Brattie

This has always been one of my favorite songs. LOL

Alrighty.. now that I'm feeling meh.. instead of BLAH.. I have some great fun to share.. Over last weekend I was at the Hamilton Comic Con.. many of us call Hammerplague as the ventilation wasn't the best and a few of us ended up sick. If I forget about that for a minute I can share that I got to meet Dave Prowse and Brian Herring!!! For those that don't know.. though you should... David Prowse is the actor that played DARTH VADER in the original movies. This also turned out to be his last convention that he would travel abroad for!! Nice guy! I got to talk to him and shake his hand and sit for a massive group photo with our team at the convention!! Brian Herring: Puppeteer of BB8 and actor!! That's right.. we had fun conversations about SW and how things went down on the set and designs.. it was awesome! Both great people and I wish them happiness and good health! Again.. other than this plague that I am fighting .. I had fun!

Alright.. moving along.. http://www.instructables.com/id/Restoring-yellowed-Stormtrooper-armor/ or take the easy road and go to Trooper bay and get Armor White For future reference.. how to remove yellowing from ABS plastic... So more tweaks on my gear and leading up to more troops coming soon. I have so much to do and so little time.. Laughs.. My cut proof gloves have finally arrived and I have Patches.. what was that you say? Patches.. we don't need no stinkin' Patches.. oh yes we do! My long lost order of legion patches is on it's way.. WHOOHOO! Second Item of the day.. MOLD. Yes I said the 'M' word. Through conversations during troops I've talked with people that have had the misfortune of having to deal with MOLD growth on their armor or a costume.. One guy lost a full alien suit to the green fuzzies!!! But WHY would that happen? Surely we don't have to worry about it on ABS plastic... or do we... ???? Go ahead.. tell me mold won't form on plastic.. I dare ya! I have actually done testing on this item in school and yes it does and yes it can.. on any surface, on any material.. on anything.. it's like a mini-hammerplague.. it can get everyone... and everything!! First hand knowledge here folks so please save the argument. A variety of mold species, (Penicillium or Aspergillus to name 2 of them) can grow on Plastic. Usually in places with stagnant air. Long Troops lead to tired Troopers and well.. if you leave your gear in a garage, basement, other area with even a bit of moisture or in a sealed box where it can't breath.. and if it's still full of sweat and nastiness.. you can be sure that it's the PERFECT breading ground for Mold.. which CAN ruin your gear if left in that state for too long.. PREVENT MOLD.. Clean your gear! There are numerous ways to clean your gear but the easiest thing to do would be to ensure you wipe your gear down thoroughly after each troop. Perhaps a little cleaner now and then as well but nothing too strong. Be sure it's clean for special troops.. like if you are planning a Hospital Troop! Clean gear stays pretty longer! That's all for now..

Let me win the lottery fist to afford them. Lol

Alright, so next on my list of things to adjust.. Laugh.. I think I'd like to figure out a way to tighten up my belt a bit and at the same time I'm going to pad the backside of my holster.. with that being said.. as much as I love my resin blaster.. I need to start looking into other options as I'd love to be able to carry my blaster in my holster now and then without worrying of damaging it.. Food for thought.. open to ideas..

I wanted to speak about something Dave said in his quote.. those that have never experienced trauma, mental illness or other problems in their past wouldn't understand the difficulty most people have in expressing themselves and information when they have suffered or are suffering from some sort of Trauma/mental illness/or other person issue.. It's a very delicate matter and can cause them pain just talking or thinking about it. He spoke of "struggling in silence or in whispers" Too many victims or people suffering with trauma, mental illness, or even other personal challenges do this. They are unable to trust people, or to have the support to face their problems. Some are embarrassed and afraid to be "outed" or judged because of what they are dealing with or what they have survived. It is this problem that pushes so many to the edge. The lack of support. Granted in recent years there has been movement and support offered to people dealing with such things, but judgement is still out there. If you are dealing with Trauma, or suffering from a mental illness or problem.. then please do reach out for help. There are so many resources available all over North America for those wishing help or guidance. You are never alone, there are others just like you out there. For those that have never had such issues, problems, or trauma in their past, present or future.. that's great. You are very lucky. All I ask of you is not to judge those that have or are dealing with such things. Just thinking of my past brings me to tears. It doesn't matter how long ago it was.. writing about it, thinking about it, talking about it brings up raw feelings of hurt, despair and a pain that can't be put into words. So why do I do it? I do it because in forums of this nature where we are all here to help each other I feel comfortable that I can express some of these things with you all in the privacy of the forum. I do it because I know, in the thousands of members of our forum.. there are others like me.. others that might not have someone to talk to, or know someone that might understand what they are dealing with.. I do it so others know that they don't have to suffer in silence or be alone.. Thanks for reminding me Dave of just how far I have come.

