Merugear

Over our combined history many have stepped up from the masses to gain the status of a hero. Just open any historical book in any library and you will find something or someone indicating the presence of a hero in any one of them. The concept of a hero basically is a cultural norm or value that has been superimposed on a person, who has happened to have shown an extraordinary display of that norm or value at a given time, having gotten general consensus by his or her peers that he or she has indeed performed the act that has led to his or her heroism, in turn becoming a symbol of that norm or value to his or her peers. They are the indicators of a culture to express and personify the norms and values they value the most in their culture, and to pass them on to their children and peers in stories and other media. The hero is not only the indicator in these stories, but also the tool to help people identify with the situation at hand. As is commonly accepted, we humans are incapable of viewing the world from any perspective but a personal one. The hero offers a key to us to become a part of the story, instead of just being an observer. He allows us to identify ourselves with him, so we can get a greater sense of immersion, and relate to his ordeals. Due to the ever-changing values of cultural norms and values, heroes are mostly of a temporary nature, dependant on the times and toils of the time the hero has lived in, as well as the culture the hero and his peers lived in. As the culture changes, so does its heroes. What can be seen as a hero to one culture can be seen as the total opposite by another. The hero of one culture could have become one by slaying the hero of the other culture, or by stealing resources from an enemy camp. The hero will be naturally seen as a traitor or criminal to his or her enemies. A hero does not have to be a real person per definition. They are basically the projection of a culture, to show the culmination of symbols that bear a significant value to the culture. They can be mythological heroes, protagonists in a movie, book or story or just an everyday person who just happens to be in the right place at the right time. Every one of us can be or become a hero, and become an ex-hero as well. Some may rise up to that premise and, shaped by the heroes of their own pasts to become one themselves. The tales of those heroes may continue to be told for centuries, or they just might be printed once in a local newspaper. Whoever becomes the hero, whatever the cause may be; as long as we are human, there will be heroes that better our future. ©2009 Vincent aka Merugear Please ask permission before duplicating. (500 words precicely!)

Dude that sucks! Hope the bucket finds its way back to you man... Though I personally wouldn't risk going clubbing with my armor just for stories like those :S. Best of luck man... Vincent

-fixed-

Congratulations dude! Hope you have lots of fun wearing your armor . Vincent

Sounds a lot like The Verve Pipe, I like it! also big up for the Commander Keen helmet

Well, to try to find a way to legally do it of course. Also, several people re-enacting the A team complete and all with van and soundsystem playing the tune were arrested by force at an american parade here not so long ago, just carrying toy guns straight out of the shops here. I just wanna know my rights when some git calls the police cos they see phantom terrorists. Also, how would: "Dutch 501st Stormtrooper arrested for illegal weapon use" sound to good ole Uncie George as far as good PR is concerned . Though from fellow troopers I heard they look the other way when at events and all. And just make sure you're in a group and not alone.

Turning Sandtrooper cos my painting skills suck, inadvertedly making my armor look weathered from the get-go .

