Darth Aloha

Initial thoughts as soon as I am able to contain myself.... Aloha!

ZR, I think when you link to an image it does open it in a new window... all links made with the URL bbcode might do that... so that's cool. I could see lightbox being annoying when the linked images are HUGE... but the complaints are a little surprising given the proliferation of lightbox-esque image viewing in the world. They way images are handled in most forum software is clunky and typically an afterthought, but I'm also a total picky pants when it comes to such things. The bigger picture (so to speak) here is that if this is my only real complaint about FISD, life is pretty good. Thanks Lucas. Aloha, -Eric

In the coming days I am planning to mount a campaign to urge ZeroRoom to add this line to the theme file as to possibly enable lightbox for linked images. Aloha, -Eric

Shiny! That's one proper looking trooper right there Your FISD ego trip is well deserved. Quick question.... Do the tops of your thighs catch on the cod when you walk? Aloha, -Eric

Aloha kãkou, I found FISD a year ago after i took the Vader beach photos. I first posted here some time around the new year when I started saving my pennies. I ordered my armor in July. Now according to the Canada Post website my armor is somewhere in the US. If you believe the postal lies, it should be here in the next couple days. Let my 10 month journey be a lesson to all you other instant gratification junkies. Patience is the key to this hobby that I only have mere a retail connection to. This isn't my intro post but I have not wanted to be a stormtrooper since I first saw A New Hope. I wanted to be Luke and as a 5 year old, I had the white thermal long underwear to make it happen. I was once on the other end of the costuming spectrum. I loathed Halloween until last year when I put on that craptastic rubies Vader helmet and flowery board shorts. Then.... I interacted with kids. My wife and I are going to a Halloween party this year, but I am most excited about going out trick-or-treating. We live right down the road from a subdivision where a 1000 people show up from all over the island every year. Folks that live there spend 100's of dollars on candy for the event. Due to my lack of armor I will start with all the bits and pieces I have collected throughout the year. I think the photo is missing a few tools like my exacto, snap setting tool and of course the e-6000. The two items I have not purchased are an aker/iComm and a belt. Rob of RT-MOD mentioned something about a belt in one of his emails. He may have sent one with my kit. The photo below does not show my TK Boots but you will them listed below. Click on the photo for a version without numbers. Below are closeup photos of each item with links to their venders. Click on a photo to see a larger version. This would have been easier if ip.board supported tables 1. ANH Holster - TK8280 2. Hasbro E-11 Blaster - Droopy Doo 3. Undersuit - Pinnacle Aquatics Lycra Suit (Actually I took it from work) 4. Helmet Fan - TK-4261 5. Neckseal - TK409 6. Screen Accurate Chinstrap - Karin 7. Line 24 Snaps 10/pack (black) - Tandy Leather Factory 8. AB Buttons - Vader Dave 9. Thigh Garters - Mightytank 10. E-11 D-ring - Karin 11. Brass Round Head Fasteners - Office Max I'm pretty sure they're the wrong size 12. Heavy Duty Snap Pliers - Amazon 13. Static Burst Box - scout trooper This was a total impulse buy. 14. Black and White 1" Elastic - Ebay 15. Thermal Detonator Clips - TK 4702 Jesse is a magician. 16. Magcraft 3/4-Inch by 1/8-Inch Rare Earth Disc Magnets - Amazon 17. Nomex Flight Gloves - Ebay Because no one should troop in Hawai'i wearing rubber gloves. Even up in the mountains where I live. 18. Unpainted Rubber Hand Guards - Karin 19. Rubber Chemical Gloves w/Painted Handguards - Karin 20. Pop Rivet Gun - Ace Hardware 21. Lexan Scissors (curved and straight) - Amazon 22. Boots - Totally Killer Boots The last size 12 on the shelf. I would probably still be waiting for these but sometimes timing is everything. As of 9/22 the status of my shipment was: "International item arrived in destination country" Here's hoping my armor shows up today. Aloha nui, -Eric

Oh aha... I see it now. It only shrinks as far as the minimum width of the post. Gotcha. It looks like an image will only shrink to about 750 px wide with the minimum width of a post around 800ish. Neat thanks. I probably wouldn't have even thought about it but I've been using a wide aspect monitor lately and been keeping app windows narrow but on top. Ok... next question... would you guys consider some lightbox action for linked images?

