Dmian

Happy ending, thanks to our friend Tony!

Ha! I told you! Scott is the man!

John, 501st is a club with its rules. FISD has its own rules too. You're not forced to join neither of the two to wear Stormtrooper armor. If what you want is to use your Stormtrooper armor to have fun in Halloween maybe you should consider if being part of these clubs is for you. For me being part of the 501st and the FISD is helping others, learning about the armor and spending good moments with a lot of virtual and non-virtual friends. I don't think that forum moderation is something that needs to be discussed in public. Not at least if most of us don't see a need to do that. Staff has its reason to ban someone and they only need to explain the reasons to the people banned. If you have questions to make, PM a member of the staff and ask your questions. But I really don't see a reason for us to discuss the rules, as most people seem to be OK with the rules. I personally don't like hobby politics. I just obey the rules. And do my part by trying to help others, that is the reason I'm here really (and to know as much as I can about Stormtrooper armor.) But that's just me. You can do whatever you like. I know you don't mean to be rude or something like that. But I think it's better to leave some things private. I hope you understand what I mean and understand that I don't mean nothing personal with this. Cheers.

Probably. He can still apply for another garrison. The Belgian Garrison might be a wise choice.

Not at all! I'm pretty sure Scott can help you.

Most decals have some kind of adhesive. What you mean are vinyls that keep in place by means of static. But even if they make those static stripes, it wouldn't be useful, as it's not one only piece, but a lot of small pieces that make the decal, and removing the stripes would be a pain. You can have more than one helmet with different color stripes if you will.

This is a fan-driven hobby. You can't compare it to regular commerce. Don't worry, with time you'll learn more things about how this hobby started and grew to what it is today and understand why things are like they are. Just give it time. Oh! and by the way, from the time I got interested in Stormtrooper armor (many, many years ago) to this day, the prices have nothing but fallen. Armor was never as affordable, as accurate and as readily available as it is today.

PM sent. Cheers.

Mathew: Awesome! Keep up the good work.

Welcome to the FISD Dave! If you need further info on ATA armor just send an e-mail to ATAworks@yahoo.com. Cheers.

Hi Michael, welcome to the FISD! Don't you worry, height is not a problem really. It's all in how you fix your armor to suit you. And you'll find all the help you need here. Cheers.

ICOC (In Case Of Caboots) this is what you need!

Pablo, at least in Spain it's easier to get a real weapon or a deac than a replica. There's a big black market of weapons here. And deacs are treated as scrap metal, so pretty easy to get too. So no need to use replicas to commit crimes. For example, I have not heard complaints from airosft guys here. And airsoft it's pretty popular in Spain (in fact, I've seen pictures of people with airsoft guns without orange tips here, but in the US that would be risky to do.) Also policemen are not as jealous as dutch ones. And they are more amazed when they see the garrison than threatened by us. Dutch laws are very strict about replicas, but that's not the case in all EU countries. It really depends on local laws (the same is true for different states in the US.) This is from this website (it may be a bit old, so better check up-to-date information):

Christaan, I think all non visible mods are OK for EIB. As long as it's something that doesn't alter the outside appearance of the armor you can do it. But wait for an official word on it from FISD staff.

Unluckily, this kind of laws come from very specific political decisions taken by authorities to tackle specific problems. Probably the raise in cases of robbery with replicas lead to the dutch authorities to pass this law forbidding all replicas. The only thing that the dutch guys can do is show how stupid this law is by showing how ridiculous it is, as it's probably easier to get and carry a real weapon than carrying a replica. So maybe they can try to get a licence to carry a civil gun and show how they can carry a real weapon but not a replica (if that's the case) They can also send a letter to the appropiate authority in the name of the Garrison clearing the Legion and Garrison intentions and asking for a special permit for them and some police supervision while they are doing their duties. And the best option: they can send letter to the papers, TVs, blogs, etc. to explain how stupid they are by not letting them carry their replicas on their missions and how they probably ruined the whole thing (including the damage done to the kids by shattering the illusion of them being real stormtroopers) by seizing their blasters in the middle of a mission. That's it. And as for Vincent, well, sonner or later this was going to happen, with or without Vincent's mail. If they went for those A-team performers it was just a matter of time before someone noticed the Dutch Garrison carrying replicas. Edit: here's the info (in Dutch) about the weapons in the Netherlands: <a href="http://www.justitie.nl/onderwerpen/criminaliteit/wapens/" target="_blank">http://www.justitie.nl/onderwerpen/criminaliteit/wapens/</a> And specifically for replicas: <a href="http://www.justitie.nl/onderwerpen/criminaliteit/wapens/nepwapens/" target="_blank">http://www.justitie.nl/onderwerpen/crimina...pens/nepwapens/</a>

