Leaderboard

4/15/23 -Ellen Reavis Race for Autism TK Troop #56, 11th for 2023. CLOR-5435 - troop 20, 4th for 2023 There were three troops on 4/15/23 here. My daughter and I signed up for two. The first was the Ellen Reavis Autism Race, one that I attended in 2022. I got to bring my newly printed 1:1 scale vintage LEGO BLASTER to this one!!! And little Leia got to wear her shoulder Lola. As two people on the spectrum, this troop was important to the Wolf Pack. Me and Leia did our best to spread some smiles. As 10:00 hit, the 501st led the way for the race. (Vader's bellowing cape was rather epic throughout this whole windy troop) 4/15/23 -Star Wars Fest 9 TK Troop #57, 12th for 2023. CLOR-5435 - troop 21, 5th for 2023 Star Wars Fest is a yearly event at a huuuuuge library in the neighboring city of Rio Rancho. They haven't had it since 2019 and we had something like 35 troopers in attendance across all three clubs to celebrate the return. (I'm behind two of the three Leias in this photobooth shot) ... is Little Leia taller than Cloud City Leia? hmm. My girl may need a new costume STAT. I found this strangely dressed librarian working a data terminal in the back. She answered all questions to my satisfaction, so the binders didn't need to come out. The reading material was EPIC at this troop. I settled down in a quiet corner with some interesting reading material. Perhaps I'll be more threatening after reading some tips. And lastly, say hello to the DRG's newest TIE Reserve! Janith is the 2nd person I've approved as a GML and the first who's trooped.

Thank you both! [44] 07.04.2023 -- Star Wars Celebration London, Friday Without a break, the next weekend saw my longest travel to my largest troop so far: Star Wars Celebration. The Chaos Division met up on Wednesday, drove 11 hours by car on Thursday, and was ready for Celebration on Friday. Due to all the horror tales we'd heard regarding wait times and queues we arrived a short time after opening on Friday. I was the only one in my armor that day, everyone else wanting to see something at the convention. Mostly, we saw lots and lots of people, but we managed to run into some friends and one of the droids we were looking for. Although I didn't get to see much of the event itself, I still had lots of fun -- until I discovered that there were few to no seating options. When I had said before the convention that one could recognize me, since I'd be either dancing Macarena -- or sitting down on the floor... I did not expect to do both of those things during my first day. [45] 08.04.2023 -- Star Wars Celebration London, Saturday Saturday was the day of the group photos. Before we even got to enter the ExCel center for the first time that day, we were at the Garrison Group photo, the Squad group photo and -- finally! -- the 501st group photo. Whilst waiting for said photo I finally got to meet @Chemi and @Hoda. Meeting people from the forums in real life was simply amazing. Although the Detachment photos had originally been planned for the stairs in front of the center as well, said plan was changed and we finally got to enter the convention. In the empty hall behind the changing room was enough space for all the Detachment group photos and whilst waiting there was enough time to get to know even more Detachment members. Later that day the Chaos Division would come back for some pictures of our own: we'd film getting chased by Ahsoka and Rex, took a proper Fireteam photo, and we made fun of TIE pilots. I'd missed trooping with the whole team. [46] 09.04.2023 -- Star Wars Celebration London, Sunday These two Jedi had a bad feeling waiting for the DLR -- who expects to run into four Stormtroopers in the Railway, after all? On Sunday our day started with possibly even more pictures than the previous day, as we were held up before entering the convention. Later, we would discover a picture of ourselves in a German newspaper. We also arrested some of the local police. What for? No idea, but it was fun. During Sunday I finally got to meet the last people I'd been looking for, and we once more barely got to go anywhere. We took photos at the VW booth, with a Death Star, and with various visitors. During midday I entertained myself by acting as if I were a statue next to the 501st booth, scaring some of the visitors. Completely exhausted, we finished off the day by playing ball with Grogu before going back to the hotel a bit earlier than planned due to an injury. I went back in casual clothes for another hour before getting to meet even more people during the FISD Meet and Greet. Thank you to all who were there, I had an amazing time! [47] 10.04.2023 -- Star Wars Celebration London, Monday Last day of Celebration and I was the last trooper standing, as the rest of the Fireteam had decided to go casual once more. Everything hurt, I was exhausted, but at least I got to sit down during the Bad Batch Panel. Monday was a bit calmer than the previous days, which I greatly enjoyed. We ended the day a bit earlier to go explore London instead. It was my first time in the UK and I'm glad I got a bit of sightseeing in before we had to go back the next day. Thank you all for the wonderful time, and a #notatyourpost (except Danny) for my fellow FISD Staff TK-66744 signing off

