Darth Aloha

Hey Bryan, It looks like you guys have put a lot of work into your female stormtrooper. The "femtrooper" has gained in popularity over the years. In fact one of the original and most popular ones is a darling of FISD and she is an active member of the legion with another costume. There is also a legit female stormtooper costume in the legion now based on references from a comic book and a gentle giant statue. Personally, I am not in favor of the sexualization of Stormtoopers. A lot of us are purists in that regard. As a warning, you may encounter others on this board (who have already posted) that will feel the same way. Do not take it personally but you are guaranteed to encounter some strong opinions on this. Our female members are just women in actual stormtrooper armor and they wear it with well deserved pride. My guess is that you'll be able to sell your stuff on ebay rather easily, especially around Halloween. Good luck with your project. -Eric

I have a list of things to talk to Brian about. That is one of them. Finishing that CRL and letting GMLs approve the costume without his intervention. -Eric

That got an actual laugh out loud from me. -Eric

Yay Lou! -Eric

All, Below are 20 different group photos taken by the very talented and patient Slam of the Canadian Garrison. I don't know how to thank him enough. If you know him please hug and thank him 15 or so times. The high res version can be found here if you want to print them. They are quite large . Please do not try to load them on a phone or tablet. Why do I need to learn to chill out? Because of this guy: ---------- Say hello to Keith Rock of the Dune Sea Garrison. When I first realized that Keith had put his smiley face bucket on for the group photo I was pissed off. I thought it was disrespectful, not within the spirit of FISD and a lot other jerky things to think. Nearly the day before the shoot I posted here about people not taking things too serious and yet I still got mad at Keith for doing that for our highly planned and organized display of TK costuming prowess. Plastic. Spacemen. Thanks to Keith for re-teaching me a lesson. That lesson is that what we do here on FISD is supposed to be fun. Maybe even downright silly. The balance between taking something seriously and also having fun with it is tough. You can spot the smiley trooper in all the FISD group shots with buckets on. I'm going to print one of them out and put it on my wall in the hopes that when I see it I'm reminded to chill out and have more fun. Many thanks to Brian Robinson (tkrestonva) for his bullhorn work keeping things on track and organized. Everyone always knew what was going on at all times and that's a feat herding us white plastic cats. I am proud to the point of being weepy of being a part of our amazing little plastic spaceman corner of the internet. Aloha, -Eric

Tough to say. I'm guessing a lot. I haven't looked at web traffic in general but I'm guessing it was and will be quite high. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You would know. And Tolo too -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Roger that. I'll update the first post as we go along. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Now more than ever FISD needs to move to a new web server. I apologize in advance for any downtime this incurs. It may be another month before it happens and we'll announce things well in advance before it does. April 2015 so far has seen more user registrations than any other month since FISD was created. Right now I think we're at 266 new user registrations and counting. The majority of those new users registered after the trailer opened and during celebration and they continue to occur. Please continue to welcome our new members warmly and with the usual FISD dog pile offer to help. -Eric

Build thread followed! Great writeup and photos. I know it takes a lot of effort to take the detailed photos and post them. Thanks for doing so. I know this thread will help someone if it hasn't already. Keep on glue'n trooper. -Eric

1) Yes the one trooper who had alternative gaskets at C7 had a great range of mobility. 2) See post above. The ab goes all the around the body and is split in the back. -Eric

That's an interesting idea. The original idea behind EIB was to get folks with FX suits to do a few simple upgrades to look better. That simple intention has been lost over time and many CRL changes (many of which I am guilty of). I do agree that the would "should" drives me batshucks crazy. We might as well write "Well kinda sorta maybe". It's must and shall or don't write it. Other costumes have resorted to using more measurements for small things in their CRL. At this point I am personally open to the idea of one level but it seems to me that there are really only two levels to this costume. Regardless of how many levels the first level is meant to be the easiest to approve for the sake inclusivity. I think I'd need to see how well they photograph before we make that decision. Because if a photo can be taken that can describe both I'd prefer one part. But since there are so many stupid boxes on this thing, you're right it may be better to break them out. But some sort of reference detail is still needed on where they go on the belt. -Eric

The ab section has a slit in the back that ends up being like a corset to allow for those of us who drink way too much beer. The thermal det plate covers the corset slit. The chest itself kind sits on top of the back/yoke thing. It isn't up as close as a regular TK chest. I don't think a bit of a belly will make a difference... at least I'm hoping not. -Eric

I'm glad you're here. Once we agree on the list of parts we'll need words. This won't be an easy costume to describe for sure. Please do keep an eye on this space and help as you've been known to do. Thanks Shana: One of the TFA troopers has agreed to take photos this weekend in a photo type studio thing. Let's see what he comes up with. I was supposed to call Darren the other day to talk about maybe migrating select build threads over here but ended up getting distracted by someone shiny. I'm hoping that can still happen. Krista raised her hand to start collecting information from the TFA private forums as she has been already to post over here. -Eric

