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Esteemed members of the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment, greetings! This is a momentous and exciting day for all of us. Overwhelmingly, I expect that at this point in time, you truly have no idea as to why it is such an exciting day. Allow me to explain. It is inevitable that we will face change in nearly all areas of our lives eventually. Our costuming hobby is no different. Whether it is new movies, TV shows, or video games which present us with new opportunities, or a bold new idea for an exciting piece of merchandise that excites us, change brings with it a variety of emotions and energy. It is in this spirit of change, excitement, and energy, that this day breaks with new direction for us all. Inspired by the examples presented in the world today, by Disney, LFL, and the 501st Legion as global entities committed to effecting positive change in our world, and in the spirit of unity, camaraderie, and togetherness that we announce a major change in operations for us as members of the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment. As we all know – or maybe we don’t, but I will explain – the first scenes ever shot for anything Star Wars were some of those on the desert planet of Tatooine. It was there that the first world of Star Wars came to life for us. As a way to honor the history of the saga that shaped so many of our lives, it has been decided that, effective immediately, the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment, its CRLs, staff functions, websites, Facebook groups, members, etc are absorbed into the Mos Eisley Police Department. We look forward to serving proudly alongside our dirtier comrades in armor and having the opportunity to order new (to us) racing shirts, coins, and patches! With unquestioned loyalty, dirt don’t hurt! (For the purpose of clarification, this is our edition of the annual April Fool's post for 2021, it is not true)

Thanks Tino and Tony. :-) I’ve given the scope another coat of Humbrol Brass 54, as well as the front end of the Hengstler. As the rear of the original Hengstler counters were plastic, they should not be sprayed with a brass coat. The plastic part would not have had metal effect weathering. I started to work on the “OFF —>” detailing on the end cap of the magazine, however, it’s not quite to the standard I’d like. I’ll likely do this again. And finally, the folding stock now has a coat of Hammered Black, so I test fitted it to the barrel. A little shiny still at this moment, but, I’m liking the finish. :-)

Hi Justin, Yes, I certainly see where you are coming from. And I believe the rivet placement is the key point in the discussion you're referring to, rather than the postitioning of the central ammo pack. That's why I specifically mentioned the different armour makers. With the best will in the world, even some of the 'most common' armour makes are not always overly accurate in some areas, whether this be with their kits or their commissions, so aligning the central ammo pack like the originals might not be possible. This certainly makes it harder for members when they feel their armour maker probably knows the "right" way to build it, yet, this is not always the case. Makers pre-shaping (and potentially pre-trimming) the ammo pack (or any other parts), is, I'm sure, meant with the best intentions. However, it does take away some of the applicants' choice to fine tune certain parts. Unfortunately, the armour makers are not obliged to make changes based on the CRL - it just depends how accurate they want to be. This then comes down to the purchaser on their choice of the various factors, including budget, accuracy, availabilty etc. Regarding the higher levels of approvals, I think a key point to bear in mind is that approvals are based around the wording of the CRL but also based on the visual appearance of the oroginal costumes. I quote "Text descriptions are only one part of the guideline. GML’s and costumers must consider both text and pictures (CRL and Reference) when reviewing the costume." Hopefully these reference photos will help future builders before they attaach their ammo pack. I'm a firm beleiver that the best reference material a builder can have is the oroginal movie suits themselves, within reason. Other build threads are good, especially when it comes to the certain "quirks" of certain makes, however, the end result is to look like those wonderful troopers on screen that we all fell in love with. :-) This is not just a response to the Centurion application that is being discussed, by the way. This has come up in another thread on a different platform and these reference images are hopefully hepful to all. :-)

Dan started a new thread in case anyone wants to weigh in further. I thought it was odd that Max received his feedback via PM, but whatever... To my knowledge, he also clarified that the feedback was required to be corrected, not suggested, despite not being mentioned clearly in the CRL. I believe we have corrected everything anyways, so we'll post photos and try to get this moving soon.

