Nicky

You can't just write "Nicky hates femtroopers" and then opt out of the discussion, how do you think that makes me feel? Two words: mando mercs. The fact that we didn't even mention them but rathar a legion-less sexy costume for women who want to look awesome is a sign of narrow-mindedness. There's systematic and selective pigeon-holing in this male-dominated hobby that is done on some people but not on others depending on how soft the reaction will be. Even out of respect for the TK we don't have to force people into becoming Gamorrean guards, Kaminoans or Jawas, costumers are masters of deception. Why does one foot measurement make a good excuse to call it disrespectful of the character? It all depends on how hard you work on your costume, not how fast you give up. Well if we keep bringing Julie in the discussion maybe she should speak for herself instead of having someone else do it. Here we're talking about the entire detachment, you know, the one with lots of ladies that sometimes look better than us men. And Julie was not that short as I remember her next to other TK's at CVI, nor seem to be embodying the femtrooper in a constraint to do so, she looks super happy to do it. The fact that we don't ask people to eat more cheeseburgers, growth hormones or diet coke is out of general fairness and respect, but I've seen people boost their height by several inches and even their muscular appearance using tricks that make them as tall and even a more impressive TK than I am. Respect of the TK is better preserved than when me and my mediocre height and body who spent no time fitting at all, claim to be an accurate stormtrooper. I love food and I'm getting fat but I work hard to stay remotely "canon", I'm so hungry right now I could eat a Jawa. The weight issue is something that a majority think about, but only a minority do something drastic about. Height? That's something you can fix easily. Ask all the Vader and wookie costumers. Let's pass a "respect"-filter over the entire FISD and see how men react when we tell them that they're little too this or that to be a stormtrooper before telling women what costume they should or should not do. That's my opinion as a man, and I'd rather hear from you your own opinion than Julie's, Jimmy

Anything goes in costuming tricks and I have second handedly heard an unofficial rule that you have to be a certain minimum height and that 5"5 for example is already too short. False. Technically it's better to be too small than too tall because you can't just trim your limbs It doesn't help to even picture these rules in our minds and that's why we had a whole FISD panel at CVI on how women can embody just any Star Wars costume. I keep seeing opinions on how it's unfair that one has to work more to fit a costume, and I think there's a lot more credit to give to people who go ahead and do the extra work. I have a sister TK and had the chance to talk to many other trooper ladies, and I don't believe anyone came out remembering the whole fitting process as difficult, frustrating or lacking help from the detachment where troopers of all size and gender help each other look good. The femtrooper is a fun cosplay costume, but it isn't where we send women who want to be stormtroopers for any reason at all, it's not 501st costume. I'm not trying to be unfriendly to other fantasy Star Wars cosplayers, but there's just too much fun activity in the 501st and FISD to single out women by bringing the femtrooper up as an option.

OK I modded the imperial fans and I must agree with a lot of people. 4xAA (6V) is better than one 9V block battery. Higher capacity, quieter, and about the same chilling effect.

Same as Charles, minus ipod, and reverse left/right. I get feedback only when I really wanted to cause it. Maybe your issue is the microphone's pickup pattern and its placement? Is it the headset that came with the Aker? Using a unidirectional microphone is the best way to prevent feedback, and sacrificing output level. Which you compensate anyway through amp volume and screaming.

FISD membership and forum membership are two things. And two ways to party. We should offer repair kits for all femtroopers who need the correct member status ^^

No, you cannot ever make a femtrooper because it is sexist. Hahah I don't know any of the FISD ladies to have a special kit for women, they fit either their armor in the trim, or their body to the armor using padding and raisers under the feet. The general idea is that women look great as TK without any special fitting beside height adjustment on thighs, forearm, buttplate. Some real shorties will trim under the chest plate or cut the cod to shorten it. There's a dozen women in that pic, they blend in, like everyone should, and as you can see none of them wear a silly shemale kit: Thank you for giving us your boyfriend, we can't guarantee to bring him home by sundown.

Cool topic I'm glad I got into trooping before even getting into a serious relationship, starting a new hobby like this one when you're married may be seen as an excuse to get away from the couple. And if I would get into one it would be with someone as far away from the 501st or any star wars costuming as possible ^^

Yes, I understood I wasn't going through this alone, brother in trouble

You want to freehandedly paint the teeth all the way up and down. They're not on a straight line. I also have the lovely T/MC, had to use the heat gun but it's the way it should be for everyone wanting a nice fit. My mic tips also gave me that problem, I just pressed with my thumb on the rear until it somehow maintained a solid bump. Then I screwed them in as much as until I can orient them to the direction I wanted, then locked with a washer. They're not really in direct contact with the ABS besides outer the mic tip edges, but it doesn't really matter. Once you got them in there and start working on another part you won't go back to looking at those mic tips, straight or not. It's your builder's pickiness that gets in the way.

