June 2014 Newsletter

[Kessel Run[TK]]

 

In Memoriam 

Interview with Ryder Windham

Around the Detachment

Tips and Tricks

Notable Troops

 

 

Heidi N. Peterson, TI-1938 of 501st Legion’s Old Line Garrison, passed away on the 10th of April, 2014. A long time member of our costuming community, Heidi was well known for her creative generosity and compassion. She will be dearly missed. Those wishing to honor Heidi's memory may send donations to the Baltimore County Animal Shelter, 13800 Manor Road, Baldwin, MD, 21013.

It is with great pride that we enter Heidi’s name into the 501st’s Hall of Eternal Legionnaires.

 

 

 

Taggart Cline (TI-7430 of the 501st Wisconsin Garrison) passed away on the 12th of May, 2014. Holding dual memberships with the 501st and The Rebel Legion allowed Taggart twice the opportunities to share his costuming passions with fans and friends. Along with wearing his costumes to benefit others, Taggart found reward in the smiles of children.

It is with great pride that we now enter Taggart’s name into the 501st’s Hall of Eternal Legionnaires.

 

 

In early March, Ryder Windham, the author of numerous Star Wars books, and an honorary member of the 501st Legion, announced on Facebook that he wanted to help organize an international blood drive with the Star Wars costumer groups and fan clubs. Since then, groups in at least 30 countries have agreed to participate in the first "World Blood Drive." The IPM, had a chance to talk to Windham about his role in the blood drive, and also his work as a writer.

IPM: What sparked the idea of the World Blood Drive?

RW: Since 2011, I've been helping the 501st New England Garrison and Rebel Legion - Alderaan Base organize blood drives with the Rhode Island Blood Center. Last year, I found out that Cloud City Garrison in Oregon holds an annual blood drive called the Galaxy Blood Drive during the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve. The theme of Galaxy Blood Drive is "Star Trek vs. Star Wars," and donors vote for their favorite franchise by way of giving blood. While this may sound like a silly contest, it's actually for a very good cause, to help attract donors to blood centers during the holidays, a time of year that's always a challenge for blood centers to meet their goals. This past December, I helped organize a simultaneous Galaxy Blood Drive with the 501st New England Garrison in Rhode Island. I'm not certain, but it may have been the first-ever bicoastal blood drive involving two 501st clubs. This experience got me thinking about the possibility of the Star Wars costumer clubs doing an international blood drive. On Facebook, I'd gotten to know Roberto Carlos Moscoso, a fellow fans of Star Wars. He's a computer systems engineer who also runs a blood bank in Guatemala. Thanks to Roberto, I'd learned about World Blood Donor Day, an annual event founded by the World Health Organization in 2004. World Blood Donor day is celebrated on June 14, the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, who created the ABO blood group system for blood transfusions. The moment I realized that June 14 happens to fall on a Saturday in 2014, I knew that was a good date for an international blood drive with the 501st.

IPM: Did it just start locally with just you and a few friends or was it done over an internet-based community?

RW: First, I had to set up a blood drive in my own state. After I made sure that the 501st New England Garrison was available on June 14, I contacted Wil Gregersen, a friend at the Warwick Public Library, who knows about my interest in doing blood drives, and who'd given me an open invitation to do an event at his library. By coincidence, The Warwick Public Library was already planning a "Summer Reading Kick-Off" event for June 14, and they anticipate over 200 children and their families will be attending, so it's a great opportunity for kids to see the 501st in action.Then I contacted the Rhode Island Blood Center, and asked if they could provide a bloodmobile for the library. Even though June 14 was several months away, the blood center had already scheduled blood drives for that date. Fortunately, they were able to reschedule, and then we were all set.

After that, I contacted a few friends in the 501st, friends who are also very enthusiastic about blood drives, to confirm whether an international event was viable. I wrote to Gustavo Calviño of Garrison Argentina, Frederic Ulrichts of 501st Legion Ireland Outpost, which has since become a Garrison, and Roberto Carlos Moscoso in Guatemala. All of them were interested, and that encouraged me to contact more costumer clubs by way of Facebook and email. Some had never done blood drives before, so I explained how I work with my own local blood center. As long as you plan ahead, at least three months in advance, it's really just a matter of contacting the blood centers and the costumer clubs, and finding out if they're available to do a blood drive at a specific location.

IPM: How many garrisons of the 501st are involved in the World Blood Drive, and are there any non-501st groups involved?

RW: I don't know the exact number of 501st garrisons involved, but I believe it's more than 40. The Mandalorian Mercs, the Rebel Legion, and the R2 Builder's Club will also be participating. When I contacted Tom Hutchens, the founder of the Mandalorian Mercs, he was immediately supportive, very excited about helping out. At last count, costumer groups in at least 30 countries will be participating in the World Blood Drive.

