revlimiter

omg this is incredible. Seriously the best thread I've seen in months. @MaskedVengeance check out the tiny TD!

Those Blaster Factory power cylinders are SOOOO good. It's hard, if not impossible, to beat them at any price. Excellent choice! I'm a huge fan of their parts as well.

An OTTK airsoft? Very interesting!!! I'm looking forward to this one. You should build an R1 E-11 also.

Huge Leia!!! That's a great photo. And congrats on 1 year!

10/14/23 - Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Day 8 Sunrise and Eclipse 83rd TK troop, 38 for the year CREB 5435 - 25th troop and 10th for the year TK9 Soos - 2nd troop This is a big one. Last day of Fiesta and the Eclipse troop. Getting this one out of the way first. I waited TWO YEARS for this photo. Me and Vader. And it was so worth the wait! (sorry for no official group photo on the last two. we seem to stop taking them as the week wears on...) This was Anita's 400th Armored troop!!! She doesn't count ones she handles. Just incredible! She and her husband Joseph (over 900 I think) are huge inspirations to me. Well done Jawamama!!!! Harriet made it to her 2nd Fiesta troop as well. And as you can see, the selfie runs strong in my family. Such a rebel. Someday it'll be white armor. Just Mando things. Daddy and daughter. Soos is borrowing Mabel's TK rider since he doesn't yet have a costume. We're picking just the right one once he's a little bigger. Soos got to troop with his buddy Chewie!!! Chewie also had his first Fiesta troops this year, but has trooped with his mom dozens of times. Leia hooked my family up with her same service dog trainer and transformed our lives. But back to ME. In addition to getting a pic with Vader, I got a zebra selfie! That's been on my list a while too. (Zebras are the event staff that tell balloons when to launch) Why do we dot this?! Because of THIS!!! This is the crowd that we were handling this very day, Oct 14th. The full res isn't much larger, so I can't quite tell where my daughter and I are. I think I see Harriet's Sabine bucket near that van by the neighbor red/white/blue balloon. That's the area we worked anyway. I love my Imperial family. (I'm kneeling lol) Thanks for another amazing year AIBF!!!! Can't wait for the 2am mornings next October. a few hours later... ECLIPSE! Yeah, we had a full eclipse about 10:45 in the morning and it went straight over my town. Straight over Fiesta. They planned an "Eclipse glow" at the Fiesta grounds where all the balloons on the ground would inflate and glow during the event. Annnnd.... neither Vader nor Yoda were picked. They chose 70 random regular round balloons. Out of everyone I spoke to, no one knew a pilot who was picked for this very exclusive Eclipse Glow and every pilot was very angry. We had planned a troop for it and we made patches. We made about 1500 stickers to give to attendees... Since the SW balloons couldn't attend and I needed to catch a plane in a few hours, I left. The photo above is from my back yard. But I still armored up to troop under the black sun. This is, unfortunately, a photoshop creation. It's a combination of two photos I took of the eclipse. It wasn't that dark though. We had something like 97% sun coverage... which is still quite bright. The sky was quite bright and shadows were still sharp. It was similar to a cloudy day at 11:00. I can't imagine the "glowing" balloons were that visible. Not to end this on a downer. I had a great time looking through my eclipse glasses, taking pix (I have a nice eclipse filter for one of my SLR lenses) and trooping around. It was honestly more satisfying than being disappointed at Fiesta field. Still... wish they'd let Vader ignite and all of us troopers play and entertain the crowds.

10/11/23 - Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Day 5 Sunrise 82nd TK troop, 37 for the year CREB 5435 - 24th troop and 9th for the year - And FIRST Balloon Fiesta troop!!!! My daughter finally got a balloon fiesta troop!!! Huge for me as a dad and Fiesta troop lover, but huger for her. The training we have every year gave her huge anxiety about the event (it gives EVERYONE anxiety to be honest). That plus the requirement for a no-bucket dedicated handler kept her away till Wednesday morning. But weekdays are very chill and my buddy Brandon (Maul) agreed to help me keep an eye on her. No problems to be reported. Also, TK9-SOOS got his very first troop! A service dog in the crowd was not sure what to think of the plastic spaceman. The owner wanted a pic taken and a little desensitization from the white armor. As a SD trainer, I totally got that and did my best to not freak out the pup while still being the trooper that was needed. Soos watched nonplussed. He's the most chill little boy. In front of a slightly droopy Vader. He's old and not very airtight. Still intimidating! And then I got this treatment. This big group of kids were honestly stoked to meet a real TK. Like... they weren't kidding. I was a celeb for a moment. Possibly there's a TK in Minecraft or some other non-SW game that they all played. I couldn't quite get everything they were all chatting at top speed. I gave them all FISD trading cards of me and hung out for a while. Got this selfie to commemorate it. I've had some incredible moments as a TK but I never felt like an honest to got rockstar until right then. It was something else.

