4Runner

Congratulations to #1,000. Woo hoo! The Emperor will be pleased!!!!! LOL!!!! Great job!

Keep it going, Steve! Almost there! I'm excited for you!

Thanks again Dan. I really appreciate your help and your friendship!!!

You’ve done a nice job with the shims on your sides! Take a look at the back of your left shin and see if you can tighten up the gap. The right one is tighter. From the front you look like an imposing trooper and I wouldn’t want to mess with you!! Nice work!!!!

Thanks, Tony! Not sure if I'm worthy, but I do like cutting, sanding, and gluing plastic, LOL! Thanks again!

PETER TELEP TK-33348 Centurion letter Sha Sha http://www.whitearmor.net/eib/certificates/33348-centurion.png

Thanks so very, very much, Sha Sha for your guidance and encouragement! I wasn't even sure I could get basic approval when I began, let alone EIB and Centurion! Needless to say I am thrilled and looking forward to getting out there and trooping with my squad. After all, we're here to put smiles on faces and spread our love and joy of Star Wars to everyone! I look forward to more builds and for continued contributions to the FISD and the 501st. Thanks again!!!!

Thanks so much. It was a quite a ride! But I enjoyed it immensely! :-)

Thanks, Joseph! I appreciate the kind words. I really enjoyed building this kit and learned a lot from so many people along the way! Honestly, I'd forgotten that you make the "Han" style hand guards and probably would've picked up a pair of those (even though in my costuming fantasy mind I'm trying to imitate Luke, LOL). But hell, I'll save a few pennies and grab some down the road just so I have them as well. I'm assuming Sha Sha will do my official review, and again, thanks so much for your time and help. It's been a really positive experience and certainly heightened my love of Star Wars (even as I scrutinize the armor of every trooper in every film I see now, ha ha). Take care!

It’s great to see another hero TK get approved! Welcome trooper!!

Name: Peter Telep TK-33348 Forum Name: 4Runner Florida Garrison, Makaze Squad Armor Maker: TMprops Helmet Maker: TMprops Cloth Belt Maker: Rob Kittel (Imperial Issue) Neck Seal Maker: Darman’s Props Boot Maker: Imperial Boots Silicone Hand guards: JustJoseph Blaster Maker: Pretorian Blasters Holster Maker: Darman’s Props Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 165lbs TK Type: ANH Hero Mentors: Gary Collins Sr. Derek Zink Gary Collins Daniel Branton NOTE: I followed the Centurion photo checklist document for this submission but also added in extra photos at the end to detail my build. Thanks for your consideration! A few extra photos to detail my build: And the team who made it all happen, from left to right: Kendall (photographer), Peter (plastic spaceman), Nancy (the boss!), and Lauren (expert Stormtrooper handler). Pups from left to right are Luke, Khole, and Charlie! Special thanks to Sha Sha and Joseph for expertly guiding me through this process! TK-33348 humbling submitting my application. Thank you very much for your time!

Peter Telep 33348 EIB letter size Sha Sha Thanks again!!!! http://www.whitearmor.net/eib/certificates/33348-eib.png 285

Hi, Sha Sha! Thanks so very much for going over my photos and for awarding me EIB! I'm so happy right now! Building my first stormtrooper kit was a great experience and came at a good time to keep my mind off all the problems of the world! Also, I want to stress that I know yours is a volunteer position, and I want you to know how much I appreciate your time! I'm looking forward to making those corrections you noted, taking some more pictures, and putting together my centurion application. Every trooper I've met has been warm, welcoming, and so very helpful. This really is a wonderful community, and I'm proud to be a part of it! Thanks again. I keep wanting to say may the force be with you, LMAO! For the Empire!

Good luck with your application, Trooper!

Good luck with your application, Trooper! It's so cool to see First Order troops here! I think the Supreme Leader will be happy!

Hi, Joseph: Thanks so much for reviewing my photos! As you noted, I've added some weathering to my mike tips and added those photos at the end of my original post. Please let me know if these are acceptable now. I think they look pretty good and screen-accurate! :-) Take care and thanks again! Peter

