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Troop #22- 07 June 2023 - Dan Branton's Funeral Not a troop you ever want to need to do, but when the call comes you do and you give it your all. Yesterday we put to rest our friend Dan Branton, TK-42911. Our role was that of a guard of honour. 10 Stormtroopers from the UK Garrison, followed behind the hearse on his final approach the to the church. On arrival we then carried on past to form an honour guard along the entrance as the attendees, family and finally Dan entered the church. Our job completed we retired to change and join the end of the service and complete our good byes. It was a privilege to take part in the days events, and I only hope Dan would approve. Thank you to all that attended online, Tuesday was surprised to hear how many of you there where, and how far away. Good bye Dan. We will miss you. Adrian Tegg - TK-14957 - Crew Anthony Nobbs - TK-19036 - Crew Barry Hibbett - TK-19981 - Stormtrooper: ANH Stunt Brett White - TK-9593 - Stormtrooper: ANH Hero Chris Moxey - ID-24246 - Crew Chris Pearson - TK-10911 - Stormtrooper: ANH Stunt Conrad Prince - TK-30412 - Stormtrooper: ANH Hero Dan Wray - TI-15978 - Crew Dave Fredericks - TK-18034 - Stormtrooper: ANH Stunt Jim Lee - TK-19060 - Stormtrooper: ANH Stunt Kris kobus - TK-33633 - Crew Michael Cullen - ID-50451 - Crew Nick Wooderson - TK-27875 - Stormtrooper: ANH Stunt Richard Hutchins - TK-19742 - Stormtrooper: ANH Stunt Rowan Read - TK-12111 - Stormtrooper: ANH Stunt Tony Lee - TK-51007 - Crew William Lennox - TK-12529 - Stormtrooper: ANH Stunt

Thank you for representing the FISD and sending Dan off right. Buckets off.

Odd fact: Just learned yesterday that although Carrie Fisher and James Earl Jones had roles in the O.T that they never actually met in person until 2014 during the taping of a "The big bang theory" episode.

Can only imagine how difficult this must have been and at the same time such an honor to be apart of. Wish I had known one could attend online…rest in peace Dan.

Alright. Suited up with a better camera.

28. Intergalacticon, 3 June 2023 Day 2 (less pictures this time, I promise) No "trooping" group photo this time, but we do have group photos with: Tracee Cocco and Gigi Edgley (I'm the TK she's hanging on to) Timothy Zahn: Hononary Member Inductee Ailsa Berk: ... and Honorary Member Inductee Trevor Butterfield: I don't know who this TK is, but he's doing a lousy job keeping those Ewoks away from Vader:

27. Intergalacticon, 2 June 2023 Day 1 of this premiere event (premiere as in first-time occurrence) Before I do anything else, I want to thank the members of the Canadian Garrison and Fortresse Imperiale who came down and helped up out. Without you we would not have had the manpower to do what we did. And Vindicator Squad's props and backgrounds were a major draw. Thanks again guys. There were a lot of photos taken each day, so I'm going to try and limit myself, I promise. The Death Star wall and 501st table were ours (Droid Builders and astromechs too), but all the other props were courtesy of the Canadian Garrison. All those bags on the table - those were for guests who were already 501st Honorary Members, and the guest we inducted during the con. Before things started up, Kevin Thompson came over and tried out the speeder bike. He then told us how he performed some of the stunts while in an Ewok suit. C. Andrew Nelson stopped by each day for photos. I'm still a little disappointed that I couldn't find my copy of Dark Forces for him to sign ... Somehow I ended up being the target most of weekend, but the kids enjoyed it. (And the Ewoks really enjoyed it.) I don't know what I did, honest! For your use for any upcoming movies and shows: Myself, @Manbehindthemask, and @tdurden And I'm missing the first group photo of the day, so here's the one with just best costumes This is where my poor memory for names will get me in trouble ... I'm going to have look the Canadians up ...

I'm currently rebuilding my ANH TK, and have ordered a 2nd helmet for an ESB since my DDD kit came with two belts and ESB hand guards. So I need to get on it. Sent from my SM-N981U1 using Tapatalk

Alright, I need to finish my ROTK, FOTK TFA, and FOTK TLJ, and then maybe toss in an extra ab, thermal detonator, and holster for a Kenobi TK - I'm doing my part to keep our numbers up!

James, I just opened my Denuo Novo box for the first time in a long time today. I'll get to work.

