XNtr3k

Wow, I hadn't expected this to run two pages, but awesome. Yeah, I wasn't really planning to see the Clone Wars animation, but since the local 501st squad is hitting it up on release night, I'll show up just to meet people. And watch the movie. The trailers didn't impress me too much, Yoda's face looks squashed, Obi-wan's beard looks like its made out of wood, and Anakin had a padawan, though you know he ends up hunting down Jedi to near extinction later on. I also find it hard to view Anakin as a hero because in Episodes II and III be becomes an angsty teenager with homicidal tendencies. And kills younglings, etc. ...Darth Vader, on the other hand, is completely awesome. As far as armor, I was thinking I would like to go as nice and clean and perfect as I could find/make, but something in the back of my mind kept thinking "Yeah, that might be a little TOO pretty." Like, being too idealistic would make it less real. I think ideally, I would want two sets of armor: one a 'dress armor', clean, white, and blindingly polished, and a second set with a little wear on it to make it look used. I'm sure all the armor in the Empire looked 'pretty' and spotless when it came off the assembly line (Ewok child-laborers at sewing machines), but at some point you march through a sandstorm, take laser fire, or just trip and fall aerators-first into a pile of bantha poodoo.

Yeah, I might have to go with aerator speakers, thats the other option I had been thinking of that I really like. Or maybe I'll do both and see which I like more. The nice thing is, since you have plenty of options on places to hide things (helmet, belt, chest) you could easily have BOTH (I would think) and just turn one off while using the other. At least until you decided on one better. I want a comlink and a grappling hook on the belt anyways. EVO3 is working on a comlink, and he has a REALLY sweet looking grappling hook already. I'll have to talk with my uncle whenever I manage to get my actual armor. He is an electronics engineer, I believe.

Yes, Mike, I've read your tutorial on the TE2 helmets and was very amused at your 'mistakes bring it closer to screen 'accurate'' philosophy I can see both sides of the coin.

Yeah! Realistic battle damage! That krayt had you by the head, luckily the helmet held!

I think too much. As a result, I occasionally feel a need to vent in a rant Everyone talks about 'screen accurate' and 'idealized', but did anyone stop to think that 'idealized' can be 'screen accurate'? Star Wars came out May 25th, 1977. I'm sure that if the designers had been able to, they would have made their outfits with the materials and tools available today and would have created a 'perfect' helmet. Or possibly they had time constraints on the production. I think 'screen accurate' comes down to how the individual sees the armor in the films. Many people will sit back and watch the overall film, letting their brain fill in the small holes through the power of imagination. Others, apparently, sit back and think that a lopsided helmet with parts that don't sit flush are the ideal Again, I believe it was intended that the armor should have been perfect, flawless, etc, but that construction constraints for the time or other factors may have put limits on how closely the helmets used in the film closely matched the original artist's intentions. How about CG scenes, did they intentionally make the helmet without that perfect symmetry, looking like a bantha sat on them, with gaps along the seam? I still realize that the 501st has some standards for creating costumes, but if you see a 'defect' in the armor in a scene, you should do your best to improve that defect, make it perfect in your own eyes and that would in turn capture the spirit of the films and the dream that Lucas had. After all, did you really think that the Empire would really march around in asymmetrical helmets with obvious gaps? I suppose it IS possibly that the Empire gave the contracts for the helmets to the lowest bid contractor who ended up using inferior material, but that Palpatine didn't want to admit he had messed up so he just whistles and twiddles his thumbs and has his armies continue to use the less-than-ideal armor. I'm not trying to convince anyone that any view is better, I'm just throwing my thoughts out on... well, I guess this isn't paper, but still! Please, be gentle when you take aim with your blasters.

I enjoy the first product selling point on the Amazon page. "Kids want to be clone troopers!" Yes! No one likes originality! Why be yourself when you can be just like everyone else? I dunno, maybe I've lost all my marbles. Honestly, I can't remember what happened to the ones I used to own.

Real sand would be crazy if that works. We used to have a jar of black, volcanic sand from back when we lived in Hawaii, but I think it broke during a move and got all over the place and had to be thrown out.

I can't help but notice the flip-flops on the floor in the background. They are causing a great need to see you in wearing those over your boots. Otherwise, I'm jealous, and wish I had armor already.

Dance the robot!

Neat idea, the separate headset. I can see it in your avatar photo. I have to ask, and bear in mind I have only been looking into obtaining Stormtrooper armor and joining the 501st for the last FOUR DAYS (hadn't even heard of the 501st before that), but what are most people using the sound systems for, anyways? I assume mainly for speaking through your helmet without having to shout? I have also seen people using 'voice changer' boxes or something, as well as things to add static pops, etc.

I still have to deploy out of country for 6 months for work, come back, buy armor, and then we'll see where I go from there! ....I'm not helping much, am I?

I've been checking out the forums and noticed a lot of you like to hide microphones and speakings in your armor for various reasons, and that some of you have problems with feedback. I saw a nice post where someone had hidden his speakers and batteries in the small boxes over either hip (I would have linked it but I can't remember where it was). I kinda liked that idea, but thought of another way to 'tweak' it further. In A New Hope, Luke's Stormstrooper armor had a comlink on the left side of his belt. I don't think Luke would have had enough time to mod the clip to the belt for the comlink (unless I suppose he had glue and a loose clip about) so maybe this is common enough on Stormtrooper armor, especially since noone in the hallways looked at his belt and though, "Hey! Thats not part of the uniform!" I figure that a microphone could be fitted in the helmet and the batteries in the hip boxes, and then the speaker could be put in the comlink. Then when you talk, the sound comes out of the comelink. Heck, find a way to wire in a radio and it'll be that much more realistic! I dunno, this is just my brain thinking it knows things. I kinda like the addition of the comlink to the belt, so I might have to do that myself when I get around to obtaining my own armor.