Morgi

[23] 20.08.2022 -- 14. Stadtteilfest Kiel Wellsee First time as the organizer for a troop with two friends of mine to accompany me to a local street celebration for kids. Of course the three of us took this as an opportunity to act our age and try out everything on offer for the kids. With a median age of "just over 19" and the enthusiasm of five-year-olds we decided to do some harm to our armor and sit down repeatedly. ... I had to repair six small cracks afterwards, but the fun was worth it. The kids had a lot of fun meeting us and we could barely move without getting drawn into tense debates about who of us was "the realest Star Wars" (I won, which I'm very proud of), requests for pictures and spontaneous hugs. In the end we stayed half an hour longer than anticipated because we couldn't leave before everyone had taken a picture of us and with us, but no-one minded. Aside from some kids that were too enthusiastic we all had a lot of fun and I'm happy my first time organizing a troop went so well. TK-66744 signing off

Not counting Mr No Stripes or any that aren't strictly TK, such as Spacetroopers or Sandtroopers Soooo... about that one Lvl 3 modification? I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually

[22] 07/08/2022 -- Elbenwald Festival Cottbus, Day 3 The third and last day was started by the Empire taking over the Nerf Arena to test out some new weapons and check if they were any more accurate than our E-11 blasters. (They weren't.) Still, we had lots of fun and got surprised with a package of gifted muffins for a late, sugary breakfast. Afterwards we decided that a patrol around the borders of the terrain could be even more helpful than just a patrol across the festival, so, led by ID-48170, we made a deal with the park train officers to allow us free access to the train. Aside from the two Jedi joining us, we were unsuccessful to catch any Rebels through this measure, even if it was very fun for all involved troopers and guests. Once the train ride was over, we headed back to our base, where ID-56347 and I decided to participate in the best episode of undercover boss: Undercover Boss -- Empire Edition. Probably the best lunchbreak of the festival, walking around as an officer, shadowed by ID-14445 in my armor. A near-perfect fit, and I can't wait to have him properly join the ranks with his own armor. Once our lunchbreak was over, we had to switch back for the parade, where we met a small Lord Vader (who's too short now?), as well as various other excited guests. One of the most special parts of the parade was the life music by TK-23115, provided both Saturday and Sunday. After the parade there was a quick opportunity for a Chaos Division group picture before we had to suit down and drive back. Shout-out to ID-56347 and his girlfriend for driving me halfway, so I could stay with ID-48170 for the night before facing the last hours of travel the next morning. TK-66744 signing off

[21] 06/08/2022 -- Elbenwald Festival Cottbus, Day 2 On Day 2 we were joined by TK-71384 and TK-92227, whilst TB-70815 took the opportunity to wear his new TK, so we could all troop as Stormtroopers. Less hot, but with more troopers and a military approach to our troop, it was shaping up to be an amazing day. ID-56347 got assigned to the Stormtroopers, so we continued to patrol together. Our patrol went past the Empire's base of operations, where Lord Vader first did a quick inspection of the troops (no need to ask, if I'm a little short for a Stormtrooper, my Lord, 177cm is perfectly acceptable) before descending upon the merch store. As anyone who has trooped with TK-71384, TK-92227, TK-70815 and me can attest, we are not named "Chaos Division" for no reason and had a lot of fun with Lord Vader exploring everything on offer. As the Dark Age Reenactors were hiding a Jedi, we were forced to take a break from patrolling to capture them and free another officer who had gotten caught. Afterwards, ID-70271, TK-71384, TK-20393, ID-56347 and I decided that we had earned ourselves a break after our hard work. In the afternoon, we headed over to the paramedics for a quick check-up. With ID-56347 holding my hand, I survived and got to support my TK-sister TK-71384 the same way during her check-up. Luckily, everything was alright and the only minor injury of the day had resolved itself on its own before even reaching the medics. Therefore, we had a very official statement that we survived the second day without any problems. TK-66744 signing off