This would have been without a doubt the hardest troop of all. The service was lovely, bet you were glad to be wearing a bucket Chris. Thank you to you and the UKG TK's for honoring Dan in a way he would have truly loved and representing FISD for us all.

Double up on your magnets and place them as close as they can get, staggering them slightly and alternating polarities as you place them so they want to push apart, not pull together. The more pressure you have on the strip, the more flush it's going to lay. Having inner cover strips glued in first will also make this WAY easier to allow for minimal gaps, as the coverstrip becomes more cosmetic than structural. I usually scuff my pieces before gluing with E6000, so watch when you scuff under the strip and ensure the part is level there also.

[52] 03.06.2023 -- NordCon Hamburg This was the first time the 501st appeared at this small local con -- and the con thought it was just a rumor. Despite clearing everything in advance, they were surprised to see us actually appear. We still got a changing room set aside for us and we were ready to go. The three of us arrived a bit early, so we could run around as Pride Troopers before the actual event start. However, the visitors (many of which were part of the LGBTQ+ community themselves) liked us so much, it was decided that we could continue as Pride Troopers for the rest of the event. I only removed the flag-cape after a while because as much as I liked the Phasma-esque look, I wanted to have a bit more mobility than the flag would grant me. We explored the convention, had some fun on the playground, entertained the visitors and were invited to join the swordfight. Still dealing with the aftermath of the troop in Mölln (#50), where we had lost at that exact same swordfight game, we gracefully declined. One devastating loss was as much as our pride could endure. We rather explored the fantasy world of the convention a bit more. TK-66744 signing off

Not a huge fan of the pouldron, but the helmet is interesting. CRL looks like a good start but I have some comments. You have a bit in the preamble about differences to TFA, maybe bring this in to the CRL text proper as "TFA based" to ensure that it's not missed. There are a few bits struck out. (formatting removed for clarity) Grooves on sides of chest should show clear separation. There are no visible seams on the back/yoke. Gaskets shall be made of rubber. Fabric gaskets are not acceptable. Forearm wrist box should be separate pieces, affixed to forearms. Forearm top plate is not attached at front of wrists. Glove palm must have black stitching. The seams between the abdominal armor and the 7 boxes should not be filled. Working lights and working front torch are required. Front handle must be movable. Generally I would expect the derivative CRL to follow the primary unless there is good evidence of these changes. I realise this is a video game so you can't prove things like the gasket materials, and resolution means you won't see stitching on gloves. I would just prefer to see some justification of the proposed changes. Looks like you've made a decent start to the build.

Firstly, you need to be able to take a joke Justin. You have also edited this post numerous times adding in and changing details, which doesn't bring the topic back up to the top so discussions could be continued easily. Personally I am glad you chose to make the edit you made just now, yes Isaw it and it remains in the edit logs of this thread. Secondly the CRL needed a costume builder, which at the time we did not have. Now it seems we do, and so a CRL can be created. It also seems you have more references now also, so the task of making the CRL requires no guess work on details we can't see. I think initially all we saw was the trailer for the game as it hadn't been released, cant say I have time to actually play these games sadly so many are reliant on what we have here. Creating the text for the CRL is the easy part, having all the images and doing the photo shop work to cut from backgrounds etc is where the time is taken up, so once you are ready with your photos, they don't need to be edited, we can certainly do that for you, then we can get serious on making this a reality and another costume for our catalogue and members.

Perhaps a controversial topic, but I’d love to see more garrisons spending time auditing their members for costume quality and, dare I say it, ownership too… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I do our roster maintenance a couple of times a year. Feedback from legion is several detachments do not do their maintenance remove retired members and adjusting their access. I wonder when the JRS roster was actually maintained last?? They could be living a false dream if it hasnt been touched in a few years. Its a monumental task to for the record. I spend at least 5 hours each time I update ours, not fun, so I understand when dets don't do it.

I may be wrong but I believe it normally works the other way for "realised suits" based on movie start points. You take the movie CRL and adjust only what you can demonstrate to be different. This is remove stuff you can't tell either way because of some limitation such as graphics, or camera angles. Tbh for some items it's sort of academic, like you're not going to see shoulder seams under that pouldron. So unless you want to dual clear (please do and juice the the numbers a little) as a TFA it wouldn't overly matter. The gloves, can you even get white stitched at the moment? Doesn't seem like it's worth worrying about vs TFA. That is unless we are saying they *should* be white in which case we'd want to flip the CRL, so basic and probably EIB black sticking is okay but cor Centurion you'd need white. As for the rest, keeping in line with the TFA seems reasonable. Means you can't build something you then can't clear as a plain TFA if wanted, though in reality I expect most Guage builders would be starting from a cleared TFA and adding the visor, pouldron and so on. I do have some pragmatic thoughts on the gaskets for Centurion, the main one being there are few sellers and from what I understand horrible to wear.