IPM: Will all the World Blood Drive events happen on June 14?

RW: No. For various reasons, a few will be happening before that date. For example, most members of Nordic Garrison in Denmark were already committed to another event on June 14, so Nordic Garrison member Heidi L. Sørensen is planning on meeting up with a bloodmobile in Nyborg on June 12. Also, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service wasn't able to work with Ireland Garrison on June 14, but they were able to set up blood drives on Friday, June 13. It really doesn't matter whether we all do blood drives on the exact same day. What's important is that we're all involved with blood drives. And the fact that so many Star Wars  fans want to join in on this event, that's truly wonderful.

IPM: Do you think the World Blood Drive could become an annual event?

RW: I hope so! Because the second Saturday in June seems to work well for so many Star Wars fans and blood centers, I've been proposing that the second annual World Blood Drive will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2015.

IPM: How does one sign up for this year's event?

RW: I helped set up a Facebook page for the World Blood Drive. I'm hoping to have a complete list of locations for the blood drives soon. I'll send you a link for the Facebook page.
  https://www.facebook.com/worldblooddrive     

IPM: How long have you been a Star Wars fan, and how did you get involved with Star Wars professionally?

RW: My first awareness of Star Wars was by way of Starlog Magazine, several months before the first movie was released in 1977. A Starlog article showed a few of Ralph McQuarrie's concept paintings, and those paintings had me hook, line, and sinker. I've been a fan of comics since I was a kid, so I read Marvel's Star Wars comics. In college, I majored in graphic design and illustration, but I wound up becoming a comic book editor, first at Fantagraphics Books, and then at Dark Horse Comics, where I edited Lucasfilm titles.One of my first assignments was to edit the last few issues ofThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Then I was assigned to develop a new series, Star Wars: Droids.

IPM: How did you become a writer?

RW: When I was editing Lucasfilm titles for Dark Horse, my main contact at Lucasfilm was Allan Kausch, who was in charge of approving the comics, and maintaining story continuity between the comics, novels, and games. A few months after I left Dark Horse in 1995, Allan began recommending me as a writer to Lucasfilm's publishing licensees. Before that, I'd only written a few scripts for comics, including the Droids series, but I've never had an agent or a representative, so I was very fortunate that Allan thought I had any potential as a writer. If it weren't for him, I can't imagine I would have had the opportunity to write so many Star Wars books.

IPM: What would be your favorite work so far?

RW: I'll always be fond of the comic book scripts that I wrote for Droids. I collaborated with artists Ian Gibson and Bill Hughes on the stories, and Kilian Plunkett did the cover art. Generally, whatever I'm working on at the moment is what interests me the most. I don't mean to dismiss the various books I've written, but I'm actually more proud of my work with the 501st Legion on the blood drives. As much as I enjoy writing Star Wars books, the blood drives are extremely gratifying because every donation can help save lives.

IPM: You’re writing an upcoming novel on Star Wars Rebels. Rebels  is going back to the nostalgic theme and feel of the Original Trilogy. What are your thoughts on this direction and would you be adopting the same nostalgic essence of the OT. Or are you planning to give a fresh new perspective in this upcoming novel?
RW: Star Wars Rebels is fun because it introduces several new characters to a time period in the Star Wars galaxy that hasn't been explored very much. I'm a big fan of Lucasfilm Animation, and I watched every episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, so I'm looking forward to Rebels.
Before I began writing the novel, I had a series of talks with Lucasfilm's Story Group, so I could understand their goals for the project. They provided me with information about a new character, Ezra Bridger, and also info about the world he lives on. They wanted the story to take place before Bridger's introduction to other principal characters, but I was also required to weave in a few details from one early episode of Rebels. Beyond that, I had a lot of latitude with the story. I thought it would be practical to have a previously established character appear in the novel, and I proposed the bounty hunterBossk. I'd written stories about Bossk before, and he'd also appeared in The Clone Wars. I imagined many readers would appreciate having a familiar character introduce them to the world of Rebels. Just a few weeks before I got the assignment to work on the Star Wars Rebels novel, I met actorAlan Harris, who played Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back, at Rhode Island Comic Con, so the character was definitely on my mind when I got the assignment.

Anyway, I was delighted that Lucasfilm agreed to let me incorporate Bossk into the novel. But I wouldn't say that I was completely compelled by nostalgia to add Bossk. My job was to write an entertaining adventure story for Star Wars fans. Adding Bossk just helped me get that job done.

