SkulShurtugalTCG

Trust me, I've been looking at all the options. I skipped over Anovos for my ANH TK for the specific reason that it would have taken a while to get, so it's not like I'm loyal to their brand or anything. What they have going for them is their helmets are among the only ones available taken straight from the original molds. The other ones out there look really good, but when it comes down to it, I just like the Anovos one best. I ended up buying the one from Amazon. Came out to about $50 cheaper than buying straight from the dealer, and it arrives this Friday on top of that. If it turns out to NOT be legitimate, I'll get my money back, and if it is, then I get a high-quality helmet with no wait.

Luckily Amazon's service guarantees that the product is genuine or you get your money back. And it seems, especially recently, they've doubled down on their quality control to make sure you get what you pay for. Being a Prime member helps, too.

That definitely solves all the problems, doesn't it? lol Thanks for the heads-up!

I'm working on getting things together for my Force Awakens TK. I'm on the wait list for the armor from jimmiroquai, but I was really eyeing the helmet that Anovos is offering. The plastic one, not the high-priced fiberglass one. Considering it was just made available for preorder about a month ago (again, the plastic one), I was wondering what you guys think the wait time will be on it? I'd like to have my armor done by the end of the year, and right now that looks likely for everything else. I've heard some extraordinary wait times for the original FOTK run from last year, where people are just now getting shipping confirmations on some of their parts. Would a 9-month wait really be what's expected? Or something more reasonable like 3-6? This is all for research purposes. I just like the Anovos helmet's look best right now, but if it will take an insane amount of time for it to get here, I'd just as soon settle for something different/

I think they went after me because I was the only one with a blaster.

When you're supposed to execute Order 66, but Lord Vader isn't around to deal with the little kids. Yes, that is me.

Mine is my YouTube name. It makes it easy to remember what my login is on all these websites. The story behind it: In 2003, Eragon came out. I read it and fell in love with it immediately. (It's that book with a dragon in it. It was made into a horrible movie in 2006. If you saw it, I'm sorry.) The words Skulblaka and Shur'tugal have big meanings in the book. Basically, they translate into "Dragon Rider", which is a big theme of the story. I chose that as my internet nickname in 2005, and I've had it, and variants of it, ever since. When I started a YouTube channel in 2012, I wanted it to have the same name as SkulblakaShurtugal, but shortened so people would remember it a bit easier. (Just "Skul" helps.) I added the TCG part to help show people I was a Pokemon channel. If I had known I'd get to be so popular, I would have just chosen a different name. But alas, I'm stuck with this one. Good luck pronouncing it. Or remembering it.

I hope to go, but I won't be taking my armor. I want to spend my time enjoying the panels and all the things there. What my squad is trying to do is rent a town home for the weekend and get everyone to stay in there. I've been to a con before without friends, and it was pretty boring and hard to get through the weekend. Going with friends to this will DEFINITELY make the experience a whole lot better.

The 501st Legion was invited to attend a wedding reception at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Brandon (TK-32917) and I volunteered as tributes. We arrived several hours early to look around for a while, then donned our armor and walked around. We spent the last half-our of public hours taking pictures with various NASA visitors, then goofed off while waiting for the reception to start. ^Um, everything's good up here. We're all fine here. Now. Thank you.... Boring conversation anyway^ ^Technically, this is the bay for the Space Shuttle landing gear. But we may or may not have found stowaways on board^ ^Rebel spotted!^ ^This guy thinks he's so cute with that gun^ ^Rebel captured. Move along, people. Nothing to see here!^ ^A mockup of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first international meetup in space^ ^Copula module, the largest window on the ISS. And a symbol of our good Galactic Empire^ ^The actual training simulator for Skylab^ ^Look sir, snacks!^ ^Lord Vader requested his finest troopers to inspect the next-generation spacecraft^ ^It was at this very podium that President Kennedy gave his "We Choose to Go To the Moon" speech^ ^Harry Potter fans were there as well. We "borrowed" their wands--for quality inspection, of course^ ^Buckets-off "official" picture. Hope to return someday soon!^ Note to self: REALLY get fans for your helmet next time. Don't just say you will and then forget about it.