If you wish to watch the service then you're able to replay it here: https://video.ibm.com/channel/XFLPXNjhJgf?fbclid=IwAR0Q2y8w2Nt6nOIV_D8YC-_8iU5Vi-vKoVrXbk9dy7RhbVeWl-w9YTPsiZs Password June07 I'll be removing this post in a few days.

I built mine and was approved in a week, it can be done, depending on how much time you have and your abilities as well as how much research you do. I had a 6 month wait for ATA armor and I did A LOT of research ready to build it, as well as A LOT of build from scratch blasters, these were the pre 3D printer days, everything was hands on. Yes the cost is a major factor as well but if it's something you really want to do many will find a way. Now excuse me I've only had one coffee so I may dribble a bit: It can come down to research, in my 10 years we have seen a BIG move to facebook, people post "I want this costume" and within minutes someone posts info or shares a link BUT I don't see much of a follow up with "how to build". When I joined you had to search for information, I mean really research, some found a local 501st group or found he FISD forum but even then you still had to research to find the information on the forum to purchase armor and to build it. The amount of people that do find their way here but still won't research amazes me, we have areas on the forums for each of our costumes, yes some can be hard to find depending on what particular section you are building but even when posting information, photos and links to a build thread some still post the same questions when the answers are already posted. We have a "search" function and a "gallery" area and our forum but little seem to use them. You only have to type in a few common words into the search box to be able to find information, you can also do this one google, type in key words and add "whitemarmor" to the search, you can also search in images, you'd be amazed what can be found. Don't get me wrong I am here to help and I'm not complaining it just seems to me with the rise of Facebook and the ease to find things on social media some aren't equipped to do research, many buy on a whim and never bother assembling the armor as it's just too hard. People purchase a costume for many reasons, some not understanding what is involved, some don't have tool experience, some get bored, some are too busy, some even when approved find being a member and wearing a costume is just not for them. When I started we'd have 10 or more Stormtroopers at a convention, these days it's lucky we have just one or two, some have gone on to other things but some complain the Stormtrooper is too uncomfortable, I find the opposite, it a great support as I have quite a few medical issues and the armor helps me stay upright and for longer. Seeing 10 or more Stormtroopers marching together is a wonderous sight and still gives me goosebumps, just a shame I no longer see that here and our numbers have dropped. I must admit I'm not better though, I love my Stormtrooper costumes unfortunately I'm just not wearing them enough, I built my Din Djarin just because it's time relevant and it's what the public wants to see and do request, I don't think many think of that reason when deciding on a costume, what the public wants to see. No matter how many screams I here of "Mando, Mando" or "Grogu, Grogu" I get more satisfaction wearing my TK and seeing younglings dressed up in Stormtrooper costumes wanting a photo with you or even saying "your my favourite" still brings a smile to my face, even if it's not seen Anyway Tie Reserves and Bridgecrew are a pretty cheap option to gain access to the legion so it's no wonder their numbers have increased, is it indicative of what the public want to see, NOPE, shinny and white is still the most requested costume

29. Intergalaticon, 4 June 2023 Day 3 Less pictures this time, because I don't have copies yet. This was a busy day, not so much because of the public, but because we inducted the following Honory Members: Mark Austin, Willie Coppen, Joe Gibson, Mike Hendry, Andy Herd, John Simpkin, Kendra Wall-Dahl, Paul Weston, Brian Wheeler, and Warren Proulx: Who, when I was talking to him at the end of the day, let something slip about stormtroopers in Ahsoka, but: And not Stormtrooper-related, but some of you may remember that @tdurden made a fan-film where he performed a Shakespeare soliloquy. Well, it happens that C. Andrew Nelson used that same speech as a warm-up exercise when he did live theater. So, hopefully here is a clip of two Vaders doing Shakespeare: http://photo.garrisonexcelsior.com/photo/#!Albums/album_4576656e7473/album_4576656e74732f323032333036303220496e74657267616c61637469636f6e/album_4576656e74732f323032333036303220496e74657267616c61637469636f6e2f4461792033/video_4576656e74732f323032333036303220496e74657267616c61637469636f6e2f4461792033_32303233303630345f3131353330302e6d7034

Congratulations and welcome to Expert Infantry and the EI Honor Gallery

Perhaps we also need a cheaper legion entry costume added to our CRL's Stormtrooper: Casual / Behind the scenes

Hi, unfortunately, I currently have very little time to continue working on the armor. But I will post the smaller updates here time by time. I finally found time to paint the boots. How do you find the result? They were black riding boots that I dyed with leather dye.

