TheRascalKing

I have also updated my Soft Goods Discussion post with more info and a brief comparison of the Endor Finders and TrooperBay gloves currently available for FOTKs, and my above post with my completed TLJ thermal detonator. I also finished the included solid resin Denuo Novo TD as a TFA variant using their included stickers and will figure out the best place to post that at some point, maybe even a comparison thread once completed so people can visualize the differences between the two suits. Idk. We'll see. Crossing a few items off this week and trying to forge ahead. Rainy weather and work have slowed me down lately, but I want to get this finished out soon, and still to a high standard!

Handguard Accuracy Update I will be using a set of cast resin handguards from Dantooine Props instead of the included vaccuum-formed plastic ones. After cleaning up the mold release and some light priming and sanding, they were painted in the same Behr Gloss White and attached to my gloves using white 2" industrial Velcro. These are super clean castings and make for a great upgrade! And mounted to gloves (more discussion on gloves in my Soft Goods Discussion post)...

Huge shoutout to Andrew of Crossfire Props - if you need stuff 3D printed, including in large-format resin, he was an absolute professional and pleasure to work with, and at a reasonable price. He did some TLJ First Order Thermal Detonators for me in single-piece resin, with low-infill FDM for lightweight inner tubes, from the Jesse_M files on commission and they came out amazing. He's currently based out of Kansas City, MO, USA but will ship via UPS, and everything was well packed. Give him a shout with any print or paint commissions! @crossfireprops on IG https://crossfireprops.artstation.com/ https://crossfireprops.com/pages/customs-commissions

Troop logs can be found here, but they are created and maintained by the members who complete the troops. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/13-field-training-exercises/

@KC Grim / @citizenkace had said that they are okay to share if credited properly! I bet he'd be stoked if you shared them. Fantastic Imperial propaganda materials haha Thanks all! I just showed up and stood around in armor but a lot of awesome people made this happen and we had some fantastic looking troopers and props. I'll get @Morgi a link to more!

*Southern California Garrison Photo Shoot - "Endor" Theme, Porter Ranch, CA - 3/5/23 Not a troop, but figured I'd share some photos from a recent photo shoot event for the Southern California Garrison that @KC Grim organized with an "Endor" theme. Understandably, attendance from the Pathfinder's Detachment was excellent, with both the Detachment Leader, @BikerScout007 and our Garrison Commanding Officer @ramey making it out as well. It was nearly a two hour drive up from south Orange County to north Los Angeles County, but @Dsposato0 (with his recently submitted ROTJ Scout!) and I carpooled and the location was beautiful and green after recent rains. It was also pretty easily accessible, considering we had armor and... a full size speeder bike to haul up there! Super cool and big ups to @mrpoopie and @JollyRajR for making that happen. Credit and many thanks to KC for these incredible photos and edits. In all of the photos, I'm the TK on the right unless otherwise noted. Enjoy. @Surfintrooper @TK-12248 above, and both he (left) and I (right) below! There were HUNDREDS of beautiful shots that were the result of this super fun day, but I picked just a few of my favorites (especially with TKs) to share! It was well worth the drive for the fun of spending time with these awesome people (and sharing some In-N-Out burgers after) and the incredible photos to show for it!

I totally agree that this is almost certainly the same suit from his IMDB photo. The belt placement on the ab and shoulder bridges are also giveaways, but that weird holster almost guarantees it. If this suit was ALSO in Rogue One, again, boy I'd love to see some actual proof. I don't know if @Sithcollector said he actually was the winning bidder though?

Thigh Holster Accuracy Update I had originally sourced a thigh holster from @R2Dan of Dantooine Props a while back from his first run that was fully symmetrical, but with all of the DN kits being delivered, fortunately Dan decided it was time for another run. This time, his V2 was updated to make it slightly asymmetrical, which I guess is more accurate, and more similar to the one included with the DN kit, but functional. He includes a beautiful resin riser piece, but decided not to run the wedge spacers this time either. Instead of just buying one, I organized a group purchase for my Garrison and had uhhhh... a few... shipped over from Germany for us. Because why buy something for yourself when you can make a spreadsheet and involve a dozen other people? They feature the correct 3-piece metal design and include accurate, mostly countersunk Torx w/ security pin hardware and even driver bits, as well as the M6 button headed Torx w/ security pin bolts for the side of your blaster to mount it. I was very impressed with the quality overall. The older V1 on the left, versus the new V2: After disassembling it, the wedge was clean enough that it went right into primer and paint, but I did an extra couple of coats of filler and sanding on the sides of the metal parts where they were cut to fill in some imperfections. And here it is when it's been sprayed white and reassembled! This came out beautifully and I'm super happy with it! Install soon.

