB 840 Jonathan Lighty "JLight" TK 32627 (SECOND EIB approval)! GREAT job on your approval, now on to Level 3! Request your free EIB certificate here Centurion Badge Award: http://www.whitearmor.net/eib/centurion_badge.png Randy Abramson "magni" TK 16127 TKC Centurion (SECOND Centurion award)! Colin Moreh "menschie" TK 11626 Centurion 404 Jon Hall "IBSkyde" TK 12124 Centurion 405 Outstanding job on reaching Centurion, Troopers! Request your free Centurion certificate here If you see any of these Troopers around your Garrison or Squad, be sure to congratulate them! As many of you are aware, the FISD is currently in our March to 1000 program. Our goal is to reach the one thousand mark of Troopers who have earned their Expert Infantry Badge, and although we are well on our way to this goal and have just passed the 800 mark! The amount of approved submissions is increasing (over 80 this year alone) thanks to the dedication of those willing to go the "extra mile" toward screen accuracy. Here is a brief description of EIB as written by Paul (Daetrin), our founder: "Expert Infantryman status is not required for members of this detachment. It should be viewed as an optional set of requirements for those who wish to take the accuracy of their costumes to the next level, and be recognized accordingly. We're a costuming club - think of it as an award for costuming excellence and you get the picture. The requirements will not replace or supersede 501st standards, but only serve as an inspiration for the level of accuracy that can be achieved. The standards are meant to be high but achievable..." Besides the added pride you will have in your armor, those reaching this level can purchase exclusive EIB gear (patches, decals, coins etc.) and get a free certificate for your accomplishment. If you are interested or would like more information about the program head here that will help. You can also contact myself "Pretzel" or any Imperial Attaché, and we will be more than happy to assist you! FISD Merch Reform The FISD for sale and merchandise rules have been in a place for a long time - they were liberally taken directly from CTN (the 501st clonetroopers detachment) and haven’t had to be tweaked much in 10+ years. For the most part things have been going well, however we’ve seen an increasing amount of reports of buyers making demands that fall outside reasonable expectations. We have had more than one occasion during merch runs, where a member files a PayPal dispute immediately upon seeing someone else post that they have received their items, and the filing member has not received theirs yet. This is a major pain. It locks up the PayPal account of the person managing the run, and could potentially cause other members to panic and file claims. Nobody wins in this situation. It clogs up the management of the run, creates a mob mentality, and cannot lead to anything productive regarding possible resolution to what wasn't a problem until that PayPal dispute was filed. The run manager (whether the DMBO or not) is acting on behalf of the Detachment to include the membership, and going straight to PayPal disputes is disrespectful of everyone involved, to include other members who ordered the item(s). Filing PayPal disputes without seeking resolution or an answer from the run manager/Detachment Command Staff should carry a suspension of no more than 30 days - really it is the same as someone messing up the forum experience for others, except that this is actually messing with people's lives and money. To protect against this, the following changes are being made to merch runs for FISD effective immediately: 1. Buyers have 30 days from shipment to report a missing or lost item for domestic runs. Sellers are only required to retain proof of shipment for 30 days. Why? Domestic shipments should normally arrive in about 7 days. Some people are claiming items never shipped 5 months after a run was closed, which is way too long to ask people to retain shipping material. If your domestically shipped item hasn’t arrived after 30 days IOW, you lose the right to claim it was never shipped. 2. Buyers have 60 days from shipment to report a missing/lost item for international runs. Most items are received in under 30 days, however we know some countries are pretty bad. Sellers must keep shipping documentation for 60 days on international items. If the shipper can provide tracking information (e.g. a tracking number for domestic or a customs form for international), they are not held liable for items lost or missing in the mail. Any concerns post them on the announcement thread due shortly. With Unquestioned Loyalty Paul Hoeffer TK8020 “Daetrin” Detachment Leader FISD Name Badge Run 3 Open Style 1 Style 2  Style 3  These are open to all troopers. 3 variations Cost: $20 for the first one, $10 each additional Includes shipping worldwide Sales thread here FISD Coffee Mugs - 2 Designs! $14 each + $5 shipping in the US + $10 shipped international Sales thread here Design One Design Two FISD Brothers in Arms Sticker 3.5 inch round stickers $4.00, shipping included Reference: Brothers in Arms Thread here paypal [email protected] Phasma Coin $10 shipped US International buyers email for quote: [email protected] Thread here Riot Control Coin $10 shipped US International buyers email for quote: [email protected] Thread here FISD Classic Style Patch $5 shipped US International buyers email for quote: [email protected] Thread here Newsletter We are always on the look out for content, ideas, funny photos or even your TK adventure story so feel free to contact either Danny, Tim, Marcus, Preston or myself. With Unquestioned Loyalty Glen "Q" Rhodes TK85421 "gmrhodes13" PRO - Newsletter Facebook & Twitter With Unquestioned Loyalty Daniel Lauber TK55550 - "Ripper_L" PRO - Facebook Page Instagram With Unquestioned Loyalty Preston Christman TK-91488 "Pretzel" PRO - Instagram FISD Facebook Group With Unquestioned Loyalty Tim Waychoff TK-51878 “Dark CMF” PRO - Facebook Group With Unquestioned Loyalty Marcus Dohring TK-14057 “JODOKAST” PRO - Facebook Group Don't Forget We're on Facebook and Twitter! Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitearmor If you're on FB, stop by and say hi, ask questions, and share stories! NEW Facebook Group: 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment (FISD) Official If you're on FB, stop by and say hi, ask questions, and share stories! Twitter: www.twitter.com/FISD501st or @FISD501st follow FISD on Twitter! Instagram: www.instagram.com/fisd501st On behalf of the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment Command Staff and the Imperial Propaganda Department