20. 2023-06-06, BAPRUN, Gothenburg (Hero)

19. 2023-06-03, Nördarnas Sommarmarknad, Stockholm (The Nerds' Summer Market) (Hero) The obligatory selfie! Lookin' scary while herding the nerds! Photo: Patrik Ander Photo: Patrik Ander We bumped into some Mandalorians! Photo: Patrik Ander We looked the other way and we now have some credits to spend

I ended up angling them because I tested it and the lenses may rest on my nose when the helmet is built so I'll just trim them later at the top to straighten them out on the inside. I'm happy with the result. I'd say the gap is about 3/32" and is pretty unnoticeable but I'm sure it'll help with fogging.

5/27/23 -Bubbles Birthday Bash 65th TK troop, 20th for 2023. Yes, this is the actual troop pic. This was the only one taken. And this troop counted internally on our troop tracker, so it's listed here. This was a troop for The Learning Experience's mascot named Bubbles. Bubbles is the blue elephant seen in some of my troop pix. Bubbles was having a birthday. No one came to celebrate that birthday. No workers. No families. No kids. No bubbles. Just about 10 of us troopers... We stayed about 30 minutes and then left. They left no phone number and the email address bounced... so it was a no-go. My first in 66 troops. Alas. 5/27/23 -Lobo Anime Troop for Duke City Comic Con #2 66th TK troop, 21st for 2023. This one is a series of troops leading up to Duke City Comic Con. If we troop for an hour and hand out fliers (with photographic proof) we get a day's free entry into the upcoming con. Troops are every Wednesday and Saturday for... 8 events I think. The weather was nice, so I popped on my HWT pack. We flagged down traffic. We posed with folks who stopped by (of which there were TONS). We did a little browsing. I managed to go home without any additions to my armor.

Troop #17 - 27 October 2019 - MCM ComicCon London (approx 4 hours in armour) Autumn means MCM, so once again it was back to the Excel in London for what has become a rather big convention. Apparently the venue was at Capacity on the Saturday when I was there. I started the day with a stint on the club stand. It was pretty quiet first thing, possibly due to the stand location, so it was mostly prep work to get things ready for the day. The stand got much busier later on and the guys and girls on then had to work far harder than I. This meant I actually got to take a few of my own photos as my phone wasn't in my case for once! Reel Icon Collin Wells as Hellboy After kitting up I went out with 4 other TKs and a Vader. Normally this would mean a patrol of the venue but due to how busy it was we needed more spotters than where available so it was decided to stay on the stand. This brought me to lunch and a bit of food TK-10911 Chris Pearson, TI-29784 Laura Mechem, TX-27875 Nick Wooderson, TK-13570 Tracey Fennell Photo by TD-77670 Richard Pottle After lunch I kitted back up and ended up doing a bit of a marathon stint on the club stand. I ended up being the only OT TK for a long period and I didn't want to leave the stand with no other "iconic" characters. That said there were a couple of FEMs, a Deathtrooper, a Verso and a TIE which gave some great photos. Nick in the DT also pulled a bit of a long shift here which can't be easy in that kit. TK-10911 Chris Pearson, TK-28103 Laura Pragnell, TX-27875 Nick Wooderson, TK-13570 Tracey Fennell Photo by TD-77670 Richard Pottle I did one more stint after that but the long shift had taken it's toll. I was losing feeling in my hands, probably a combo of too long in kit and the new under gloves I was trying. It's taken about 2 days for the feeling to return and it's still not right even now but getting there. Lesson: Don't be a hero if you're done go in. So not the longest amount of time in armour this time, I've done far longer but it was more spread out. In the end this wasn't my favourite MCM, it was just too busy and the club stand was in a bit of an odd location. Fortunately the people of the club make it worth it. You meet so many new people at these and get to see old friends you only see twice a year and it's like you only spoke last week. Next stop MCM Birmingham in November for a rematch.

