NEWSLETTER: April 2010

[Debater2nd[TK]]

April 2010 FISD Newsletter

What's Happening at the FISD

by Daetrin

 

I'd like to take the opportunity to dispel some confusion regarding and shed some light on the CRL, costume requirements, and FX armor and helmets. I feel this is necessary as there seems to be quite a bit of angst expressed on the Legion boards, and the last thing we want is for the elite troopers of the Empire to not have accurate intel. My apologies if some or all of the below information is old news to some, but given the amount of questions we get it seems best to set the story straight.

 

Costume Reference Library

The CRL (Costume Reference Library) is intended to be a reference for what the costume should be. It should list all the components of the costume both textually and graphically so that it can be used for people to learn what the elements of a costume are. Typically these will be broken out as "must have", "should have", and "may have" elements. This project was started over three years ago and though at times delayed is in progress again. The direction we were given was to create the CRL's have these reviewed by the LMO (Legion Membership Officer) before being hosted on the Legion boards. Most of the detachments have already them created on their own boards and are in the process of re-formatting them to Legion standards.

 

FISD's policy has always been to have CRL's voted on and approved by the detachment members via a poll on the forum. I believe that the CRL's are created for the benefit of the membership, and changes (aside from fixing typo's etc.) should always be put to vote rather than be set by the Detachment Leader him/herself.

 

Costume Requirements

Detachments are advisory bodies and as such do not set or change costume requirements for Legion membership. These instead are owned and set by the LMO for new costumes and the Legion Council for existing costumes. The current direction from LC is that any changes to the standards must be voted on by the LC. What this means is that there should never be a concern about detachments attempting to set costume policy.

 

So, what are the current requirements? Unfortunately with few exceptions there are no documented standards for what is required for membership. The stormtrooper is one of the costumes without a documented requirements list, meaning that until such time as the LC has voted them in the best recommendation we can provide if you have questions regarding actual requirements is your GML.

 

What This Means for FX Armor

For those that are not aware FX armor is no longer being made and in it's place is now AM, a more accurate set from the same maker. There has been much concern expressed about what this means for FX armor and helmets, both for existing and new members.

 

First of all - despite rumors to the contrary - "out of the box" FX armor continues to be acceptable for Legion acceptance and even still it even takes only a few modifications to bring it to CRL "must have" standards should one need to. These are:

 

1. Replace the plastic belt with canvas, leather, vinyl, or canvas covered material. You can find vendors and tutorials for non-plastic belts on the FISD Academy armor tutorials.

2. Replace the black ab plate buttons with correctly sized (all TK's) and colored ones (ANH/ESB). These can be bought from Tandy or most any hardware store, or bought pre-painted from VaderDave.

3. Cut the butt plate. I realize that while this is a zero cost mod, it can be scary for people to do and takes some adjustment. My recommendation is that if people are not comfortable doing it on their own to either have a fellow Legion member help them or else skip this item as it only affects FX and AP armor kits.

 

Note that AM armor does not need the second two items done as the kit has these corrected. Again - these are not required for Legion membership but are encourage and do not cost much in out of pocket expense. I hope this alleviates concern about the armor being forced out from the Legion - far from it!

 

For the helmet the only real requirement is to swap out the tube stripes with correctly colored ones. This is a $3 upgrade and should be painless for most members. I'd also like to point out that while the FX helmet is considered deprecated given that there are more accurate helmets available these days for an equivalent cost, this does not mean that owners of FX helmets will be asked to upgrade to retain their membership, or will new members be rejected should they choose to wear an FX helmet with their kit. As noted earlier, requirements are set by the Legion Council so love it or hate it, we abide by their decision.

 

We're All Legion Stormtroopers

Whew! The main take-away from all this is that at the end of the day FISD is home to *all* Legion stormtroopers. As long as your costume is Legion approved, you should always expect a welcome home on FISD. This is *your* detachment after all!

 

With unquestioned loyalty,

 

Paul

"Daetrin"

TK-8020

 

Repair and Refit

Every month in the FISD newsletter, we will feature tutorial and tip threads that we feel troopers should be aware of because of their uniqueness and excellence. Keep an eye out for this feature, because we’ll be asking you who to tell us who you’d like to see featured in the coming editions.

