AsBlondeAsLuke

Hello All- Kevin Doyle of the 501 Mile Walk stayed with me on his walk down the coast and then again on his walk back up the coast. Both times he stayed over, I asked him the same question: "How can you walk so many miles each day in your armor?" Kevin was averaging anywhere from 20 - 40 miles a day. He once went two days and three nights without taking his armor off, (although he says this does not smell pretty.) He checked the fit of my armor, and helped me make some little mods here and there, (although he said mine fit better than 99 percent of the armor he's seen.) He said the key is to take off very small amounts at a time, as these minor modifications can make a big difference in overall fit, (and it is hard to put the plastic back once you have cut it off.) I asked Kevin if he would explain his mods on video. Kevin's armor will soon be on display at Rancho Obi Wan. After (more than) a thousand miles, it needed to be retired and was being held together with duct tape in places. It will make for a very cool display item and part of our 501st history. - Diana

Shhhhh.... Jorge. You're shouting. I can hear you all the way from California. (That's my teasing way of saying take off the "Caps Lock" when you type.) So, hello there, TK 11161 and I'm pleased to meet you. Glad you enjoyed my cards. To answer your questions, depending upon your garrison, you have a choice of a couple of different style cards: 1) Garrison Cards. 2) Detachment Cards. 3) 501st/Legion Cards. (And, there is nothing saying you can't do all three if you want to go all card crazy.) I opted to get the FISD (Detachment) cards because my mentor, Kyle, advised me that Tray does an amazing job with them. I received my cards very quickly and love them. You can get in on Series 4 here. As of today, there are 47 spots left: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/60-fisd-trading-cards/ Send me one of your cards when you get them done, OK? I collect them.

Hi Vern and Steve- Just saw your notes. Speedy recovery to both of you. Steve, meeting you and your wife was one of the highlights of Celebration. Despite your fatigue, you were charming and mentally alert everytime I spoke with you. Not sure I could have done half as well if I was coming down with pneumonia. Already looking forward to the next Celebration and getting to spend more time with everyone. At the end of Celebration, one of my garrison mates said: "No. No. No. Bring everyone back and start Celebration over. That went by much too quickly."

Great newsletter, guys. Loved the whole issue. Always glad to see our fallen honored and recognized and efforts made to take care of the families. I also loved reading the update on the initiative to get Scott a new sandtrooper kit. So heartening to read about the collective generosity of the group in taking care of their own. Tim, excellent job on the interview with Lexie! Sounds like "Star Wars Night" was a big hit. This was a particularly interesting point, though, and a very good question to ask: >>4.) Were you aware of the 501st Legion before you began planning this event, and if not, how did you find out about us? >>LR: I was personally not aware of the local 501st Legion. We did a corporate event very recently and they loved working with us, and wanted to do so again, but their reaction also was: "Wow. You guys are great. How come we never heard about you guys?" So, great questions to ask, Tim. Thanks for an excellent newsletter.

I'm in! I'll also likely bringing +2, if they are both available. Sadly, I did not get my act together in time to order a TK shirts, so I will simply have to drool with envy at how stunningly good the rest of you look.

I never had any doubts you would make it. You were always Centurion material in my book, Walter. However, I am thrilled to be able to offer my Congratulations and welcome you to the ranks.

OK. I did check out "Dave Garage's" and noticed as soon as I started watching video 1 it was out-of-date stuff, as you say. OK, then, I'll stick with the one resource. I was just curious if there were any others, too. Kind of surprised there aren't more "how to" videos floating around considering how detailed we get into everything. Maybe that will be a challenge on my next build. Get out of the Go Pro.

Thanks! I've added them to the playlist. They definitely are a great resource. Any others? I'm linking them off of a YouTube site so specific one-off videos are fine.

I'm pulling together a few resources for recruiting and new members to our garrison. Is there anyplace one place here on this site that includes links to some of the more helpful "how to" armor building videos? Anybody have some favorites they can point me to? Thanks!

Congratulations on achieving EIB! Can't wait to see you accomplish the eight minute challenge. What a great goal!