 

IPM: You also wrote The Complete Vader with Peter Vilmur. The book featured all aspects of Vader; the history, cultural impact and even the technical aspects of Vader’s weaponry and vehicles. What was it like to take on a project on such a massive and rich character?
RW: It was a fantastic opportunity, and I enjoyed working with Pete Vilmur. Pete primarily handled the chapters dealing with merchandise while I handled publishing aspects, but we both wrote various "behind the scenes" bits that, I think, made the book especially interesting. We were also both determined to present as many previously-unpublished photos and illustrations as we could gather. The only problem with working on the book was that after we'd delivered our final manuscript, we were still compulsively researching, looking for new information and images regarding Vader. Vader just keeps on going, and going.

IPM: The Complete Vader was one of the first books to bring attention to Brian Muir's contribution as the sculptor of Vader's helmet and armor. Did you know much about Brian Muir's work before?
RW: No, I didn't. Shortly after I'd received the assignment for The Complete Vader in 2008, I was contacted by Thomas Diefenbach, a Star Wars fan and collector, and something of an expert on Vader's armor. Thomas had interviewed Brian, the artist who was also the sculptor of Stormtrooper armor, and Thomas was keen acknowledging Brian's significant contribution to Star Wars.At the time, I was aware of the copyright dispute between Lucasfilm and Andrew Ainsworth, who claimed credit for the creation of various Star Wars helmets and armor. Brian and Liz Moore sculpted the helmets and armor, and then Ainsworth was given fiberglass molds of the pieces, so all he did was pull plastic over the molds for production purposes. He had nothing to do with the design. Anyway, thanks to Thomas, and after confirming details with Lucasfilm, I was determined to make sure Star Wars fans knew that Brian Muir was the sculptor responsible for Vader and the Stormtrooper.

IPM: Can you tell us what books you're working on now?
RW: No, I can't! I'll have to wait until Lucasfilm or a publisher makes an announcement. But I can say that I already have lined up several upcoming blood drives with the 501st. I'll be with 501st Connecticut Garrison at Connecticut ComiCONN in August, and with the New England Garrison at Rhode Island Comic Con in November, where Brian Muir is scheduled to attend, too. When I'm invited to conventions, I just try to find out whether the organizers are amenable to hosting blood drives, and we proceed from there. 
Giving blood is an easy way to help save lives. I can't think of a better way to be useful at a convention. But I never would have thought of organizing blood drives if the 501st hadn't set the example for doing good deeds. I'm very proud to be associated with the troops.

 

  [Note: here are links for Connecticut ComiCONN and Rhode Island Comic Con.]
 

http://www.comiconn.com

 

http://www.ricomiccon.com

 

<<Cover art for The Complete Vader (2009), which Windham co-wrote with Peter Vilmur. >>

 

<<Ryder Windham gives whole blood every eight weeks at the Rhode Island Blood Center in Providence.>>

 

<<After learning about Cloud City Garrison and Kashyyyk Base's annual Galaxy Blood Drive with the American Red Cross in Oregon, Windham helped organize a simultaneous Galaxy Blood Drive with the 501st Legion New England Garrison, Alderaan Base, Firaxan Clan, and Andorian costumers of XLV Korelath at the Rhode Island Blood Center in Providence. >>

 

 

With Unquestioned Loyalty,

 

Evan Loh
TK-24127 "evan-loh"
IPM Corespondent 

 

 

We would like to welcome our 16th Fire Team! Swamp Troopers, of the Bast Alpha Garrison. (Serving Louisiana)

 

Fireteam Liberty, has launched a Facebook page, you can see it here. Go like their page to see what they are up to. They have also started a new patch run!. This is considered Non official 501st merchandise, and is therefore open to anyone. If your interested, go check it out here.

.

Current Tallies:

 

Centurion Awards: 123

Expert Infantry Awards: 383

• Are we going to make it to 700 this year? It's time for everyone to step it up. If you know someone who is close but hasn't applied, help them out and encourage them to do so. Been procrastinating that honor yourself? Get it done, it's not too much extra work! We would love to see your name on the "honor roll" of 700 in December!

 

Fire Teams: 16

• Troop often with the same people-in-white? Perhaps you should form a fire team!

 

 

Twitter Followers: 1506

Facebook Followers: 2627

Instagram Followers: 173

 

 

Keep up the good work, Troopers! 