I went trooping at the McDonald's Children's Festival this past weekend in Houston. My handler, Marshall (TK-7932) decided to have some fun. I was expecting people to take pictures, but I didn't expect so many pictures to be taken from THAT angle. Thanks, Marshall... (Otherwise, the troop was fun. Lots of smiling faces, especially kids)

There's this guy. Let's call him Brian. Because... well, because that's his name. Late last week, Brian was involved in a serious car wreck. Nobody died, but he was injured. He suffered 7 broken ribs, a broken arm, and a collapsed lung. He was in ICU for several days, before being sent to a recovery room. Brian is hoping to join the 501st Legion as a ROTS Red Guard. After being moved out of ICU, he contacted our squad and asked, if anyone had the time, would they mind visiting him for a few hours. I heard about it, and checked my calendar. I had the time. Fast-forward to the next morning. I showed up at the hospital, changed in the bathroom (all with security's permission, of course), and made my way to Brian's room. My wife was there as my handler; we were asked to wait outside of his room, as they were busy taking out his chest tube (which is a VERY good sign that his lung will make a full recovery). We were outside for just 5 minutes or so, but during that time, several doctors and nurses and other hospital staff, who were walking past, stopped for a few seconds to take pictures. Since this hospital visit was not an official 501st event, I took a lot of time "breaking character", saying what I "really" do for a living, chit-chatting about how awesome The Force Awakens was, and mentioning that Brian will be joining the Legion as soon as he's better and he re-invests in his armor. (His poor helmet was in the car. It did not survive. Funeral services for it are next Tuesday.) When we were let inside, I was pleasantly surprised to see Brian sit up to shake my hand. Then, less than a minute later, he stood up to take a picture with me. His arm was in a sling, but he had a smile on his face, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was strong enough to pull the ears off a gundark. Brian was so thrilled I was there. He's seen a few troops before, as a bystander, and he's attended an armor party or two as well, so it wasn't like hanging out with a stormtrooper was a new experience for him. But it lifted his spirits instantly. His doctor had recommended he start walking around a little bit - and he decided to interpret "a little bit" as completely around the hospital. It was his idea to walk to the Emergency Room and make some quick visits (with plenty of picture stops on the way there and back), and kept asking passing nurses if any rooms had children in them. By the time we got back to his room, we had met well over a dozen patients in their rooms, and probably took pictures with 30 people or more. After we got back, I stayed in costume for another good hour or so, chit-chatting with him and his family, who were also with us the whole time. When it was finally time to leave, we had spent a full two and a half hours together - and both of us had smiles on our faces the whole time. That was yesterday. Today, I'm happy to announce the doctors gave him a hospital discharge, and he is on the road to a full, quick recovery. He's hoping to have his Red Guard approved by the end of this summer, and with any luck, I'll be trooping with him in no time!

I have a YouTube channel. Its name is the same name I have on this forum. That's proof enough that you can choose whatever name you want, and people will still watch your videos. Obviously, choosing a name that can easily be associated with your channel's content helps. So if you want to show videos from your troops, you can do something like "Stormtrooper Trooper" or "501st Transmissions". Something fun, maybe punny. Or, if you wanna be straight-forward, "Stormtrooper" works just as well.