Yeah, that's one I'll never forget. Snake in the helmet is FAR far worse than a snake on a plane.

10/8/23 - Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Day 2 Sunrise 81st TK troop, 36 for 2023 Day 2 - everyone was a little less than full powered. I didn't even find a full group photo for the event, just this one with the 501st only. We had some Rebels, Mercs, and GA in attendance as well, but less than 72. In the 60s I think. BTW, 72 for the previous day was very near a garrison all time record. I think we were 3-4 short from the most attended DRG event of all time. It was quite a party. Day 2 was still great! Just less of a party. This is a GA member!!! Ace (I think this is Ace) and his dad modified his small TK over a couple evenings and he night troop'd like a pro! Getting ready to march in. That's a flood lamp in the distance, not the sunrise. Still about an hour before sunrise. I spent most of this event helping guard the crown line (the big line at the top of the balloon on the right side of this shot) and keep the crowd safe. The lines can move around a lot and clothesline people quite nicely. That's why the troopers are here, in fact - to help the balloons. A couple hours of crown line work with my VERY LOUD TRamp chest speaker deserved a crowd selfie. "Move along" indeed.

10/7/23 - Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Day 1 Sunrise 80th TK troop, 35th for the year Day 1 of AIBF!!! Day 1 of waking up at 2am to meet at 3am. But it's fun! Right? We had an incredible turnout. I believe there were 72 there from all four clubs (501st, RL, MM, and GA) including handlers. I'm standing next to ARC Trooper Jesse with the arrow pointing at my bucket. I mean, in a crowd like this even Darth Maul is kinda hard to find right off. We had troopers. We had pilots. We had Mandos. We even had rebels. (I think this is my fav selfie of the whole 8 day event) Regardless of our club affiliations and belief in the Force, we were all united in one purpose - the security of Vader and Yoda. Vader ascending to the clouds. Once the balloons were up, we were allowed a break. If only the suit had a recycler in it...

You're lining these up and knocking them down!!! Very very well done!

Dank farrik that's quite a first troop!!! Could any possible other first event even begin to compare? I seriously doubt it. Congrats on breaking in that armor at long last!

I can't resist boasting about this one a little bit - the blaster in this thread is now the CRL image for the ANH E-11. The old one had an inaccuracy at the end of the magazine (OFF pointing the wrong way) and only had one side shown. Andrew asked for some updated images and I was quick to send pix of mine. The chip on the scope and Joseph's beautiful greebs got moved over to my Blaster Factory build (The Leia Leveller) leaving this one to be a pristine yet generic example of an E-11. The camera angle doesn't show the inner spring due to the insanely thick walls on the QuestDesign blaster, but the bolt spring is indeed in there, as are the small electronic bits in my last update. https://databank.501st.com/databank/File:TK_anh_stunt_e11.jpeg This same image is used on quite a few CRLs including ANH Stunt ANH Hero Heavy Weapons Trooper TK Incinerator TX Shadow Trooper Shadow Scout Novatrooper Sandtrooper Imperial Gunner and quite a few more. I'm an E-11 nut and have FIVE in my collection, so having one of them as the CRL model is a very proud moment for me.

Whoa, that's an 850 kit?!?! I agree 100% with Justin - I've never seen one look this good. Yours looks phenomenal.

Congrats on 25!!! I didn't see them till now, but those shots from Theodor... WOW! Perfectly in universe. I'm incredibly jealous.

