Morgi

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!

This is to show a few ways to modify your armor, if you're too slim for the usual size. Trimming Although this may seem like the most obvious solution, unless you're smaller than the average TK (smaller than 175cm) as well, extensive trimming might lead to weird proportions. If you decide to trim your armor, here's a few things you should look out for: For forearm armor, you should trim the back of the armor, as the front might have a raised ridge for your cover strip. Make sure to angle the cut as necessary. Leave enough room to get your hand through the wrist opening comfortably. You might need to reshape the armor with heat afterwards. With the bicep armor make sure to cut equal amounts from front and back, so that the raised armor part/thumb print remains centered. Here you should rather leave some extra space than end up with a too slim bicep as that usually ends up not looking good. Regarding the thighs, you should have the same approach as with the forearms, making sure to only take away extra material in the back. When trimming, make sure to keep the back of both thighs looking similar. The coverstrip should end up pointing at this "corner". You might need to cut off extra material at the top once you align the bottom ridges. The shins should also be trimmed solely from the back, since in the front you have a raised area for the coverstrip. Make sure to test the fit whilst wearing your boots as they might give you extra width to account for. It's better to go slow and trim bit by bit than to rush and take off too much. Although I do NOT recommend trimming the torso, if you feel the need to do so, make sure to trim equal amounts off of all plates to keep the overall balance. Once you get to a point, where any piece of the armor fits you should not trim any other torso pieces. If you've got the notches in your kidney plate, you will either need to reform them after trimming, or you cut away enough material so that you do not have any notches. At the very least for your back and your chestplate you will need to reform the return edge for an authentic look, so make sure to learn that skill beforehand with a separate piece of ABS scrap before reshaping any armor parts. For heatforming a return edge you should either have a piece of smooth wood in the correct shape to bend your armor over whilst forming or you can use a heating iron. Padding Instead of filling out your armor with body mass, you can also add padding. Usually small pads are enough, but you can also fill out your armor pieces across the full length. There are different types of padding you can use. Either store-bought or foam that you cut to the right size. Depending on what you like best and how much flexibility you want to allow your padding you can either use firm or softer padding. Ideally your padding is black to blend into your undersuit. However, should you use different colored padding you can easily use a marker to turn it darker. Should you use a marker, there's no need to color the whole piece, only what is visible by looking into the piece of armor. I prefer to attach my padding with velcro wherever possible, as that allows me to exchange and adjust padding size, thickness, and firmness for each troop. Should you gain or lose weight this will allow for an easy exchange of padding. Additionally this allows you to keep spare padding in case the one you're using rips or otherwise gets damaged. Strapping When you're too thin for your armor, it's easiest to spot the difference in mass between the armor plates, where you can spot the undersuit. Therefore you should aim to have the least amount of undersuit visible. Not only does that get you closer to an authentic look, but the armor hides your actual body mass better than your undersuit. A specific strapping that you can adjust is the shoulder strapping. By moving the chest and back closer together it'll be less likely for another to simply look through any gaps between your armor and your body. You might have to cut away from the neck area a bit more so your armor doesn't cut into your neck. Additionally you might face trouble regarding the ab-kidney connection. If you're fine with your armor overlapping (not acceptable for higher levels), you should make sure that the abplate overlaps the kidney. This way the overlap is less visible to others. Alternatively, you can opt for a rigid strapping for the connection, forcing it into position and shape without the body mass to fill it up. This can look strange when worn if you're a lot skinnier than the armor, but might work out well if it's not that noticeable. Additionally, this qualifies you for higher level approvals. I personally went for a rigid strapping that allows for adjustment. That way I can switch between Centurion level armor and what feels most comfortable to me. As you can see in the picture, the strapping consists of two slots and two ABS pieces that fit them. By making the gap in the slots the exact size as the ABS pieces it mostly stays in position when trooping. Lastly there's the buttplate to consider. Due to it's position, it's easy to see the inside of the buttplate if you're too slim. To avoid that you can either heatform the armor and adjust the curve to the rest of your armor, or you can have an additional snap from one side of your buttplate to the other, going across your body. This keeps the plate flush against your body whilst giving your entire lower torso section a better hold, as this past might slide down without the friction of your body preventing movement. V-tabs can help your buttplate stay in place as well. Paint To avoid people seeing the contrast between your undersuit size and your armor, it might be helpful to color the inside of your armor black to help your undersuit blend in. I personally haven't tried this yet, so I can't guarantee good results. Should I ever attempt this, I'll share my progress and let you know if it works as intended. Trooping You should take some time and a second person to help you adjust your strapping, padding and movements so your armor parts don't lock into each other. Especially the sniperplate can easily end up inside your thigh and cause you problems. Try out different poses that look and feel good for photos or videos. Additionally, make sure to carry some snacks with you if possible, for example by putting a pouch inside your chest plate. Many skinny people do not have many calories to burn or might end up with low blood sugar. Should that happen to you, simply eat a glucose, notify a handler or fellow Trooper and move back to the break room for some proper nutrition and some water. Here I've collected a few things that might be helpful to carry along: If you're too small and too skinny for your armor, you might want to take a look at the following threads for advice on how to downsize your armor: I hope this helped! If you've stumbled across some additional advice, please share it in the comments and I'll link your input here!

Additionally, I get to replace my gloves. Again

Glückwunsch, Marcel! Als nächstes dann Centurion! Congratulations, Marcel! Next up Centurion!

I've been summoned! Welcome to FISD, Tristan. That sounds like a lot of armor -- if you ever want some feedback, to simply chat about armor or you want to share your progress, you're in the right place. Looking forward to seeing you around EDIT: just saw your newest comment. Iron Motion is a German TK vendor who supplies many of the Garrison's TKs

[52] 03.06.2023 -- NordCon Hamburg This was the first time the 501st appeared at this small local con -- and the con thought it was just a rumor. Despite clearing everything in advance, they were surprised to see us actually appear. We still got a changing room set aside for us and we were ready to go. The three of us arrived a bit early, so we could run around as Pride Troopers before the actual event start. However, the visitors (many of which were part of the LGBTQ+ community themselves) liked us so much, it was decided that we could continue as Pride Troopers for the rest of the event. I only removed the flag-cape after a while because as much as I liked the Phasma-esque look, I wanted to have a bit more mobility than the flag would grant me. We explored the convention, had some fun on the playground, entertained the visitors and were invited to join the swordfight. Still dealing with the aftermath of the troop in Mölln (#50), where we had lost at that exact same swordfight game, we gracefully declined. One devastating loss was as much as our pride could endure. We rather explored the fantasy world of the convention a bit more. TK-66744 signing off

There are 2333 TIE Reserves right now. Without those, JRS would still have less than 3000 costumes. So, yeah, that might be a factor... who doesn't love a cheap overall that you can buy ready to wear and to get approved in? Now, if you want to boost the TK statistics a bit: you can easily turn your ANH Stunt TK into an ESB/ANH-H/HWT. Caleb's got a good link collection for the ANH Stunt to ESB conversion here. For the Hero, you need to change even less (a new helmet, belt, and holster[-screws]), and the HWT just needs a backpack, a pauldron and some (removable) weathering. So time to get those 4-in-1 costumes done