[20] 05/08/2022 -- Elbenwald Festival Cottbus, Day 1 Having arrived in the very early morning hours (just past midnight, if I remember correctly) accompanied by ID-56347, his girlfriend, and ID-48170, we slept, got woken up at around 4:45 by loud music and started our day by joining our fellow troopers for the last preparations. Already, temperatures were high and after several reminders to drink enough water, we got into our costumes. After providing an entrance control, ID-56347 and I went for an early lunch before heading back out to face the crowds. As always, we were accompanied by his girlfriend who turned out to be not only a wonderful person, but the best supporter I've ever trooped with. Facing temperatures of 35°C/95°F, she carried our water bottles, regularly reminding us to drink water. As it was Friday, there weren't as many people around yet as would be the following days, but that didn't diminish our fun, as we had an amazing opportunity to take pictures with the other guests. Such as this wonderful Boba Fett, who arrested me with my own handcuffs... I kinda understand now, why not everyone would carry those around, if you're in danger of getting arrested yourself. After a quick nap in the sun (no tan, maybe because of the armor?), it was time for a short buckets-off parade to the main stage where we assisted as decoration for the opening ceremony. TK-66744 signing off

I'm back Honestly, I don't blame anyone for not voting in the CRL Polls. If you aren't sure about the armor details, there's no need to vote on them. Is being known for memes better than being known as the one trooper who invites everyone to play limbo in armor? Asking for a friend

[19] 17/07/2022 -- Project Area51 Kiel, Day 2 Reporting with a slight delay as I moved across the country last week, here is the report for the second day of Kiel's charity convention. Similar to Day One, we ended up assigned to the backstage entry for the beginning of the convention. This time around though we were approached by the local police... ... who greeted us with a salute and a request for a picture with us. Of course we agreed (relieved that we weren't about to face any trouble over misunderstandings regarding weapons replicas) and I got to arrest the police for the first time in my life. Afterwards they stayed for about half an hour, were joined by two of their colleagues and allowed us to take pictures with them and/or their car. After giving our troop coordinator a bit of a scare when he came to relieve us from this post and saw us with police presence, we went back to the convention to catch some Rebels, as they were causing a bit of a disturbance after two of them went running around shouting "Ice Cream!". Although we didn't manage to apprehend the Wilrow Hoods, we did capture two other Rebels. Afterwards we scrubbed the Death Star, making sure the Empire could be represented well in the future. Additionally there was a challenge to see, who was superior -- Clone Troopers or Stormtroopers. Facing challenges such as over two minutes of squats, walking down stairs, sitting, catching and throwing balls, a race and some limbo, it was determined that Stormtroopers were ultimately superior to their predecessors. TK-66744 signing off

[18] 16/07/2022 -- Project Area51 Kiel, Day 1 Deployed by an unusual means of transportation this (more or less) imperial delegation arrived at the Area51 charity convention in Kiel, the first of it's kind. We were joined by ID-14445 of the Dutch Garrison and a few members from the Danish and Swedish Garrisons. Vice-Admiral ID-14447 and I started the day off with a special assignment to protect the backstage entry for just over two hours, guiding visitors to the front entrance, cosplayers to the backstage entry and consistently not recognizing star guests. We were relieved of our duty at about 1200 and got to rejoin the Third Support Fleet, with which we turned a less than enthusiastic ID-56347 into Lieutenant Lyste for some beloved Rebels pictures. Afterwards I joined CC-75367 for some fun pictures and interactions. This time he went through the effort of allowing buckets off pictures, giving us a lot of amazing picture opportunities. TK-71384 and TK-92227 remained on duty whilst Wolffe and I did our best to spread some mayhem. Saturday ended after a lot of fun and hugs with me having been in costume for ten hours, only to join in the group picture, meeting even more amazing people and participating in a short parade through Kiel. As this type of event had never before happened in this area, people were stunned and amazed at such a huge turn-up. TK-66744 signing off

[XX] 15/07/2022 -- Officer's Diner in Kiel The evening before the convention started, our officers decided to hold a small dinner in the Hotel Lobby to meet up and dress up. Spontaneously it was decided that they would look even more epic with a Stormtrooper escort, so TK-92227, TK-71384 and I got ready to provide them with an impressive appearance. We caused quite a stir from guest outside the German Garrison, as this informal event hadn't been communicated to them. Several people asked us for various pictures, whilst others went up into their rooms to join us in costumes. Us troopers then decided to have some fun together and left the officers in the lobby, so we could take pictures outside. Sadly I had to leave early as I wasn't staying in the hotel and had a bus to catch. TK-66744 signing off

Cotton gloves are the best piece of advice I've ever gotten. Ten hours in 27°C, those inside my rubber gloves and not a single problem. Rubber ones ripping... well, mine ripped during my 15th troop. And not just ripping, but straight up falling apart. I could only complete the troop by plastering the inside of my rubber gloves with tape and praying. Curiously, it wasn't because of the armor snagging, but instead all around the handhuards the rubber gloves were ripping apart (about 7-8 rips per glove). Might have been because of the way the handguards were glued, putting too much stress onto the rubber, might have been low quality gloves, who knows. I do know that I'll carry my ABS handguards and a pair of replacement rubber gloves to future troops.

