Halloween, the good, the bad and the amazing!

[vicsouders]

Apparently I had forgotten that Halloween is on the same date every year, so with about 2 weeks till the big event I rushed to get my armor together.

 

The bad: I’m not sure how ATA and I are going to get along. Don’t get me wrong, I think it looks great and it’s easy to work with, but I’m not sure it’s the right type armor for me. As I wrote in another post, I have a really strange shape. First, I was a pretty serious amateur body builder for years. Even though I quit working out years ago, I still pretty big (at least that’s what people tell me; I’m small compared to what I used to be.) I had to shim every piece of the ATA. For Halloween I installed the shims with Velcro on both sides so that I could remove them and tweak the shims correctly later. I didn’t put any cover strips on the back-facing pieces of armor for simplicity, I didn’t get it painted (yet)and I need a few other tweaks. Another thing, I’m 6’1â€, but have a 30 inch inseam. My torso is amazingly long! I never noticed my freakishness until I put my mannequin together and it looked strange. I measured, re-measured, and measured again…even my girlfriend measured. The proportions were correct. So I have these short, tree-trunk legs and a long upper body. I HAD to cut the cod beneath the belt so that the abs could rise up almost three inches (with the cod still protecting my “stuffâ€) and sit under the chest plate. Which, brings me to the back; there is NO WAY the back and kidney armor even come close together or ever will. So, all in all it’s time for me to get some AM (and modify my MRCE).

 

More bad: Drunk people and shiny armor are an interesting mix. Honestly, I was at the bar for about an hour and couldn’t take any it any more. If one more person came up and “knocked†on my cod or grabbed my holstered and snapped E-11 I was going to flip my lid. Also, I didn’t install my fans in my bucket so I was fogging up pretty badly and couldn’t see a thing. I also forgot my rubber tubing "straw" so I couldn’t even enjoy a drink.

 

The good: Drunk people and shiny armor are an interesting mix. I was a rock star. More people came up to take pictures with me than I would have thought possible. I honestly couldn’t move for at least a half hour. One couple who lived across the street begged me to walk over to surprise their three kids. THAT was a really neat experience. The kids absolutely LOVED the TK.

 

More good: Some of the local gals came as “ The Housewives of…†and then each one did a theme. My girlfriend came as the housewife of a Stormtrooper. She put together kind of a spacey, Jedi kind of ensemble and it looked really great. Even though I wasn’t there, we won the contest for the best couple.

 

The amazing: My girlfriend was my handler that night and did a pretty good job. I think we were both a little overwhelmed with the insane reaction of people. The next day we were discussing how things went and I was telling her I thought I would make a TD of the ATA and leave it on the mannequin. That’s when she floored me and asked me if I thought the armor would fit her!?!?! I told her with some serious trimming I know it would. Her response: “I would wear that.†Hmmmm…another convert! Funny thing is, I think she’ll get her TK number before I get mine.

 

So, that’s my Halloween report. How was everyone else’s night?

Edited July 13, 2021 by gmrhodes13
photo updated

[TKRobert]

Great story Vic! I have some FX armour and without question plan on replacing the lid (giving the FX lid to my son who thinks its awesome). I have been considering an ATA or maybe VT lid. I realise that my armour is ABS and the ATA is HIPS so I will need to paint it to match. Have received some great tips on the forum as to what to use to create that match. Just curious, in your photo, is that the ATA helmet? The colour looks off from the armour.

[vicsouders]

Thanks Robert, No, the ATA bucket I didn't want to rush to get finished so I used my old MRCE lid. Oh, and that's my mannequin in the photo. I need to finish his hands.

[Femtrooper Julie[501st]]

I was going to say you look great! Will have to post photos of you Drunk guys like to hit plastic boobs too!

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Drunk people and shiny armor are an interesting mix - No doubt about that.

 

I went to my very first Halloween costume party in full TK a couple of weeks ago, right after finishing up at Air & Scare. Since one of my initial reasons for wanting a stormtrooper costume - before I discovered the 501st - was to go to stuff like this, I thought it would be a dream come true. Not so much, as it turned out. <_<

 

Between the drunk men pounding on my armor, and the drunk women trying to flip up my butt plate, and BOTH playing 'knock-knock' on my codpiece - not to mention a couple of spilled drinks on me - it wasn't the experience I had hoped for. Still, it was fun to see the looks of amazement.

 

On Halloween itself I again suited up, and went trick-or-treating with Dan (Debater2nd), a soon-to-be TB, and a bunch of his friends from his neighborhood, and had a pretty good time. Not as much fun as I had at Air & Scare, but good nonetheless.

 

Bottom line, at least for me: Costume parties are OK, as long as you have a handler looking out for you (which I did). Going out with other costumed friends, even better. Best of all? Trooping with the Legion. Total rock-star experience, especially at the big events.

 

Reminds me of a thread from last year: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=8876

[Debater2nd[TK]]

Speaking of Halloween, here's a couple pictures that my wife snapped before we started off. It was fun...I've never seen a kid get so much candy!

 

[tmcp51d]

 

 

My Girlfriend and I...yes it is a rubies but we had fun...

 

TMC

[vicsouders]

Speaking of Halloween, here's a couple pictures that my wife snapped before we started off. It was fun...I've never seen a kid get so much candy!

 

 

Could be because you were standing behind him with a BFG?!?! LOL