Okay, I just hope I'm doing this right... In all the photos below, I am the TK without a blaster in my holster. I have one, and used it at a troop later in the day, but didn't bring it to this particular one. And ignore the April 9 stamp. It's wrong. I joined the 501st last Tuesday, and almost instantly, I signed up for several troops with my local Squad. Most of them are spread out a month or two from now, but I was able to sign up for this troop (and, at the last minute, a Make-a-Wish troop for later in the day; that report may come later) and I'm very proud to call THIS my first ever troop with the 501st Legion! Others involved were Rick Flores (TK-6239, our Vader), Scott Harrelson (TK-24241, the other TK), and Thomas Maske (TX-25555, the Shadow Scout). My awesome wife Theresa was there as a handler and photographer (she's not in the 501st), as was Thomas's wife. The day started early for me. The event happened an hour away and we needed to be there at 7 AM, so both of us woke up at 5:30. Not ideal, but at least we got there before the hot Texas heat settled in. We got dressed and then made our way to the start line. We stayed there for a good hour or so, maybe even more, waving at the race participants and taking pictures. My one and only wardrobe malfunction of the troop occurred when one of my shins came loose; a quick velcro fix later and I was all good. After the race started, we went indoors and spent more time taking more pictures with a very enthusiastic crowd. We spent a full hour, split between a 15-minute water/cooling-off break. Two things in particular are in my memory: the first was a child, probably 3 or 4, who was scared to death of us. They can't see you smiling like an idiot underneath your bucket during your very first troop; to them, you look robotic, if not demonic. She shied away, even beginning to cry before her parents gave up getting a picture with us. The second biggest thing was another girl, about the same age, who ran up to us and yelled at the top of her lungs "I LOVE STAR WARS!" All of us chuckled at her enthusiasm. ^ my awesome-possum wife posing with us at the very end ^ After 2 and a half hours, the crowd began to disperse, and we decided to call it a day - given that two of the four of us had another troop later in the day anyway. All in all, it was a VERY fun first troop! Notes to self: trim the forearms so I can actually bend my elbows enough to take off my bucket, and also get fans FOR my bucket. ~~Skul, TK-69004

I was inducted into the 501st Legion this past Tuesday (the day of The Force Awakens' home video release!), and it was the end result of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. But I'm in. I was mostly inspired to join based on Daniel Fleetwood's story - but there's way more to it than that. So much, in fact, that I actually made a video to talk about it in-depth. For anyone interested in joining the 501st, I do have a few tips that I learned while I was in the process of joining. 1) RESEARCH. You can never research enough. Research, research, and research some more - and when you're sick and tired of researching, keep researching. 2) Never be afraid to ask for help. I had a LOT of questions, some of which I felt were stupid at the time, and many people (both in real life and here on FISD) were more than willing to answer them and help out in any way they could. There's a reason, after all, that the motto of this site is "Troopers helping troopers". 3) Meet members of the Legion. I was lucky enough to have a LOT of help from one member in particular of my squad; he hosted an armor party and helped me oversee finishing my bucket, then took another three nights in a row to get my strapping system all done. I felt bad at the time for having him focus on me so much, but he insisted (and I believe him) that he doesn't mind. The build process is half the fun - and besides, with more troopers in the Legion, there's more opportunity to make people happy with our charity work. 4) Be on the lookout for deals. I was on the wait list for an ATA armor kit, and that was an 11-month wait. Then I happened upon an AMAZING deal from someone else in the same Garrison as I am. He was selling a half-finished RS kit, complete with all Centurion specs, for less than half the price he bought it for. I jumped on the deal, and only needed to make some minor alterations to make it fit. All in all, I think I spent less than $1000 altogether on EVERYTHING I needed for my armor - between the armor itself and the tools to make it. The only thing that pushed me over was investing in a Hyperfirm E-11 instead of a kit, but that was something I planned from the beginning. 5) Centurion isn't that much harder. I know, it LOOKS harder, especially just by looking at the CRL. But I've made my armor to Centurion specifications (except the shoulder strapping; I didn't have white nylon at the time. I'll fix that later), and it wasn't much harder than just going for basic entry. It's DEFINITELY more time-consuming (especially painting the bucket instead of using stickers), but let me tell you, it just made the process that much more fun. Of course, if you don't WANT to go Centurion, feel free to do whatever you want. But if you're on the fence, let me just tell you that it's 100% worth it, and not that much more expensive or harder than basic entry level approval. Anyway, I hope these tips help future troopers, and I also hope you guys enjoyed the video!

I was just approved today (the day of The Force Awakens' home video release!) I'm probably the first stormtrooper in the Empire to choose their TK number based on the index number of their favorite Pokemon.

TK-69004 requesting access. http://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=21082

I thought I'd give one last update. I spent a good three days (almost straight) working hard on my armor with someone who I cannot thank enough for his help. Long story short, it's done. There are a few things that I need to fix before submitting for Advanced Tactics (I need to use some ABS paste on the sides and replace the top straps with white), but for basic entry, I'm all done. I just submitted my 501st application today, after my GML said that I look all set! So I apologize that this wasn't a big build thread like I had thought it would be. Like I said, I have a LOT to thank for the guy who helped me out. But I also have to thank the FISD forums for helping me out in starting out, doing some basic things on my own, and even just existing to help newbies like myself find their way. Below are my submission pictures, which again, were approved by the GML. Thanks once again, and may the Force be with you all!