 

 

Those darned ears. I've over trimmed my share and had to start with new ones a number of times. Cutting along the mold line how the ears were trimmed originally may not be the correct line. A beginner's error is just to trim a fixed amount relative to the outside of the ear for a consistent thickness. This often results in over trimming. (The outside of the ear actually plays no part in determining the appropriate trim line except for determining how much ear you have to work with.) And once you've over trimmed in just one section, you either live with the gap or buy new ears.
As I thought more about what makes a proper ear trim line, I realized it's not a trait of the ear: it's a trait of the helmet. It's the width contour of the helmet along the points where the edges of the ear touch the helmet that defines the ear trim curve for no gaps. The trick is how to copy this contour onto the ear.
Here I show a simple method for creating what should be a gap-free trim line using a pencil, a toothpick, and a rubber band. In my trials with this method, it usually gets within +/- 2mm or so around front and back of the desired trim line; it's not perfectly accurate. Some additional fine cutting or sanding is also needed to finish the trim.
As a minimum, this technique can be used to get a general idea of what the trim line should look like and to show where the various inflection points are, and where the sections are such that if you trim too aggressively there, you may run out of ear elsewhere.
I show an example where I'm using an ear already on a helmet for which I may want to reduce its thickness, but the same technique can be done a new untrimmed ear. The prerequisites are that the helmet's faceplate and cap-and-back have been assembled together and that you've decided where the ear will be placed on the helmet to establish the location where the ear's bottom edges will meet the helmet. The untrimmed ear then needs to be held or secured level in that location on the helmet as the front and back contour lines are traced.
While I only show the front half of the ear in these pictures, it's necessary to trace the helmet contour on the entire ear, front and back, using the same vertical offset throughout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Unquestioned Loyalty,
 
David
"BPOODOO"
 

 

The Mountain Garrison were enlisted for a promotional photo shoot for Denver International Airport, in conjunction with LFL. 
Outdoor shots were taken first, and even though it wasn't planned, they were given the opportunity to have pictures taken with the big blue horse known as Mustang (but affectionately called Blucefir). The Troopers then retreated to the terminal for the indoor shots, attracting scores of spectators, many with cameras of their own
TK-13014 said, "This was definitely a lot of fun for all of us, as we got to go out on the tarmac and even over the active runways, with planes taking off and landing just a hundred feet behind us. I'm sure it was interesting for all the passengers to see, as well."
Several local news stations (and one national) covered the event.
SL3180 Felixx Welliver
TK's:
TK13014 Matt Bradshaw
TK98150 Chris Cowdin
TK52810 Travis Durland
TK5991 Robert Webb

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 4 Rome Event
The event was organized by Disney/Lucasfilms and took place on
Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4. 
On Saturday, Darth Vader and Walt Disney Company Italia S.r.I. President, Daniel Frigo, flanked by Stormtroopers, occupied the town hall and met with the chairman of the Rome City Council. That evening, there was a short parade to the Colosseum, where a 1:1 scale TIE Advanced (assembled by the German Garrison), was on display.
On Sunday, several members were allowed inside the Colosseum to take pictures and video. Thousands of citizens of the Empire gathered to watch a procession of approximately 100 uniformed members of the 501st Italica Garrison and Rebel Legion. Afterwards, members took up positions near the TIE to take pictures and entertain the onlookers.
According to TK-8177, "Suddenly, people stopped to photograph the Colosseum and moved toward us. It was really exciting! We felt like stars!"
Public attendance for this event was much higher than anticipated, and appears to have been a huge success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Don't Forget We're on Facebook and Twitter!

Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitearmor

If you're on FB, stop by and say hi, ask questions, and share stories!

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Instagram: www.instagram.com/501stfisd
 
With Unquestioned Loyalty,
 
Sam Kisselburg
TK-85254 "Kessel Run"
Public Relations Officer

On behalf of the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment Command Staff.

End Transmission.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Awesome issue, PR crew!!

 

Truly inspiring, helpful, informative, and fun.

 

Everything it should be! Thank you.

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Awesome NL - congrats team! Awesome photos to the MG & Italian Garrison.

[captsafe66[Admin]]

Top notch!!

[TK Droid[TK]]

Awesome

[toybiz[TK]]

Wonderful newsletter and great tip for ear trimming. Would have saved me at least half the time!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work again guys

[Chivo]

Nice pictures and some good tips on the helmet ears  

[Redforce[TK]]

Great job on the newsletter! The Rome event looked insane! Love it!

[Clamps[TK]]

well done newsletter team!! 

[Tolo[TK]]

Nice work!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[MinionTK[TK]]

Another great newsletter. Going to try and use that ear tip for my build. 

[LeMaxim[TK]]

Thank you all! 

 

Pencil trick for the ears. Genius!  

[SCTrooper[TK]]

Wow, the Colosseum pic's are epic! Thanks for a great newsletter.

[Izzy]

Hats off for another great newsletter. I will definitely be using the ear trimming tutorial here in a couple months!

 

Bravo Zulu!