 

The featured tutorials for March are:

 

How to Scratch Build a Comlink

Written by TK-3189

This tutorial shows a great way to build a comlink for yourself without breaking the bank and running all over town looking for supplies. The comlink makes for a great prop to have with your TK build, and can make those photo ops that we all know and love even better.

 

A Better Way to Fix Butt Plates

Written by MiDri

This is a short tip thread, but it deals with a the fairly widespread issue of how to adjust your butt plate. This can be one of the trickier parts of the TK build, and this tip thread has some great information and illustrations in it about the way that MiDri fixed this issue.

 

Meet the Staff

Each month we will feature a staff member, and give them the opportunity to tell the FISD a little bit about themselves. Since they spend so much time here on the boards, we want you to get a sense of who is behind the names you keep seeing! This month’s featured staff member is Brian Robinson, the FISD Provost Marshall.

 

Name: Terrell Reber

TK-ID: 1787

Garrison & Detachment(s): Great Lakes Garrison, and I’m a member of almost all the detachments

Length of Service: 3 years last March

Costumes (approved): ANH Stunt Stormtrooper, ESB Vader, Black Hole Trooper

Costumes (in work): Episode 2 clone

Other hobbies: Building and painting models, nature photography, and hiking

Fun Facts: My family is crazy about ferrets. We currently have five, but have had as many as eight at one time. A few are ours, the majority are fosters from a local ferret shelter. We take their old and sick critters that the masses consider un-adoptable and give them a good home. There is no better entertainment that watching a group of ferrets play especially if there is a new toy i.e. plastic bag, cardboard box, or old pair of jeans.

 

Crosshairs

Every month, we will feature a member of the FISD (not necessarily a full-fledged TK) who has created something unique, or who is involved in something noteworthy. This month's featured member is air-ship, who is involved in armor and prop making.

 

Name: Rees

Username: air-ship

Location: Devon, UK

Project Details: Comm kits, amps, Hovi mic tips, cooling fans, blasters (with custom electronics), display stands and one-off electronic projects.

 

What do you do related to prop building, and how do you actually do it?.

 

I make a whole host of gear. My main line of projects are comm kits. They comprise a miniature pre-amp/power-amp, microphone, powerpack, boom mic and full installation instructions. I modify the enclosures for the electronics and machine out the plastic. The circuit is custom built for the job and is very powerful; it will drive 2 x Hovi mic tips and another passive 8 ohm speaker. Amazing for such a tiny circuit.

 

I also make two types of cooling fan kits – the old 40mm x 10mm type and the "squirrel" type. Along with the comm kits, everything is 100% hand made. The thing is, I worked really hard to make each and every kit look and feel like it came out of a factory. That's not easy! Everything is precision machined using a pillar drill and a whole host of other tools. I add stress relief to all wires and connectors and even remove the moulded jack plugs from the microphone and add a higher quality right angle jack – it's much more compact and lasts indefinitely. My amp kits are supplied with Hovi mic tips. These are very exotic beasties and are really difficult to make. They really finish off a lid and the sound is just like Mos Eisley.

 

There is no real magic or trickery in what I do (apart from my feedback reduction techniques). What I do is ensure that everything I make is not just okay, good or competent, it's excellent! I make everything the way I would like it to be and I'll spend many hours perfecting various techniques. If it's wrong it's binned and if it's okay, I make it again. No compromise. This doesn't make commercial sense but I soon learnt that troopers are a discerning bunch. So I decided from the outset that everything had to be spot on. I'm a designer by training, the sort of guy who makes capital letters half a point smaller when typesetting – totally irrational but very satisfying.

 

And then... The E-11 Blaster build. Why oh why did I start doing it? Well, I guess it was another challenge to see if I could put a hand made, custom built, beautifully finished and crafted prop into production. I make a couple per month at the moment (and would like to make more so please commission me). They take around 20 hours to machine, assemble and paint. That also includes the electronics. Currently I add a sampling board and a 1 watt Luxeon red LED. The only clue that there is any electronics is in the microswitch just below the trigger guard.

