darthyagi

Hey, all. I posted this in the 501st forums as well, but I figured some people (like me) don't check that as much. My wife is in the hospital here in Japan. She's pregnant with our second padawan (don't know if it's a boy or girl, btw), and she doesn't speak Japanese, so she can't really communicate with the staff very well. She's only 25 weeks into the pregnancy, and is in danger of going into full-on labor. If all of you could keep the Diamond family in your hearts and/or prayers, it would be much appreciated. I'll keep this thread alive with updates as I get them.

It's cool. With Japanese, Google Translate isn't good for much but a laugh. And this one was pretty funny. I'll give 1000 awesome points to anyone who can guess (correctly) why it kept saying Thailand.

I need someone with administrative privelages to go into the Japanese section and delete the post by Solcar23. He put the Japanese version of the Fire Team guidelines through Google Translate, and it did what GT does best. Mangled it. It might be fun for a read through, but you're warned.

ファヤーãƒãƒ¼ãƒ プログラムã¯åŒåœ°åŸŸã«ã„ã‚‹ã€ä¸€ç·’ã«ãƒˆãƒ«ãƒ¼ãƒ—ã™ã‚‹FISDå“¡ã®TKãŸã¡ã®é–“ã«å…±æœ‰ã®ã‚¢ã‚¤ãƒ‡ãƒ³ãƒ†ã‚£ãƒ†ã‚£ãƒ¼ã¨å‹æƒ…ã®æ°—を絡ã¿ç›®æŒ‡ã—ã€ã‚ªãƒ—ションアルã§ã‚る。 ファヤーãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ã¯501隊ã¨FISD以下ã®æ­£å¼ã®ã‚°ãƒ«ãƒ¼ãƒ—ã§ã¯ãªã„ãŒã€FISDã®ã‚¦ã‚§ãƒ–サイトã«ã€ŒFire Team sub-forumã€ã‚’アクセスã§ãる。正å¼ã®ã‚°ãƒ«ãƒ¼ãƒ—ã§ã¯ãªã„ã‹ã‚‰ã€501隊ã‹FISDã®æ¨™æ——ãŒä½¿ãˆãªã„ã€ã€Œ501st Legionã€ã€Œ501stã€éšŠã®ãƒ­ã‚´ã€ã€ŒVader’s Fistã€ãªã©ã‚‚å«ã‚€ã€‚ã§ã‚‚ã€ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ã¯éžå…¬å¼ã‚¤ãƒ™ãƒ³ãƒˆã§ä»¥ä¸‹ã®ã‚¬ã‚¤ãƒ‰ãƒ©ã‚¤ãƒ³ã‚’則れã°ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ çš„ã®æ¨™æ——ãŒä½¿ãˆã‚‹ã€‚ ガイドライン ã‚） 501隊ã®æ¨™æ——ãŒãªã„ ã„） 特定地域ã®TKã®èª°ã‚‚ãŒãƒãƒ¼ãƒ を入れる ã†ï¼‰ ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ã¯åã€ãƒ­ã‚´ã€ã‚¹ãƒˆãƒ¼ãƒªãªã©ã‚’作れる（åã¯ã€Œãƒ•ã‚¡ãƒ¤ãƒ¼ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ã€ãŒå…¥ã‚‰ã‚Œã¦ã€å¿…ä¿®ã˜ã‚ƒãªã„。 ãˆï¼‰ å„ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ （ã¨ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ å）ã®ãƒªã‚¹ãƒˆã‚„ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ メンãƒãƒ¼ãƒªã‚¹ãƒˆãŒFISDã®ã‚µã‚¤ãƒˆã® Fire Team sub-forum　ã§ä»˜ã‘る。 ãŠï¼‰ ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ メンãƒãƒ¼ã®æ ¼ã‚’æŒã™ã‚‹ã‚ˆã†ã«ã€å¿…ãšä¸€å¹´ã«äºŒå›žãƒˆãƒ«ãƒ¼ãƒ—ã™ã‚‹ã€‚ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ã®ã‚¢ã‚¯ãƒ†ã‚£ãƒ–æ ¼ã‚’æŒã™ã‚‹ã‚ˆã†ã«ã€ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ メンãƒãƒ¼ã®äºŒäººä»¥ä¸Šã¯ä¸€ç·’ã«å¿…ãšä¸€å¹´ã«äºŒå›žãƒˆãƒ«ãƒ¼ãƒ—ã™ã‚‹ å•†å“ ã‚） ã¾ãŸã€501隊ã®æ¨™æ——ãŒãªã„ ã„） 商å“ãŒãƒ•ã‚¡ãƒ¤ãƒ¼ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ã®æƒ³åƒã ã‘ã«æ­¢ã¾ã‚‰ã‚Œã‚‹ã€‚ ã†ï¼‰ 商å“事ãŒFISDã‹501隊を通りã«ä»˜ã™ã‚‹ ãˆï¼‰ 全部ファヤーãƒãƒ¼ãƒ 商å“ã®ãƒªã‚¹ãƒˆï¼ˆã¨å†™çœŸï¼‰Fire Team sub-forumã§ãƒã‚¹ãƒˆã™ã‚‹ã€‚ ガイドラインを犯ã—ãŸã‚‰ã€ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ãŒè§£å›£ã•ã‚Œã‚‹ã€‚ ファヤーãƒãƒ¼ãƒ を固ã‚るよã†ã«ã€FISDフォラームã«ä»˜ã™ã‚‹ï¼š 地域：国ã€çœŒã€å¸‚ã€åŒºç­‰ã€å›ºã‚る地域。 å：ニックãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ã€ç•ªå·ã€ä½•ã§ã‚‚ã„ã„。 メンãƒãƒ¼ï¼šãƒ•ã‚¡ãƒ¤ãƒ¼ãƒãƒ¼ãƒ ã®å…¨å“¡ã®TKIDã¨åå‰ ãƒ­ã‚´ï¼ˆã‚ªãƒ—ã‚·ãƒ§ãƒŠãƒ«ï¼‰ï¼šçµµãŒã‚ã£ãŸã‚‰ã€ä»˜ã™ã‚‹ã€‚

