LadyInWhite

Noted, just so you know!

I like your point, Mysie Thanks!

Good idea! And looks like you're going to be going for Centurion, too! Looks great.

WHAT?! CRAZY! Was the Newsletter my 1000th? Apparently so! How appropo!

From the Detachment Leader Foundations of TK Costuming Excellence FISD: Taking Celebration VI by Storm Tip of the Month Troop of The Month TK of The Month FISD Website What's Up Swag Report Greetings All, There are a lot of big things happening this month. But, before we get into them, lets re-cap some of the things that happened last month. The San Diego Comic Con is always an extreme fandom event for all super hero, sci-fi and you know it, Star Wars. This means the 501st is always going to be there. I have been told from our LadyInWhite that it was an amazing event to say the least. In the last newsletter, I stated that the 35th anniversary, ANH Forum skin, was up for all to use. However, there was a slight oversight and the switch was not flipped for all to be able to use. The switch has now been flipped and you are all able to enjoy the theme change to reflect the nostalgia of the very first movie that started this all off. All you will need to do is go to the bottom, left side of your screen, where you will see “Change Theme “ and click on it. A drop down list will appear. The 35th anniversary skin will be the one titled “A_New_Hopeâ€. So enjoy! Now getting to the month of August. This month is not only a hot one for the temperature, but also for major CONS. For the second time, Orlando, Florida will be hosting the Star Wars Celebration. This year will be the 6th Celebration held in the United States and is the largest turnout for the Legion. I will be there and I look forward to meeting each and everyone of you. One week after the doors close to Celebration VI, Dragon Con will be held in Atlanta, Georgia. There will be an extreme turnout for the 501st at this event, as well. Since I am located in the state where the Legion was born, I am extremely proud to know that from the humble beginnings of 501st, we have grown to an international phenomenon that is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. With that in mind, also knowing that this year is the 6th year anniversary for the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment, the 10th anniversary of Attack Of The Clones, and the 35th anniversary of A New Hope. Because of all this, I believe we will be seeing at these major conventions, a deluge of Star Wars fans getting excited at seeing the Legion and wanting to join. I ask that each of you put your best foot forward, take the time and be prepared to answer questions, like: Where do I start? Where do I get a costume? What type of costume do I need? How much will this cost me? Make sure to send them to the proper Detachments so we can aid them in starting off correctly. Instruct them to get in contact with their local 501st. Make sure they understand how important it is to do their research. This is a big month for the Galaxy far, far away.... I hope everyone has fun, no, wait a minute.... Having fun is actually Order #67. With Unquestioned Loyalty, Tom Gardner TK5940 “RogueTrooper†Executive Officer With the Expert Infantryman program now on its 6th year we are at 230+ Expert Infantryman. While this would normally bring a tear of joy to my eye, what I think about instead is how we are failing the Legion. 230 EI represents less than 10% of Legion Stormtroopers. By contrast about 1/3 of Legion Sandtroopers are MEPD deployed, which would mean that we'd need to be at 800 Expert Infantryman for the program to be at the same level of success. One of the tenets of any detachment including ours is to help promote costuming excellence through education, advocation, and just plain ensuring that troopers have all the information they need to go beyond the basics. I remember when I got my MEPD deployed status it was a real source of pride. It was a lot harder than getting my EI - I had to cut the ab plate and make a different one from scratch (this was in the days of FX), make and swap out the sniper plate, make a backpack (definitely a time suck), get a BFG, etc. A lot of time but it made getting deployed status that much sweeter. Yet I don't see the same drive on TK's to get their EI. Most are a mod or two away and could easily get it if they wanted to, but seem content just to move along. My dream is for Stormtroopers to be the best looking troopers in the Legion, and the EI program was created specifically to help create a path and incentive for troopers to go beyond the basics and kick it up a notch. Not to get crazy like Centurion, just up a notch to make it better than average. We can be as good as the dirty boys, after all! It's strange to think of a program with 230 members which is larger by itself than all but a few garrisons as being a failure, but comparing it to MEPD we've really fallen short, and the program has lost steam. So I'm left wondering - where are all the Experts in Stormtrooper costuming? What do you guys think is missing that's causing such a "meh" from the membership, and what can we do to turn things around again? With unquestioned loyalty, Paul "Daetrin" TK-8020 Detachment Founder This August features one of the most anticipated events for Star Wars fans around the planet - Star Wars Celebration VI. Its focus on all things Star Wars brings out the most amazing talent and craftsmanship in sets, props, costumes, and merchandise, as well as the talent on the screen and behind the scenes that brings this epic mythology to life. As thousands of fans gather to immerse themselves in the experience - the closest thing we can get to being in the Star Wars galaxy itself - the 501st Legion takes on a significant role in providing entertainment and content. If you didn’t know, perhaps because you live in a cave on the Jungan Wastes of Tatooine, Celebration VI takes place in Orlando, Florida, from August 23-26 at the Orange County Convention Center. Check the link to the official Celebration VI website for tickets, travel, and event information. The 501st Legion’s schedule of events is a great place to start if you want to be involved in the action, perhaps in your armor or helping on the sidelines. While the exact schedules haven’t been announced for each event yet, it would be good to bookmark it to keep track of the 501st Legion’s events. It also includes links to information and promotions for the Droid Hunt, Shoot-a-Trooper, Bash and Banquet, and other featured events, as well as skits, panels, and 501st Room events. (Rumor has it you can get the scheduling scoop first if you have the mobile app.) If you haven’t been to the 501st Forums for a while, the FISD thread for Celebration VI contains information for how to sign up to participate or volunteer for events, skits, etc., as well as merchandise, patches, tees, panels, and other planning. Most importantly, FISD is prominently involved in the entertainment. TKs of all classifications will be trooping and participating, bringing our usual high levels of joy and excitement as prominent and iconic Star Wars characters. Check out some of these specific events on the 501st forums. White Armor Troopers- The official panel for white-armored troopers (TK, TB, TS, etc.). FYI, Paul (Daetrin) will be giving the TK presentation with help from Terrell (SuperTrooper) and Tom (RogueTrooper). 