bla bla blabla... Awesome

When did you see Star Wars in the theater for the first time and where? I first caught a glimpse of Star Wars when I went to DisneyLand Paris, in the Star Tours attraction. A good start to be honest cos of the animatronic robots! After that, I watched them on the television in the 80ies with my family. I never got any of the spoilers like Luke, I´m your father, so we were all very surprised to hear that in Empire. My dad´s seen em all in the cinemas on their release in the Netherlands, but thankfully he kept his mouth shut on any spoilers . The actual theatre SW was when the special edition was released, and I went to Empire then. What is your favorite Star Wars movie? Empire Strikes Back, it adds so much depth to the series. ANH builds the characters, ESB builds the tension and ROTJ gives you closure. Though I loooooved the Ewok movies, even spent time with pen and paper trying to translate the ewok language as a kid hehe. What is your least favorite Star Wars movie? Well... I have to say Attack of the Clones... Hayden plays a very frustrated High School Musical Anakin. It's not really his acting but his lines suck. Watched it last time... Anakin comes of rather psychotic somehow. First time he meets Padme in ages and the first thing he does is tell her he's been dreaming about her EVERY NIGHT SINCE HE LEFT. I mean, when you're 10... Do you really remember all the people you had a crush on at that age? As in: you're an adolescent and dream about them EVERY NIGHT?! It just psyches me out, and is one scene where I left the TV screaming and went off to go play Disgaea 3 instead . What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? The small things in life. Seriously! I can get excited on the littlest of details at times... Guess having a near-death experience helps in that regard . And my girlfriend in all three aspects. What turns you off? Annoying people. Gullible people. People that think it is cool to be ignorant and not world-smart. What is your favorite curse word? C|_|nt (well the dutch equivalent) or a combination of baaaaad words all mixed into one. What Star Wars Character do you love? Boba Fett... I met Jeremy Bulloch in person at the Dutch Starcon once. His character is cool, but the man behind the mask is even cooler. He sent his wife off on an errand so he could give my mom a free autograph cos she was waving some fresh air towards him with a pamphlet. He said his wife shouldn't find out cos she was always on the money . I love his humour, a true Brit at that . What Star Wars Character do you hate? Young Anakin Skywalker... Darned psycho. How did you first find out about your home garrison? The internets, though FISD has been more helpful to me than the DO. What Costume other than your own would you like to attempt? Darth Revan I recon... One of the Sith Lords for sure. Custom Mandalorian is also an option. What Costume would you not like to do? Slave Leia (a manboob related issue, not to mention body hair ) What would you like to hear George Lucas say when you arrive at the LucasFilm Gates? Here's my creditcard, the keys to the house and all licenses I've ever owned... Don't forget to feed the Rancor, and cast 501st members for the live-action series will ya?

Man... I'd love some free water bottles

Hey there fellow troopers! It's been a while since I popped in, but things haven't been doing okies with me. Long story short, I've got a kidneystone and being 22, that's quite young on having one of those. It hurts like heck and the docs say it has to come out the natural way so poor ol little me will be missing out on the action for two weeks. Good thing I got Heart of an Empire and some Star Wars books to spend my time on. I'll put the armor on hold cos I don't think it is smart to be handling fumes such as glue fumes, paint fumes etc. when I'm allready on heavy painkillers. Well thought I'd update on y'all. Take care, and be safe Vincent

I agree... Though the thing is, those organisations, just for the sake of people acting out Nazi's have been under close watch by the government and such must follow strict rules etc. etc. and face it WWII's been around longer than Star Wars. The difference with the Star Wars stuffs is that when you re-enact WWII, you have to use proper WWII weapons, registered and accounted for at a weaponsmith and with a waiver of owning it. You also have to be a member of that organisation for over a year before you can get a weapon like that. Two things play a role in here. Firstly: If you add greeblies to a de-activated weapon, by law you are altering a weapon to appear as a toy gun (just to be a nitpick) which by common sense isn't quite acceptable to do. Second, the Dutch Garisson exists only of 20-odd members so there isn't really a community that can be used as a leverage, just 20-odd people wearing plastic. I might just go Heavy Weapon Trooper, scratch build a PVC-pipe bazooka or such, and get myself a Mouse Droid instead.