[17] 04/07/2022 -- Outpost One Dassow If you don't know Outpost One yet, I'm about to introduce you to Star Wars Heaven. Outpost One is a Star Wars Costuming and Props museum that specializes in life-size walk through scenes from all original movies. Look at the picture above. Three life size Star Wars ships in a 'hangar' -- and our changing area. Given the fact that this troop was on a Monday we were only three troopers, but this meant we had all of the exhibit for ourselves. Awesome. Shout-out to TK-71384 and ID-48170! We started our journey in ANH with Lord Vader entering the Tantive IV, visited Tatooine and the Lars Homestead, danced to the Cantina Band, guarded Tarkin, locked a princess into her cell, helped these two get out of a trash compactor, befriended a mouse droid, accidently blew up the Death Star whilst messing around with the controls went through a Rebel briefing with stolen plans and had everything narrated to us by the German voice of Luke Skywalker (if with a very... rebellious twist) before descending into the icy vastness of Hoth. There we got to make fun of Luke getting himself captured by a Wampa, stormed the rebel base and found an abandoned medical center with a still working bacta tank. Then we went on to accompany Lord Vader as he instructed several bounty hunters (additionally not so accidentally scaring visitors by pretending to be part of the set a few times) before descending into Bespin. Having gone through all that, we finally found the droids we were looking for once more, if standing in front of a Hutt's palace. Inside there I got to be part of Jabba's entourage, before getting eaten by a Rancor. Somehow I survived that only to face the furriest nightmare a Stormtrooper (or biker scout, for that matter) can have. Lastly we got an audience with our Emporer and Lord Vader, only to be confronted with another nightmare: Who signed off on this? We need to have a quick chat... To calm down we went to the miniature area, where they recreated several props on a 1:6 scale, including one truly massive Millennium Falcon and a large part of Mos Eisley. We took this opportunity to film a small commercial for a Star Destroyer, as we just so happened to have an amazing model in a secluded room. We finished the day off by having a quick stop at the small shop they had. And, no, TK-71384, we can't possibly buy the entire shop, even if it's very tempting. TK-66744 signing off

[16] 02/07/2022 -- Benefizevent Wolfsburg The German Garrison was asked to participate in a soccer event for kids alongside a few other costuming groups. We got hugs from Olaf and spent time with Batman and Wonder Woman. To our pleasant surprise we found out that we weren't benched for the event either but got to play against the kids. Team Empire managed a draw against the kids team after countless of balls and shoulders battering our armor and some excellent support by a few recruits. Afterwards we decided that half an hour playing against these kids was exhausting enough and felt a distinct need to go back to training our aim and our instincts as for where one should kick to actually hit the ball and not your fellow troopers shins. Although no armor was harmed during all of this, TK-71384 still did a spectacular dive in armor, only barely avoiding any cracks. As we felt that our armor had suffered enough, we returned to our usual patrols: using the playground to its fullest potential, trying to blow bubbles (keyword 'trying') and dancing. Our imperial shuttle had a bit of a delay but we still arrived safely back home just in time for the little one to get his evening frogs. TK-66744 signing off

Wooow... most nerve-wracking half-hour of my life, but I did it, got myself the 4-Day Ticket I'm looking forward to meeting you outside of a screen

Thank you! I got some E6000 and other useful stuff [15] 25/06/2022 -- Cosplay Day Movie Park Bottrop Once a year the movie park hosts a cosplay event with hundreds of costumers from all types of fandoms, including 45 troopers from the German Garrison with ID-14445 as a guest from the Dutch Garrison. He, ID-56347, SL-76589 and I patrolled the grounds for ten hours despite temperatures at 27°C, joined by a few other troopers depending on our patrol round. We took this time to take (serious) pictures with the visitors and provide a constant imperial presence. Additionally we tried (and failed) to keep a bunch of excited Jawas under control, despite managing to arrest one of them at the beginning of the event. Our failure at keeping them under control did not impede our parade in the afternoon, which was led by Lord Vader and... Lord Vader? The heat must have gotten to me, I'm seeing double. I also got the opportunity to take a picture with Lord Vader (SL-8646) and some other troopers, despite spending most the day with Lord Vader, my Captain and the General. All in all a very exhausting day with some very good friends. I do have to notice one casualty. Despite my predictions that ten hours without fans in such heat would be exhausting, my body held up better than my gloves, which got an emergency duct tape fix on the inside by ID-56347 after ripping at several points and will now have to be replaced. TK-66744 signing off

