Morgi

Welcome! That's an impressive first troop in armor for sure, well done!

Time for some (new) memes!

Willkommen, Marcel! Glad to have you!

[55] 11.08.2023 -- Elbenwald Festival, Day 1 Once more I had the pleasure of getting to troop at Elbenwald Festival. The nerd Festival would be protected by a hundred troopers that weekend, we'd have a droid hunt, support the security at the entrance and help on stage. Many who had been there before had been looking forward to trooping these three days once more, myself included. On Friday, our main event was the short parade to the stage where we would stand guard for half an hour. All of us were baking in the sun and when we were asked to dance at the end (true to the festival's theme of "The Party Strikes Back"), I could barely even move my legs. Nevertheless, it was an exhilarating start to the weekend with the masses cheering for us. Over the past years, the 501st had turned into an important fixture of the Festival and people were glad to see us once more. Carried only by glucose and the sheer energy that comes from trooping, I did one and a half hours of booth duty in full armor as well, accompanying ID-86351, who would end up doing this duty most of the time over the weekend. Ending this as the shortest of the three days, most came together in the evening to either catch up or go to the concerts together. [56] 12.08.2023 -- Elbenwald Festival, Day 2 Once more I was one of the first people in armor on Saturday, starting the day of strong with entry controls for the visitors. We found a few Grogus, some droids and suspicious people, but didn't have to arrest any Rebels. After our hour and a half of obligatory entry duty, I took it upon myself to collect all the white armor that was already running around for a group photo. Little did I know that two more TK's would end up joining us later that day. Truly wonderful to troop with such a large group of TK's. Over the day we still split into patrols. Some controlled the media center, others continued hunting droids and interrogating visitors. Towards lunch time we held another parade through the park and were spontaneously invited by the band playing the Cantina Song to once more join them in front of the stage. Afterwards most troopers suited down, the exhaustion and heat getting to us all. Knowing that I'd probably not suit up again if I left my (sweat-soaked) armor now, I decided to power through the exhaustion. With the help of some glucose, a hearty lunch and a break in the shadows with some friends I once more gathered my strength and the afternoon just flew by. I went on a ride with the park Railway, met some amazing cosplayers, collected some droids, did a bit of booth duty and never once suited down until it was suddenly evening. The newly approved TK-56347 and I ended up having so much fun at our base that both of us ended up staying in armor for over 11 hours without even a single suit-down that day -- a new record for both of us. Towards the end of the day, we got to try on the security's vests, advise some possible recruits and just goof off. We had been considering going to that evening's concert in armor as well, but ultimately decided against it once a thunderstorm started up just before the concert. [57] 13.08.2023 -- Elbenwald Festival, Day 3 The third day mirrored the previous day in a lot of facets. There was the morning brief, we took over the Railway station, collected some droids and visited the merch store. The biggest difference to the previous day was when towards lunch we didn't hold another parade but instead chose the winners of the droid hunt. I believe, the biggest cheers went up when the three year won and wasn't afraid of the Emporer who handed him the prize. Another winner, to everyone's delight, was Pikachu. In the afternoon we played a game of Quidditch (Quadball?) against a local team. Despite them playing dirty we managed to catch Grogu and took a winner photo with the team. After another patrol, I checked in with the local emergency service team as well. Last year we'd taken fun pictures with them and this year they were enthusiastic to take even better ones with us. I got a leg brace, ecg (I flatlined an alarming amount of times due to the armor), they took my blood pressure, listened to my heart and lungs, got an oxygen mask, and much more. Honestly, everything they had, they tried to fit on me. It was really fun and I got to keep the oxygen mask afterwards. Towards the end of the day I was invited on stage for the charity auction with three of my fellow troopers. I was already exhausted, but believing it to be very soon, I agreed. Then the auction got pushed back and I was suddenly facing another two hours in armor. Not enough time to suit down and relax properly, so I decided to just keep going and hope my body wouldn't give out on me. Luckily, a lady with goggly eyes came by and outfitted our troopers, providing an excellent distraction and some of the funniest pictures of the Festival. The charity auction later was a full success. I believe we raised about a thousand euros in the half hour it took. Afterwards I had to suit down immediately, the second eleven hour day finally catching up with me. Despite some bruises and blisters, it was an amazing weekend and I hope I'll get to troop this event again next year. The visitors were all so excited to see us, my fellow troopers were as wonderful and fun and in character as I'd come to see last year and the concerts in the evening were great. TK-66744 signing off