Troop #16 - 22 June 2019 - Heros And Villians Hemel Hempstead (approx 4 hours in armour) So I've not trooped in *checks watch* 7 months but I was out today with Gary as Batman (part of our Reel Icons program). My wife came along to spot us, she's not a legion member but we have an associate member scheme that allows partners/close family to join us and help out by spotting. Not a huge fancy troop but we were busy and the time went quickly. Lots of small kids today, more than I am used to and I may have stepped on a few! Not overly a lot to report but it was an enjoyable troop and a nice ease back in after a busy few months for me.

Apparently the talk was videod by our GML I was up first, I had no briefing about what to expect other than there was stairs to be careful on, and nearly missed on the way off.

Troop #15 - 24 November 2018 - MCM ComicCon Birmingham (approx 5 hours in armour) A few firsts for me on this one: First time at the Birmingham Comicon, First time I've talked the wife in to coming along in an official capacity and also the first time away with out the kids in over 5 years! Day started with our briefing taking place on the main stage with use of the PA, this was a novel change from someone shouting across the changing room. After this the wife was whisked away for her induction briefing (safety talk and basics of spotting) so I didn't see her again until mid morning. MCM ComicCon Birmingham Between the UKG, Reel Icons, Rebel Command, Rebel Legion, Mando Mercs, 15th Cyber Legion, UK Colonial Marines and the UK Predators we had over 300 costumers plus a number of spotters. This was a record as far as I am aware and the presence was immense. First thing in the morning you couldn't not see a group of the costumers out working the crowd. IMG_6MCM ComicCon Birmingham583 Also new for me I volunteered to take part in a talk by our CO Garry Hales (also LXO) about the UKG/Reel Icons/Rebel Command and what we do from both a costuming and charity point of view. I was first up on stage, easier said than done there was a step, and was on stage for a few minutes and all the details of the costume and blaster where pointed out to the crowd. I was quite proud that the crowd was noticeably larger by the end of my bit, and that nothing fell off I was followed up by a snowy, an OT and FO Tie, Lord Vader, some stage invading Jawa, Batman, Iron Man and 2 Judges from Dredd(2012). Whilst it was only a small stage by the end of our talk it was a full crowd with many standing as well. Very proud to be part of that. MCM ComicCon Birmingham One of the big draws for MCM Birmingham is the big group photo. Sadly due to the size of the crowd (there were also other shows on at the venue) and the huge number of customers the normal ramp wasn't able to be used so we used the queue hall for a big wide shot. The final image for this is HUGE so rather than kill everyones bandwidth I'll add a video taken by our GWL Wayne Allen TK 52517 During a break my wife noticed a few cracks forming on my armour, one of which risked snapping a corner off the button plate on my chest. Rather than risk losing the corner I elected to de-kit for the day. I spent the rest of the day looking after the Rogue One team consisting of Director Krennic, 2 Death Troopers, 2 Shore Troopers an a Jyn. Having a nice sized group of R1 costumes together really gave a nice big impact MCM ComicCon Birmingham These guys were also cool, I guess. MCM ComicCon Birmingham These are members of our Reel Icons club, most/all are also 501st members 1 is an LCOG.

Me not update my troop report in a timely manner, how very dare you. Troop #14 - 27 October 2018 - MCM ComicCon London (approx 8 hours in armour) Yup back at the Excel again for another Comicon. For the most part this one was business as usual. An early start to entertain the queues and then patrols of the venue. Late in the morning I was part of the group who took part in a Silver Sabers display. We paraded in to their stand so that Lord Vader could preside over a sabre battle display. At the end we the paraded back out, and went for lunch This picture was us lurking in a hall entry way waiting for the display time. The ladies were from our guest charity, Mitchell's Miracles, who were collecting on the stand for the 3 days of the con. London Comic Con October 2018 This is a cut from some video, complete with badly timed trooper looking to the side The afternoon was much of the same with a few stints on the club stand for photo-ops by the Death Star wall. Day was called when a spotter noticed I was getting "trooper legs" with about an hour left of the con. Armour did sterling service but on the way out of the venue I was thanking a spotter for help with the lift doors when some one opened a door into my helmet bag! The damage wasn't too bad, about 1/2 long maybe a touch more along a tube seam. 20 minutes with some T shirt and super glue and I was ready for the next one.