[14] 17.06.2022/18.06.2022 -- 18th Birthday in Wolfsburg Given that I turn 19 in less than half an hour, I suppose it's only fitting that my last act as an 18 year old is updating my troop log to include my last troop as an 18 year old -- an 18th birthday, where we presented the car the lucky birthday girl got. In costume by 23:45, official start of the troop at midnight. Certainly the weirdest time I've trooped so far. We were waiting a few houses over out of sight (confusing the occasional car driving by), until the Imperial March sounded and we marched ahead of the car up the street to where the birthday girl was receiving her well-wishes and gifts as soon as she turned eighteen. We then presented to her the car, took a lot of pictures and got to join the celebration, including all the fun stuff they had set up: Pizza, soft drinks, swings and a pool... Without actually going into the pool. We stayed until roughly 2am before heading back and changing out of costume. TK-71384 and TK-92227 were nice enough to let me and TI-30813 stay for the night in their guest room, whilst IC-60720 headed back home. Overall a very fun (if sleepless) troop with some of my closest trooper friends family, thanks for making this possible! All the best to the birthday girl and we wish you safe travels with your new car. TK-66744 signing off

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're missing out and should head over to any post by Revlimiter. Him not being at his post is always a highlight. (Where even is your post, @revlimiter?)

Moving away from the new TKs... Whilst watching the newest episode, I caught what looked like ANH TKs with ESB holsters. Due to me not having access to high resolution, I first played it off. Then I paused the movie and looked more thoroughly. ANH brow trims, shoulder bells (with elastics), broader TDs and a few other details became noticeable. Therefore I took a closer look at the credits and found a "thank you" to the 501st Legion, California Garrisons. Anyone want to share with the class?

Having taken a short break to build my ESB helmet, troop, work on real life stuff... I'm back with some armor updates. Replacing the Ab-/Kidney Rivets Back in April, I got the following feedback after my EIB approval: This meant, I had to replace the rivets. I started prying the rivets off, only to irreparably damage said rivets. Therefore I had to buy new ones. Cue hours of internet searches, only finding wrong or overpriced options everywhere, until I asked an acquaintance if he knew where to find such rivets. He gave me different keywords and on my first attempt I found correct rivets. (Tovetis Zweispitznieten 8 x 9,5 8mm, if anyone's curious. 38cts/rivet). So here's what I did: I removed the existing strapping and rivets. I marked out a new cutline, cause I didn't like the old one. Cut to size. Marked up correct rivet placement. Filled in holes with ABS paste. Glued strapping back in. Then I added in the new rivets, first testing the whole process on a piece of scrap ABS, because I could do without repeating this entire process again, just because I didn't know how to set the rivets correctly. The new rivet placement was set precisely according to this: Afterwards I repeated the entire process on the abplate and then I painted the rivets white. I'll probably do some gentle colour corrections on the ABS paste in the future, due to the fact that my armor already yellowed a bit in comparison to the used paste. Adjusting the Chestplate Maybe it's just me slouching, maybe it's just something that I'd prefer to change for no other reason than the fact that I spotted it twice on some pictures, but I oftentimes got the feeling, that my chestplate was sitting a bit low, sometimes even catching on my an plate buttons (yikes). So to fix that I had to bring the chestplate higher up. Now, one way of doing that could have been a more rigid strapping at the bottom of the chestplate, such as the original strapping, but I moved away from that for a reason (less mobility and easier to pack). Therefore I had to pull it higher up by shortening the shoulder straps. Looks good, right? Had to heatform the shoulder bridges to conform to the new shape and loosen one of the elastic keeping my shoulder bell connected to the shoulderbridge strapping a bit, as the shoulderbells moved forward a centimetre, but overall I'm happy with the result, even if it was a lot of work that could have been avoided by having a better posture in armor Kidney-/Buttplate Strapping With me always sitting down in armor, it was probably inevitable that I'd get a crack in the return edge right to the screw, thanks to the original strapping in that part of my armor. Once it finally happened, I took out all the old strapping and replaced it with Glen's V-tabs instead. So functionally, I currently only have one plate of armor for both parts, and I got a pretty good gap between them thanks to it. Also, no risk of anything cracking -- worst comes to worst, the V-tabs will simply pop off and I'll have to reglue them. Boot Repairs Piece of advice: Photoshooting in the middle of the Netherlands in nature? Awesome. Wild growth? Dangerous for your boots. I must have gotten caught on a thorn or something with my boot during the shooting. Luckily, the local officers knew how to work with fabric of all kinds (shout out to ID-14445/Robin) and gave me the advice to simply go over it with some superglue. Worked really well, and with some additional help by a white outdoor marker, they look pretty spotless again. Other stuff I reworked my padding a bit, repaired some other things and am currently working on a trading card box. This weekend I'll have another troop, and I hope I can get a friend to check my thigh armor position and what I can fix without having to cut away (much), as that is the last to-do on my EIB Application Feedback List. Obviously, there's another few things that I might work on as well, but hopefully I'll continue on to my Centurion application within the next two months (no promises, I've got a few busy trooping weekends ahead, am still working on applications and will move again soon). Looking forward to any and all feedback!