No! The Han-frozen-in-carbonite is the coolest

Well from my point of view, I tried several things... I was the one with the 'cracked' helmet though, but I guess it's to do with me cutting too far in the helmet and sanding too roughly. Terell offered me a new cap if need be, but a quick fix was all it took to make it look good again . The helmet is thinner than the armor, and the armor is frakking unbreakable. Snap and score was a chore for me. I really advise you to get those Lexan cutters they use for modelling as described in (I believe) stukatrooper's tutorial. The curved plastic scissors... That surely would have made cutting my helmet a LOT easier! I put the cut-off plastic in a bag to keep safe as a lot of cut-off strips from the arms and the shins etc. can be used as an inside strip for adhesion (yeah smart eh? ). The plastic is a bit curved at times (the cut-off plastic, the pieces themselves are AWESOME) but you won't seen them anyways. Buy glue-clamps and GOOD glue cos I spent some money on buying Bison's Polymax and it just plain sucked. Now I got this bucket of Polystyrene glue for ceiling-plates and wall panels etc... It works like a charm! Apart from that... Use VERY FINE GRIT sandingpaper if you're using some. With the paint, be careful for drooping paint... Also, if you're doing the helmet, make sure you stick it up a pole or such, cos I put it on some newspapers on a workbench and the papers soaked through at the beginning. I am a newb when it comes to all this and suffice to say that I made a lot of beginners mistakes . Also, with ATA and other hips armor... It's never truly ruined! If need be, you can just get the paint off or repaint over it. Or even sand it right for that matter. For the price, if you mess something up, there's always a cheap and fast replacement part to get. I love Affordable Trooper Armor (and at times I hate it with a passion, but that's mainly cos of my lack of skill with plastics in general ) It's all part of the process. If you got any more questions Rich, ask away And for Luis: I did a test spray with primer+paint+varnish and on the other side (after curing) I did primer + varnish... From my point of view they look the same, though keep in mind that the paint itself will also act as a layer of protection for your armor pieces. Yes you scuff and you can mess up, but if you got the right paint, it will add to the strength and flexibility of your armor.

My girlfriend used to be a latin dancer, but that's the closest I can get

Thanks gave me a good boost while churning out armor

And another reply... I guess it's going to be cardboard with a high density print on it for photoshoots from now on . Any tips on other (albeit EU) accessories to be holding on during troops? I don't wanna hop skip jump around 'naked'. Vincent

Wow, you never seem to stop amazing me. You're truly the woodchuck! I saw your other posts and gee wiz, wood certainly holds no secrets to you! If I had the funds (and wasn't still in college ) I'd buy one off you for sure! I might, in the future though! Keep up the good work Chuck! Vincent

Hey there troopers! I recently bought some Star Wars books on the 'Bay. It was a pleasant surprise to find a short story written in one of them about a stormtrooper named Davin Felth. Never heard of him before, but it sure opened my eyes a bit! Adds a bit of atmosphere to ANH. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Davin_Felth (spoilers) It's a fun read and I can advise anyone to read up on it just to get the gist of 'being' a stormtrooper. Now I played SW: Force Commander and that gave me some ideas, but are there any other media that delve more in the essence of being a stormtrooper? I'm a method actor so it would be sooo nice to reply to pestering kids with a 'canon' reply to some questions they haunt you with . (I also bought the Shadows of the Empire novel and Tales from the Empire for bout a dollar each (shipping excluded ) So if anyone's got a list of stormtrooper stories or movies or whatever, plunk 'em in here . Vincent

owning them is just as illegal apparently

Don't think the sterling would be allowed... Though the lewis gun is an antiquity... But costs 19 frikkin thousand dollars to get an original, then you need to de-ac it as well... And THEN you need to buy a weapons vault too, then a permit aaaand well my wallet doesn't allow for that. Still mailing back and forth... I'll make it my duty to have our troops to wear their guns legally!

Got a reply: So that's that... I sure hope the other 501st members in the Netherlands won't get in trouble cos of this, since I used a pic from the site (but basically the pic is readily available on-site so linking to it would basically do the same thing). But still, hope it doesn't cause any trouble. Merugear off.

Sooo what if your goverment doesn't allow blasters as props for your costume. Does that mean no EIB?

Man... Having someone else build your armor ruins the experience! I've been cussing over those pieces of plastic ever since I've got them but boy does it feel goood when you got a finished piece !

Bout 5 euro's for the 2 doorknobs, 3 for the doorhandle, 2.5 for the tupperware and.... bout 4 euro's for the tent cap? well paint and shish kebob thingies were allready in hand. 12.50 for the tube with ring (of which I only needed the ring ) so yeah it could be cheaper, but heck it beats a Radica game . Will add more greeblies in time.