Thank you both!

[42] 01.04.23 -- Power of the Force Cologne, Days 0+1 Once more I got to be part of the wonderful construction team for our booth, so I arrived a day early to help set everything up. It took us about 4.5 hours to get everything ready and afterwards we went to grab something to eat. Starting Saturday by standing guard outside, I made the biggest mistake of the weekend by not listening to my body when I started freezing in the low temperatures. Luckily TR-88900 helped me warm up again by allowing me to stay underneath his robe for a while. Following that we went back to our usual duties -- guarding the throne, being available for pictures, and escorting several of the star guests. A highlight among those were Ken Colley (Adm. Piett) and Julien Glover (Gen. Veers), especially for the various officers who were there. In the afternoon there was a short parade as well as the group photo before people slowly started to leave. [43] 02.04.23 -- Power of the Force Cologne, Day 2 Having woken up not feeling well, I decided to skip standing guard on Sunday. But even so I continued to feel worse, until after about two or three hours I was forced to leave my costume due to intense shivering, dizziness, and just not feeling well at all. Some of my friends of the Galactic Academy thus took it upon themselves to lend me one of their jackets and kept me supplied with energy drinks, snacks, cake, and some paracetamol, whilst I took a break to man first their booth and then the German Garrison booth whilst half out of armor. Their magic potion of care, warmth, caffeine, sugar, and meds managed to get me back up after about two hours and I went back into armor for the last two hours of relaxed trooping -- this time having fun at the Galactic Academy booth. After the convention we got our booth back down and packed up in under two hours and said goodbye to everyone. Despite not doing well (to a point where I probably shouldn't have been trooping at all. Always take care of yourself!), I still had a lot of fun and want to thank all my fellow troopers for their support! TK-66744 signing off

I just purchased an Anovos TK kit and it will arrive this week! Excited to build this, but want to make sure I take my time. Looking forward getting to know you all and plan to post my progress. I understand Tony has the thread to follow for the full build, but I am a sponge for the knowledge and wisdom of all TK builders here!

