Tilheyra

I wish I was able to hear more of it! We didn't hear much as we did not go into the ticketed areas, but it was great to hear the opening theme through the open doors to the auditorium! Thank you! The first 10 (and 11th) have been amazing and have been quite the range of events as well!

I didn't even make that connection! I'll have to put in a suggestion for their name change to get with the times.

I ended up singing Barbie Girl in my head for the rest of the event.

Troop #11 April 20th was a two-troop day for me! The second troop was at the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Concert! We provided the proper atmosphere for the performance by trooping the lobby of the theater before the show and during intermission. Following Legion guidelines, we remained outside the ticketed areas. Many photos were taken, and I should receive those soon, but here's the one photo I have in the mean time: We took part in the Star Wars Indiana tradition of getting photos near the Soldiers & Sailors monument (the theater is right next to it) that Indianapolis is known for. I'll also post that photo when I get it!

TK-47933 requesting the 10 badge!

Troop #10 A favorite troop among many members in Star Wars Indiana is the Republic Airways Plane Pull. This is a charity event put on by Republic Airways to raise money for children's hospitals, and teams that sign up for the event (and raise money) are given their turn to, literally, pull a plane a short distance. The Republic maintenance hangar at the Indianapolis airport was set up for the plane pull itself, as well as included different food vendors, booths and activities with the local professional sports teams, and different aircraft on display. The event started with the mascots of the local sports teams pulling a small, single engine airplane. This was followed up with children directly benefiting from the charity event pulling the small plane! Star Wars Indiana was then given our turn, but we were given the rope to the plane all the other teams would be pulling, which was an Embraer 175 regional commercial airliner. Wikipedia notes the empty weight of an Embraer 175 as 21,890 kg (just above 24 tons). I was surprised that we were able to get the plane moving so quickly and covered the pull distance (15 feet) in such a short time, but we also had 18 of us pulling the plane, and aircraft are supposed to roll pretty easily. Someone was in the cockpit of the plane to apply the brake as soon as we reached the max pull distance, and they certainly weren't playing around with getting the plane stopped! Here's a photo of us pulling the plane! After we had our turn with the plane, we were let loose to roam around the open areas of the hangar and tarmac. I headed with some of our TIE pilots to go in the other commercial aircraft on display. We made sure to verify the credentials of the captain before the TIE pilots examined the controls of the plane. Not being able to negotiate the small space of the cockpit, I decided to make sure the coffee maker was in working order in the event our pilots needed coffee. Our pilots may have had the more exciting job: Plenty of photos were also taken with the smaller aircraft on display on the open areas of the tarmac! TIE pilots and rebel pilots alike had fun taking various cockpit photos, and like usual, the public absolutely loved us!

Troop #9 It was an eventful evening with the Indy Eleven to put on Star Wars Night! The Indy Eleven is the professional soccer team in Indianapolis, Indiana, and they played Charleston Battery of Charleston, South Carolina (Charleston Battery won). Like usual, the Bloodfin Garrison teamed up with the Mos Espa base of the Rebel Legion and the Taakure Clan of the Mando Mercs to make this event a success! The Indy Eleven incorporated us into many different aspects of the evening to make Star Wars Night very immersive! They requested some of us to walk with the players as the players gradually arrived for the game, and the Indy Eleven social media team was quick to post photos of us walking alongside many of the players. We also got a photo of the crew for the players' walk. After the players' arrival, the Star Wars crew was guided into the stadium to provide the right atmosphere for some of the before-game activities, such as Star Wars bingo and visiting with many of the season ticket holders who were allowed to enter the stadium early. We were then stationed near the various entrances to greet the spectators as they entered the stadium! After some time greeting the spectators, we were then ushered near the stands to be part of the players' introductions as they entered the stadium. The Indy Eleven social media team made sure to take a photo of many of us with the game ball shortly before the players took to the pitch. Once the game began, we were then ushered over to the fun zone for families with kids, and I remained there until the troop was over. We made sure to get a group photo at this point. I also stumbled upon the rebel base! It was a tiring evening with lots of walking, but there's no doubt it was a super fun experience!

Here's what I use and really like: https://www.michaels.com/product/dritz-heavy-duty-snap-pliers-10664599?michaelsStore=9601&inv=4 I buy these snaps: https://www.michaels.com/product/silver-heavy-duty-snaps-by-loops-threads-10354209?michaelsStore=9601&inv=3 As you know, there are many other snap pliers and snaps out there that work really well as well. What it tends to come down to is what you can find of the right quality and price for you based on what you are able to access.