That's why I am here. If you have any other questions please ask. only dumb question is one not asked, so no matter what it is, please get the right answer. UKswrath is on Etsy so check it out. or you can contact him here, either way you cant go wrong!

Big Deal, thank you for the compliment on the paint guide. I will have more to say about it below. As for the airbrushed sections you bring up a good point that I must have forgot to mention in my previous update. Once all the airbrush is done I will apply two more layers of clear coat to the parts that were airbrushed. This will make everything glossy and uniform. I am not sure if these areas were glossy on the actual props but since I have no other reference that can closely detail if they were in fact gloss or flat, I will go with glossy and can always buff them with some sandpaper later to dull them if needed. Update….a big one Ok so I love it when a plan goes well and hate it when it does not. The painting is the latter but not a total disaster. I have already stated that I only have one previous experience with automotive paint so that factored into this issue. As I write this, it is Thursday and a lot of stuff happened on Sunday and Monday so I will try to keep this coherent. So some of the issues I ran into may have been caused by using the non-automotive primer on the armor during my sanding phase but I do not think this is the case. Another option is that the automotive primer may have had a reaction with the flexible fiberglass and I think this is more likely. I will detail what problem I ran into further along. Sunday 08:00 my buddy arrived and everything was ready to go. We mixed the primer and tested it in the smaller spray gun but it was too thick to flow in that gun so we went with the larger gun and it flowed well. We test sprayed some paper and got good color and flow and assumed all was well, it was not. After my buddy had sprayed several parts he notified me we had a problem. Apparently we had the air mixture on the gun too high or the paint flow too low. The air pressure from the compressor was good at 39 PSI. The primer went on these parts like it was powder coat. Here you can see the back plate and how rough the primer was. So me being more familiar with my spray guns, I went into the booth and got the mixture rate correct but the damage was already done. These parts would need to be sanded and this pushed everything back. We pulled these parts and I started sanding them while my buddy sprayed all the other parts. Sometime later all the parts had been primed. After the messed up parts were sanded, washed and dried, they were re-sprayed. We used all the primer so, a note to anyone else doing this, get more than 1 qt of primer. I will include this in my list of lessons learned at the end of this post. Next we inspected all the parts and I must admit that I did a piss poor job of this, there are a lot of things I should have observed and corrected but I didn’t and these became issues later. SOOOO if you are doing this, make sure you inspect everything after primer and correct all the mistakes before you move to apply the paint. One thing for sure that I should have done but did not was to sand everything with 800 or 1000 grit sandpaper. Why didn’t I do this? Well first, I was concerned with all the instructions for the paint and primer and the specified times between primer and paint to ensure adhesion. That time window was closing quickly. Also, that is a lot of armor and most likely two days of sanding, two days that I didn’t have. However, if I had sanded I would noticed a lot of issue and could have saved myself some time and trouble in the end. My other concern is if I sanded the primer to 800 or 1000, I was concerned that the paint would not stick to the primer. I should have considered using 400 or 600 grit and I would have been ok I think. Regardless, I didn’t do any of this and went straight to painting. The paint and also the clear coat are much thinner than the primer so the flowed out of the smaller and more controllable gun just fin but this also meant that we mixed smaller batches of the product and we had to do this more often. I do not know if the larger gun would apply the paint and clear as well, I suspect we it would have come out heavier and would have been more likely to run. Anyway, we sprayed at least one layer of paint on most of the parts before we ran out of paint. I only had