9/30/23 - AFSP Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention Walk 79th TK troop, 34 for the year CREB 5435 - 23rd troop and 8th for the year TK9 Mabel - 4th troop and 3rd for the year This one was a bit more somber of a troop - a walk for suicide prevention. A couple thousand people showed up in memory and support. Mabel, Sabine, and this TK were not gonna miss it. We even made the local news. @elwessbrandon (in the pauldron - he gets some slack for having a shoulder in need of mending) even got a nice interview with them! He did amazing. Sabine and I... And Mabel. Shot by one of my 501st brothers whilst the TV camera was apparently pointed at us. She may be a rebel, but I still love her with all my plastic heart. Mabel doing her stuff with some kids. She is an amazing therapy dog and got many many pats that day. I think she brought as many smiles as the rest of us did. She got lots of belly rub payments. To anyone reading my log who may be struggling or going through some hard times - hit my DM or the FISD Discord. I'm happy to chat and would dearly love to spend some hours doing that than read about your passing sometime later. Life is not easy and the world is bullsh**. But every day we wake up again is another day they haven't beaten us. Don't let them beat you. We're strong together.

Those pix in the plane!!!

The thigh height looks pretty good to me. As Glen said, try to shove those shins downward a good bit. It'll give you a lot more mobility and give a little nicer gap to match the thighs more.

Looks AMAZING!!! Did they all realize how rare that armor is? I hope it was comfy to troop in!

Hopefully I'm not laughed out of the squad with this comparison, but I've got the Black Series toy next to me right now. Your backpack rides almost precisely where the toy's does. LOOKS GOOD TO ME!!! But seriously, it looks really good. The height looks perfect.

(gahhhhhh!!! the browser just ate my reply... ugh... now for retyping) 9/24/24 - NM Railyard Shows Intergalactic Day 78th TK troop, 33 for the year CREB (ooooo) 5435 - 22nd troop and 7th for the year TK9 Mabel - 3rd troop and 2nd for the year This was a huge troop as you can see from the group photo. Wish I'd found one without the frame but it gets the point across. This was INTERGALACTIC Day at the Railyard Market. My family did it last year and it was fantastic. My wife stayed home with our other two dogs who aren't quite ready for this kind of thing. BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My daughter's new costume - Season 3 Sabine!!! I'm so very proud of this. I painted 95% of it. We did the splatter boots, gloves, and blaster together. The rest was my OCD, airbrush, and spray paints. And this guy... that's me. I did this to my ANH armor. The episode aired roughly 4 days prior to this troop. I did alllll this in that time including amazon delivery waiting for the tape. It's makeup, survey tape and some gold chrome vinyl foil. It's just temporary for this one troop. But WOW was it fun! I loved it. Gonna do it for real ASAP. Are they zombies? Are they just slightly yucky and repaired? All I know is they're called Night Troopers. You may have noticed that Mabel even has a matching and weathered red leash. I modified my trading card holder to have a metal latch to hold her leash end. That lets me drop the leash and pose without having to fiddle around on the floor to get it again. A+ mod. Would recommend for all the service dog troopers. Fire Team Rio Bravo showed up!!! My absolute pride, yall!!! SO much pride! And she loves the kit! It's a comfy bucket and armor. The jawa wasn't very good except for winter trooping and she's rather tall to be Little Leia now. So my daughter is a rebel... I can live with that. A panda squad sighting! They're rare and skittish. Gotta be quiet and snap pix quick. Gotta selfie with the squad! And that's one tired TK9. Time for the shuttle back home.