 

The barrel is machined out of PVC pipe to a very high standard. All other parts apart from the sight rail (aluminium) are resin. I do a lot of work with the resin using pins, screws and flexible glue during construction. This makes it all stronger and lighter. I use about 5 coats of paint plus a central lacquer. The finish is like an original Sterling SMG. It's a textured paint finish (heat applied originally) and is not easy to achieve. But, as with all my gear, I make sure it looks authentic and stunning.

 

Oh, and the T-Track... I searched for this for about 6 months! In the end I found an industrial supplier in the UK. They supply me in 2.4m lengths and then I cut down, form the ends and heat bend to curve into the barrel holes. The two hardest tasks are the T-Track and the machining of the barrel. The cocking channel is not at all easy and the ejector port is even trickier. I'm considering getting them CNC milled in future if I sell more. The electronics fit is simple in comparison to other parts of the build. Including 4 x AAA cells it all weighs in at around 800 grams (about 28 ounces).

 

The bit I'm most proud of is the speaker amplification. I use the ejector to create a bass tube. The speaker is 28mm and of the highest quality. It's rated at 1.5w nominal output so it needs a bit of help to create more volume and bass. It really is loud!

 

I now add another internal pipe at the rear of the barrel to prevent PVC sag. I used to use a curled piece of black plastic. This works perfectly but is tricky to fit. So now I add the internal pipe and a piece of black plastic to finish it off. This looks really cool and has great structural integrity. I also add a smaller bore pipe that fits into the ejector. The wiring runs inside it and it also looks great.

 

Recently, I made a spring loaded, adjustable, fully working trigger mechanism, all from resin parts. This will form part of the my new V2 blaster. The V2 E-11 will come with a multi sample board and an RGB LED. Add to that a force feedback vibrating motor and this will be an awesome blaster! It's still on my bench in R&D and I hope to roll it out in the next few weeks. It will be more expensive than the V1 blaster due to the increased cost of components and a 30 hour build time. Not sure how much yet but I'm guessing around £380.00. The V1 is currently £249 within the UK and £269 for international orders. I've sold quite a few now and even one in the USA. I was might proud of this.

 

Other stuff includes blaster and helmet display stands. Again, these are all hand made and of a minimal design. The helmet stands even have a laser cut aluminium imperial cog! I've got two lids and I wanted a couple of display stands. I liked the stands I made so much I put them into production. Ditto for the E-11 display stand. I added neoprene and aluminium cups to grip the blaster. They can be formed to the shape of the barrel and protect the paint finish while adding high grip from the neoprene.

 

Phew, I do make a lot of gear!

 

How did you get started, and what interested you in Stormtroopers?

 

I went to see ANH in 1977 when it opened in Sheffield, my home city in the UK. I was 9 years old and hooked them there on. My mate, the son of the local police man also managed to acquire some pirate copies of ESB and ROTJ so we used to watch them while his dad was out.

 

As a designer I am continuously fascinated by Star Wars from all sorts of angles. Cowboys and Indians in space... tick! Amazing props and costumes... tick! Excellent stories... tick! Stunning effects and production... tick! Great characters... tick! Oh and Carrie Fisher... hot, hot, hot! I still have a crush on her.

 

I owned my first X-Wing in 1977. It was the big one with the push down R2 to open the wings. Oh how I loved it. I haven't a clue where it is now.

 

Then came Episodes I, II and III. They got me really hooked again. I have two small boys so I have an excuse to watch Star Wars with them. They think I'm really cool because of all the amazing gear I make and the fact that their dad has a full Stormtrooper outfit!

 

It was 29 December 2008. I had just sold a load of my vintage Seiko 7A28 and 7A38 watches (I've always collected watches). I had some funds in my PP account and I started looking at Stormtrooper armour. I didn't do a massive amount of research but I did look at a few different types. I ended up with the over-sized FX armour because I'm a chunky monkey. It arrived in a very large box a few days later. I opened the box and nearly fell off my perch! It was a kit! I thought that a lot more of it would be assembled. Well, I've always been good with my hands (my wife agrees). I got to it over the next few months and built the armour, well almost...