a pint of the paint and that went fast. Again buy more than you think you will need. So we ran out of paint and these parts did not get any paint. Sooo Monday I hit the automotive paint supply store again and dropped another $150 on more paint, and I decided to double down on the clear coat just to be sure I had enough. This time I got a whole quart of paint instead of another pint. I wanted to apply another layer to all the parts and that was a good idea. The instructions for the paint stated that the clear coat must be applied between 45 minutes and up to 24 hours after the paint. Any longer I would be required to sand everything. However, I figured out a way to extend this. I would just apply the second coat of paint just before the 24 hours and that would give me another 24 hours. This was good because I found all the issues I had eluded to previously. So let’s talk about the helmet. Painted with compressed air is a tricky thing. You must maintain the proper distance from the item being painted or you will get too thick and end up with runs. But if you get too far from the part you will end up with a powder effect similar to what we experienced with the primer. On the helmet we had these issues with the primer and the paint did not cover them up. First, in these pictures you can see all the yellow circles identify what I found. The area around the teeth was very rough and would need to be sanded. The seam between the front of the face and the mouth was very powdery and would need to be sanded. There were rough areas inside the openings where Hovi mics go and the inside edges of the tears were rough. We had a run under the left eye. I also noticed wherever I had masked an opening such as the eyes, the primer and/or the paint got very rough. I assume from blowback of the product hitting the masking. So all of this (other than the run) would have been apparat if I had inspected better after the primer. Anyway, I had more paint so I could fix all of this with sanding and removing the masking, then repaint everything. The only thing I would not be able to do is re-prime but as long as my sanding was not too rough, I could take the roughness down with some 600 and 800 grit and not remove the primer. I ended up sanding the whole helmet with 800 grit and got everything nice and smooth then re-painted it. The other two issues I found after painting was an insane number of pin holes on a lot of the parts and some of the detail lines along the cover strips were filled in or not deep enough. In this picture you can see what I am talking about. Notice the detail lines along the cover strip and also all the small pin holes. The weird thing is that none of these pin holes were evident when I had primed with spray paint primer and sanded everything two week ago. I can only assume that this is the reaction with the fiberglass that I mentioned previously. As you can see from earlier pictures, most of the spray paint primer was sanded away so I do not think it is a reaction between the two primers. This leads me to believe that the automotive primer reacted with the fiberglass. Again, if I had done a better inspection after the primer, I would have seen these issues and corrected them. Instead I raced to paint and now I was stuck with them. So how to address at least some of these issues. First I applied very small amounts of glazing putty in the largest of the pin holes. I would not be able to prime over the putty so I hoped that the paint would stick to it and it did. I also took a razor blade and rescored some of the detail lines on some of the parts and re-painted them as well. After everything was repainted and I waited the obligatory 45 minutes, it was time to clear coat. The clear went on thin just like the paint. Everything got to layers of clear and that was 1 whole quart of clear. Luckily I have another quart so applying more clear after the airbrush won’t be an issue. It was at this paint that I found a few areas where the paint had separated from the primer or cracked. Most of these areas are very small and not noticeable unless you really looked for them but one area that was noticeable was the back plate. In this picture you can see the paint had cracked on the sides of the cog wheel. I think this occurred because the paint was so thick here as I tried to get the sides of the cog wheel. Again this is an issue with me not properly inspecting after the primer and noticing