Whew. 2 more updates and I'll be up to date! 9/16/23 - 2023 Rio Grande Down Syndrome Network Buddy Walk 77th TK troop, 32nd for 2023, 2nd for 9/16. I could have stayed at the Fair and had a 2nd troop of the day for free. No extra driving, dressing, and undressing. But there was a walk for Down Syndrome and one of the walkers trains her service dog in the same class that my daughter and I do. I promised her I'd be there, so... troopers moved out! (Leia trains her service dog with them too) I arrived at this troop about 45 minutes early when there were few cars and setup was still happening. I asked where to go and the organizers were like "anywhere you want. maybe in the front?" So I spent almost an hour out front of the gate, greeting people as they came in. I hung out with Orbit the mascot for the Albuquerque Isotopes. I checked identification. I helped the merch people (by keeping an orderly line). I got footage shot by the local news (which I just remembered... hmmm... I wonder if I can find it). I was all by myself. No handlers. No backup. Just a lone TK with a pretty blaster (pretty heavy at this point) and a few hundred people. And it was MAGIC. Could have gone sideways easily, but it was great. People were happy and I did my little plastic best to help out. Shot when I came inside the gate and discovered troopers were trooping! FRIENDS!!!! They'd even done a group photo... without me. At least they let me reshoot with everyone. The blaster created no end of entertainment. The BlastFX is *loud* and pretty bright and I kept being asked "IS THAT THING LOADED?" so I'd spray the pavement or a nearby trooper and get claps and smiles. It was expensive. It's SO very heavy to carry all day. It's rather delicate. But omg is it fun!!! (no, I am NOT shooting the kid in this photo) One of several billion photos. The event ended with a drone shot and most of the participants on the field for the start of the walk. The rather small red arrow points at our group. My buttplate is facing the drone... alas. This was a LONG day of trooping. I left around 7 in the morning and got home near dinner. My little dog Mabel was *crushed* from my absence. Family missed me too, but Mabel was just heartbroken and spent hours in my lap. Not like regular dog missing a person stuff... more than that. It was the longest I'd been away from her since I started training her to be my service dog a few months prior. I work from home, so I see her all the time. Her reaction made me realize my new obligation to her. By training her to be there for me and do these tasks and navigate stores, etc... I kinda can't leave her behind. Certainly not all day. She's lost without me. It really showed. So, most likely I'll have my TK9 unit at most of the troops I ever do from this point on. It's good training for her, and so very good for my mental state. And kids love her. Expect some dog pix.

9/16/23 - NM State Fair (2nd weekend, Saturday, 1st troop of the day) 76th TK troop, 31st for the year This was the first day of the 2nd and final State Fair weekend. We showed up in great numbers. I think this is everyone in attendance including handlers. I again carried my Leia Leveller. 4 lbs 14 oz. 2.2 kg. For HOURS. Gesturing, raising, lowering, blasting. It was GREAT. The weather was fantastic and we spent a lot of time on the main street among the crowd. Almost everyone was happy and enjoyed seeing our group. And if I say so myself, we looked GOOD. This was most of our time. About 3 hours of crowd work. Posing, moving, hiding in the shade for the black armor folks, repeat. But I did get a few fun pix. Our Tantive IV hallway. This is SO close to my DRG trading card pose and background, but an actual photo vs a photoshop creation. My buddy Joseph was on fire with his camera. Ready to miss some rebels. A "Big" piano was setup on the other side of the room. When I had a chance I'd sneak up on guests and protect them from the noises. Kids MOSTLY loved it. Mostly. As the doctor said, I was still able to play the piano after The Incident. Dear Boss, Sorry I haven't been at my post. I'd very much like to return. Please send a shuttle for pickup. Any moment now. I'm ready. I'll stay at my post. Really. kisses, TK-89400.

Respectfully requesting the little 75 badge.

9/15/23 - Western Heights Science Night 75th TK troop ( ) and the 30th for the year OFFICIAL TROOP SELFIE!!! hahaha This one was a small private school science night. They had some crafts for the littles, some balloon inflation via chemicals for the older kids, a ton of birds and reptiles, and dinner/snacks. And troopers!!! We five made the Empire proud. No handlers were about. We helped each other through the uneven terrain. Mine was the only camera. The critter room was the most fun for me. Lots of antics in here. @elwessbrandon and I interrogating a hostage. He didn't talk. (it's a selfie and I'm so proud of the framing) Diane found another prisoner to interrogate. They got along well, as he really went with the robes. I'm not a huge fan of snakes, but this one was so chill. Literal children were handling him and draping him around their necks... I had to try it. AND THEN HE WENT INSIDE MY BUCKET. Let me just say how I didn't freak out. I assume my very manly TK voice rose in volume 300% and in pitch 500% as I calmly asked them to remove the snake from my glorious plastic visage. After a couple hours, we retired to the lounge for some local cuisine and camaraderie. Excellent troop! Would attend again! Just no snake in the bucket plz.