Troop #13 - 29 September 2018 - ElstreeCon 2.0 (approx 5 hours in armour) Only my second troop this year. Whilst a small quiet convention, the location was a little bit of a special one. I've been lucky enough to troop at Elstree Studios before, and it's only 11 miles from home so this isn't as exotic to me as some but it was an excellent troop. Elstree Studios by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr The convention it's self takes place in a small ballroom style room in the front building shown above. There was a small number of stands there selling the usual memorabelia and tat as well as a few actors/acrtresses doing signings. The majority had a Star Wars link, maninly back ground characters. One notable actor was Alan Harris AKA Bossk, who also played a Stormtrooper in ESB and ROTJ, a Rebel in ANH and was the model of the infamous white Prototype armour that became Boba Fett. I was lucky enough to have a chat with Alan in the changing area during lunch, he is a lovley person who seems to really enjoy what we do. Meeting Alan Harris Aka Bossk from ESB by Photo by Richard Pottle (TD 77670) L->R : Dan Branton (TK 42911) Declan Baker (TI 9845) Dave Gilmore (TK 73076) Alan Harris (Bossk) Chris Pearson (TK 10911) Adam Knapp (TK 11780) Dan Wray (TI 15978) Most of the convetion was spent outside the front of the venue on the road drawing attention to the convention from passers by, and nearly causing multple accidents on the roundabout where people would just stop to look! Outside the front of Elstree Studios by Trist Fulcher (TI 3493) L->R : Dan Branton (TK 42911) Dave Gilmore (TK 73076) Chris Pearson (TK 10911) Adam Knapp (TK 11780) Dan Wray (TI 15978) Declan Baker (TI 9845) We also spent a small amount of time just inside the perimeter but as there were multiple shows filming that day this was a bit busy with blacked out cars and SUVs. The rest of the time was spent inside the venue it's self. Mid afternoon we were given an incredible opportunity. The organiser lead us out through an out of bounds door and onto the lot. We walked past a hot Stage 8, some of ESB was filmed here, up to the top of the hill. We're Home by Wayne Allen (TK 52517) L->R : Declan Baker (TI 9845) Dan Branton (TK 42911) Adam Knapp (TK 11780) Chris Pearson (TK 10911) Here we were able to get a few photos in front of the George Lucas Stage where it all began. Currently home to both Strictly Come Dancing and The Crown. Again whilst quiet, the people and the location made this one to remember.

We often have people from other Garrisons come and join us for these. I think there was 2 or 3 this year. If anyone has the means to come to one of these I would whole heartedly recommend it, we'll even let you at the Haribo.

Troop #12 - 26 May 2018 - MCM Comic Con London Another year another London Comic con, though this year under Reedpop ownership. Whist now very familiar there was definitely a slightly different feeling this year, neither good or bad just different. The UK Garrison/Reel Icons had approximately 100 members attending plus members from the invited clubs: Rebel Legion, R2 Builders, UK Preditors, Colonial Marines and the 15th Cyber Legion. Lots of familiar faces and plenty of new ones. On the Saturday we welcomed 5 new recruits, and I believe there was a further 5 inductions on the Friday. We shared our stand space with UK Garrison, Reel Icons, Rebel Legion and Jedi News all having tables, there was also a R2 builders display. The colonial marines were mostly gathered by Terry English's stand, as he was the maker of the marine armour in Aliens and all round lovely chap. It was certainly as busy as always. Once the general admissions opened it was crazy busy, and stayed that way almost the whole way to the close of the show at 7pm. Our club stand was packed for most of the day with only small lulls. Most of the day was spent either on patrol outside the venue near the fringe festival or on the club stand. The heat was worse than normal as was the humidity making breaks essential. Spotters were doing sterling work getting us on and off the floor ensuring we could get in for lids off at a moments notice. This was the first time I managed to run out my helmet fan battery and I didn't have a spare that would fit. I did manage to get some more charge back into it from a phone charger battery which was enough to last out the day. In all it was a fantastic day, and I am already looking forwards to the Autumn con. This is doubled as I won't be able to go next May due to a family wedding. Images to follow if I can get any, the down side to not taking the armour off all day, but for now heres an idea of whats MCM is like. This is the North hall at roughly peak capacity, there is also a South Hall that was apparently busier and the fringe festival outside the venue (if you came to CE the festival is down the steps where the photo was taken). You can see our stand in the beginning of the video. Update: Looks like the charity buckets did well raising £2181.30 for Mitchell's Miracles. https://www.mitchellsmiracles.co.uk/mitchells-miracles-go-to-mcm-comic-con-at-the-excel/

A smart person would probably not wager on that one

There usually is a few taken over the weekend. The Excel gets stupidly hot so a trip or 3 outside is really common, also it usualy give us some room to move. I think the 2 above are actually press ones, I know the one where I am guarding Leia was for sure. If you can ever make it over I am sure you'll be looked after, MCM run several big cons a year and the 2 each in London and Birmingham are our 4 biggest events each year with about 150-250 costumers on each day.

