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Nicky

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Posts posted by Nicky

  2. Why do you do this?

    in Hard Armor (General Discussion)

    Posted · Edited by Nicky

    I know exactly why I do this because I know myself. Trooping makes me a happier person.

     

    I don't see the stormtrooper armor as a part of me, but as a tool to take action on things that affect others than myself. Seeing things in first person perspective has always felt weird and cold so in the face of everything that happens I ask myself constantly "am I doing right or wrong?". At first the spending money on an armor was more of satisfying an OCD and Gear Acquisition Syndrome, I knew what the 501st does, and I followed through with that in mind, with the objective of giving it a chance and see how that turns out.

     

    First of all I must explain that I feel almost nothing about the human causes leading to charity. I grew up in a family of scientists who worked on genetic diseases and patients suffering from them. I translate the least feeling I get into a need to understand the distress. I've always been active donating to medical aids, but I rarely feel sadness about others' misfortune. I feel the need to act and support because questions pop up in my mind: what are my responsibilities as a human being? I don't believe in fate, God or bad luck. I believe others need help or want to be happy even for a moment, and if I can provide it in entertainment, practical help or moral support then I'll try to deliver.

     

    When trooping the question "am I doing right or wrong?" kept getting the answer: "yeah, you're doing the right thing". Thinking about charity and quasisystematic happiness fed back through my lenses. Another question popped up is "when will I get bored of this?", and that's why I get up early in the morning, pack up my costume and travel long distances to troop with unquestionable motivation to perform as much as I can. So far I seem to keep seeing it as productive and rewarding, no matter how redundant the experience is perceived by far. I always try to see every fellow trooper and kid as a one person I meet in the moment rather than a recurrent event, I don't take it for granted and I try my best to look sharp and positive. I care about what people think about me, too, so I it challenges me to think a lot about team work.

     

    So new efforts are always added to the original effort, I spend a lot less money on the costume, but I still spend energy because at the end of the year it's never lost. The photos, the garrison blogs, the memories, scratches and stink in the plastic remind me that I've done something.

     

    For me it's all about doing something and measuring impact. I am optimistic, yet very critical, insensitive, empathetic and I hate stagnation. The less I do in life the more I feel stagnation, I feel days passing by and my world feels boring and passive. Some people are happy when they feel it as a drive. I know I'm happy when I feel nothing. :smiley-sw013:

  3. Bucket Philosophy

    in Hard Armor (General Discussion)

    Posted

    Don't spend too much time on the asymmetry. It's there and we "feel it" but it's not the reason why we prefer it to other helmets that are mirror symmetrical. The others are just failed attempts to design or sculpt an equally menacing helmet and asymmetry won't help.

     

    The Stormtrooper helmet inflicts a similar effect on us as H.R. Giger's xenomorph. It's a hybrid human-mechanic skull-like face.

  5. Tsalagi's TK ANH Stunt build [T/MC]

    in Build Threads Requireing Maintenance

    Posted · Edited by Nicky

    It's a small world :) even smaller gothenburg! haha

     

    Convert! You won't regret it :) If you have the cover strips for it, and you used E6000 you can easily convert to butt joint for better looks, you would only need to trim half the ridge on both ends, peel the glue residue, re-sand and glue with cover strips that'll cover the entire ridge. You picked ANH Stunt so butt joint is best suited, even for TD.

  7. Doopydoo contact

    in General Weapons Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Nicky

    (...) But for all that we know they've sent the items as they should (...)

     

    I think that whoever isn't diagnosed with severe paranoia shouldn't be allowed to speak his opinion here :angry:

     

    hahah... well I've done some research and on ebay they blame the buyer and his local post office, that the buyer never contacted them or informed them of the problem, while the feedback itself says that Doopydoo ignored inquiries.

     

    On Doopydoo's website they have some sort of stock quantities management, when an unit isn't available you can make an order anyway and they'll have the thing built, but it looks the same as if it was in stock and ready to ship. Earlier this year you couldn't do that, you could send an e-mail to get in back order. When I regularly check their ebay store however, the E11 kits are rarely listed.

     

    Basically they only tell you they didn't have it in stock when you're asking for an explanation within the 45 days claim period, and they avoid too many bad feedbacks on Ebay by avoiding listing what they can't send in due time. When they finally have the E11 kit available, there's no reason to send it to the guy who's past the 45 days claim period when they can secure a good feedback from the other buyers who just recently ordered and can still file a claim.

     

    Paranoia gets everything right.

  8. ANH armour needs reviewed before application

    in Build Threads Requireing Maintenance

    Posted

    Undersuit shirt. Get a smaller size for tighter fit!

     

    Regarding the thigh cover strips, that was really only a minor detail that people barely notice and run home to compare with the blu-rays, and you should have kept it the way you had it before knowing that the gap was that large. The gap is large for me as well and I left the cover strip all the way down. The bottom of your right thigh is hidden by the knee ammo pack when you pull it up a bit. It doesn't have to be level.