This is a an excellent discussion. I am of a couple minds about L2 approval and I'm not sure I'm ready to have a solid opinion until we really get down the nitty gritty of the descriptions of each part. Until then my ambivalence remains. Please do carry on. There are mentions of materials to be used and not used but they are often purposely vague. For example handplates: "these may be made out of latex or latex-like material." or boots: "white leather or leather-like material." or belt: "The soft belt proper is made of canvas, or material with a canvas covering." Start thinking about the various ways to describe Wyatt's gaskets and how they differ from the chocolate ones. Also... what do people think of my list in the first post? Have I missed anything? If not I'll start trying to put some words down for each for everyone to nit pick. -Eric

The finished ab is ab and kidney. So I'm just calling it the ab section. And yeah belt includes belt boxes like a TK belt includes drop boxes. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Helmet Lenses are gray in color and may be flat or bubble in shape A single silver aerator/mic tip cylinder is on lower right side of the chin. The frown is solid black and covered in black hexagonal mesh that extends to the tears Each tear (area beneath the corners of eye lenses) is solid black Seven cut out tube stripe slots are on either side of the helmet Two clip greeblies are present over the traps on the side Two clip greebles are present on the top of the helmet Along the base of the helmet ablack stripe runs from the side of the helmet and across the back to the other side. A brow of solid black material spans from the traps over the lenses Directly below the traps toward the base of the helmet is a small trapezoidal stripe. Neckseal Black with horizontal ribs, fitted to the wearer, and extending from the base of the neck to conceal the entire neck. Chest plate Chest plate overlaps the abdominal plate Center of the chest plate may have a cutout or the cutout area may be replicated with a black marking. A greeblie shall be present on either side of the chest Six black ovals are on the wearer's right side Back/yoke Back plate contains a "O II" design where the O is black The back/yoke is one seamless piece The yoke portion extends over the wearer's shoulders and curves under Thermal detonator The thermal detonator mounting plate sits under the back plate and rests above the belt. Control panel is black Righthand recessed end cape is black Lefthand end cap sits proud of the detonator assembly and has a black stripe The thermal detonator must not have visible seams Shoulder gaskets Gaskets shall be rubber or a rubber-like material with ridges The shoulder gaskets must cover all exposed areas under the shoulder bell, between the bicep and chest, and between bicep and back. Shoulder bells One on each shoulder. The shoulders are considered effectively symmetrical. They may be worn interchangeably on the left and right shoulders. Shoulders have small ridge at the top under the bell itself. Biceps Biceps have only one seam on the side that faces forward. The rest of the bicep must be seamless. A clip greeblie is present low and across the seam Two black ovals are present on the outside facing side of the bicep Elbow gaskets Gaskets shall be rubber or a rubber-like material with ridges The elbow gaskets must cover all exposed areas between the bicep and forearm Forearms Forearms shall have have ridged rail, similar to a picatinny, embedded on the inside of the forearm, roughly covered 1/3rd by a box shape. Forearms shall have a box on the bottom the wrist end. Each box shall have a single black square in the lower inside corner. Each forearm shall have two 'clasp greeblies' on the outside facing surface, near the wrist. Gloves/handplates Handplates are rigid square boxes and the hand plates are mounted securely over the back of the glove. Gloves are black with white palm, thumb and forefinger. Gloves extend underneath the forearm. Ab section Abdomen section must wrap around the wearer's body without a visible seam. The abdomen has 7 boxes attached that matches the order and placement shown and sit flush against the armor. Box connection shall not be seamless and the connecting edge must follow the curves present in the armor. Codpiece The codpeice sits below the abdomen and under the belt. Butt plate The butt plate sits below the abdomen and under the belt. Belt The belt is ribbed and made from a rubber or a rubber like material. Five white rectangular boxes sit on the belt. Three are mounted vertically and two are horizontal. A small black cloth pouch is worn on the left side. Thighs Knee gaskets Knee plates Shins Spats Boots Blaster -Eric

This photo came up in the GML forums... I apologize if it is a member of FISD already. I don't know enough about the pack to really give it a once over. What do you folks think? Thanks! -Eric

Congrats on getting your TKID. Welcome, on behalf of your almost 8000 new friends. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So much uninformed speculation. Too much negativity. Plastic. Spacemen. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Promise met Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Promise met Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One hour to go for the Stormtrooper Social! -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Guarantee. -Eric Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I've flown all over with my blaster with no issues. Even just this past weekend I was in Toronto with my Hyperfirm packed away in my luggage. -Eric