Troop #11 - 26 November 2017 - Kids In Care Awards 2017 This was an unexpected one to round out the year. A local event to celebrate the achievements of Kids in Care. Was a nice troop in a theatre where we got our own dressing room. We patrolled the public areas of the theatre as the Kids arrived giving high fives and posing for photos. Once the event started we headed back to the dressing room and let them enjoy their evening. Kids In Care Awards 2017 by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

Troop #10 - 02 July 2017 - FanZone Comic Con: Watford This was a short one for me sadly. Was a great morning at this smaller con but just after lunch I was forced to leave for personal reasons. The morning however was great fun, and I got to meet some new members I'd not before as well as exchange nods with Jon Campling, a death eater from The Deathly Hallows. If you know me is pretty cool as I am working on a Death Eater costume. No Photos for this one unfortunately.

Time to catch up on last year before this year starts up again! Troop #9 - 27 May 2017 - MCM Comic Con London Another season another MCM Comic Con London. This was my 1st Anniversary troop and as such something I'd been looking forwards to for a while. MCM TKs by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr It was also the second outing for my daughter as Sabine (Season 2 version). She was apparently very popular and some of the Rebels guys in the 501st and Rebel Legion grabbed her for a photo. Rebels Group by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr As for me it was mostly business as usual for a big con. Out at 8:30ish done by about 6. This year was pretty hot and I'd not drank enough the day before so I took the opportunity to spot for a while before and after lunch time. I did a couple more hours in costume to end the day. What was quite fun was David Prowse was signing at the event so I popped over to get my Black Series Figure signed. As we all know this now was one of the final few signings that he did. David Prowse Signed Vader by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr Not 501st but Reel Icons: this was the first event where a fellow 501st member debuted his Johann Kraus from Hellboy 2. This costume is a thing to behold. The detail and smoke effects are amazing. I'd been following this build for ages so it was awesome to see it in person. Johann Kraus by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

I'm actually about 2 or 3 troops behind, I need to catch up.

Great idea keeping a troop log. A very interesting read (especially for a trooper in the making). :-)

Troop #8 - 13/05/2017 - Yaxley Festival (5 hours in Armour) This was a fun one. The call came in that Warwick Davis wanted a lot of TKs for a festival he's a patron of. Despite being a bit of a peak period the UKG provided a number of fine TKs along with a selection of TIE, TIE Reserve, Shoretroopers, Imperial Guard and an Ewok (because why not). Rebel Legion were also invited and provided a selection of X & Y wing pilots, ROTJ rebels, a Jawa and an ANH Leia. Warwick was on stage speaking to the crowd when the garrison was deployed to interrupt him. After a few sketchy moments getting up the wet steps we marched on to the stage whist Warwick talked Star Wars for a bit. Yaxley Fesitval by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr The crowd was pretty large and the response to our appearance was really good. Yaxley Fesitval by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr After the stage appearance we made our way into the event arena for the usual meet and greet mix of high fives, selfies and arrests. Yaxley Fesitval by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr This was a new event for us but really was an excellent day. Whilst I didn't get to meet Warwick properly, I just stood behind him for 10 minutes, due to timings not working out it was awesome to be able to take part. I am hoping this one becomes a regular in future. Edit: A couple more photo's I'm in by one of of the spotters (https://www.facebook.com/Funkstercosplay/) Yaxley Fesitval (by Funkster Cosplay) Yaxley Fesitval (by Funkster Cosplay)

Troop #7 - 01/05/2017 - Chobham Carnival (3.5 hours in Armour) This one was a must for me as one of the charities supported by this fair is the hospice who looked after my mum for her last week or so. We started by taking part in a parade. This was lead by a piper band and a dray with the May Queen. We followed this. There was also around 10ish floats from local schools and clubs, a tractor parade and some vintage cars. It was quite impressive to see such a turn out for a local fair. Chobham Carnival 2017 by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr After the parade we went to see some of the floats which were Star Wars themed, a Millennium Falcon by the Scout group and an AT-ST, not sure who made that one. This children suitably high-fived we proceeded to do laps of the event and continued with the high fives and photos until our time was over.