501st Legion Photo - currently listed as Sat. 8/25 at 1:00 pm Keep your eyes right here for other FISD-related events and gatherings, including the Dance Flash Mob, Ladies in White lunch, detachment photo time/place, and more! Willrow Hood (Ice Cream Maker Guy) Group - not TK-related but organized by our very own Bobojuice (Luis Diaz) and should be a riot! For those of you going to CVI, I hope to meet you there. Let’s have a safe, fun, and fully hydrated experience, and take lots of video and photos to bring back to our friends and family here at FISD! With Unquestioned Loyalty, Ingrid Moon TK-6818 “LadyInWhite†Public Relations Officer Getting Yellow Back to White Yellow is a color associated with daisies and fear. Neither of these can be considered a trait of the Stormtrooper. Armor is tough but sensitive: certain chemicals and compounds can actually cause more damage or yellowing to occur than what you wish to remove, so be careful. You can always check with your armor-maker for details on how to care for your armor. That said, if you’ve got some armor getting discolored from age or trooping, here are some tips from troopers on the FISD forums. Personally I recommend sanding before anything else. Sanding is a special art and requires patience and time to do it right. Take that yellow off by gently wet-sanding your yellowed parts until they get to the desired whiteness and then buff and polish. What I’ve learned is to sand in one direction, moving from grittier as needed (i.e. 600 grit for scratches) to finer grit (800, 1000, 1500, 2000) progressively. This should remove the yellow and smooth down the armor to a milky flat white. The final step is to use the three Novus products or your preferred polish, buffing the armor to a nice shine. Be careful not to over-sand thin areas as you can weaken the plastic. Also, I’m not sure how sanding affects capped plastic, so check with your armorer if you’re unsure. Some people have had success using Retr0bright gel mixture. Please read the warning on the web site and use safety precautions. As with almost anything, test on scrap plastic or a corner that is less visible before making any big commitments. With Unquestioned Loyalty, Ingrid Moon TK-6818 “LadyInWhite†Public Relations Officer National Symphony Orchestra - Garrison Tyranus On July 7th, Garrison Tyranus and the Rebel Legion’s Freedom Base trooped a classical music performance called The Music of John Williams, by the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Chorus, at the Wolf Trap Filene Center. 501st Legion and Rebel Legion members joined the orchestra for on-stage performances during the Star Wars segments. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7529055668_b7e9e21ee3_c.jpg As proof that Bad Guys are indeed popular, check out this rousing reaction to the appearance of Garrison Tyranus’ troopers for “The Imperial March!†Full story and a lot of great photos and video links are in the troop report (as well as some trooping safety tips): With Unquestioned Loyalty, Ingrid Moon TK-6818 “LadyInWhite†Public Relations Officer Congratulations to Eric Brager (Darth Aloha) TK9674 on being TK of the month! Eric is the Pacific Outpost web dork and the Chief Tactical Officer for the FISD. He is one of the guys that works his butt plate off making sure that the WhiteArmor.net site engines are tuned and running at lightspeed. Most of the time you never know that he is doing all that he does (the little FISD shoe elf). He also helps with the newsletter and other graphic design like your EI and Centurion cards. And he does all of this with a tremendous sense of humor! I know we all appreciate all the many hours that Eric clocks in to keep this site up and running. Mahalo â nui (Many thanks in Hawaiian) to you Eric for getting up early to make sure the FISD Donuts are made. With Unquestioned Loyalty, Tom Gardner TK5940 “RogueTrooper†Executive Officer Our hosting provider has been relentlessly nagging us that our website has been clogging up their server. FISD runs in a shared hosting environment. That means that a bunch of other non 501st websites are also running on this machine. There is a good chance we may need to upgrade our account to a more powerful, and sadly more expensive, option. Many of you may have noticed that I have been tinkering with various forum features. With much regret I even temporarily "banned" a handful of FISD members last week. I was hoping to troubleshoot how our most loyal (read: addicted) members effect the server. Nothing so far has helped but we are coming to a few different conclusions. First is that our web server is running really well. Second, FISD has seen a noticeable uptick in website traffic starting in April. Third, our hosting provider's web server software is not optimized for our forum software. I expect to start putting features like taptalk back online this week. While Sherlocking around we managed to collect a few cool tidbits of information about how and how much people use FISD. The headline here is not surpising. We are many and we spend a lot of time on this forum per day. For those of us who need quantative proof, here are the metrics you are looking for. Let's look at a brief history of new user registrations by month. With the highest number of new user registrations, does anyone know what happened in April and June of this year? Did we get some good press? This is a summary of website traffic for 2012. Something happened in April and the number of website visits and page hits went through the roof. Stay tuned for more news of taking our hosting company's name in vain and more optimizing by tinkering. If anyone has any questions please do not hesitate to send me a PM anytime. (Does anyone know what a shoe elf is anymore?) With Aloha and Unquestioned Loyalty, Eric Brager TK-9674 “DarthAloha†Chief Tactical Officer The cross swag has been put on the back burner until after CVI...Hopefully Wyatt (FISD Merch Officer) and the other two Merch Officers from MEPD and Spec Ops can put these items into lightspeed and get them done and into your collections soon....... We still have 9 EIB Fifth anniversary coins left!!!!! so........ it's best to get one before they are gone, as there are no coin runs on the near horizon!!! And a galaxy full of other awesome 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment swag can be found here. http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/ff468/ZeroRoom1/First%20Imperial%20Stormtrooper%20Department/Newsletter/Newsletter%20Common/underbanner2012.png Don't Forget We're on Facebook and Twitter! Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitearmor Now with "tip of the week" and other ongoing discussions. If you're on FB, stop by and say hi, ask questions, and share stories! Twitter: www.twitter.com/@FISD501st From crazy TK findings to minute-by-minute CVI updates, follow FISD on Twitter! With Completely, Totally Unquestioned Loyalty, Ingrid Moon TK-6818 “LadyInWhite†Public Relations Officer On behalf of the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment Command Staff. End Transmission. This post has been promoted to an article This post has been promoted to an article