Welcome! Happy to see a new Valkyrie in the ranks! You may be interested in our Vader's Valkyries section of the forum (in addition to many other areas): https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/forum/255-vaders-valkyries-armor-open-discussion/ Also, if you haven't yet started a troop log, I highly recommend doing so! That way you can show the awesome photos and adventures you go on as you troop!

Troop #8 The Bloodfin Garrison and the Taakure Clan of the Mando Mercs teamed up for a showing at a school carnival in Lafayette, Indiana. Most of the troop was spent inside in a designated area for taking photos with Star Wars characters, but we did venture around the school and went outside at one point. Vader wanted to get some photos of his cape fluttering in the wind, so I provided some help as well. Like many troops, we got a bit goofy toward the end. One of the students told me I slayed, so I joined her and her friends in different slaying poses! I later recreated one of the slaying poses for the camera: I think it is a decent pose!

It's a cautionary tale of recognizing that, although we know our blasters are not real guns, that may not be clear to the general public. All cosplayers/costumers need to be mindful of this concern.

Troop #7 Finally!!! Eclipse day!!!! I had the pleasure of trooping Anna's Eclipse Celebration in Indianapolis, Indiana. The watch party was hosted by a charity for children with special needs, named Anna's Celebration of Life. The organization went all out with a DJ, photo booth, tabling by other human services organizations, a TV meteorologist discussing weather and eclipses, free food, and of course the main event, a stormtrooper! Well...actually, the main event was the eclipse, but you all get my point... I was the only one from the garrison to sign up for this event, so I was lucky to have a friend accompany me as a handler. It took a lot of persuasion (it did not) to get my friend Melissa to go with me, and she was so happy to be part of this troop! Melissa also has a real eye for good photos, as shown in this photo during the eclipse! My XO had previously told me to take some time for myself during the eclipse and not keep my helmet on. I took his advice and I am happy I did! I was fortunate to also be in the path of totality for the eclipse in the U.S. in 2017, and I am so thankful to have had the chance to be in the path of totality today! Even better, I got to troop during this eclipse!!!

Troop #6 The Eiteljorg Museum of Native American & Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana hosted a screening of A New Hope in Diné (the Navajo language) as part of their programming around the upcoming total solar eclipse! Naturally, the Bloodfin Garrison was invited to provide the right atmosphere leading up to the show, and a Jedi from Mos Espa Base of the Rebel Legion joined in the fun. Before I get into the troop log, I did some searches online to learn more about how A New Hope was dubbed over in Diné and found this informative article! As noted in the article, it took plenty of persistence and patience to make the dub in Diné, and it is wonderful that films can be used as a way to preserve and strengthen cultural heritage! Now, to the troop log: Much of the troop occurred during the hour leading up to the showing of the film, so we wandered around the different areas of the museum. We were even allowed to go through the different exhibit galleries (carefully), so we made sure to visit just about every part of the museum. We mostly stuck to the common areas on the main floor and the children's exploration area on the lower level. The museum's photographer also got many shots of us for the museum's social media accounts, and we all posed under the main sign for the building: The two officers with us on the troop are former Bloodfin members who recently moved to the U.S. state of Virginia and, thus, Garrison Tyrannus. The eclipse drew them both back to Indianapolis for a visit and troop! The children's exploration area is where we found the opportunity to take lots of goofy photos. I also worked up the courage to fit myself into the stagecoach...and regretted it as soon as I got in (no armor was damaged in the making of these photos - but Vader looked on disapprovingly)... In time, the exploration and goofing around was over and it was time for the film! We settled into the front row (despite what it looks like, I had not had too much popcorn), but I ultimately ended up with Vader and the snow trooper in the back of the theater: A fun time and a cool experience that not many people get to have! Trooping lets me do a bunch of awesome things!

Sometimes one never knows the issues and ideas that will pop up until one gets out there and troops. In my few troops so far, I have found people to be very understanding when I ask them to repeat something because I couldn't hear. After all, they can easily imagine not being able to hear if they were wearing the same helmet! For me, I have found the bigger problem is that I do not have a voice amp, which is something I am working to add before too long. My helmet fans are near my mouth, so the microphones I have tried mostly pick up the fan noise. I'll find a solution at some point.

I'll second Glen's recommendation of elastic to allow for some movement. In reference to the discussion a few posts up, I also recommend at least having the forearms be able to separate from the rest of the arm armor. Even though I only have 5 troops under my belt, being able to remove my forearm armor has come in handy a number of times. This is usually when I've had to eat but didn't want to take off all my armor. It's surprising how much mobility just taking off the forearm armor will provide you!