Darth Aloha

Me! -Eric

Dritz snaps are garbage. And even if they weren't the stems are too short to go through anything but thin fabric. Stay away from those stupid an impolite person vario pliers that dritz makes. For a few snaps here and there its fine but you'll be doing enough of them to bend the bajesus out of them. I recommend one of two snaps... First is Tandy Leather: Snaps (buy at least 100pk if not two) Setter tool Anvil McMasterCarr.com item numbers (the snaps I use and love but way more expensive): Snaps: 95691A660 Punch: 95710A690 Die: 95710A696 -Eric

Tony... I suck. I've had a PM from you in my inbox for a few days and I was totally procrastinating responding to you. Sorry man. My holster comes off my belt with snaps. I used a rivet to install the snaps as described here. -Eric

I'm only posting so three Erics post in a row. -Eric

Typically toothpaste is used on scuba masks to clean the glass (glass!) of the coating it has from the factory when you first buy the mask. It is abrasive like automotive rubbing compound but non toxic. -Eric

Cat. Crap. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Google: cat crap Best defog ever. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe post on the clonetrooper forum and ask if anyone has the image or knows who it is. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You have enough helmets. -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The eFX helmet is still accepted by the Legion for new applicants. I'm a lot sorry I said anything about it. -Eric

Your helmet looks awesome next to something derived from a screen used helmet. Others do not... but only to us. The general public really can't tell an eFX from an RS props. Honestly its a statement against the terrible wording the LMO used to grandfather the FX ... which is vague and subjective not so much about how I feel about the eFX. -Eric

Actually I didn't way it wasn't acceptable. I said I asked the LMO to consider not making them acceptable based on his new wording that stops the approval of FX helmets. I highly doubt he will. And Ryan.. you eFX looks nice compared to so many I've seen. Most don't and haven't gone through the effort you did. -Eric

It's a lovely book. but in terms of reference imagery... there is nothing new to learn for us. It's still a must buy for anyone in the Legion. I put my scanner away. -Eric

Look for tactical helmet foam on amazon. Or, as mentioned previously, baseball helmet foam. I bought a set of kids helmet foam that worked pretty well but I think I'd prefer the adult size next time. -Eric

I dug my scanner out this morning. -Eirc

Rumor has it that Rob is in full production mode right now. If I had to guess we'll be seeing a lot more RT troopers before xmas -Eric

Excellent. More RT troopers! Let us know if you need any help on your road to centurion. Did you have Rob trim it for butt joints and cover strips? -Eric

Check out this gallery of a screen used thermal det: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/gallery/album/51-thermal-detonator/ Click on the photos to enlarge them. -Eric

You know Juan.... I've been thinking a lot about this lately as I try to decide what my next stormtrooper related costume purchase will be. In my experience most people don't want a reproduction screen used look but they also don't want to look idealized. Of the majority of folks I see come through FISD with build threads and then disperse off into the Legion at large to troop, they seem to want screen used-ish. They want their audience to perceive that they look the same as they do on screen without every little detail reproduced. I think that's a totally reasonable thing to want and most armor kits available these days afford people to have that middle ground without much fuss. I think you can achieve a certain level of that look without using the original strapping system or weather your armor just so for a TK. What we often forget about is that the 501st as a group gathers in costume for sale of the general public. We should not lose sight of how the perceive us. One of the arguments against banning the FX helmet was the supposed bullshucks "10 foot rule" where most people can't tell when they're 10 feet away. That may have been the case when the entire legion was nothing but stay puft marshmallow headed FX bobbleheads. Now that there is a proliferation of more accurate helmets the FX stands out. To me it is more about uniformity than it is about utter screen accuracy. When we line up we should mostly all look the same to hardcore star wars fans as well as someone who has never seen the movie (who the hell are those people?!) and everyone in between. I want every TK in the legion to look a baseline certain way when we troop together. Ideally (pun not intended) in my fantasy world every single TK would be EIB level. At this point in the Legion's evolution that notion isn't practical. We would end up being a barrier to most people's entry into the Legion as a TK if we raised the standards that much, but that's my dream. On one end of the spectrum are the prop forgery or people who want to look like they just walked off the set. There are more of those folks these days than before because the increased availability of parts and accessories, such as RS props' fine products and people offering the original brackets and elastic. Still the prop reproduction people are few and far between. Then on the other far end of the scale are the idealized folks. Having just had this discussion with TM about his acrylic capped armor, there is a way to look like what you imagine the TK would look like standing in formation on the Death Star. Just in the same way that the ROTJ Vader is super shiny and clean when he greets the emperor in the hanger (which is my version of Vader FYI) the accompanying TKs, in a real Star Wars universe, would be just as gleaming white as his dome was shiny and black. However the idealized My kit is beat up and weathered from mis-use and wearing it. Now and then I clean and polish it with Novus but I don't go crazy. I don't get the car wax buffer machine out and make it super shiny. I'm also not screen accurate in body size so I'll never be the right proportions even if I wanted to look like I just walked off the set. To reiterate... somewhere in the middle should be the goal for all TKs with some that go crazy with idealization and others who go crazy with prop forgery. That diversity is one of the reasons that makes our hobby so frigging awesome. -Eric

I've got an R2D2 toy that is all yellow. I may try this with him. Also... You're basically my hero for signing the instructable: "With unquestioned loyalty" -Eric

Once I replaced the aker mic with something much more directional I got little to no feedback unless I'm cranked way too loud for people to stand near me. Sometimes if I'm dancing around a lot (which is always) my aker also does weird things to my chest and/or ab. I'm forever adjusting it up or down depending on where it lands on the lanyard. I really need to mount the aker in my chest the way Clamps did. Seen this? -Eric

It's in the GML area but trust me... there isn't much of a discussion. -Eric

Tube stripe fail -Eric Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Holy crap walt. That's... great? I think? Beers on me next weekend. -Eric

Damian posted about it yesterday night. Quoteth the LMO: The proper detonator is all-white with two end caps. It also has a narrow band at each of the ends, and a small rectangular plate attached to the middle top of the tube. -Eric