The joy in your voice as I delivered the news was the best thing ever, Walter. So great to be a part of this journey with you. Congratulations! And, now we get to go trooping in our TKs together!

While I was doing my build, Derek (Dday) made a comment and said I was as "blonde as Luke." (I even forget the exact context now, but it was about reshaping one bit or other of the armor to make it fit better.) So, I changed my screenname because it summed up everything I was working on and all those back and forth conversations with everyone always made me laugh and helped so much.

Wow, Walter, very impressive work on your thighs and a great tutorial to help guide others. Kudos to you for sticking with the project and getting it done.

I wish you could join us. My house will be a hub of armor building tomorrow getting two shinies (hopefully) finished off and ready for submittal by end of day Saturday. If you can't get those thighs figured out, or your cod, of course, lemme' know. I'll drive over to your place and together we'll get it done. The thighs are truly one of the toughest areas to get right. You know, I was going to say one of the hardest areas to get right, but, I decided against it. Toughest seemed like a better word choice. I am nothing if not tactful at all times. Truly.

Oooooh. I like the bowing.

Nicely done, Walter! I love what you did here! The tutorial is very well done and I love the use of the mini iron versus ABS paste. You've gotten me hooked on plumber's sandpaper now. When I have to for a particular job, I'll put out another grit. But, the plumber's sandpaper is the all-around champ for use on ABS. I love the stuff.

Since Walter refuses to answer the question, I will chime in. Of course we discussed his cod! We spent quite a bit of time on it. Although, to be fair, we spent time discussing EVERY aspect of his armor. It was a very productive night. His cod had some hefty return edges which were causes him some... (cough)... discomfort. We suggested trimming those back to make the cod fit more comfortably and allow easier ease of movement. But, as you can tell from this thread, Walter is a rather brilliant builder, in his own right. Runs in the family.

Words of wisdom if I ever heard them. And, of course, measure twice and cut once. As you know from reading the thread, we made our fair share of mistakes, but every one of them was fixable. There was no "armor disaster" that could not be overcome. All the resources are here on FISD and about the greatest group of people you could ever ask for to help get the job done.

Hi Almu- No definitely not. But, oh, what fun you can have once the armor is finally done. It is so worth it in the end. Congratulations on getting it done.

Ah, if you are looking at your cod with an all new appreciation, then my work here is done. As someone on the boards here once said, the best part about armor is it gives us the right to talk about our cods with abandon.

Hi Germain, Yes, actually they do. I was having a problem with fogging for a while and used an anti-fog solution which turned out to be too abrasive. Bad move. The scratches don't bother me during the day, but we've actually been doing quite a bit of night stuff lately and at night the scratches have a total starburst effect. Hey Walter, Looking forward to seeing that completed helmet, too. I'm around this weekend if you want to work together on your armor. I have some maintenance stuff I need to do on my armor this weekend and will be working on it while Joe is surfing. Just send me a PM once you know your schedule.

Four hours. I was wondering how long it would take to read this whole thread. Now, I know. So pleased to know we were able to provide some inspiration. Building this armor was the best thing that has happened to me in the past decade. Eh, other than the birth of my son, of course. >>I hope you understand that your shared experience and build journey is worthless to those who are new to this and aren't quite sure if they are up for it. Hans, I'm going to assume you meant "worthwhile," but I do appreciate the sentiment. The engineers build thread? Rrrrrrrright. Yes, still trying to get his shapely buns into armor. He keeps insisting it is not for him, yet he can't seem to stay away either. Go figure. I suppose he likes the building of the armor more than the idea of wearing it. Works out good for me, I suppose. I have endless ideas for future projects.

Alright Walter, you hear that? You need to get these lenses to sit properly, or you're going to be looking through a Coke bottle everytime you put on your bucket. I was simply curious about the durability of the lenses. I managed to scratch mine already, and will be replacing mine soon. Was just wondering if they switched over to this type because they were more durable, but I guess it was just done for "the look." Thanks as always, Germain, for indulging my endless curiosity.