Congratulations, Christian! Well done!

Glad to have you back! It hasn't been the same without you

It's not "things for your build area", but "made my life 100% easier", so I'll still comment A build thread and/or an Attaché. I only started my FISD journey once I was halfway done and had to rework almost everything later on. Having these from the beginning would have saved me a lot of work and time. Once I did join I started a build thread where I got tons of amazing feedback and my Attaché helped me with anything I ever needed help with. Made my build 100% easier. Thank you to all who commented on my build thread and to my Attaché Tino, you're the best!

As @Imperial_juggernaut said, this is in surprisingly good condition for a supposedly screen-used set of armor. Additionally, a few details look to be off. For a Hero TK this is missing the four rivets and tan straps for the holster. The rivets on the side aren't visible either. The fit of the backplate looks a bit awkward with the overlap. This might be explained if it were Luke's armor (which would also explain the short cut-off chest plate), but for that some cracks and signs of usage are missing and the shoulderbridges are moved backwards. As seen in the screencaps, they usually had a few more ridges glued to the chestplate. The forearm also has a bit of a weird shape compared to what I'm used to seeing. All in all, I suspect this isn't a screen-used armor, but I'm not willing to confirm either way. Maybe someone could find a screencap of the TK in the video. After all, the TKs in the movies had some very different builds with details, form and and shape changing with every armor.

Not missing this hype

Oh, my chance! First picture the leftmost TK (as seen when looking at the picture). On the first group picture you're the one TK between the scout and reserve Cool group you got there, always nice to see several TKs together!

In honor of our newest CRL Also @MaskedVengeance -- found your twin

[54] 15.07.2023 -- Family party at the military base Kropp My first ever troop at a military base! A recruit at said base had made the troop possible for us. The family party was for the members of the military personnel currently stationed at the base or those who were away but ordinarily stationed there. They had set up a photo booth where visitors could take pictures with us troopers, a stage with music, some kiddie pools, bouncy castles, several games, military vehicles, a range for archery and -- our highlight -- they had alpacas! And although said alpacas weren't very impressed with us, we were absolutely enthusiastic to meet them. Another highlight of mine included the various games where you had to aim. I won against CT-12840 at the axe throwing and the basketball hoops, but we had a draw with the archery, both of us hitting the target twice in three attempts, despite our various limitations. The people at the base were super enthusiastic to see us do all that and lots of kids wanted pictures. So all in all a very fun afternoon! TK-66744 signing off

@MaskedVengeance @revlimiter

Woooow, you finally have a troop log! So cool to see all these troops, can't wait to see which ones are next

Coastal Hammer? Welcome to the squad (and the Legion)! We're glad to have you! I'm sure we'll see each other at a troop soon If you ever have any questions or need any help (especially regarding higher levels ) always feel free to reach out. We're here to help!

