Pretzel[TK] Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 (edited) Happy 4th of July to my fellow U.S.A. Comrades! Hello fellow brothers and sisters of the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment of the great 501st Legion! It is official, I am now a part of the greatest costume organization of the world. Recruitment... I will first tell you my story on why I wanted to join the 501st Legion! I have always knew about the 501st, but never really researched on how to join. It all started when me and my friend Quinn were talking over xbox live. He was like "DUUDE! You have to check out this documentary!" So, he proceeded to go on my Facebook, and link me the video on youtube. We all know it. It was the great Rose Bowl Parade. I have no doubts many of you troopers were able to attend this event, and I am very envious of you all, and hope to be part of an event that big one day... Signing up... Anyway, after I saw that youtube video, I went full force and did research on how to begin the process. I found my home Garrison, and contacted the CO via phone and had a great conversation. We talked about how to join, what was expected, the budget, etc. I then decided to fill out the form, and before ya know it... I was part of Garrison Carida's Academy. I originally wanted to create a Stormtrooper Commander, because I loved the video game "Star Wars the Force Unleashed" but lacked the paint skills to achieve this! So I decide to stay white and shiny... FOR NOW.. The Academy.. During my time at the academy, my build thread was created automatically and I soon was given a lot of information on how to achieve my end goal of becoming a stormtrooper and serve for the Empire. One in which was to sign up here with the 1st Imperial Stormtrooper Detachment. I of course did, and immediately begun my research to find my armor, I was very excited and eager to purchase my 1st set of armor. I then went on my 1st official troop as a "squire" or "handler" at a local hockey event and met a lot of great people. I met Doug, Chris, Dave and others whom are now fellow brothers of the 501st. I captured photos, checked out real life armor and made sure the kiddos at the hockey event did not take off their TDs lol.. So later, I decided on AP armor, but I was also... IMPATIENT! Very impatient, and as you may very well know, when you are impatient... mistakes are made, and I made a few. haha... but I learned from those mistakes, so if you are a new recruit... LISTEN UP! Do not make the same mistakes I made... Didn't stay on target... Mistakes... they were made! After the purchase of my AP armor, I went ahead and ordered a variety of soft goods. Ordered my boots from Imperial Boots, received an undersuit etc. I created my build thread here and a waited on Big Brown Box Day. The day came and I was all happy and giddy but at the same time, terrified. I did not know where to begin! I had a lot of help with this build, my old man had a lot of experience with building things, but like me, had zero experience with constructing plastic armor. I did research, and started to trim.. HOWEVER.. me and the old man trimmed it all wrong. We trimmed off too much on both sides, and we were afraid that we took off too much. My cover strips were too large, and my thighs were way too tight! I was doomed. DOOOOOMED. But, I was able to do a lot of research and found out shimming was the answer. I invite you to check out my build thread to see the mistakes I made on there.. You can find it in my signature, but even though I did not trim it correctly, we were able to shape the pieces in my favor, and fixed the thighs. In heinsight, I ordered the wrong armor for my body type. I was able to make my AP armor work, but I should have gotten an RT Mod kit... but, if I ever want to create another set, I know who to go to for the next time pointof the story.. RESEARCH! ASK MORE QUESTIONS.. RESEARCH AGAIN! Graduation... The day finally came where I tried on my armor, made the adjustments and finally was able to take my approval pictures. Then I waited for that email to arrive and it did. TK 91488! That is now my number. A number that I felt was me, because.. quite simply is my birthday. September14, 1988. I am now a stormtrooper of Garrison Carida. Next stop... EIB! (after further adjustments) Thank You... I have a lot of people to thank, and I won't be able to name them all. But Carl or (Dougal) on the forums reached out to me first. He PM'd me and offered me his DoopyDoo Kit. After the deal, and he continued to offer advice as he worked on his RT Mod I am jealous now of his RT mod. More people to thank...well, you know who you are. everyone on my build thread.. you stuck with me till the end. I won't attempt to name all of you, because I probably will miss someone. This detachment is amazing... You guys rock, and I cannot thank you enough. My 1st Troop is set for July 16th in Bloomsburg, PA. A children's Museum. It is a fun troop and cannot wait to share my 1st experience with you all. Keep on Trooping! Edited July 4, 2016 by Razgriz 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark PWF[Staff] Posted July 4, 2016 Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Awesome write-up Preston! Thank you for sharing your story. Congratulations and welcome, brother! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretzel[TK] Posted July 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2016 Awesome write-up Preston! Thank you for sharing your story. Congratulations and welcome, brother!A pleasure to be here. Thank You brother! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrookKnight[TK] Posted July 14, 2016 Report Share Posted July 14, 2016 Congrats. You are now a part of something great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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