Troop #6 - 29/04/2017 - Mayor of Hertsmere Annual Civic Dinner (1 hour in Armour) Whilst not the biggest or longest of troops this was a bit of a special location : Elstree Studios. Elstree Studios by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr Was a very short notice troop, only a weeks lead time. There were 3 TKs (My CO Gary, Rob and myself) as well as Steve to spot (also our EA). The brief was simple, meet and greet the guests to the gala. We did this for around an hour, lots of happy big kids asking for a "photo for their grandson/daughter" The changing room was nice, we were given a dressing room suite. A bit nicer than the usual back room or tressel table. Rylan Clark Suite by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr Yes, thats Rylan on the wall yes it was a major subject of disccussion. Sadly we didn't get a photo next to Stage 1: aka the Gorge Lucas stage. I think we did get a photo with the studio sign in but I need to get it from Steve. If I get it I'll update this post.

That makes the end of my sadly far too short catch up. Hopefully I'll manage to be a bit busier this year but at the moment first troop this year looks to be the same as the last.

Troop #5 - 29/10/2016 - MCM London ComicCon (Approx 7 3/4 hours in armour!) ​I already did a PR bit for this at the time which details a bit about the troop : http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/39535-uk-garrison-field-report-for-end-of-october/ Several of the MCM troops run twice a year, the London event is one of them. As usual this was an early start for me to get down to London in time to kit up and patrol the queue of people as they arrive at the event. We hit the floor at about 8:30am and other than about 45mins for lunch I was in armour all the way to 5pm. I knew all about it the next day. Armour did a grand job, the only issue was I did a poor job of a crack repair which gave up again. I've done it properly with "poor mans fibreglass"* now which should hold far better. Trooping a big con like this is very different to smaller cons. You get far less younger fans and there's far more people who will try and be "funny". As always the spotters did a fantastic job keeping the peace and ensuring when big crowds gathered round us we were safe and everyone was able to just enjoy themselves. nintchdbpict000278389191 by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr After lunch I took part in a presentation of a £15,000 cheque to the Royal British legion and also a wedding proposal. Both firsts for me and very cool to be part of. MCM Comic Con London October by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr In the short gap between the presentation and proposal the infamous Office Billups kept the crowd by getting up some younglings for photos with the assembled might of the UKG and Reel Icons. The first of who, which he didn't know, was my daughter in the Sabine costume I made for her. After the photos were done my wife and daughter had vanished. After asking my CO if he'd seen them and explaining why I was marched round the hall by the event co-ordinator only to find them where we started. MCM Comic Con London October by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr (if you look carefully you'll see the TRamp master himself). All in a great day, MCM really is a baptism of fire for the several new recruits it attracts but there's just something about it that will keep me coming back. *cut up t-shirt and superglue.

Troop #4 - 1/10/2016 - Disney Store Rogue One Launch (Approx 4 hours in armour) Pretty fun troop which was part of the launch event by Disney for the Rogue One merch. We were non stop the whole troop as the store is in a busy shopping centre and the kids (all ages) really loved to see us. Was also the first time my own girls got to see me "at work". We also got given some rare trading cards for taking part. Watford Disney Store Rogue One Launch by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr

Troop #2 - 18/06/2016 - Promo For Watford ComicCon Due to unforeseen circumstances this fell through after we arrived, but as we had all shown up it was counted. Troop #3 - 13/7/2016 - Watford ComicCon (approx 5.5 hours in Armour) My 2nd real troop and also my first celeb photos. Again I had a few issues with my sound but a small bit of tape to stop wires moving seemed to fix it. I also experienced my first armour damage, a crack in the shin at one of the corners. This was fixed after the troop with CA glue and a bit of scrap ABS. This troop had a small but well stocked signing table. Actors from TFA, Red Dwarf, Game of Thrones and Primeval were there. We had a couple of photo ops with some of them. Watford ComicCon TFA Actors by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr Left to right : Paul Warren (Varmik)- Arti Shah (Motion Capture for Maz) - Bern Collaco (First Order General) Watford ComicCon Hattie Hayridge by Christopher Pearson, on Flickr I also bumped into Andrew Lee Potts from Primeval in the car park. My wife had met him at London ComicCon whilst I was trooping and along with a producer had had a nice chat so I thanked him for making her day.