 

In March 2009 I lost my two biggest clients in the space of two weeks (the UK economy was a car wreck). Good income to no income. Ouch! The armour was put on hold while I fought a rear guard action to get some more work. However, I had been building a cooling fan and amp kit for my lid. I couldn't find what I wanted in terms of neatness, features, weight and power efficiency. So it was DIY time. But my kind of DIY. Weeks and weeks of acoustic experiments, modifications, revisions and so on. I even bored out a pair of solid resin Hovi tips to a 20mm diameter leaving a 1.2mm thick wall. I told a colleague of mine about this and he wouldn't believe me at first. He said it couldn't be done! Resin deforms with the heat generated by drilling. I found a way to do it though.

 

As a hobby and to generate some desperately needed funds I put these early kits into production. I hadn't seen anything as neat or tidy as I was making and I'd also worked on a feedback reduction system. Well, the kits started selling and kept on selling. That's when I decided to do more of this and develop a whole range of gear. As most of you will know, most amps that troopers use are not pre-amped. I managed to build the TKVox MicroAmp, MiniAmp, PicoAmp and NanoAmps – all with a powerful pre-amp and power amp phase. Then I added a set of Hovi mic tips along with the powerpack, boom microphone and installation kit. That's where it all started.

 

So, my armour is 95% complete with just a few small details to complete. I plan to get it done very soon. My armour did have an outing last year. My mate had his 40th birthday party and I tested it out. I lasted 4 hours in it and danced for two hours. The bruises were very painful afterwards

 

I have a full collection of Lightsabers bar one. My boys love these and they come out every now and then. They love the Mace Windu and Darth Maul versions.

 

What are some things you're currently working on?

 

I have three projects in progress. The V2 E-11 that I mentioned above and two projects that are classified. Sounds funny to say that. Thing is, I want the other two projects to hit the market with a bang (no smoke though).

 

And then there is the day to day production of the kits I sell. I make a lot of Hovi mic tips. They take a long time to produce but I love them. I think myself and Stomper are the only guys who make them now. They are so hard to produce.

 

If you want to see the gear I make make you can always find me on EBay (search for TKVox) and at my own site: http://www.501st-creations.co.uk

 

Can you tell me a little bit about any future projects that you have in mind?

 

I have a project underway with a German trooper. It's sonic, it's electronic and it's going to be awesome. Also a new amp that I am yet to name. It's on my bench with 5 wires to connect and it's ready to test.

 

I'm also looking into a Bluetooth comm kit.

 

Imperial Commissary

 

The FISD t-shirt run is now closed. Keep your eyes open for a suggestion thread, and be ready to post what you would like to see for the next merch run.

 

From the Communications Officer

 

Looking around the board, I'm impressed with how active this board is. It is really a fantastic resource that we have here, and the great thing is that everyone is involved with this. Don't kid yourselves...without your contributions, this board wouldn't work. Every now and then we have a new member who asks a question that's already been answered, and usually they get directed to several threads that help them find the information that they need. It should be impressive to us, rather than frustrating, that we have built up such a knowledge base here that it is hard for someone to think of an original question. We have something to be proud of here. Congratulations, and keep on trooping!

 

With unquestioned loyalty,

 

Daniel "Debater2nd"

TK-2618

FISD Communications Officer

 

This post has been promoted to an article

[Wheeljack]

Thanks for another issue of the newsletter, I haven't receive this in my e-mail yet though.

[Daetrin[Admin]]

FYI for some reason some people got multiples and others got nothing. I made a small change and am resending - sorry for dupes but hope everyone gets a copy this time.

[DoubleTap]

Great in info. I got 1 copy the first time and 4 copies today.

[freakengine[501st]]

I have now received this message via email EIGHTEEN times. Please make it stop.

[DoubleTap]

I have now received this message via email EIGHTEEN times. Please make it stop.

 

I have received about that many too now. I'm about ready to mark it as spam. <_<