That's very curious Tim. I use a cheap, Chinese riveter with white rivets, and had no problem. It's very similar to yours. In fact all the riveters I've seen are similar. But contrary to you, I got too long rivets. Yours are 5mm, I bought 10mm and 12mm long white rivets, that are too long for what I need. I'm going to buy some 8mm and 6mm white rivets to use in the remaining parts. I found the 4mm rivets that came with the riveter too short, so maybe it's because the rivets you have are too short. I hope it's just that. Cheers.

Well... you won't see Stormtroopers dancing on a Star Wars movie as you'll see in Disney World, so...

Terry, the knee plate and the right knee part are separate pieces, that you have to rivet to the suit. The right knee part is actually riveted to the thigh part, not the shin.

Federal laws mandate for a 6mm -minimum- orange tip on the barrel of any imitation or toy gun. This part must be fixed to the barrel. Replicas or toy guns can't be imported, selled or traded without this orange tip. In California it's a crime to remove such device. Conventions won't let you get in with a prop gun without this orange tip. Now, I've heard of people using removable tips. I don't know what could happen if you, for example, display publicly a blaster without the orange tip. And of course, it's not the same waving a blaster without the armor in a store than parading in full armor on an organized event. In any case you'll have to check with your local authority.

Hi Dave! I'm glad you chose AP. It's a great armor. I'm finishing the assembly of mine now and I'm very happy with it. First: I know you're very excited now, but if you want a word of advice, I'll tell you you'll have to be very, very patient with your armor. I had to wait 3 months for my armor to arrive here in Spain. So, find yourself something to do until you get that big, lovely box filled with white glory. I did a little of research, bought the extra things needed for the assembly (tools, straps, elastics, underbody, shoes, accurate belt, etc.) You'll need a blaster too, so do a little research on that matter. Basically you can scratch-build one (look for the Blaster Builders Club,) buy a kit, do a Hasbro conversion or buy a fully assembled replica off the net. Maybe there's some kind of money transfer service in Australia that's cheap, but that 4% is not much, really. I used PayPal and everything went without incidents. In any case, ask the guys with APs in your local garrison what they've used to send the money. They can be your best source of information for practical matters. Cheers.

Small update: I'm gluing parts and snaps right now. Will take photos and do a proper update soon. Cheers.

Congrats Ryan!

Yes, you're right, too much chrome effect... To make the ribbon: - Give a small pillow emboss to the ribbon layer (color layer,) to give it some border. - Create a new layer, with the same shape as the ribbon, but in white. - Fill the shape with 4px black & white horizontal stripes (2px white, 2px black.) - Add some monochromatic uniform noise (not too much, 5% will do.) - Blend with the color ribbon layer at 75% opacity using "multiply". - Create a new layer. Make a 4px high white to black linear horizontal gradient. - Repeat as a pattern vertically and mask to match the ribbon layer. - Blend with the other two layers using "soft light" and 35% opacity. That's it.

What do you mean by "better"? Which one's more comfortable? Which one's more screen accurate? Which one's of a better quality? Because there's not one helmet "better" than another. There's just a helmet that fits your needs, and that's it.

Great! If you manage to pull a set that fits the AP's drop boxes, just know that I'll be interested in one. Cool!