[13] 04/06/2022 -- Wedding in Bremen To make their wedding celebration a bit more special, the newlyweds decided to have a surprise appearance of some troopers of the 501st Legion. We were handed four bounties and questioned them on their Star Wars knowledge. Being the first trooper to enter the celebration, people were pleasantly surprised to see me catching the first guest (well, some of them, others were a bit confused and some even tried to tell us those weren't the guests we were looking for). We then send in reinforcements ten minutes later in the form of a second TK, before our officer appeared another ten minutes after that. I was just interrogating the last bounty when Vader appeared. Afterwards we got all questions answered without any troubles. We then mingled with the guests, interrogated some more, stood guard for the couple and took some pictures with the guests, before getting to appear out of costume for the celebration. As one of our bounties had actually been considering joining the 501st already, we had a common topic to talk about, before I decided to leave the party a bit earlier than most. All the best wishes to the newlyweds and thank you for this troop opportunity! No pictures as of yet, and I'm not sure if I ever get access to any, as this was a private event, so this troop log will have to do with a written-only report for now. TK-66744 signing off

Looks good! Maybe cut the top of the cover strip a bit more so it doesn't stick out? Regarding the gap, you can easily fill it with ABS Paste (How to Apply) or Sugru. Its really easy, helps with the Centurion no-gap requirement and was done for the screen-used armors. Hope this helps and good luck!

I've been looking forward to this. Hotel is booked, friends are alerted, fingers are crossed that we can actually go

Hey Daniel! There is a mentor-mentee program on here known as the Attaché Program. You can find an overview of the program and the Attachés here. The Attachés for the Badlands Garrison seem to be @Pyrates and @wook1138 so feel free to reach out to them directly on here or wait for them to see your query Whilst neither are listed as ROTK experts they might still be a help with building or simply finding the right resources. As it seems you've already found the R1TK area and started a build thread, you might find prior chiming in from all over the world as well if you need help. I hope this helped, good luck and enjoy your white armor!

Those look awesome! Gotta love all those little extras that just add to a TK - always makes for fun interactions with the visitors

[12] 22/05/2022 -- Galactic Days in the Zoo Münster, Day 2 On this weekend members from several clubs united to spread the love of Star Wars in the zoo and to raise money for charity. We got to walk around the zoo, interact with the visitors, march a parade and have fun with each other. Despite temperatures higher than expected and less clouds than announced, we took this opportunity to interact especially with and for the young fans. We got asked to take hundreds of pictures and got photographed doing silly stuff all over the area. I found a new friend in CC-75367 with whom I ended up spending almost the entire day melting in the sun and goofing around. From trying to hold onto the monkey bars to going onto the swing, we both explored the playground as much as our armors allowed. https://i.imgur.com/1q8qcfV.mp4 | https://imgur.com/a/yvDSR3S (Yes, that's me on the trampoline. No, there were no cracks afterwards. Maybe my helmet almost flew off of my head.) For lunch we got ourselves some crepes, before realizing that unfortunately those are quite hard to eat with your bucket on. So we took a short break before going back to arresting rebels and causing mayhem spreading peace, justice, freedom and security. All in all, an amazing day that left me exhausted, grinning and not sure how my armor survived everything. TK-66744 signing off