Sly11

Thank you everyone, truly appreciate the love. At the heart of it, these forums are nothing without all of you! I'm just the guy presently steering this large ship, and keeping us on course and heading in the right direction.

I would say with certainty that we have evolved as have the products and information available to us. Today we are spoiled with choice, so I would unequivocally say yes! Basic approval is the best it has ever been, has this cause us to look at EI and centurion to improve then, again yes. That necessity has and will continue to allow us and the higher levels to remain relevant. The last two years and now into this one, have been a journey of updating FISD across many facets, to remain at the forefront of what we do, and to keep the forums and all our content relevant. We have taken all feedback, both positive and negative, and actioned it where possible. Our CRL's and higher levels form a very important part of that as do our various members programs. Ultimately, you need traffic and members who want to participate to make anything work, evolution is the pathway to rejuvenation. I better get off my soap box now don't want to overdo it.

I just want to point out something that has always been the case with how higher level approvals take place. If you read the information it tells you, not only word and images but to use additional references when looking to apply for higher levels. They are steps toward more accuracy and a standardised look (no gaffers tape, cracked and damaged areas) that's prop replication. This has worked well and been accepted for many many years by almost all that have applied, it has only been a few who have stepped away from it or pushed back so they are the exception and not the norm. Most of this occurs at centurion not so much EI, but it makes sense to recommend a change if they intend to apply for centurion. CRL review will be ongoing this year, and more changes will be made to the CRL's so the standards can be kept high. EI and Centurion are purely optional, no one is forced to make the step, it's something that either interests or excites you, or it doesn't. Everyone that has passed those levels is proud, they did what it took to get there, and we owe it to every single one of them to keep consistency and that high standard. We are 501st, we are known for quality, I for one believe in that, and have no intention on letting it slip. We will be having more Polls, and membership voting on amendments, so I think you will find this year, an expansion on what is already in our CRLs for Centurion, maybe a little on EI too, but we wont really know until we start to review each CRL. Having things mandated and in writing in the CRL should certainly take any resistance out of the equation form that direction, making the minority an even smaller group, and aiding in reducing pressure on the Deployment office. Easier for all process is the way forward.

It is actually in our detachment plan for this term to take a look at all out various programs and see where we might make improvements.

I had been trying to update Tony's very first post with the information/wording, but think we need a thorough run through everything as I'm sure there is info i have missed or more recent additions i have not edited into that initial post.

Welcome aboard Alyssa! Definitely head over to our first order section as Glen mentions. Plenty of resources there and many experienced members here to help you on your journey. Research is the key, but the more questions you ask the better the help we can give you. We do indeed have some great women in this detachment who can certainly offer advice on building for a shorter height, but most anything is possible. Look forward to seeing a build thread once you make your choices on armour maker and components. Best of luck, here to help.

Look at you with your shiny new Detachment staff badge. Thank you James for stepping up to a new challenge.

Dear FISD members, I am once again honored with your continuing support as detachment leader for the 2022-2023 term. Thank you. We have a busy year ahead of us, which I will shortly give an update on, but first I’m sure you will want to know who your staff will be for the year. I would like to congratulate Steven Sheades (Starsaber) TK-10466 for taking on the position of Detachment XO. Steve has many years of experience both as one of our DCOGS, but also as a GML, GPRO and second seat in council for his garrison. Thank you Steve for stepping up and taking on your new position. Tim Waychoff (DarkCMF) TK-51878 will be moving into a DCOG roll and offering his expertise with our moderation team. As many of you are aware, Tim has several feathers in his cap, as a prior FISD DL and XO and Attache ambassador. Thank you Tim for taking on the position. This term we will indeed have a DMBO again, it’s been a few years running without this roll filled, but it is time to change that. Please congratulate James Silvius (jsilvus) TK-12953 for joining the team and taking on this challenging position. James held our 15th anniversary coin run, and did so exceptionally. His accounting spreadsheet and immaculate record keeping made my job very easy communicating the fine details with the LMBO team. Thank you James for accepting this position. There are a couple more additions to come to the IPM team as we will be focusing on more improvements to FO CRL's in the very near future. I shall announce those when we are ready to go. All other staff positions are currently remaining the same and are as follows. Deployment Officers Joseph Pedigo (justjoseph63) TK-10963 Mario Reyes (TKSpartan) TK-48117 Jose Sanchez (Chemi) TK-3017 DCOG Chris Pearson (themaninthesuitcase) TK-10911 Dan Branton (Thecableguy) TK-42911 Mark Ryner (captsafe66) TK-4584 DMBO Trading cards Eric Ho (Hoda) TK-42911 DPER AC (NoVaTie) TK-5597 DPRO Christoph (Danny) Lauber (Ripper_L) TK-55550 Tony Jobe (ukswrath) TK-10116 Aaron (Bronx) Gibson (Pyrates) TK-99725 Frank Peranteau (Frank75139) TK-75139 Glen Rhodes (gmrhodes12) TK-85421 Jim Ferrell (Rat) TK-95970 Teresa Nuthall (Soulart) TK-41307 DWM Eric Brager (Darth Aloha) TK-9674 Mathias (Locitus) TK-2959 Founder Paul Hoeffer (Daetirn)TK-8020 What lies ahead The last two terms have focused heavily on the forum refresh, uncluttering archiving and restoring. As you can imagine very time consuming, i also undertook a member data base clean up which hadn't been done in a long time. My vision has always been to leave this place in better condition than I found it, making it easier for anyone that comes after me and giving them a clean pallet into the future. This treatment will continue on this term although alot of the heavy lifting has finished or is nearing completion. This allows us to focus on things that are more beneficial to members, like our various programs, and the introduction of a new one as well. We will lead out this term back to work on our First order CRL updates. Discussion threads are already open, proposals will be written and membership polls set up so you can continue to participate in the evolution of our costumes, their quality and standard. We have a big year with Celebration, the patch sales thread is open until sold out, and I received an update from the vendor today that we have around 200 patches left. If you haven't ordered, now is the time before they are gone. I hope plenty of you have a chance to go to Celebration, meet fellow members, make new friends and have a blast. New Members section update will commence with an adjustment to the forums, a gate keeper so to speak, and hopefully an easier start for those brand new to FISD and costuming. Lets talk about some more fun stuff, like the FISD Coffee table Book. Work will continue, and a larger team will be formed for various parts of the building and design process. This is a huge project and we still have several hurdles to face, before it becomes a reality. It will be a first of it's kind for the detachment, and we can't wait to have more information available to you all. FISD Shirt run, needs to get underway quickly, so I will be working with our new DMBO James. to motivate that into action in the next couple of days. More Merch to come, and we continue to look towards items we haven't done before, we have ideas, we will be working on designs, slot planning and time frames. Now It is time for me to get busy in the background, onboard our new staff members and get the discussion going with your new team on the full plan for the year. Thank you all once again for the ongoing support, and we look forward to serving you all to the best of our ability. With Unquestioned loyalty TK11469 (Sly11) Andrew Franke.