Yikes! I hate insomnia. Have had it on and off since I was about 12. Ironically, I can fall asleep anywhere, even standing and with my eyes open, under other circumstances (like long troops). Here are some ideas that have worked for me, and everyone is different! For example, caffeine doesn't stimulate me (helps me focus) and melatonin doesn't do squat for me. Your body temperature drops quite a bit as you actually fall into sleep mode. You can artificially induce this drop by raising your body temp immediately before bed, either by hot shower or hot tub, or by drinking hot cocoa or tea. (Some people find cocoa to be a stimulant, though.) Meditation as "intense concentration" helps - don't just listen to music, listen to the music, its rhythms and melodies and harmonies, for example. Another form of intense concentration is to force yourself to "imagine" - since age 12 I pretend I'm in some scenario trying to stay awake but injured, poisoned, or something that would cause me to pass out. The harder I try to stay awake, despite Han Solo trying to rescue me or, in most cases, it was Snake Eyes from G.I.Joe, or trying to stay awake and hidden before Darth Vader discovered my whereabouts, the faster I fell asleep. It takes concentration to "keep with the story" and not let your mind wander, but it's more fun to focus on than, say, a chant or something. Read something horribly boring. Unfortunately this isn't always the best for me, as my mind wanders when I can't absorb what I read, which is usually the problem in the first place (too much thinking). Avoid sugars, including juice, caffeine, chocolate, and other stimulants after Noon. Good luck in this and future sleep deprivation exercises!