We can't let the anger flow through us just because it feels like opportunate. Potential buyers reading the posts on the 501st forum can make up their mind on their own, and that's why FISD members write under the RTA sales thread, to warn potential buyers and forward them to our post of vetted armorers. When making their mind the buyers will take both proof and overall style and manners into account. That's where the "respond, don't react" principle becomes important. Like, very important: I have nothing against non-English speaking people but when you try to sell abroad and you're not able to write a single correct sentence in English, use online translators or human translators, it is a big turn off. What does it say about customer service? If some buyer ignores that very aspect then it doesn't really matter how loud we shout about recasting, it won't affect them. Chances are much higher that the polish garrison forum will be the only place where people can by lack of information end up buying RTA, because we can't warn people there, or if we get moderated after abusing on the RTA sales threads on the 501st.com forum then we give him more business internationally. See where I'm getting at? Another tip would be to link the public to our list of vetted armorers rather than link to an unpleasant fuss thread, and to ask very nicely for that link to be sticky on the trade forum on 501st.com because legion members spending money on a TK armor before even finding our detachment with our beginner resources available, is unacceptable. We can't help if a dozen garrisons want to keep everything internal while the right way would be to forward questions about each costume to the right detachment when it is adequate, but the FISD and the Legion really should work together like some garrisons like mine inform and warn potential buyers about say RTA, and direct them to the right resources on Whitearmor.net. It's the internet medium used that can facilitate a fraudulent activity, not the account of a whole garrison but its respective web liaisons and staff who allow it.

Wow, that's very kind of you! I did demand my money back with the intention to spend it on your kit

I don't attach them, they are snapped onto my forearm like on a snowtrooper armor.

Alright. But I don't think Doopydoo is innocent, otherwise they can prove they sent the package, which they never did in my case. Now they don't answer any of my e-mails, I paid them over 2 months ago so I guess my 82 USD are gone.

Maybe if we try not to call people bad names this time we would let the message out the right way...

I still think I'd like to know how a 501st member or the contact he asks on behalf of managed to get himself a rubies before advising him to pass the curse on to someone else and make money out of it.

Well protecting the PTT switch from moist didn't help.

.......ok I'll just ask: how did you end up with a rubies armor?

I order a lot that goes through USPS and I find it very reliable. Within Sweden anything takes max 2 days, packages dispatched before noon arrive the next morning. When I order from USA using USPS International Priority, and it takes 5 days, I call that very fast. Once it took 3 days and I thought it was a joke. The tracking works well and USPS.com tracks all the way to my door, the parcel number remains the same in Sweden's Posten website for tracking nationally. Unity is important in tracking shipment. From Royal Airmail (UK): 2-3 weeks. No tracking. From La Poste (France): 1 week and a half. Shipping prices: as high and higher than USPS' equivalent service. I think you're overcritical because you expect everything to be available in USA and shipped overnight and don't really know the feeling of having import from abroad all the time by lack of choice That's why I would be glad to see a full resin kit made in USA.

I use PTT for concerts where I have to be quiet, otherwise VOX. I had a problem though, I suspect shorting due to moist, I used the switch inside that rubber condom thingie together with and against my bare thumb. After awhile it just won't respond, I hear a static but no voice goes in. It felt like a battery issue from the iComm at first, then when I reset the iComm by turning off the amp and on again it acts normal again. Until the same problem occurs 10 minutes later or so. Sometimes static suddenly play on their own. But still no voice through. I suspected a third scenario: that while I was pressing the PTT the iComm, it somehow rebooted itself, and went into sound select mode which causes static upon PTT press, but no voice through. I couldn't verify as I waited 4-5 seconds and no static happened like it used to do in sound select mode. I'll try tonight to use a dry rubber thingie only on the switch and inside my fabric glove see if it helps. Any opinion? Does leaving the iComm connected to the Aker amp powered off for a long time, drain the iComm's battery?

An omnidirectional electret microphone like the ones you use have a much smaller entry hole leaving you freedom for the installation and entry hole placement. The capsule doesn't have to be "outside" and an opening like the last hole on the teethline would work too.

Let me help you out. 172 cm = Luke Skywalker. 177 = Luke Skywalker with a cigarette on top of his head. 178.5 is Luke with a king size cigarette on top of his head.

I don't know how helpful this limited information is, because like people say, some armor pieces fit more than others because weight allocation is different from one person to another. So I sum it all up like this: Kit: Tray's T/MC Fitting data Body height/weight: 177cm/82kg - 5'911/16/180 lbs, 34-36" waist My father could have been: Glamour model Lizzi Miller with John Travolta's butt. Cover strips (up/low): 16 mm / 22 mm, cover entire ridges Trimmed on kit's marked lines: chest, back, kidney, ab, shins, butt, cod, bell, bicep, forearm (width). Special trim: diagonal south thigh joint, upper thigh rings -2cm, south forearm rings -2cm. Side gap: >3cm, needs shimming. Ab plate: split Bell height: covers bicep by >4cm Notable fitting spec: upper body appears wider than armor. I don't exactly fit in my armor so we'll have to ask the discometer: 8/10

I'm happy to see your project taking shape! I'm telling my garrison tk's and sister about your project as some of them don't have a completely accurate E11 build yet to not waste their time on doopydoo's because something new is coming soon ^^ so there's some expectations building up already

And now the out-of-context laughing wh****. Aveng, I think we settled that it is the way it should be and nobody should ever look at a stormtrooper from top side down anyway.

People saying you should avoid using a heat gun should be shot in the leg and driven to the hospital. lol Your kit looks great on you, very very good job! Clean trim everywhere. By being careful, patient and reasonable with the heat setting on the heat gun (keep it too low and far away because you have more time than spare parts) you can strengthen an overall curve without seeing any "bend" lines. You apply pressure and shake the heatgun far away from the part for a while over a wider area without gloves, switch off when your fingers feel too hot, wait, release and see how much it changed, if it's enough or if you should repeat. Nobody explained that to me, it's just common sense. I did that to my butt plate, kidney plate, forearms, sniper plate, belt, shins. We keep telling people to be super careful or to not try and do anything when a part is obviously not the right shape, but come on. I mean. Come on.