LadyInWhite

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!!!!

Looks great so far! Have fun with the sniper plate. OH and GORGEOUS maine coon you've got there. Can I have him?

I'm a big girl, bigger than a lot of guys. It's bad enough I don't fit the "perfect body image" OUT of costume... definitely don't feel ideal IN it... but I don't care! I do my best to look my best regardless!

I can't wait to see the transformation!!!

That rocks, great job!!!

first thing to do is contact certain vendors on the "Types of Armor and Where To Get Them" Thread on Getting Started. Which ones depends on a few things. For you I'm straight out not going to recommend AP (even though I love it) because it tends to have "skinny people" parts and I had to shim all my stuff to make it fit my bigger body. Second but more importantly it depends on what your movie will be - if you are doing the very common "stunt" stormtrooper from A New Hope (ANH) or the "hero" version or the Empire Strikes Back version you'll need to get certain types of armor. Most armors fit this description. If you want Return of the Jedi there are a few that are more specific to that type, but the others can be adapted to some degree by adding the lip around the edges of the armor etc. Personally I like the ANH Stunt best. It gives you a lot of flexibility to cut things the way you need them to fit you just right.

Looks good, good luck!

Kayla, are you looking to do a movie stormtrooper or a Fem trooper (the non-canon girl-style)? Just so you know, the Fem trooper won't be 501st approved. You can make the armor fit you if you are willing to trim and do a little extra work to ensure it all comes together correctly. I am 180lbs but taller, and there are bigger guys than me who make it work. And plenty of shorter people. As for the bust size, I wear as tight a sports bra as I can squeeze into and still breathe well, and unless I wear my Aker amp under my chest piece you can't tell at all. The shape of the chest piece has some space in it to give the illusion (for men) of well-built pecs (aka strength). I don't think you'll have too much trouble with it.

http://www.501st.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=68203 Detachment rosters will be locked on February 1. If you wish to vote in the upcoming election, please go to the 501st Forums, log in, click "Membership DB" on the left column navigation, and scroll down until you see Detachment Affiliations. There you will need to select 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment and any others, and we will go through and approve them so you can vote. Cheers! Ingrid

Hey, Greg! Sounds like fun! 50+ is not bad. I strongly recommend you take a handler with you - a friend, wife, even your own kid, whatever it takes. Kids can be very grabby and not all their adult supervisors realize that, nor that you are unable to walk, see, etc. as well as you would without helmet. Having someone to help prevent too much contact and help you get used to trooping in the suit. If it weren't your first rodeo you'd probably already have the hang of it, but for your safety and the kids, I strongly recommend it. Otherwise, just have some fun and decide what your character is (strict military or clowning around PR guy) and what your backstory is (because you'll get 500 questions about what planet you're from, where your spaceship is, and where is Darth Vader, and is that blaster real and why don't you shoot something to prove it...).

I edited the stats area. Sorry about that! Now up to date with 107 Centurions, 355 EIBs!!!

These are both excellent ideas. I often had a hard time as PRO figuring out what to put on Fb and twitter. With well over 2000 followers it would also showcase the best looking troopers to the world at large. To amp up the presence on the forums I suggest something more on the educational side. I would say that there are two kinds of people- those who research themselves to death and those who don't. A lot of new troopers end up confused about the awards and how to apply for them. More presence would lead them to educate themselves. The trick is: how to get the 350 of us to pass the torch and bring up a brother. Help someone locally. Etc.

>>> The "backbone of the Empire" should be the best looking costumes in the Legion, no? Absolutely! Let's push the call to arms through Attachés but also every individual can help! 1. Upgrade yourself if you're still basic. Think you can't pass? Don't know for sure til you try. 2. EIs - grab a friend or a newb! Help them along. ECOURAGEMENT and WELCOMING ATTITUDE are what it takes to get more Expert Infantry. Don't even talk about Centurion... just get them to EI.

Greetings, everyone, and happy new year. This is an interesting discussion overall, as we are not owners nor guardians of the Star Wars IP, but in many ways by default we (501st) are held to a higher standard than non-members. There are millions of awesome and horrid licensed and non-licensed costumes and variations out there and we do not control the content nor the media that displays them. We also can't stop people from using hashtags or usernames that are similar to or make claims about the 501st and its groups, nor what the general public may find as a result of said hashtags. I have seen many people use #501st as a tag on photos that were not members and were absolutely inappropriate. We can't police that. But we can use good judgment. What's important is that we don't represent the 501st or any of its garrisons, outposts, members, or detachments without permission from that group's PRO/staff and the Legion PRO (LPRO) and possibly even as high as LFL. Even the brochures we print to promote FISD at events technically have to have LPRO approval. So if you're showing off a photo of you at a troop in your 501st approved armor in an appropriate situation (i.e not pointing a gun at a child or holding a beer or hookah), tagging 501st is probably okay. But we who represent should never use hashtags or user names that could misrepresent 501st, LFL, Disney, and anyone else who might want to find a reason to shut us down. Use good judgment. Cheers!

Great progress, very exciting! Thanks, everyone, for all the great reference photos to answer questions

Your son has good skills in judgment, obviously a chip off the ol' block

I'm posting for Troy since he didn't do it himself (SHOCKING!! What a slacker now that he has a Fett costume!)

My AP is extremely snug. I have room for a ponytail... but not glasses. The configuration of padding has been adjusted (and most of it removed) numerous times to get steady comfort and proper space. I also trimmed an extra 2mm off the neck opening, esp. after installing Echo's fan kit which sits nicely in the neck bulge but interferes with my ponytail (a girl thing I guess). Plus I still have to do the screw-on method. However, now that I've spent the time getting it just right, I love it and wouldn't want it any bigger. Point is, instead of forking out more for a new lid, work with it for a while and see if you can get it to work for you... if you can't, then think about a slightly larger lid.