LadyInWhite

http://www.cnet.com/news/channel-han-luke-and-darth-vader-with-star-wars-costume-replicas-from-anovos/ While their costume/props are pretty high quality (they mostly do soft stuff), they're usually pretty overpriced. I'm dying to see how their hard armor and mixed costumes come out. I'm not going to judge like a snob yet We can hope the product jockeys at LFL are on top of their game lately. You know we're going to see a lot of this at C7...

Always be alert and aware! Never trust anyone! (Says the most trusting idiot ever) At some really big cons, 501st/RL negotiates a large room for changing. (Nobody else, just us!) It is supposed to be locked and you have to find the POC to get the key. Most times it is entirely unlocked, unguarded, vulnerable! I haven't heard of any theft going on (yet) but it's scary - people leave purses, cameras, multiple costumes... totally unprotected.

Location is Bakersfield so I assume that is Scootch. The armor looks good. I'm not a fan of HIPS. I recently bought a Snowtrooper kit from Scootch. I strongly recommend a thorough washing with soap and water to remove all residue before you paint anything. Even 3 coats of primer and 4-6 coats of gloss came off easily with paper tape. (This is not a fault of the armor, but a suggestion for the paint process). If polish is an option, and works, you might try that before painting.

Funny I was showing my husband and said "soft RS recast" and then here it all is. Glad to see I'm getting better at this.

Adorable. looks like your plea is working, too!

Paul, it's fine for approval, trust me. You can always get a kit for another if you end up feeling the need to upgrade it. Also with regard to your cover strip question, put on a tight-fitting long sleeve shirt if you have one (or under-suit) and put the biceps on and have someone take a picture. If you've got big guns, you've got big guns, what can ya do? I could help you do a shim in there so you can shrink the cover strip on the outside, but it will require a lot of filling and sanding/polishing. Best explained in person.

Great to see you here, Paul!!! It's hard to tell for sure with the lighting and from photos, but some of your edges look not very smooth. Did you try the heat-sealing iron to put some return edge back on? Or perhaps it just needs a tiny bit more trimming or sanding so that all the edges have a nice smooth curve (or flat where it should be flat). You can probably trim some off the bottom of the shins, too, where it's uneven on either side. Nevertheless, don't stress that for now. Keep building and I'll take a look at those deatils at the next armor party for ya.

I'm with Vern on this. It doesn't need to be a perfect line. It almost looks like war paint slapped on at the last moment before battle... Since you're going to add the battle-worn details (right?) it doesn't need to be perfect first. That said, for myself I prefer perfect before weathering/damaging the paint job... It's just hard to let go.

Big 501st presence every year... it's where I was inspired to become a Stormtrooper... Come on Down! HERE'S THE INSIDER SKINNY: Be sure to get a Membership ID first, if you don't have that ticket sales are moot. Also, hotel situation is HELL. Good luck to anyone trying to get a hotel in the entire San Diego area. Some people find weekly apartment rentals to be more affordable and less hassle. Last year my husband and I applied separately and neither of us got ANY hotel ANYWHERE in their lottery system. Hotel reg comes some weeks after badge reg. Some friends got various places, one even got the Marriott. No idea how any of it works, but it's frustrating. If you do get to the hotel lottery, try to get a hotel as close to the red line as you can, so you can at least hop the train in or out of costume to get there. Also about the 501st presence... we get one very small fan table on the Mezzanine. We do not have ANY changing rooms, storage area, or special sauce in any way shape or form. There is almost no parking anywhere nearby. Parking ranges from $20 to $40 for the day. Read all signs. So if you plan to 'troop" it or be in the big photo shoot (usually Sat morning on the back staircase, yes you need a badge) and you do not get a hotel room at the Marriott Marina or Hilton, you have to walk the streets or take the trolley. And in a TK that is a scary prospect, given the blaster and thermal det and some other parts can break or be stolen easily if you're not careful. If you know someone who got a room close by and will let you use it for staging in and out of costume that's awesome. Not saying this to scare anyone away, just that this con has gotten so big that you really need to know what you're up against before you fork out the money for tickets! Also, if you plan to go to a big event like in Hall H, expect to camp overnight on the sidewalk. Two years ago my husband drove 3 hours down to get in the super early morning (still dark) line for one event... and 20 people in front of him they closed it and he didn't even get in. I didn't go last year because we didn't get hotel. The year before I drove down (3 hr, 3am departure) for just one day. I always hope to go, but it really depends on the situation. ALL THAT SAID, this is truly the con of cons.