Ed... you look great! So great that you look just like Julie (who always looks awesome) Great costume. I'm sure it will be an easy approval.... in spite of that pesky traitor to the empire thing. Aloha, -Eric

FISD Team, I may be having a false memory but I think ip.board once resized images linked in posts with the IMG tag. Did I make that up? If not... would it be possible to enable that feature again? Aloha and thanks, -Eric PS: ACP > System > System Settings > Forums(tab on that page)> Topics, Post and Polls > Automatic Resize Image Force Size

Done

Nicely done! Aloha, -Eric

You know... I've been on the pac501st website often enough but never noticed the boards. Thx! Aloha, -Eric

Yow! AM is some big honk'n armor. Edwin: I'm going Oahu in the next couple weeks before Halloween. I can bring my RT-MOD chest (arrives tomorrow) if you want to see it. Aloha, -Eric

Nearly there with my hasbro.... finally. Now is when I would like to curse the centurion requirements which came out after I purchased my hasbro conversion kit. If I had known I would have gone right to droopy's full resin version. C'est la blaster. I painted the ejection port this morning using bobojuice's tinfoil spray paint receptacle brilliance. I found a cheap pack of assorted brushes at Ace hardware. I have no idea what size brush is good for what. I haven't painted anything this small since I was a kid building models. Even then I sucked at it. As I was washing my brushes I splattered my gun a bit. I think it will scrape right off. The speckles are mostly on the scope. Some photos are from my iphone of the Jorran-esque paint methodology. I don't think I'll intentionally weather this blaster. If the black layer happens to come off, so be it. I put two layers of satin black on the gun. One hanging from the top and the other hanging from the bottom. I still have some black touchup to do where the spray didn't get into a crevice. Somewhere in my garage is the reticule sticker. The biggest lesson I learned was to clean up the e6000 more than you think. It REALLY shows up once you paint it black. There's some goop visible on the right side between the stock and the barrel. I also put the short resin t-track on the wrong side. Oops. I also noticed a paint drip on the barrel near the muzzle when I was out in the sun If I had access to a hobby store (there isn't one on island) I would have purchased some model putty and filed in some of the bubbles in the resin. Aloha nui, -Eric Painting the under layers Paints Painting the ejector port outside Mostly finished with the requisite Karin gloved hand

Mr S.... Looks like you're off to a fine start. Keep us posted with your progress. I thought it was Eddie Vedder at first. Aloha, -Eric

------ There's this nutty thing above for ski gloves/boots... for $20 I'm not sure how hot it gets... but I bet you could open it and disable the heating element. People like to build these --------- after rinsing. It consists of PVC pipe with holes and a blower. I would think that you could easily build something on a smaller scale to drop your gloves on after a troop to dry out. The air doesn't need to be warm.. it just needs to move. Some people ----------. I friend of mine uses a vacuum to pull air through the PVC to dry his suit. Aloha, -Eric

Oh the peer pressure... I can't handle it I won't do it justice with my camera phone.... pics soon when I remember to bring a camera home from work. Aloha, -Eric

I'm stoked you like it Aloha nui, -Eric

Catch Rob soon... he's home and pulling armor. Or at least he was last week. Aloha, -Eric

Thanks man. My hasbro is all sealed up and painted or I'd take you up on your kind offer. Aloha! -Eric

Ha well.... I think I'll probably stay on island and work on my build the weekend of HEXXP Wait what!? Waikiki has nothing on Waimea... do you have a dog costume contest at your farmers market? I think not! They do close off the Ali'i drive in Kona every year with a couple stages and bands. It gets pretty nutty... but this year we're staying closer to home in the cooler weather. Maybe next year the pac501st should come to Kona for Halloween Aloha, -Eric

After further googling I may have been thinking of phpbb not ipb. I don't think the [table] tag comes out of the box. Sadface. -Eric

This creeps me out... in all the right ways.

Crap. It just dawned on me that due to the lateness of my RT-MOD order (Rob promises next week) I won't be able to join you guys for HEXXP as I had hoped I'm bummed. Here's hoping for more trooping events in 2012. Aloha nui, -Eric

Aloha 324, A modified hasbro is indeed 501st acceptable. You can even get your Expert Infantry Badge using your hasbro. What you might have read is that a hasbro with the resin modifications is not acceptable for the Centurion level of costuming standard. The base 501st costume requirements read that your E-11 must be: "Based on a real or replica Sterling sub-machine gun, scratch-built, or a modified commercial toy Stormtrooper blaster." Hope this helps, -Eric

You may want to check out the forums at http://www.forcepike.net/ Aloha, -Eric