Thank you all, and to those also nominated. I will make a formal announcement in the coming hours so please stand by.

Greetings all. Recently we concluded the Polls for some updates to the OT TK CRL's. I would like to thank all those members who took the time to read through them, possibly the linked discussions around them, and placed a vote on the proposals. These proposal passed by majority vote and have now been enacted on the CRL's they affected. ANH Stunt, and Hero, ESB and RotJ Most were only miner changes to refine detail, add some approximate measurements but all designed to get our troopers looking a touch more accurate. Most only for level 3 centurion, and a small change for basic level, which the LMO team agreed were satisfactory. Anyone currently with an application in need not be concerned of these, as you are in before the changes take effect. We always offer a grace period in all fairness to everyone, which can run up to 3 months for major changes that would certainly impact basic approvals. We now continue the discussion threads on our FO TK CRL's which will have several proposals to update these with better language and detail, some additional items that were not available at the time they were written, and more weapons as accessories for some of the CRL's We again will set up Polls for the membership to take part in and vote how they see fit.

Best of luck Jessie!

Best of luck with your application Merlin.

Great work Ardeshir.

Sure does look perdy! Amazing work Adam.

Well done sir, we are here to help make that a reality for you.

Wow, that is indeed beautiful!!

Great to hear from you Tim, we look forward to seeing your build complete and approved. I hope you plan to go for EI and Centurion

Hi Joe, and welcome to FISD! AM is a good fit for taller or more solid build of trooper. In my garrison we have a 6"2 250pound trooper and we built his AM kit to fit him very well. RS is a small kit generally great for the 5'9 slim fit that the original actors were model off, but most amour can be modified to make it larger if needed. AP now days offers armour with extra material so yes the parts are larger and suit a wider range then they used to. I'm 150 pounds and the old AP fits me snug, the newer update would give you good room to work with. Great to see you are doing your research and asking for assistants, this is exactly what will get you the best outcome.

Glen I hope you feature one of these in every newsletter, you guys are doing a great job of these memes.

Congratulations Ardeshir!!

That has come up very well and some great progress. looks like a little bit of paint reaction on one end, but nothing sanding and a respray wont fix.

January 24th 2022 Joseph Pedigo (justjoseph63) as many of you can attest, gone over and above, consistently doing something to benefit the detachment. Things that go well outside of his deployment office duties, year upon year. Everything he has done was of his own volition, and done with passion for the benefit of as many members as possible. I find no one more deserving of this, our detachments highest accolade, and feel privileged to be able to bestow it on Joseph for his continued and outstanding efforts over so many years of service. Thank you Joseph, your "How to" guides are legendary, your sales items incredible in detail, and your generosity and loyalty unquestionable. Please join me in congratulating Joseph on this hard earned and well deserved award. With unquestioned loyalty TK11469 "Sly11" DL

Mine are simply doubled over, have lasted 8 years so far, without the need to reinforce with anything. Mind you I am thinking of re strapping my whole kit as the elastic looks a bit tired in areas, and some of it is loosing the elasticity and stretching.

Make sure not to paint the entire surface, you need a clean area for glue to bond when assembling and paint can interfere with a strong bond.