"It was in a (fan) film called The Rogue Stormtrooper." "Do you mean Rogue One?" "Uhhhh... yes." Whole thing sounds mighty suspicious and I hope whoever bought it received significantly better provenance than I've heard so far. If anyone has screen caps or BTS of any OT suits on set for Rogue One, I'd sure like to see them.

I would be amazed to hear how a production Rogue One suit made it out into the wild, as I am not aware of this happening before. Would love to see pics of what you were sold. No fan-made suits were used in Rogue One to my collective knowledge as well. While there was variation across the suits for comfort and stunt purposes, I'll echo that they were all production made. There have been at least 3-4 "runs" of suits at this point, with the actual Rogue One suits last being used in the first season of Mando to my knowledge.

They're cover strips, not cover wedges, so I'd suggest strongly that they be a consistent width the whole way, up to maybe like 30mm or so if they need a little extra room. Above that, I'd expect the trooper to shim the thigh itself and apply a standard width coverstrip on top instead to achieve the proper look.

I appreciate your opinion. To be clear, as I said I am only using the Resistance FOTK as an example of a seam's existence within canon - I am clear that the Resistance FOTK would be a separate CRL discussion. That's not what I'm getting at here. The topic at hand is if we are being too critical with our current CRL by specifically mentioning the seams at the shoulder and side of the FOTK armor and if this should perhaps instead be a requirement at L2 and above, in order to allow more troopers to build and troop in FOTK kits. I am of the opinion that this fixation on these specific details is not worth preventing new troopers from being approved at Basic. That's just my opinion, and if there is no additional support for it, that's fine - I was already certain that my proposal would not be well received by the current leadership staff, but rather than complain about it online, I figured I would try the proper course of action, which is to propose the change to the membership and gather their feedback. Thank you. Sort of, but not really - again, I am not proposing a new CRL for a Galaxy's Edge FOTK, nor would I support one, however I believe the presence of these seams on the Disney suits lends strength to my argument - if the official Disney Parks FOTKs and their new licensed vendor Denuo Novo don't care about these seams, why should we at the Basic level? Much of the discussion around this topic is happening on Facebook/etc,, so I may try to direct some additional folks over here... but this is what it is. I prefer to have it on record that I am for inclusion and taking a step towards repairing our occasionally elitist image by following proper channels to propose this initiative, and that the question was asked of leadership, and answered.

Thought I would share a new set of shoulder straps that I made for @TattooedStormtrooper, who was having issues with his shoulder bells pulling away from this shoulder bridges due to the lateral stretch allowed by the type of elastic I was using. I'm always keeping an open ear for ways to improve my kits, so when he researched and recommended a new brand of elastic with a firmer flex for me to try out, I jumped at the chance with the below as the result. With the RascalSnaps system, these took seconds to swap into his suit with the existing anchors and are a significant upgrade. You'll notice the double Line-24 snap connections at each corner, the integrated Centurion elastic tie-downs so they never get lost, and the hand-sewn snaps to the nylon web shoulder drops. These things barely sag at ALL now and these are probably the nicest ones I've made yet. I immediately ordered a bunch from the same company and will be switching my kits over to this type of elastic at some (but not all) connecting points, as the stretch is firm and quality is excellent. I also ordered some black 1" of the same kind and will likely use that instead of nylon for most kits, as a little stretch at the shoulder will allow for better range of motion. Anyways, thought I'd share. I'm still only making these kits on demand primarily for local members who troop frequently, but feedback has been great for years at this point. Feel free to emulate my system if it helps!