That's all I have to say.

I've set up a blog about it, and I'm planning on setting up a kind of personal Tour of Duty log or something like that. So far, I only have one post, but I like this idea, too! It's fun, and it can help you "get into character" better, and it helps people accept the fact that they talking to a Stormtrooper! A real one!

I wear my glasses under my bucket, but it's a pretty tight fit. I think it depends a little bit on the type of padding you have inside. I use . . . old socks. I know, it's weird. But it was cheap. However, it has a lot of give, so it makes it so I can wear my glasses. So part of it comes down to assembly, part is what size and shape your glasses are, part is how big your head is, and the last part is luck. For me, it was mostly luck. Even so, I have to be pretty tricky when I put the bucket on and take it off. If I don't do it a certain way, then it pulls my glasses off. Best of luck!

The biggest mistake I made when I was doing my helmet was temperature. It was winter, I didn't have a place where I could control the temperature, and I was impatient. It all worked out, but make sure that the air temperature is consistent and warm (16-25 degrees is ideal.) Basically, I did two coats of standard gray spray primer, two or three coats (I can't remember) white paint, and a gloss coat if you want. I used a high-gloss white, so I didn't need the gloss overcoat, though I kinda wish I had now. But do it before you put any decals on it. Again, a mistake I made.

Congrats, trooper!!

I saw a different one, but I like this one better.

I've also heard that the neckseal is different, too.

I second these both. I do it this way, and it works really well. Make sure the elastic isn't too stretchy, though. If it's too long, then your shoulder bells and biceps are going to be hanging way too low. A half inch is about right for me, but you can size it for you.

This really is a good idea for a thread. It's a different(!) body type with lots of problems that guys don't have. My wife wants to join the plastic army, so I'm going to keep an eye on this thread.

Yaaaay! Congrats on the big brown box!

For me it's all Stunt, as well. Hero looks pretty for the most part with everything being flush and even, but Stunt has more of the "I KILL YOU!!!" look to it.

^this. Since plastic is . . . plastic, it is going to bend back to its original form at least a little bit. When I was bending my shoulder straps a little straighter, I was bending it almost completely flat, and it took about 6 minutes of bending it gently until it got to be the shape I wanted. I was using a hairdryer, so it took longer, but you will want to bend them a little further than you want them while heating it. You're building a TK! Be this => Not this =>

One thing you can do is either use model paint (like Testors) or spray white spraypaint onto a paper plate, then brush it on. Either way works. But if you have a water-based paint rather than oil or enamel, you'll need to put some protectant on it.

Even if you're going white. We're about the same size, and my AM armor fits like a plastic dream. A sweaty, white, plastic dream.

This may be the best way to go. After you use the clay, you'll probably want to make sure it adheres to the plastic, so you could use some epoxy . . . or better yet, epoxy putty. Then, you could just paint it black.

On the upside, it probably won't be the last. I have little marks all over my armor. Luckily, nobody will notice, especially if it's the surface you glue. If my eyes don't deceive me, that's the interior forearm section, right? I overlaid the outer half of the forearm on top of the interior, because the exterior half has that ridge. So it'll be covered up, anyway. Since I didn't notice your thread earlier, congrats on your big brown box! I think we are all a little nostalgic about those boxes.

Does it have the bumps on it? If it does, you can just go ahead and paint it with some flat black model paint or something like it.

Great! Thanks!!

Hey, all. I have a question for the hive-mind. A few of the colored buttons on my ab plate are having issues. The gray ones are fine. They're oil-based paints, so they're on pretty solid. The problems are that the blue ones are acrylic, and when they rub against pretty much anything, the paint comes off. So I was wondering what I could use as a sealant to keep the paint from coming off. My wife has some Mod Podge, which is advertised as a sealant. Should I try to use that, or is there something better?