Hello, fellow troopers! I’m thrilled to be here. My hands still hurt from holding the Lexan scissors too tight and cutting through 2mm acrylic-capped ABS. Do you feel my pain? Ha ha! Anyway, I can’t wait to get out there and troop! If Only You Knew: Well, I thought I needed to buy everything under the sun to make this kit, and after buying way too much stuff, I realized, man, I only need glue, my dremel, some sandpaper, blue tape, and some magnets. A few clamps, too. But I just had way too much stuff lying around that I never, ever used. In that case, I made the job seem harder than it was because I thought I needed all this “stuff.” Top 5 things I learned: 1) Take your time. Accomplish only one “big” thing each day. Today I’m working on the right shin. That’s it. If you go too fast, you will screw up! 2) Don’t start without mentors. Make sure you have some guidance from experienced troopers and send them pictures as you build. 3) Listen to your mentors. If you ignore them, you will make mistakes! Stubbornness does not equal screen-accuracy! 4) Your family may not be as excited about you getting your thigh piece to fit as you are. Don’t be disappointed. Once they see you fully suited up, your appearance will blow them away. 5) When using the dremel and sanding roller, hold the piece tightly against your chest and use smooth, light strokes. Ignore the dog licking your leg no matter what. Oops!: My kit was a little big on me, and after fitting it, the entire torso was sitting too low and the thighs had no room to move. I had to redo my shoulder straps (tighten them up), and cut the neckline on the chest plate to give myself more room, and then take a full inch off the backs of my thighs to get them to fit properly. It was a pretty big challenge, especially when I thought I was nearing completion. Time to "embrace the suck" and take a risk! And so I did... Warnings I received were mostly about being too OCD versus screen-accuracy. Sometimes the screen-accurate way looked ugly to me, but in most cases I got over that and learned to love the asymmetric and wonky nature of these kits. A funny thing happened on my way to the Death Star: I decided to become a stormtrooper after teaching a Star Wars class at the University of Central Florida: https://news.cah.ucf.edu/news/star-wars-telep/ https://www.fox35orlando.com/video/637681 I invited the Makaze Squad to visit my classroom and talk about the 501 and about trooping in Central Florida. After hearing the fun and inspirational stories, I couldn’t help but want to be a part of this great community. That was last October, so it’s been an eventful eight months to say the least. My armor did take a long time to reach me (ABS plastic shortage when I ordered) so I was taking pictures of myself looking like a James Bond henchman from a 60s movie, LOL. I kept telling my friends, my armor will come soon! This is the best I can do for now: Shout Outs: I received great tips and advice from my armor builder, Troopermaster, who treated me like a good friend and answered all my questions as though he was standing by his phone, waiting for me to ask. This was a GREAT first experience with an armor builder, and that made it even more memorable. I also received incredible help from Gary Collins, Sr, his son Gary, Derek Zink, and Daniel Branton. All of these generous troops spent a lot of time answering my questions, sending me pictures and videos, and trying to put me at ease as things didn’t come together as I’d planned. Of course my family put up with me and with stormtrooper parts lying all over my kitchen and formal living room. The place looked like a plastic warehouse and smelled like E6000, ha ha. Finally, I’m really excited to be here, to start trooping, and to put some smiles back on people’s faces during a very challenging time in this world. In that way, I guess we are entertainers and should help make people forget about the cares of the world, at least for a little while. TK-33348, ready for duty!

Name: Peter Telep TK-33348 Forum Name: 4Runner Florida Garrison, Makaze Squad Armor Maker: TMprops Helmet Maker: TMprops Cloth Belt Maker: Rob Kittel (Imperial Issue) Neck Seal Maker: Darman’s Props Boot Maker: Imperial Boots Blaster Maker: Pretorian Blasters Holster Maker: Darman’s Props Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 165lbs TK Type: ANH Hero Mentors: Gary Collins Sr. Derek Zink Gary Collins Daniel Branton (UK Garrison) Added weathering to tips on helmet: Thanks so much of your time, help, and consideration! Respectfully, TK-33348

Hi, All: I posted a link for 501 access so I can post my pics for EIB status. I was just curious how long this wait time might be. I would like to be in the first 1,000. Thanks, Peter

Requesting access: TK33348 Thank you! https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=32575

I would agree with this, Harbinger. I wanted to present this point only because the photos seem to indicate otherwise; however, I'm acutely aware of all of the inconsistencies in helmets/armour within ANH. For someone like me, a noob, having some more specific guidelines would help. "Hovi-Mix tips can have the interiors painted white or black, with some weathering on the rim to show some white and/or black." Just my two cents from an unauthorized, uncertified, unclassified noob, LOL!

Hi, everyone: I've just sent off my application for basic approval ANH Hero and am getting ready for EIB. One of the requirements for the Hero helmet is to paint the inside and the rims of the hovi mic tips white: Correct 'Hovi mic' aerator tips are present. Screens used shall be of a wide type mesh, with the rim of the mic and the inside white or painted white. Based on my research, conversations with other armor makers, and pouring over images from A New Hope, I'm unsure if this requirement makes the helmet more screen-accurate. In fact, it might be just the opposite. From what I can tell, most of the hovi tips for Hero Helmets were black, with wear and tear on the rims forming white or silver sections. Screens were the wide type and either silver or black. Here are mine: Here's a great site with many hero helmet images as a reference: http://www.starwarshelmets.com/original-ANH-hero-Stormtrooper-armor-helmets.htm I'm curious what you think and if there's any consensus to perhaps broaden or revise this particular part of the requirement? Three armour makers I'm aware of use black tips for the hero helmets already, and again, there are many screen captures you can reference that support this. Seems like a petty thing, but it's one of the few requirements I'm wresting with right now as I prepare for the next level. Thanks for you input, help, suggestions, and friendship fellow troopers! Peter

Hi, Tony, yeah, I was just thinking about going 25 to match the shins. I don't need the extra 5mm at all, though. But the standard measurements I'm seeing are 20mm for the thighs (front and back) 20mm shins (front) and 25mm shins (back).