Some very nice detail work there, well done

I've been carrying on poking the 1s and 0s around. I think I have managed to fit a micro switch into the front hinge of the blaster, well actually a "miniature" microswitch which is a decent amount smaller but can still take 3 Amps so hopefully will be up to the job. The idea is this can work the front torch rather than using triggers to do this. Fitting the switch was not too bad, but getting the wires out was harder. I've opted to run two small tunnels either side of the mounting screw and through into the box section of the front stock, which then can run up into the barrel before entering the hollow core of the blaster. The switch will be held in place by an M4 grubscrew, so should it fail it can be removed and replaced without worrying about glue. You can also see on this image 2 location pin holes I added as I struggled to line this part up on my unfinished blaster. This is just 2 1.75mm holes for some filament offcuts. I still need to order the switches and check fit but it should work and gives a nice option for a switch in a place that makes sense. I also struggled with getting good results sanding the Magazine end cap, so I broke it into 2 parts. The main cover, and the button. In theory you could also make this a working button but I've not done that. Yet, I suppose you could do it with a tactile switch stuck through the cover. It should be about the right size. Finally I have also been working on full lights and sound setup, because apparently I needed more work before I can call this finished * I have based this on an Arduino Nano as I have several to hand and they are cheap, a cheap DfPlayer audio board, an old laptop speaker but want to try some others, a 1 watt 6 Pin RGB, some neopixels and 2 switches. The current working setup has a primary trigger that fires a blast, and a second that toggles the front torch on an off (Yellow LED in what follows as the white one was annoyingly bright). A blast triggers the sound effect, sends a streak of down the side that has a short dimming tail to help convey the motion, and blips the Red part of the front RGB holds it very briefly then fades out quickly. Again this attempts to convey motion and cool downs. The main issue I have is the audio lags by up to 1/2s. If you keep audio running, each new trigger is instant, but from a cold start there can be a big delay which won't do. I am wondering if this could be the fake DFPlayer board I have, but I don't really want to pay 3x the price for a real one due to handling fees at the vendor. More work on this to follow I am sure. As mentioned the 2nd button toggles the front torch but now I have a front switch this leaves it open to other uses which I've not decided on yet. Plus the option for the extra button on the magazine cover, though if I'm not sure what to do with 2 what would I do with 3? Nice to have hardware that can be expanded though if I can make it fit. I also need to work out if the torch should remain software driven, or if the front switch will just do that directly and so simplify things a little. This will all go on a custom PCB designed in KiCad and which will be available publicly, along with the software. The software is already if you know where to look The JST XH headers, are bulky but give a degree of ease to assemble as you can do all the soldering away from the easy to melt blaster. They may yet still go away, especially if I want 3 switches to read in software as well. And as a reward for reading all of that drivel here is a demo of the blaster and it's all important hidden mode. Sorry it's vertical I made it for the gram. * I am aware the irony of using the word finished in a thread that dates back to about 120BC

Try the "direct link" option OR right click copy then paste into your post It's all about the fine tuning, a few tweaks here and there

It's here! Boxes turned up. Very quick test fit and have worked out areas I need to trim to fit but so happy it's finally here

Sounds like you have some highly experienced hands to help guide you Lauren. I read, re-read, and read Ukswrath's build thread probably a hundred times while building mine. Like mentioned above it is good to refer to teh current CRL's to avoid any hiccups caused by changes and definetly good to aim for Centurion right out the gate so you can make the necessary upgrades without any unnecessary extra steps in the middle.

¡Gracias!

Thanks guys! I am hoping to build Centurion worthy TK armor. I am purchasing an officers uniform so that I can Troop and handle as a 501st member and not feel rushed to complete my TK kit. That way I can make sure to do it right the first time. I am friends with Ukswrath (Stunt) and I understand he has a pretty extensive run down on the build, plus a friend of mine is TK 77776 and lives locally so will be helping me along. Will keep you all posted as soon as my kit arrives. Thanks again!

You are absolutely right. Fixed!

Welcome, be sure as well to reference the CRL in detail while making the costume to make sure you are hitting all the details that are up to date. Also if you plan to go higher levels of approval its sometimes easier to work toward that from the start than later on. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Looking sharp, James! Good luck!

Hello and welcome aboard, looking forward to seeing your build, research is the key, when in doubt check our Gallery Sections

Looking VERY good James!!!

Very nice work James, good luck with your approval.

Awesome James!!

Hi James. Ok, added to the process line.

The list provided by @themaninthesuitcase has been completed up to current for EIB, and then for the last 5 years of EIB approvals with additional data available in the threads that may be beneficial for analysis. Please reach out to @Sly11if additional Staff members would benefit from the information. I hope it helps and I'll continue to add to it as I have additional time, but bringing the EIB list up to present was the real first push.