I just recorded it with my regular microphone, then ran it through a few different filters in Audacity. My helmet is currently electronics-less, but I hope to fix that sometime in the future.

Theoretically, the answer is yes due to the theory of relativity. Even though the ship in the back is going twice the speed of light, so is the ship you are traveling in as well. Meaning, relative to you, the other ship is not moving at all. It would be similar to looking out to your driveway and seeing your car parked. It's not moving because YOU'RE not moving.

I just finished my bucket a few days ago, and I decided to have some fun and make a video using it! My career is YouTube, and I specialize in Pokemon content, so I figured, what better way to show off my helmet than to play Pokemon while wearing it? Things went just about as well as you'd expect for a stormtrooper.

Well, my armor party has come and gone. Aside from the thighs, I spent the whole day working on my ATA helmet - which, thankfully, is now done. So all that's left, really, is some riveting and strapping on the rest of this. And, for now, putting on the sniper knee plate. This has been a head-scratcher ever since I got the kit; the knee, no matter how I set it, just will not fit flush with the rest of the shin. I have read that this is to be expected, so I guess I just had to make due. Again, the glue is setting, so if I did this wrong, tell me now. THIS is as good as I could get it. There's that huge gap between the plate and the right side of the shin, but other than that I think it looks good. Again, I'm aiming for Centurion, so if this is incorrect and I need to do something drastic like use a heat gun or do some shin trimming, let me know. But otherwise, I'm actually pretty happy with how this turned out.

Well, my armor party has come and gone - and with it, my bucket is complete! Mostly. The last thing for me to wrap up is the lenses. While I was at my armor party, someone had a very unique idea. They cut their lenses down to the correct size, then bent the tops of them 90 degrees, so they sat on top of the inside eye holes. Then they used velcro to stick them together. This is a great way to keep the lenses in place, while still making it very easy to go back later and clean/adjust them if necessary. I decided to use this approach in making my lenses. I spent a good 2 hours shaping the lens, heating it up with a blow drier because I was paranoid about snapping it, then shaping the top correctly to sit on top of the eye. But one is done, and as soon as the other is done, this bucket is 100% done! And with that, this will conclude this build thread. I have a separate thread for my RS kit, but frankly, I made so much progress on that at the armor party that there's not much left except some riveting (which will have to wait) and strapping. Once those small things are done, I'll be all set to join the 501st!

It's an idea. lol I really want to get to working on an R2-D2 after this, though. And those aren't cheap, so I think I'll just stick with this TK. ------- If I screwed up, now's the time to tell me, before the glue dries. I decided to work on my thighs - the one part of the kit that was still 100% untrimmed. I worked for a long time on them, using multiple screenshots and submission pictures from the Advanced Tactics program. (Those should be required reading for new recruits. Seriously.) It took me forever to figure out that I DO need to trim the return edge off the tops of the thighs. Once those were gone, they fit MUCH better than the dry fit when untrimmed. After that, it was just a matter of lining them up properly on either side, trimming to the perfect fit, and then setting the first cover strips to glue overnight. That was literally five minutes ago, so again, if I screwed up, tell me now. Trimmed thighs. Top two are left thigh, bottom two are right. Focusing on the left thigh now, since once it's done, it's done. As seen from the front And as seen from the back Put in the inner cover strip and put on as many magnets as I had. Clamped the ends down. The black lines are leftover from my trim marks, not gaps. There are VERY tiny gaps here and there but I'm sure the cover strips will take care of those.

Even though I much prefer Stunt armor, both in look and personal preference, I LOVE watching other people build Hero armor. If anything, because it's just not as common to see. Good luck with your build!

I guess they're drop boxes, then. I did some trimming last night, but otherwise I'm going to wait until this Saturday's armor party to keep working on it. The sniper plate is especially giving me grief; is it supposed to be hard to put on?