About two weeks ago I found out that my ABS RS TK had yellowed, so I hope some of my infos regarding this matter help you. It took about 400 troop hours (estimation!) for my armor to yellow. About 200-250 (another estimation) of these should have been with indirect and direct sunlight exposure. You can wear it outside. The more you stay out of the sunlight the longer it should take until it yellows though. As of right now we know that UV light is one of the main contributors to yellowing, but proper armor care should also help keep your armor shiny. There is! You can find a few resources in this resource thread. I'll be using this method hopefully some time within the next few weeks to reverse my own yellowing, I'll update you with the results once I get it done. It is said that your armor might yellow more easily if it happened before, so that might become a procedure you need to do every now and then. For me it is too shiny. Where I troop most armors are made out of ABS and wearing PVC just sticks out. However, RS ABS armor is pretty creamy, so if you live in a region where many troopers have a brighter plastic, ABS is just as likely to look as if your armor has already yellowed. So I can't really help with that one. Maybe some of the troopers near you can help out!

[XX] 25.06.2023 -- Lütt im Park, Hamburg Organized by a local Star Wars group, a few friends and I requested to troop with them. We're all from a region in Germany that has almost no troops or troopers anywhere close, so this was a great opportunity to meet some new people in the same hobby and only one state over. From the beginning it was shaping up to be a hot day, so we did our best to stay in the shadows, drink a lot of water and generally stay cool. One of the guys from the local group had brought a fan and some watermelon, which was awesome. I'm not sure if we would have survived without him. Since the event was held in a local park there were lots of bystanders who were enjoyed to see us. Just for fun we joined a Zumba class that was being held, and were later invited back so they could film us. As of now I haven't seen the videos, and I'm not sure if I should be glad about that or not -- Zumba is definitely not something that was designed for people in full body armor. Overall it was really fun, aside from the fact that my armor had yellowed since the last troop. But I'm hopeful that I'll be able to fix this in the future. Luckily it wasn't very visible in any of the pictures either. Oh, and that Lego Blaster that I'm posing with in the picture above should definitely become an official accessory, it's awesome! TK-66744 signing off

It's not on the FISD recommended sellers list. Unless you look at the German list. He's a very common vendor for German TKs and many in the Garrison have his armor approved. Not sure about L2 or L3 approvals in this armor, I don't know of any applications. As you can see, the armor has very sharp details, so you have to know if that's your type of armor. If you live nearby he does commissions and can also be found at various conventions in southern Germany showing off his work. Otherwise you can order the kit online here. Personal opinions? It's not one of my favorite armors out there, the lines are too sharp for my tastes and make the armor look off. It works very well for his Shadowtrooper, but not as much for his Stormtrooper. However, at least in Germany this will be an easy road to approval and possibly a bit cheaper than armors from the UK.

Just... Cotton Gloves. Gotta love 'em. Best piece of advice I've ever gotten.

[53] 10.06.2023 -- Galactic Academy Event Hagen Arriving just in time for seeing everything up on Friday, we were already facing high temperatures. The whole area turned out to be huge with lots of hills and not much shadow. Still, we got everything ready and arrived the next day at 6am to start the event. The troop had been organized by the Galactic Academy Jedha Campus of Germany and was at an outside museum for old crafts. Several other clubs, as well as the local police and fire department had been invited as well. Us TK's started off the day with a patrol across the area, meeting a recruit, posing with the fire department and arresting Mandalorians and Rebels alike. Due to the heat a lot of the time was spent backstage at our booth, making sure to stay hydrated and cool. In the afternoon we started the parade, only to have to stop and re-start twice due to people collapsing from the heat and having to be driven to hospital. Once we were through with the parade it was time to cool down with the help of the local firemen and then suit-down. Over the course of the day the event managed to collect over 4000€ for a local children's hospice, which was an overwhelming success. At this point also a huge thank you to the organizers for the invitation, the lemon cake, and letting me stay at their place overnight! Oh, and for letting me try on a Jawa. I turned out to be an adorable Jawa. TK-66744 signing off picture by Pixelrabe

Honestly, I think I'm speaking for a lot of us, when I say that I am so glad and thankful you're stepping up to manage all that. I'm pretty certain I couldn't do that. And you're not only doing it, but you're doing it super well. So thank you! And, yes, I'm one of those troopers

This thread right now

B-but the aesthetic! The waterproofing! The terrible heat!