how rough the primer was on the sides of the cog wheel in all those recesses. I have decided to let this stay for now and I can come back later and mask this whole area off and sand and redo everything inside the square. So Wednesday, after 24 hours of letting the clear coat cure, it was time to mask and airbrush. I started with the back plate by masking most of it and lightly dry sanding the side plates with 220 grit to ensure the airbrush paint would stick. I removed the sanding dust with a damp tac cloth. Sorry, I forgot to get a pic after the black was applied. Next, I masked off the abdominal armor on the sides and sanded them with 220 grit. I measured the circle on the front of the abdominal armor and came up with a diameter of 9/16” so I made some vinyl masks on my vinyl cutter and applied them. I lined them up as best as I could. I also masked the small square area as well. Then I masked the rest of the part off but its not in the picture below. Lastly, I sanded the areas to be painted and hit them with the tac cloth. I also masked off the thermal detonator and sanded it then set aside. Here is the painted abdominal armor. It still needs another layer or two of clear but otherwise it’s good to go. Lastly I started sanding the helmet in the areas that need to be masked and painted. There are a lot of them since the brown trim and neck trim are molded into the helmet. The teeth, tears side ears, back square things, and the separate tube things. I will mask it off tonight but I do not think I will get to paint it until Friday. So you may be wondering just what were the ramifications of the pin holes that I did not fill in? Here is a thigh plate and in the reflection you can see the unevenness of the clear coat. Here is a closer picture. As you can see, it is noticeable but not the end of the world. If I really want to fix it, I can sand the clear coat smooth with some 800 or 1000 grit then apply another layer of clear but I am going to let this go since my end goal will be TD and there will be considerable weathering later on. Ok so for everyone who decides to go with the automotive paint process, I will share my lessons learned. I do not know if you could avoid a lot of this stuff but just using rattle can spray paint but I have had mixed results with spray paint and seen a ton of issue with spray paint clear coats cracking and orange peel. My other concern was the flexibility of spray paint and spray paint clear coat on the parts that need to flex just to be put on such as the lower leg armor. At a minimum you will need to following amounts of primer, paint, and clear. Keep in mind the listed mixture rations for the products I used. You may need more or less of a product if the mixture if different. Primer 4:1 mixture- you will need at least 1qt, I recommend 1.5 quarts. Paint 1:1 mixture- you will need at least 1qt, I recommend 1.5 quarts. Clear 4:1 mixture- you will need at least 1qt, I recommend 1.5 quarts. You will also need a ton of mixing cups, like 20-30 depending on the size of your spray guns, otherwise you will be cleaning mixing cups to re-use. You will need a ton of screen, like 30+. You will need a ton of mixing sticks, like 50+. The color I used was the Ford Frozen White and I thinks a great choice. Lessons learned: Prep is the second most important part of painting. Inspections and correction after primer is the most important part of painting. Test your spay materials every time you refill the gun on plastic not paper to make sure you have a clean and good flow. Unfortunately, the pot life of most of these products is fairly short (30 min – 1 hr) so only mix what you use each time. If you are spraying primer for more than a few hours, you need to stop and clean the gun or it will clog. DO NOT LET PRIMER SIT IN THE GUN, it will become a solid mess and you will need to toss the gun in the trash. Watch lots of videos on YouTube on how to paint cars to understand the process and how the layers would be sprayed and what the “wet look” should look like. When things go wrong, and they will, don’t get pissed, fix them then if you can but also understand that you need to keep your momentum going or you will get more frustrated. This is the main reason I did not fix the back plate cracking when I noticed it. I can fix it later and I kept my momentum up to get to the end of the tunnel. Ok so that is the update, more to come soon. Thanks for the interest.