Trying something new. I bought the 3D files that @Cricket used for her son's build. Its an almost perfect match on forearms with IS, so instead of 3D printing the forearms (was not able to get the front to pull up without cracking it), I will combine the two for better definition. The pull is soft and not much detail, other have rebuilt with plastic but I really don't trust my scratch building and having it hold up under trooping conditions. Here's the original: Created the lip in ABS, looks like a bracelet. Decided to do a shelf at the rear part so that the plastic is glued from two angles. This shot is the piece overlaid on the plastic (not cut yet) Success! Joint behind the 3D is filled with epoxy putty. Now to do more sanding. Nice and crisp from the side

The 1500, stand and be counted!

Last thing on my list to do is the elastic holding the shoulder bridges in place. Going to paint my storage rig. can't wait till it's done. Got my wife in the shot lol. Using this stencil should be cool. Full kit up pictures coming soon.

Your membership is showing as classified, you will need to speak to your GML or GCO to get reinstated to active duty

4/7/23 - Tony Hillerman MS Spring Carnival TK Troop 55 - 10th for 2023 This was a repeat troop. This school did the troop last year and ran the event again for 23, requesting us again. And, if I'm honest, it was the worst troop of 2022. The kids hated having us there and were really snotty and horrible. I was reluctant to go again, but everyone was aware of last year's situation, we had a bunch of handlers, and every troop was on high alert. I didn't even wear my thermal detonator for fear of it being stolen. Yes, it was that bad in 22. Fortunately, the 2023 event was totally different. It was a complete success. We were setup next to the Whack-A-Teacher booth. Each teacher had their photo printed and kids got to throw tennis balls at them. I had a great time "helping" those who had TK-like aim. In other words, the kids who missed had TK help and then got prizes for knocking out their chosen teacher. Vader didn't need help. He had the force. Those who knocked out multiple teachers got to spin the wheel. And the Army was there with a helicopter!!! The organizers kept talking about "getting your pictures with the helicopter" and I expected a drone that was gonna take our group pic. Hidden way around the back of the school was this beauty. They asked me to pose with the chopper. I posed. I wasted no time climbing into the pilot seat. If they're inviting me, I'm sitting. That's all there is to it. Ethan vacated the chopper in a hurry after I started flicking switches. And then... I was in hyperspace! We all expected the worst, but it was, I think, the best troop of the year so far. The helicopter pilot pic may stay in my sig for a while...

So, I'm not Centurion (yet), but I thought I should chime in with my own observations as an 18-year old that frequently interacts with the U30 folks that I've met so far. And I can't really support this thesis. I've talked for hours with others my age or a bit older and whether they had a commission build, an old armor from another member or a self built armor, they were enthusiastic about improving their armor. "You can show me how to do this padding? Awesome!", "Could you help me fix this alignment?", "What do you think about reducing this gap?"... Today alone I had three talks with four others -- one 17yo aspiring 501st member, a 20yo that I'm helping get his armor approved, one 27yo TK and another who ordered his kit as we were speaking...! All of them interested in the higher levels, in taking their armor a step further. None of them active in this forum. Same thing with a Centurion TK (26yo, I believe) that I know. So why are they not applying/active? Certainly not entitlement or laziness. After all, I've spend hours working with them on armor or talking about it. You know, I actually asked them why they weren't active on here. This forum simply isn't very interesting to them. Okay, so there's been memes now that they certainly enjoy when I share them on Instagram, but aside from that this forum offers few things that they couldn't find out locally, or via talking to people on Instagram, in person or the local forum. They refer to this forum if they need to know something but otherwise don't interact with it, not posting a welcome post, because why write one if you're never gonna interact with them again? Therefore they don't get the link talking about lvl 2 and 3. I've actually had a few be surprised at it -- and then not research it themselves but work with me and other Garrison members on improving those details. Actually applying for lvl 2/3 wouldn't offer them anything that they don't already have though, aside from a certificate, so they're just happy with their improved armor. And what's the solution? Honestly? Reach out to the younger generation and get us interested. The FISD Instagram account is quite inactive, the forum doesn't offer many opportunities to interact in a way that they can't already in their garrison and lvl 2/3 have no incentive aside from better accuracy (which one can achieve without applying for them). Just my two cents as an 18yo