"Change is bad" famous quote by a Grumpy Old Man. "Semper Gumby" quote by me meaning always flexible. For those of us who aren't part of the 501st yet but actively building our first costumes is there anywhere we can look to see how this will impact us? The information and support at whitearmor.net have been invaluable for my build. Will this forum stay active? Do we need to join the MEPD forums and restart our build threads? Will the same people who have been so helpful here still be the ones helping us new builders as we move forward? Will the 501st be providing the necessary disinfectant and insecticides needed if we have to rub shoulders with the unclean ones?

Hey troopers Myself and my good friend Rough Dimon, and some other friends along the way, will be gaming and live-streaming from 12pm til 12am on Good Friday, April 2nd, to raise money and awareness for this disease and the MND charity. So, why are we doing this... A trooper friend of mine is bravely working his way through the challenges brought to him through motor neurone disease. Despite the changes that this has made to his day to day life, he still manages to support others with positivity and kindness and is a true inspiration to myself and others. He knows who he is. If you would like to watch the stream, or donate any amount, large or small, we’d appreciate your support. I will stream on my personal Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/daniel.branton.186 My friend will stream to YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/RoughDimon https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cableguydan

Correct, evenly spaced/positioned in the rear is the optimum however, not all movie thigh ammo belts were mounted exactly the same so we should lean towards grace vs perfection. Just my opinion of course

The issue in question was not a matter of centering the front ammo box, but rather the symmetry of the ends of the ammo belt in relation to the corner of the bottom ridge. As Dan pointed out, those middle boxes were rarely (if ever) lined up with the cover strip. However, in all the references I can find the ends are evenly spaced on both sides. A small difference is no biggie, but these were pretty far off. This detail does not affect larger troopers. It doesn't matter if the rear sides of the ammo pack are close to the corner or far away (second image). Either is fine and dandy as long as they are the same distance (or close to it) on both sides. As seen in the first image below, yellow would be a smaller trooper, red would be a larger trooper. Both can have it centered.

Don't sweat it Daniel, we live and learn brother. Can't tell you how many times I goofed as DO

I have never requested a center box alignment either but rather an offset If anything. On this particular app I was just surprised as I did’t mention the ammo strip at all. It would have helped if the added requriment was stated in the thread for all to see instead of sent via PM. I agree that the ammo pack should be evenly spaced and idealy at the corners. I guess I missed that so that’s on me and I’m sorry for the extra hazzle. The EIB app was also some time ago so it might very well be that additional requriments are in affect and though not mentioned in that particular EIB review still has to be fixed at the time of a Centurion app

We will most certainly have a discussion around CRL amendments, as we do several times each year. Don't forget that CRL's are a combination of wording and images and both need to be taken into consideration when building a costume, so sometimes an image can tell a better story, or add something meaningful to the text.

Hey Dan! Very helpful stuff, and thanks for posting a new thread! Here I go starting trouble again... Your average member probably hasn't had enough submissions (personal or mentees) at the higher levels to care enough to gripe about this stuff, but someone should! If there is enough reference as to the thigh ammo pack location floating around for us to say that with confidence and enforce it at high levels of approval, as it sounds like there very well may be, I would suggest strongly that some guidance as to its placement be added to the CRL. I realize that the CRLs can't capture every minute detail of the costume, but the ANH-S is sometimes vague by comparison to, say, the Rogue One update, despite the incredible amount of research and reference. I agree that the bar for Basic should be accessible, but the higher levels challenging - but only if the requirements are clear in the CRL and consistently applied by the DOs (who I appreciate and respect, and who I know are pushing us all to be better!). It doesn't help that one of the more major armor makers' ammo pack is pre-bent, and when applied to the knee in most circumstances, WANTS to sit with the box centered. I know that isn't the DO's problem (and clearly was a lesson learned for me), but it makes more sense to press the vendor for possible change if it is made clear in the CRL. Thin ammo box strips can crack pretty easy, but thick ones aren't easy to heat-bend to the thigh ridge shape after the fact. Just some thoughts for consideration!