will do Brad.. looking forward to it!

Alright.. so moving along.. I keep hoping that someone in Canada will start to build the rubberized or hyperfirm style prop weapons. This round about way of trying to get some of these great items from the US is really painful. It is also horrifically expensive for Canadians. Yes you can go with 3_d printed plastics which I have.. it's light but wow fragile and just doesn't take the paint that well.. it requires loads of work to the point that I have abandoned my 3-D blaster to a degree due to focusing on other projects until I can figure it out more. The holster that was moveable had a crack and was quickly replaced by the maker, however it's really hard to drill out and find replacement pieces for it all. The Quest design Blaster is awesome. I love it. The fact it was built here in Ontario makes me even more proud to carry it. The biggest issue is that it is fragile.. The fire switch broke and I had to JB weld it back in place... it's holding up pretty good actually. The down side is the weight. To carry it for long periods of time is tiring. I did figure out a way to rest my hands holding the blaster on my belt when standing at attention.. this helps take the load and give my arms a rest for a short time. That is the only con I have for it.. truly it's an awesome addition. Holster.. The Quest blaster fits in the holster perfectly.. but with the weight it tugs on the belt.. not to mention the damage that can be done to the armor if you walk with your blaster swinging around in the holster.. not good for the armor or blaster.. To fix this.. I plan on finding a way to get a lighter blaster for the holster.. I considered leaving my plastic one in the holster but even that bangs around a lot and again.. the plastic requires loads of work to get it looking more accurate.. parts easily fall off of this as well. Perhaps padding the back side of the holster could help prevent rub against the armor.. maybe even some Costume silk attached to prevent the rub. A wise Garrison mate has made a thin pocket on the backside of the holster for items.. it's a grand idea.. He said he is currently working out the kinks in his design for it.. I'm watching and will let you know how it's done and what he found worked best when I see the final design. I may even do the same. At a troop with 3 of us in TK's, a sand trooper and one Vader.. we ran into a problem not having a handler of who could carry the dressing room key.. some of us have the ability to place it in some spots.. The Sandtrooper tried to see if he could get it into one of his pouches.. but he had an audio system taking up some of the space too.. In the end the idea of putting it inside one of our gloves was the best idea for now.. but it got us all thinking of ways to best store easily accessible items within our gear. I have drop boxes that will open up and am going to work at making them into little pockets as well.. however I want to keep down the sound.. so I'll have to pad it in some manner.. As an example.. I don't want to hear the sound of jingling keys as I march. In a thread on FISD here.. can't remember exactly where.. someone spoke on this and discussed baby socks.. using the toe and attaching it to the inside of the drop box.. This is something I'm leaning towards.. but I am also looking for something that could be closed within it and not cause a problem.. I'll keep you guys up to date on how I do with that as well.. This weekend I have Hamilton Comic Con.. as my Biker Scout build is on hold for armor.. and I don't have any other supplies yet for it.. I plan on using the time over the next month to figure out the drop box idea. So stay tuned. Brattie out.

