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A mandate would very likely drop participation levels...

Hey Jason, I'm an approved ROTK in Garrison Tyranus and am currently building another kit; I've just been slacking on updating my WIP. If you need assistance, please hit me up. I've got a ton of resources and can point you in the direction of others who can help. Sneak peek on what I'm working on Whaaaaatttt????? Jason C

That’s an impressive clamp collection! I also find these type of ratchet clamps really useful, particularly for the ends of the cover strips on areas like biceps and forearms. They have big rubber ‘feet’ so they cover a large surface area but won’t damage the plastic. They’re also surprisingly manoeuvrable for tight areas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Though I understand that it was produced years after the original date of this post, I have always looked to the Rebels television series for canon examples of clean TKs wearing pauldrons-- and in a variety of colors at that. Nevertheless, I understand that the animated version of the armor is categorized by itself in a separate CRL, and it thus isn't technically permissible for a movie-derived OT TK to wear a pauldron. Though I would never wear one to an LFL troop, I'd be lying if I said that I haven't worn an orange pauldron on occasion to relatively more low-profile troops. I don't make a habit of it, but it can be a nice touch if no sandtroopers are present and there is a group of TKs slated to be at the troop. I do not have a strong opinion one way or another, and I understand many disregard the animated shows according to their own, valid preferences, but since it has not been mentioned in this thread yet, I thought I'd compile the following screengrabs from Star Wars Rebels:

the last supper Oath of the Horatii

Not to mention possible COVID vaccine mandate and limited attendee access

This all makes sense and I support even spacing moving forward. But if that's the consensus, I also support it being added to the CRL wording so people are more aware.

Congrats on your RS kit! Finding a "one stop shop" for all those items may be a bit difficult, so you may have to use several different sources. I would try Amazon for the undersuit. Just search "Men's black compression shirt/pants", but just make sure they don't have logos that will be visible when wearing your armor. For boots, 421s by Imperial Boots (link here) makes a GREAT product. They only make them in "waves" (like once a month) and the current on only runs until tomorrow (April 9th). They arrive pretty quickly, and having them on-hand will really help when fitting the lower leg armor. I would suggest ordering a pair that is one size larger than you normally wear as they run a bit small.

Doubling up on magnets can increase there power. When you want to build quickly there are no "too many" clamps, magnets and even painters tape. I also use small strips of ABS to help hold snaps so you only need to use one clamp or set of magnets. I ordered more magnets after this image was taken.

Great news looking forward to seeing those BBB photos soon

Seems I'm overdue an update. I've spent some time working on my blasters in the last week as I had some time off work. Since my last update I reprinted a number of parts on my Elegoo Mars resin printer which gives a far cleaner finish. Some of these are just better versions of the previously FDM printed parts, others have been modified to better suit my specific build. I still have a few bits to print, mainly the detailed hand grips, but they failed on previous attempts and I have yet to re-try now I am better at setting up resin prints. So first up is the Hengstler box. This was modded to make it fully hollow, as I did intend to put the battery here, and a hole was added for the wiring between the screws. I also had to modify the mounting bracket as well. Next up the other side of the rifle for the magazine. This has been modified to add a slide switch. This will be the on off switch for the lighting. It's subtle easy to access and I believe reasonably accurately placed. This was a bit of a pain to mod, and I was only able to get 1 screw in. I have also finished up the basic wiring for the torch at the front, this also has a resin printed ring. To get the torch to fit I had to hollow out a lot of the mount and add some reinforcement on what was left. The wiring is a basic connection commonly used in RC I think. It clips in nicely and will mean I can remove/replace the torch if needed with out having to cut things. As the bore is larger I also had to Dremel out some meat in the main blaster section too. End result should look pretty nice I hope As I now believe I have all the needed holes for the wiring in place I have started sub assembly so I can start looking towards final paint. Basically all parts that need to be glued in place have been. So the hengsteler connector, front hand grip mount, side mount, barrel rails, flash suppressors etc. It was also time to check the fit of the barrel tip. I have 2 of these, one FDM one resin. I drilled the holes to 1/4" as I don't have a 6mm and a little clearance isn't a bad thing. I like to have through holes be clearance holes where I can as then there's no mucking about trying to line up threads later which can cause them to get stripped, which I did on my 3D printer. Finally I have started figuring out the power situation for the blaster. Based on a design from the BlastFX community I came up with my own version. I am using a 650mAh LiPo battery as they are small and powerful. To charge it I am using a TP4056 board. This gives USB micro charging with over charging protection. This updated version has separate connections for the battery and the output which I believe means it protects against over discharge. You hook the battery to the B+/B- connections and the circuit to the OUT connections go out to the circuit. The original idea was to put the battery in the hengstler where it would be easy to remove. I didn't like the long power lines from the charger this would mean though. So based on the other design I have created a mount that fits in the end of the barrel. This has a slot for the board to slide into, which is then secured by an M3 screw which keeps things simple. A small hole next to the USB socket lets me see the status LED of the charging board. Still a bit loose. I need to adjust the design in a few places, this was a first test. Above the USB socket is a 2nd DPDT slide switch. This will allow me to completely disconnect the battery from the charging board for storage and transport. It does mean I'll have to remember to turn it on to charge the battery. The extra length is intended to be a place to mount the LiPo battery. I am not exactly sure how I will do this yet, maybe cable ties or some adhesive foam tape? I need it to have a small amount of movement as I don't want to crush the battery with a clamp. The 2 holes top and bottom are for neodymium magnets, 4x2mm at the moment. There will be a matching plate in the end cap that will have magnets in too to allow it to clip in place but still allow access to the charger and main power. I am yet to work out how I'll attach the inner section as I would like to avoid glue to allow access to the battery when needed. Grub screws may be an option if they can be hidden but I'm not sure the wall is thick enough. Other than the last few parts I am almost ready for paint. I'm hoping to try go to Halfords and get some matt black and Appliance white soon now that shops are opening up again. All parts are sanded to 320 which should be good enough for the colour coat. My primer is quite coarse so if I've missed any spots I'll need to go back after the first coats and fix those.

After a quick mail exchange with Jim, paid the rest of my order and it should ship soon enough. Exciting. Hopefully customs are more lenient this time around (one can dream).

Tim - With no Celebration this year, do you expect a larger than normal contingent of 501st members to descend upon DragonCon this September? At only two hours away, I'm wondering if I may need to attend for the first time to meet some of you fine Legion members (also for the first time).

Thank you ! I'll be with you shortly

Looking great Trina, you're almost there.

I hope so! Even if I don't have my kit ready my camera is! Honestly it is fun to even just hang out and take pictures.

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

Got the chest done. Hope to mount the shoulder bells and work the biceps soon. Getting there!

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.

Well TK-66144 Reporting for duty