Hey all, I wanted to get a discussion going around a proposal that I've heard being floated in various FOTK-building Facebook groups and see if there was support to warrant consideration of amending the current base-level CRLs. In short, I propose that the current text for the First Order Stormtrooper costume CRLs (TFA and TLJ) be amended to ALLOW for visible seams at the shoulder and sides of the barrel at the BASIC level ONLY. Okay but... I fully recognize that this would be an slight step backwards in terms of the overall accuracy of these CRLs. As seen in the films that these CRLs are based upon, the studio suits did not have visible seams in these areas. Correct. Acknowledged. I don't need to post screen shots to this point. However, there is precedent that seams were present in these areas in SOME existing Star Wars canon, and I believe that the sacrifice in accuracy at the Basic level only would be worth allowing for greater acceptance and approval of these costumes. In the Star Wars Resistance show (which again, I acknowledge would be a separate and distinct CRL overall, as there are substantive differences from the movie realistic costumes), it can be seen that a seam was INTENTIONALLY added at the shoulder and sides in the renderings for their First Order Stormtroopers. It would have been one less line to not do that, but it was done so purposefully and consistently. The shoulder and side seams are often areas of significant stress and strain as the armor is flexed open to take it on/off - which is also why the Disney Parks have adopted a similar system to allow for greater comfort and ease of dressing for their Galaxy's Edge cast members, as seen below. While again, these are not the same as production suits, at the Basic level, I think it makes sense from a practical and ergonomic standpoint. The movie suits that we are seeking to emulate were made of a thick and extremely durable and flexible (likely urethane) material that was formed with tooling and materials that far exceed what will likely be possible at the hobby/cosplay level any time soon, so I believe there should be some ability to make up for the limitations of the ABS suits we are trying to use to replicate. Concessions to accuracy are made in several existing Legion CRLs for comfort and to allow for a great range of body types, and I propose it be considered in this case as well. To smooth these seams necessitates either the precise and arduous task of using ABS slurry to fill and blend the seams, then sanding and buffing back to an indistinguishable high gloss - a specialized skill that most new or even experienced builders have not mastered - or to use body filler and paint the area or entire set of armor, as was required with previous makers due to the type of construction. These suits shouldn't NEED to be painted, and these skills present a significant challenge to most builders, resulting in the FOTK being a rare site at troops in my Garrison and an extremely limited numbers of a submission for L2 and 3. At the end of the day, I guess my point is... is this really a big deal? I don't think it is. SHOULD those seams be filled? Yea, totally. But is it worth mentioning at the Basic level when it stands to be a potential blocker to membership for many new members, may help extend the service life of the armor for more troops, and overall doesn't make a significant difference to the appearance of the suit? Naw, I don't think so. Most fans are going to the see the (Denuo Novo press photo) Stormtrooper below and just think "holy heck, a stormtrooper!" and never notice those seams. I'd like to give the opportunity to more members and fans alike to have that experience, instead of potentially furthering the image of elitism and snobbery that the Clubs unfortunately sometimes project due to our high standards. I would propose that the CRL text be amended, as below (or similar): Back/Yoke The back plate contains a “O II” design, and the O is black in color. There are no visible seams on the back/yoke. The yoke portion extends over the wearer's shoulders and curves under the armpits. OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable): There are no visible seams on the back/yoke. OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable): A support tab extending from the outside top arch of the yoke shall be present. The support tab should be of a sturdy material, white in color. Abdomen Section The abdomen section must wrap around the wearer's body without a visible seam. The abdomen has 7 boxes attached that match the order and placement shown against the armor. The large box has a small black recessed square on the lower left to the wearer. The second box to the right of the wearer has a small black recessed rectangle near the top. OPTIONAL Level two certification (if applicable): The boxes should sit against the abdominal plate with minimal to no gaps. The abdomen section must wrap around the wearer's body without a visible seam. OPTIONAL Level three certification (if applicable): The seams between the abdominal armor and the 7 boxes should not be filled. I'm curious to hear feedback from our membership, though keep in mind that this change would largely not affect those of us who are regulars here on the forums, or any submissions to the DOs for L2 or L3. This would be a local Garrison/Outpost GML-level change that could potentially bolster our membership and make this costume significantly more accessible. Let me know your thoughts and thank you for reading!

2023 73. Aliso Niguel Winter Formal - Irvine, CA - Sat. 2/4/23 (ANH-S TK #46, FTE #55) @Gh0stxxiv, @TattooedStormtrooper, @Starkiller, @Dsposato0 and I had a blast providing extra security for this Star Wars-themed high school winter formal dance in our community this weekend!