This is so me.. Laugh

hugz Meshie

I'm there all weekend, so pop by the 501st booth... Look for me!

ok.. so Build related.. I added some padding to different parts of my Bucket to give it a bit more of a tilt.. with doing this it gives a bit more space between my upper chest and bucket so I can move my head better.. It was a friend in the garrison that suggested tilting the bucket a bit.. although it makes the lower lip touch my neck.. the tilt actually increases the space and gives me more movement while ensuring I can still see out of it.. it actually increased my visibility. I'll be testing that out on the next practice walk through the park next week maybe.. Have a Comic Con this weekend .. using my Jawa.

Thanks Paul.. as long as someone is getting something from this.. I'll keep it going

Alright.. we are approaching page 60 of this thread... Should I shut it down? No idea.. I know we are talking about various parts of building as it is truly a never ending journey of adjustments... _______________________________________________________________________________________ On the Bloggish front: Lately I've been distant from so many things due to other priorities. Some drama seems to surround me at work these days and it is taking up too much of my time. Here's what happened: I asked a co-worker two days ago to help me with a project and they did. They had done a similar project in the past and I knew their knowledge would be extremely helpful. Also, I fully expected to help them as well down the road as that's what being a friend and co-worker is all about. Right? Anyway, yesterday my co-worker .. lets call her Sin.. comes to me and tells me that apparently two others on our team (lets call them Jorge and Betty) were talking trash and whining like babies about me to Sin because she helped me with the project. With her help we got it completed on time and my boss was thrilled. So it should be awesome right? We completed a high profile job and made our team look great. I couldn't believe that Jorge and Betty would be so ridiculous. The badmouthing crap became so stupid that my boss stepped in and well now there are meetings and blah blah blah trying to do team building skills etc when truly it's not necessary.. Jorge and Betty need to learn to mind their own business. There's a huge rift in our Team right now because of it all. So with all this stress at work it got me thinking and trying to understand why a person would be a moron like that... why do so many stick their nose into others business.. is it jealousy? is it an overall desire for others to chime in on other peoples things? Are they trying to act as if they are better than another person? Do they think it's fun to make another person's life difficult? I don't get it... I asked for help from a co-worker.. a member of the team.. like we are suppose to do.. Team -> (Together. Everyone. Achieves. More) We are suppose to help each other. Anyway, it's times like this that I am glad that my work doesn't flow over into my Star Wars or I'd be angry all the time. There are days I'd like to walk up to them and throttle them right in the face just out of the blue.. like just suddenly snap one day and take my clip board and slam it over their heads.. because that would make me feel better and perhaps knock some sense into their stupid brains. However, doing that would lower me to their standards and perhaps get me fired. I don't get why my co-workers don't come talk to me so we can discuss the issue if they have a problem like grown adults instead of whining like a 2 year old to another person. I don't get it.. I'm so glad I have this to focus my attention when I need to escape a little... The bigger issue is that there is a downside to being bombarded by this type of thing at work.. I have a temper.. and I mean when I blow up.. look out.. I like that quote "somebodies gonna get a hurt on real bad" Laugh. To understand this.. here's a little about me... I tend to be calm and collected 99% of the time. 20 years of martial arts training helps me maintain control. I used it as an outlet. I became a black belt in Karate and am helping teach youth Judo now. All of this is my way of taking all of the horrors of my past and flipping it into positives as much as I can. It helps release the hurt, pain.. and victim guilt that I have carried since I was little. I'm not afraid to say that I had a rough childhood. I am not afraid to admit that I had thought of and attempted to kill myself numerous times to the point that I hung myself in the basement and would have succeeded if the rope didn't break. That was the final wake up call. I thought it was my only way to escape. I went through years and years of therapy in my 20s and 30s. With professional help I have started to learn to live with the past. It was also decided that it would negatively affect my parents at this point if they knew about it all. It could actually kill my mother as she has a bad heart. I know I appear to most as a strong woman.. but truly I am more of a survivor. Like so many people I know... I've had a rough life. Mental struggles, tons of medical and health problems due to the trauma I endured over my younger years until early adulthood. I've been alive for almost 40 years of life and I'm now FINALLY getting beyond it all.. FINALLY getting back on my feet again.. FINALLY doing something for me.. Don't get me wrong, it is not all bad.. I have an amazing loving family.. all the bad crap was all going on outside of the "family circle". I wish my struggles ended with all that so many years ago. It doesn't... Two years ago I was told I had six months to live. A nerve problem from the years of "trauma" had developed and it was possible that my nervous system was shutting down. 38 years old and my life was possibly over. It was a tough thing to face. I became stubborn and wouldn't take it laying down. I fought.. and beat all the odds and got through it all. I have only a small tremor in my right hand now, numbness on the right side of my face.. and a slight limp that isn't always detectable.. but I survived yet again. I guess it seems like you just can't keep me down. Over the past 3 years I lost my 3 best friends to tragedy. One I lost to Bone Cancer, another to a heart attack and the last to a car accident.. They were my support, my best friends. There was no one left to talk to, or to offer support. It felt like the darkness was back to consume my life again. This has been a very challenging journey for me.. I'm so glad I have so much support within this community and people that will stand by me. I'm so glad that I don't have to deal with Bull crap here like I face every day at work. People here are respectful and will mind their own business about what others do especially when it doesn't effect them or have any impact on their lives in any manner. I've overcome so much to get to this point.. and though the battles to keep my temper in check continue as I have rage from my past at least with all of this I have a fun happy outlet in my love for star wars now. I'm so grateful to those I call friends here. All of you that have been part of my journey so far.. Thank you... and I can't wait to meet so many more awesome people moving forward. With all of you I have started to find the light and fun in life again.. Thank you... I survived horrible challenges that have clouded my life for years and years... however that horrific trauma gave me this amazing inner strength. I am a survivor. I can keep going... The damage of my past can't be undone and it still darkens the deepest part of my heart and soul.. but with my love of Star Wars I can now add some light to the darkness. The struggles have caused relationship problems and made me feel as if I would be better off alone. I lost my house.. my home... but I know I can rebuild myself now.. Life goes on.. and it is what you make of it.. people die and they are remembered. I honor my lost friends with every step I take and every bit of myself that I give to a good cause. My life, my journey, my recovery.. so now.. I begin again..