Thrawn Trilogy and Bane Trilogy are my favorites. Allegiance was good, haven't gotten to Choices of One yet. I personally burnt out of most of the post-ROTJ post-Thrawn stuff almost immediately and have no interest (personal preference). That's probably because I'm a writer and would have imagined things very differently in an alternate SW reality. I guess the same could be said for prequels......lol. Maybe that's why I love most of the Old Old Old Republic stuff (but not so much the Revan stuff).

Sweet

Back when I thought I had to vacuum-form my own armor I found some suppliers, but I don't know if they're good or what. I could try to find those links again. Your table looks awesome for home-built!

Wes, I am with you - it's the last thing I need to do, and the thought of drilling the rivets out and trying to glue on my replacement sniper plate is just, well, demotivational.

Looks like you are setting yourself up for Centurion in the near future!

Hi, Philip, welcome to FISD! Definitely browse the threads in Getting Started as they tell you everything you need to know.

Just to chime in: I have no return edge on the top of my ab because I had to cut it to fit under my girls comfortably and anyway it's hidden under the chest piece. I have pretty much none on the collar of my chest piece because the plastic didn't really fold that way (no return in the flashing) as far as I could tell. I would probably have to have trimmed it anyway just a bit. None at the bottom of my greaves. None at the bottom of my forearms. I'm pretty sure there's none on my entire butt. Arm and leg pieces have about 1/8" return left from the flashing. Shoulder bells have about 1/16" around the bottom and almost none at the sides. Kidney-back connection has about 3/8." But I'm not perfect....