Wow, excellent job, looks fantastic!

Thanks, guys! Keep the ideas flowing... these are great so far. Sam "Kessel Run" Kisselberg and I will come up with some kind of Publicity Plan and present it to brass.

SHOW OFF!!!

Ladies and Gents of the Detachment, Our followers on Facebook, Twitter, and now Instagram are climbing. However, these are not very active outlets for the detachment so far. I would like to know more about a. whether you are a follower of any of these accounts, and why or why not? b. what kinds of posts you would like to see on these accounts - what would be meaningful to you? and c. if you have other suggestions for social media? Keep in mind that these outlets are public-facing, so we have to be careful about posting any "insider" information - for example, non-FISD members can't follow links to threads. FB is probably 50% or more non-FISD people. That is all, thank you so much for your thoughts and feedback!! Ingrid

Yep, e6000 has been great.

I've only ever seen it assembled. Wow. What is that neck thing just below the face plate?

Cool, thanks for sharing!

There's a trooper who does just that - Hip Hop Trooper. look him up. However, he's non-canon and can't use that costume for 501st. (He has other 501st costumes). For me, I prefer to be mostly in character, but as the "PR representative for the Empire" I am a friendly "in character" trooper. I have been known to get silly and have some fun, too. It very much depends on the event and the attitudes of those I'm trooping with. Never too wacky, though. It's not easy in armor. Then there was that time I............... never mind.

It's you guys that do all the work making this place special!! Just by being yourselves, troopers helping troopers even if it's just with a smile!!!

Sad ending to a potentially fine suit.

See what you can do to raise the belt (snaps into the ab are what a lot of us use) and pull your shoulders forward a bit. I use a thin elastic band across my chest under the chest piece to "cheat" my shoulder's more forward. I also recommend your left thigh - put padding inside it just above your knee but 90 degrees to the left (so it's the outside of your leg, INSIDE your armor). This should help with the sniper issue. Lastly I recommend you glue the front of your shoulder bridges down. There is no substitute for the sharp looking glued-down look. If it is glued, heat it a bit and glue it down more so it's flush. I don't mean to sound mean, but you really, really, really should replace that helmet.

It's essentially same pack, same blaster (though it would be nice to have the official mini cannon thing), etc... unless you're a hyperfirm DLT kind of guy, then you can sandy and pauldron without the weight.

This is part clone, part TK... my big complaint is the bobblehead helmet is not a hybrid of clone and TK like I would have expected. There is no sense of evolution there, only the exaggerated art of that style of animation. I'm not really into the superthin human look of CW or Rebels at all... makes costuming hard unless you're a supermodel. I do want to try to convince my anti-costume husband that maybe one of the Rebels characters - Kanan - will be a good one for him to try. He already has the look...

I mostly agree - I went HWT.

It has been an honor to serve with Eric and the entire staff. It was a learning experience for me, too. In my garrison there are several DLs and XOs and I now have a better perspective for what they complain and gloat about in their fight for better standards and less drama and politics. And as Eric said, there is some distance between running things and just being a part of something. It's fascinating, fun, and frightening at the same time. This was and remains my first community and the TK my first love. While I am more active with my fire team and the many new and veteran troopers locally, I am still connected here, even if just to say Welcome and provide some cheer. So feel free to PM me any time, as always, with questions and concerns and thoughts and triumphs of trooping. Congratulations to Mathias now that we have election results! I believe this is the first time a European will have the opportunity to see Eric's perspective and manage the challenges. I wish him all the best!!! And I'm here to support him in any way as well. CHEERS!! Ingrid

JENNNYYYYY BUT WE HAVE MISSED YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!