Monday Song..

Next few tweaks will be to try to adjust the armor so I can move my head a bit more.. thinking of a bucket tilt or something..

Thanks guys.. hope it helps others.. it worked great and really gives everything some good structure!

Fixed... I tanked it!! Duct Straps Attached with Rivets and Washers Then Velcro covering the metal Duct Strap And Voila.. Tanked out strapping sandwich!!! So strong I can lift the gear and bounce it without it moving... Can you say TIGHT! that's right.. Centurion level tightness!! and VOILA .. space between my Bucket and chest!! Eat your heart out!!

Hahhaha Meshie.. I'm going to try.. I have 3 hours to accomplish this today.

Wow.. look how small the distance is from your front and back armor.. I wouldn't even be able to get my head through that hole.. Laugh.. my AP armor is smaller so in order to manage the back gaps and such I had to give more space in the shoulder.. thus the issue with the strap... when they were closer like yours.. no issue.. I think my idea to fix this and provide further structure to the attaching strap will result in a very minimal problem moving forward.. It's either that or I buy bigger chest and back .. . where at that point I'll just throw in the towel and go Sandy.

You can see in this small picture that the strap I am talking about sticks out about half an inch.. This was rectified for Fan Expo via another black elastic that ran to each strap on each side of my head and pulled them inwards preventing this issue. The flex in the strap allow it to be pulled out.. My theory is that if I remove a lot of that flex.. it will prevent it from becoming visible. Fingers crossed

Alright.. I have a heading.. I'm going to create a sandwich for my shoulder straps.. the white strap I have holding the front and back armor together under the bridge will have a message spine added to it.. The piece will go from the snaps on one side to the snaps on the other to prevent the horizontal pull from the bells.. I will cut a couple strips of Tin so they are 1/4 inch small per side of the strap to prevent metal cuts. (just in case) Then I'll Rivet and glue the pieces to the strap.. this will stiffen it up so it shouldn't have sideways flex as much.. On top of that.. I can then add velcro to the top of the tin and velcro under the bridges to help support everything.. If it works.. I will have resolved the issue and my armor should sit down better after the removal of the black strap I have that currently goes behind my neck to hold the current straps inward. Fingers crossed.. Items I will pick up include: 8 Longer rivets 16 Wide Rivet washers Tin (probably duct work) White velcro (already have)