  9. tightlines completed AP ANH Stunt Build

    in Build Threads Requireing Maintenance

    Posted · Edited by Nicky

    You gotta be kidding me, this TK looks great!! and you've already decided to make a new one?? :) also I wish I had a cool butt snap photo like yours haha

     

    Is it normal that the handguards are so far from the wrists? How high can you pull the ab/kidney section to decrease the gap with the backplate?

    Also try to pull the front of the belt up much closer to the bottom of ab button plate.

     

    Congrats and welcome to the 501st!

  10. Doopydoo contact

    in General Weapons Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Nicky

    What a chaos.

     

    I wonder if filing a report with the postal company will have any result - i don´t even understand how they are able to loose a parcel today, in a civilized country, with educated citizens/empoyees, highly organized transport procedures, and scanners at any station on the way. One should think it´s noticed by the system when a handled/expected item doesn´t arrive on it´s next station

     

    Filing a report for lost package will increase the chance to get Doopydoo their refund. You provide the post office the proof of purchase etc.

     

    If Doopydoo gave you a refund. They also want their money back from somewhere else and it's weird that the customer is the one having to do the work for them. I wouldn't help them one bit. I would pretend to, but only get my money back from them.

     

    Now if they didn't send anything to the customer (Doopydoo never gave me any parcel number anyway, so it's what makes most sense), the case at the post office will get nowhere and we will blame the post office rather than Doopy, and not make bad advertisement on forums. In some cases like mine Doopy doesn't have to give me my money back because they succeeded in delaying my actions by promising sending another kit. Which we know how that turned out. Had I gotten my money back and a big fat excuse I would tend to not talk bad things about Doopydoo because customer service, even in the worst experience, always prevails in the customer's opinion. But I worked with customer service and know how companies would rather improve their appearance than the way they really treat their customers on a normal basis. The best customer service is the one that is never required.

     

    So when Doopydoo does that thing on 10, 50, 100 orders @ 50 GBP each, they make more profit and it's worth getting lots of hatemail every week. I recommend people who like playing with their money to buy from Doopydoo's ebay store - because of the feedback option forcing Doopydoo to behave. I used their own website with Paypal, both of which don't warn anyone of how many disputes a seller has generated.

     

    A thread like this should be started on 501st forums because I told Doopdoo this would happen, and they ignored.

  15. Tsalagi's TK ANH Stunt build [T/MC]

    in Build Threads Requireing Maintenance

    Posted · Edited by Nicky

    Hi! Great kit, and great clean job, maybe the photo camera is boasting a bit though ^^ Very clean trim and sanding everywhere. How tall are you?

     

    Why did you choose overlap joint instead of butt joint on the biceps and forearms? The 2 sharp edges of the cover strip makes a big part of the sharp sturdish look of the TK arms. Didn't order finishing strips from Tray?

  18. Nicky's ANH build [*T/MC]

    in ANH Build Threads

    Posted

    It is a very good point, I didn't think it through at all and strangely I didn't get that problem on the ab buttons and ears for example, still waited overnight before removing the masking tape, but there was some tension on the tape due to the shape which held the tape really close. But for the teeth or vocoder it was bound to happen and I just got lucky with the vocoder.

     

    For the teeth I would still advise to paint free-handed but anything else, remove tape asap. Thanks!

  19. Helmet upgrades: wireless amp, external sound pickups, fan, padding and more

    in Electronics for Helmets / Blasters

    Posted

    If you place the mics by the teeth, you will be talking almost directly into them, and deafening yourself in the process. These mics are very sensitive. The closer the mics are to a constant source of sound (like in the teeth), the quieter you will have to run the setup as it will have the chance to feedback more frequently.

     

    Placing them in a neutral area farther away from any constant source of loud sound, such as on the sides, would reduce this, and allow you to turn the volume up higher.

     

    in any case, I am making the wires long enough to place anything anywhere you want; the beauty is that you can experiment with the setup by temporarily positioning stuff around until you find the sweet spot.

     

    Thanks for the advice! I'll look into it when I have time and money to upgrade. You can free my spot for the next one in line as I will be doing my upgrades next year.

  20. e6000

    in Getting Started - Read this First!

    Posted · Edited by gmrhodes13
    link not working removed

    Yeah, zap glue, super glue or any thermally bonding glues have not much to do in armor building. Even for repairing small unimportant stuff I'd prefer epoxy. We only use superglues for wounds anyway.

     

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  24. Getting armor for my bf for xmas..

    in ANH (Stunt and Hero)

    Posted · Edited by Nicky

    Well, I just referring to the Disney Christmas parade, which I know is the basis behind her wanting a TK. It called for "Clean" armor.

     

    Full scout seems to have so much fabric, I think it'd be too warm the rest of the year, outdoors in Florida :S In a TK you just walk around and the wind against the undersuit and through the teeth of the helmet cools you down a little bit.

     

    TK's never have problem finding a spot at events, but TB's can get a spot at the Disney parade too.

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