I want to look like I walked straight off the screen, not straight off the set. What fans remember on screen, in their imaginations and memories, is filled with story and adventure. One second of a TK or any other character has a lot of meaning and affect that the viewer brings to the experience, not just what was intended. Only hobbyists and die-hard enthusiasts see the defects and details in the props and costumes - see beyond the story to what is going on behind the story, behind the scenes. "Realism," like building armor that would actually be functional and cared for like a true soldier would, might change the structure of most of the costumes entirely. They were designed for show not for function. There are novel and comic book characters like Mara Jade that I guarantee would NEVER be caught dead in their "wardrobes" in terms of functionality. Han never changes clothes - or simply has 5 sets of the same clothes. Realism becomes what you, the viewer, are willing to believe and accept when suspending your disbelief. In the Star Wars reality, TDs did not polish their armor between their daily duties. The "why" behind this is backstory, drama. So for 501st purposes, I stick to representing the story on screen.

Woo! Congrats! The road to EI is paved with people starting with that as their basic criteria!

Interesting idea. You'll still want to do the proper bridge connections and what-not, but perhaps some velcro to help hold things in place on the bib itself wouldn't be bad. The problem I foresee is that the bib or skirt on the neck seal is loose fabric and will potentially slip around. So if you are talking about attaching something to the actual neck part (more sturdy), just be careful of how it might change the shape of the neck seal around your throat. If it pulls outward on the sides it will make it more narrow front-to-back and might feel like you're being force-choked.

We love all our TKs and want more paradise for everyone. Please move to Eric's house pronto. Bring a tent and bug-spray.

Holy cow you said "overwhelming" and then dove straight in and tackled that thing down! It'll be dark in there. Or he could cover it with screen or thin mesh fabric.

No extra but they might still be looking for volunteers and you could try the infamous "looking for bash tix" thread. All on the 501st CVI forums of course. I didn't get banquet tix but I figure we'll have a consolidation party instead.

Many of us use the infamous 50-gal Stanley bin. Wheels and handles are very helfpul. Some people can find these at Home Depot though my local HD didn't have them and didn't know what I was talking about (in Los Angeles no less!) so I ordered one for about $90 (free shipping) on Amazon and it appeared on my porch 2 days later. ------------- Many use a lot of variations of it, smaller ones, etc. (like Ben describes). Some use rubbermaid bins and a small portable hand truck and some bungee cords. Some can pack theirs in a large, hard-sided suitcase. Some guys even pack it in a particular golf bag, though those of us who have never seen it are baffled... Some guys use hockey bags or large gear bags, though I wouldn't recommend it if you intend to keep your TK shiny. I layer my armor with remnants of fleece so they dont' bump and scratch, and lined the bottom of the Stanley with 1" apholstery foam. And of course, this baby is designed to replace the Stanley label, and is so cool that I got myself one complete with the two most important images: my beloved FISD emblem, and my garrison. I hope that helps!

Hang in there! What week are you at now? When I was pregnant six of my friends were pregnant at the same time (I was due first). Lots of yoga and belly bucking until one got on bed rest. Such a challenge, especially when you have other little ones. What you need to do is give her some armor to work on. Or maybe she can pound out some elastic snaps and snap plates and sell them in batches! Or hand-sew some Imperial Officer uniforms, the are in very high demand! I'm kidding of course, I'm sure the cabin fever is unbearable!

Woo!

If you think of the tube curve under the ear as a sideways rainbow, the top (center/apex) of the rainbow points to the back. So it looks like you have Right (red) and Left (blue) above. They are a little different because movie accurate helmets are not symmetrical and sometimes wonky. It does look a little more exaggerated than mine but could just be because I can't see both at the same time any more. As for where to trim, on the circle trim near the trim line ... Nam's signature picture above is a good guide. Not too shallow, though. And for the tube curve, it's more about getting it just right for where you want to fit it onto your helmet. You might cut a bit and then place it on to gauge where and how much to trim, or you might try some kind of curve-tracing method (face plate cut is flat, so you can trace the tube curve for a reference onto paper, then compare with the ear piece). Barring all that, Panda Trooper's tutorial saved my bum http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=14806

WOOHOOO!!!!