I agree with the idea.. I am going to reinforce the bridge first though.. then I could glue, or velcro the strap to the bridge and this would then relieve the issue with the bells.. thus enabling me to remove the other temporary strap I had in place to keep them tight together..

Glad to help Paul! Not all Jawa's are short! Laughs

Jorge, Thanks. Yes I have seen his post before. I didn't use elastic from the back and front though. I used strapping which was more rigid to prevent this issue. It just wasn't enough.. I have a few plans in mind.. as I'm a "bigger girl" up top than some others I plan on shifting the button towards the front more and I am considering attaching a thin metal to the strap. What I'd like to see is even a fabric around the metal with the snaps through it, or the strap I have attached to the metal.. I don't know.. That's the part I'm just trying to work out in my head.. however funds right now are at a stand still as I'm still recovering from Fan Expo and other Troops last month. When I have time I will visit the stores and see about the metal.. I have a few ideas in mind for that as well.. Something thin with a little flex but workable. Ducting perhaps. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Paul, I am not short, but there can be similar issues to AP gear with regards to sizing. Take your time. Mark is awesome with answering questions but sometimes it's best to call him if there are misunderstandings. His gear is good but it's difficult to size for women due to our proportions upstairs so to speak. I love my gear, I know I don't seem that interested in it lately, but I do love my gear and appreciate all the help I've had with it.. I just find some things very frustrating with it and until I work out all those kinks.. I just won't be satisfied.. that's me though and nothing to do with the build or the gear. As I mentioned before I never planned on taking my gear to Fan Expo.. not my TK anyway. However it was requested for the march and stuff so away it went. I am very structured in how I like to test gear. I expect it to look and feel the best it can before I do official troops. I expect it to be in good working order with limited chance for failures during an official Troop.. it's why I do unofficial walks in the park to work out kinks and trouble shoot problems. Best advice I can give is to take your time and work through sizing it right and making it fit the best. I haven't really seen it posted in too many places out there so I'll just come out and say it.. you are wearing a plastic spaceman outfit.. it's not designed for our curves or our shapes in comparison to the male form. It is different and over all it's not the most comfortable thing to wear. Most of us put that to the side as we are just so happy to be in our gear and doing what we do.. I know I do.. but it's very important to ensure you make it as comfortable as possible.. Anyway, I know many people that are building for different sizes and shapes and there is no one place for answers. Reach out to the local Garrison and speak to the different people.. Some less vertical individuals are Sand Troopers as well. So they may be able to lend good advise for someone under 5' 11. I look forward to hearing and seeing your build progress. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tricks that have been handed down to me along the way from those wiser than I am include things like: Use small padding in the legs near the knees to help prevent twist during walking. This also takes some of the pressure off the harness system under the suit. Also use velcro in a few places on the lower legs. Two piece under-suits are more comfortable but as the armor moves.. so does the suit.. I am also considering a one piece suit for my TK now.. I have to de-gear totally to use the bathroom anyway.. so I might as well go with the one piece. TK armor takes loads of tweaking and it may never end. After numerous troops over a weekend or a very long one... you will lose weight (water) due to sweating so much and your gear will become loose.. expect that and be prepared for your gear to shift around a bit more. So far I have utilized the following from my emergency kit: Safety Pins Scissors Tape Velcro (usually others) Soldering Iron Over that period I have completed 10 official and 2 unofficial troops (not including walks in the park) 8 Troops in my Jawa 2 Troops in both Jawa and TK (I had my TK for the whole Fan Expo but only wore it twice when needed) Yes.. creating a troop tracker helps keep track of things. Laterz all and thanks again.