When you lay the pieces out like this that can happen. What I did was I held both the back and kidney together as they should sit on my body, the back piece with lean outward, and then taped (Both sides) with blue tape to keep it in place. I then marked where I was going to put my snaps, once snaps are installed it should stay there. there may be slight overlap at the corners but that's ok. the thing you DONT WANT is the gap.

I was worried about this too when my armour was laid out, but found that once it's on your body, the back will naturally lean out a bit and rest flat against the kidney. It took a bit of adjusting of the shoulder straps to get it just right, but it did look fine once it's on.

So with a final big push I got the Shoretrooper armour finished and submitted for approval! http://501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=28350

Key words here: Minimal gap and no overlap is what were looking for. Didn't say mandatory.

that second link go to page 3 of the photos I believe it is. that is where they actually take a measuring gauge to the clips

No need for the tube stripe police this time; you’re NAILING this build!!! [emoji1303][emoji1][emoji1303][emoji1]

That... kind of irritates me. One of the things that was supposed to be coming out of the post-Lucas era was more consistency between media, including consistent representation of characters and ships and such, overseen by people who paid more attention to stuff in the ancillary material than Lucas did. I truly hope they take the time to actually do the research and query the character's creator, rather than let artists do their own interpretation and sign off on it without examination. That's how we got the whole Storm Commando/Shadow Scout mess that's still being damage-controlled to this day. My thumbnail of Cardinal is "mostly repainted standard TFA FOTK", with specific bits called out: • Boot armor in armor color *ambiguity remaining -- boot color? armor design? cue taken from Phasma, being black FOTK boots with Phasma style boot armor, per author* • Cape is mirror image of Phasma's in cut, hanging off the right shoulder, rather than left. 1" wide edge stripe is warm medium gray versus Phasma's red. • SE-44c sidearm blaster rides the thigh holster. *ambiguity remaining -- casing color not explicitly stated or shown, presume armor red, by precedent* • Doesn't usually carry F-11D after becoming Captain, but did early on. *ambiguity remaining -- buttstock or no? casing color? presume buttstock and armor-color casing, using Phasma as precedent* • Also used riot baton in the book, for melee weapon option for events or countries that don't allow replica firearms. Should be TFA version.

Yeah, what Jenny said. I also have the gap - but I find that standing up very straight or even arching my back a bit helps close the gap. I little pointer there for when you do your approval photos.

That's awesome! Thanks!

That helmet….yeez Experts is going to have a hard time telling yours apart from the original, when looking at it I can almost feel how the trooper on set is about to reach out, grabbing it to put it on

Awesome! Have a great first troop

Best of luck on approval Jim

@Actionsdower, Go this route if you cant sew, or if its one of those, "ill just youtube it" things, I wouldn't trust a first time stitch on something that is gonna take that much stress.

It will be som much easier to just remove the elastic and reglue - but it’s your choice of course

Before you take measures, can you show a picture of you with the shins on, then with the boots and shins, and just the fit of the boots. You look like a nice slim fit so it seems odd that you’d have to shim them. (Unless they supply them very small) You might find that the opening of those boots is just very large. :-) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes just pull the stitches and then adjust your snap/popper to where it will give you a slightly snugged fit. Then sew it back on. Sent from my VK815 using Tapatalk

Don't worry too much about the back. That'll all work itself out. Just center the straps on the "nubs" coming off the chest piece, in line with the direction that nub heads (perpendicular to the edge). You'll want the big front bump plus 2-3 of the smaller bumps to be in contact with the chest, the rest can lay over the strapping and touch the back plate. Here's when I glued mine on: I wanted to keep my armor as nice as possible (I've since gotten over that), so I kept the plastic on until the very end, too. SUPER fun to tear it all off on that last day. So no need to be ashamed of that!

Closed the gap at the top of my calves...much better. Have to use needle nose pilers to get the top strap connected but am happy. Apologies undersuit is in the wash as first troop is tomorrow!.

As you wish

I took a couple more photos of the strap, showing the popper. Are these helpful? Also, I decided I'm asking RS for a replacement TD. The more I think about it, the more it bothers me. They assembled it with the writing in literally the worst place it could be; they could have easily rotated the conduit a few degrees so it would be hidden.

Hi John, Just seen your query about the back plate. Do you have anymore pictures? I don’t know how tall you are but, I’m wondering if your torso armour is at least a couple of inches too low. Here’s a shot comparing your back plate with Harrison Ford himself. If he straightened his arm, I looks like his torso armour would be an inch or so higher than his elbow. It looks like yours might be in line with your elbow: That couple of inches could really help your back plate reach your shoulders. The crotch area should be, well, erm, cupping, you know... ;-) Feel free to post up any more pics if you have them. :-)

Good luck! Post up if you have any questions!

Hope I’m not too late mate: Bicep hooks: I used a piece of cover strip abs 3/4” wide by 4” long Mark one end in two segments 1” long, once done trim and sand the edges of the piece so it doesn’t fray the elastic. Break out a heat gun, and have another piece of abs cover strip available to help form the abs when it’s malleable. Heat up the abs, keeping 4” to 8” away, I highly recommend having some heat resistant gloves to avoid burning yourself. You will see the abs start to soften, once this starts to happen, place your other piece of abs on the warm abs and begin to fold it over. Take your time shaping the abs into position, and I highly recommend doing a few practice runs. Once you have the hook shaped, it can be tightened up applying some more heat, and a ruler. Next heat the abs again to shape the bicep hook to match the contours of your bicep.

I've never seen another ABS in market. There's is currently the FOJE only but a good sand and repaint means a TLJ FOTK ready to go