Following a recent discussion about the thigh ammo pack on a Stormtrooper’s right thigh, I wanted to post some reference photos. Many of us assume that the central ammo pack (3rd of 5 ammo packs) should be in the middle of the thigh, in line with the coverstrip. As below, this was not the case with the majority of ANH stormtroopers. It was offset to the right, slightly, when viewed from the front. **Depending on the make/accuracy of each person's kit, this may or may not be possible due to where the ammo pack has to be attached to the ridge on the thigh. Photos below;

Nuff said...

April 1st?

Yea I only sharpie on the strips because I do a light sand on each side of cover strip to get rid of those little lines. After both sides are complete I will then sharpie inside return edges.

Glad it helped. After continuous paint chipping off the kidney rivets I finally took a sharpie to those as well however, on aluminum it looks a bit blue so paint is preferred.

Each bicep fits well and first sides of strips applied. I used your sharpie trick also @ukswrath

Needed to take a little more off. I use this simple technique to keep it straight. And just go at it full blast with my dremel. Little bit at a time.

Man makes me want to redo my whole TK. This one is going to be way more comfortable and better fitting.

Looking good David

Ever since being a DO I never required nor did I encourage center alignment. What mattered was the rear or mounting placement. Not sure when, or if this has ever changed.

Oh my - he looks too sad for a commemorative coin... ;-)

Deleted

It was sent to Max via PM, Dan. We asked that it be mounted more evenly on both sides.

ABS is far more common... so I assume it’s for a reason. check this out: myself, I prefer the ANH stunt. The original TK.

You got this Max.

Glad you blaster turned up Cory!

1st test fitting of biceps. Need to take a little more off the back arm. And get rid of a little more return edge.

Something like this?

This may be a little too abstract for most people (I know a lot of people usually want to see pics of helmets, characters, weapons and whatnot), but I liked how it turned out, so I figured I'd at least sub it. The first side takes some elements and colors from the FISD logo(s) as well as the back plate of the TK's. The second side has all the info. All using the colors and typefaces from the OP.

I just want to say thank you to everyone! I shortened straps and cut around the thighs... It already looks (and feels) better! Pictures soon.

I used a sharpie

Hello Richard, As Glen indicated, RS is the one to go to usually if you are looking for movie accurate commission built. Ross (RWA) and Paul (TROOPERMASTER) , both from UK, also take on commission too, if you want an option beside RS. Look them up in Facebook and ask. Here on the forum we have some wonderful build threads on both of them too, just head to the ANH build section and see for yourself. Good luck and have fun.

Might be worth to try your local DIY store or something like that.

So here are all the armor sections ready to roll. First up the chest plate. Here you can see how narrow I have my return edges. Should snap plates installed. I haven't done the lower ones yet that connect to the abb section. Still figuring out the best place to put those. Posterior plate next Back plate Kidney plate Abb plate Front pieces Back pieces Figure I am in pretty good shape with these now. Just a few minor things to finish up and I can start the strapping

For larger areas of bleed yes but if you use a white that matches your armor closely you may get away with little to no cleanup

Let's go Max, you got this brother.

Here are some threads/links that will help, Jake: 1. Visual checklist: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/49232-anh-stunt-expert-infantry-visual-checklist-2020/ 2. Photo checklist: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/49703-ei-photo-checklist-updated-version-2020/ 3. Once you get your photos ready, you then submit them in this thread: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/19-request-expert-infantryman-status/ (Just follow the examples already there) and as soon as you have completed that one of us will be with you shortly after. Don't forget- information to be included with your request/photos: Mandatory Information Armor = Armor Maker Helmet= Helmet Maker Blaster= Blaster Type Optional Height = Your Height Weight = Your Weight Boots = Boot Maker Canvas belt = Belt Maker Hand Plates = Hand Plate Type Electronics= Voice Electronics Maker Neck Seal = Neckseal Type/Maker Holster = Holster Maker If you have any questions or problems, always feel free to contact myself or the other D.O.s!

"Epoxy Glue For larger and heavier parts, a two-part epoxy can be used to provide a very strong bond."

Images updated

Great video! My unboxing was me spreading white plastic around the room with a huge grin on my face, it wouldn't have filmed very well! On to Centurion then?......