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Not missing this hype

Whew! Been a while since I had a chance to update this. Life has been full on lately. I'm apparently at 70 troops! 25 for the year, which is 6 up on this time last year. We had very few events in July due to the crazy heat. lemme see if I even remember how to do this... 6/3/23 - Summer Reading Kick Off South Valley Library 67th TK troop, 22nd for 2023. This one, as you might guess, was a library troop to kick off a summer reading program. They had a ton of crafts, food, BOOKS, plastic spacemen, and firemen. The only pix I have are from playing on the fire engine. I wasted NO time getting in that driver's seat. I lost my TD when I got out, but thankfully Jango noticed and saved it for me. Me and @elwessbrandon ready to put out some fires. Meep meep mudskuffers!! and then... they let us climb on the back. Yeah, that's me next to the incinerator @Imperial_juggernaut . Huge props to my three topside companions. They seemed a little uncertain going up but they still followed me like champs. 6/4/23 - Run to Break the Silence 68th TK troop, 23nd for 2023. CDZ-5435 - troop 23, 7th for 2023 This is, unfortunately, the only photo I have of me and my daughter at this event. It was one we did last year, cheering on runners and kid runners as they did this charity event. We only trooped about 30 minutes before she started to overheat in her Jawa robes. We rode this insane golf cart back from the casino/hotel all around the property, through the golf course, over various bridges and ponds, waving at folks who had no idea why a stormtrooper and jawa were being zipped around like celebrities... it was honestly great. Wish I had pix of it.

6/17/23 - Duke City Comic Con Day 1 (booth duty) 69th TK troop (nice), 24th for 2023. This is a big one. The day started here with a photo op for the early morning cosplayers. I think the local newspaper and two TV stations? I was the lone 501st representative. Everyone in attendance was AWESOME. Cutting jokes and chilling out whilst the camera folks and reporters fiddled with their gear. This was our group of 501st / RL / MMCC / GA attendees. (I'm the one with the pew-pew blaster in all these.) HUGE turnout for the day! Cosplayer photo op for the event organizers around noon. This was MOST of the costumes in attendance and I think my last group shot. (Little Rey asked me something and I was bending down to answer.) This was most of my day - hanging around with my fellow nerds. I did some guard duty throughout the day. This Ithorian needed someone to keep watch on him. He had shifty eyes. And of course, I selfied like a trooper should. This one is with Kerri Hoskins, Sonya Blade of Mortal Kombat fame. Kathy Coleman and Jack Rudd from Land of the Lost were having a blast! They had this whole raft setup to take pix with them. Super fun! And Harry Waters Jr (Marvin Berry in Back to the Future) was HILARIOUS. Of course, I also selfied with just about every cosplayer in attendance. Here's my favs. Captain Planet was seriously incredible. Outstanding Lady Thor! And my very favorite con buddy - this Dalek. He had the vocoder and sounded pitch perfect. He had a grabby hand and a smoke producing cannon. He had front and rear cameras. And he was FUN!!! We trooped around together for at least an hour. The Galactic Empire and Dalek Empire are natural allies after all. Lastly, my personal high point - local artist Michael Toya posted this on his insta the night before the con saying he was gonna bring it. An original painting of three buckets. I commented that I might need it. I've got several of his prints but didn't own an original... yet. He asked if I was serious when I found his booth and I was all onboard. The painting was just black and white up to that point. He asked what colors I'd like on it. I picked yellow. He thought orange would pair well with it. BAM! A couple hours later, it was mine. This is what a smiling TK looks like. That grin is from ear to ear. It hangs proudly in my house with his other pieces. I finished up the day with 2 hours of booth duty. I kept my armor on and just had the bucket on the table for my shift. I was in armor for something like 10 hours... and it was fantastic. A++ event.

He has been super receptive to comments and feedback and wants to produce the most accurate part he can. Really glad I found him Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

Looks really good, glad to read the maker is refining the strap. We love nothing more than when vendors are happy to work with us and out members to get things looking just right

Thanks! I re-marked the rivets 10mm from where I trimmed instead. I also did the same thing with the kidney plate and it seems to line up well. Let me know what you I think!

Troop 7 : Market Square/The Center in Swift Current, July 22, 2023 This is an annual troop that has been going on for years but I never had the nerve to approach them and now I'm in with that. Weird how that works. It's an open air market and we were lending support to a youth center in the city. There is a donation made to the organization on behalf of us and the city. We were lucky and had a photographer (my sister-in-law) follow us around the entire time so we could do our thing with no distraction while she did hers. I wish we could have that all the time. It made for much better pictures as a lot of candid shots were captured that we normally would never have got. A couple more firsts for me. First time feeling more the part and less like a guy with a pail on his head, first local troop so a five minute drive, first parking lot kit up which was interesting, first under a heat advisory for the day. I didn't think we would make 2 hours in the heat, but we did about 3 with one short water break and spending some of the time under tents. I think my previous job prepared me for extended periods with little water as that was a regular occurrence in my job. Next year this troop is mine to plan I'm told so I'm hoping I can get some system in place for changing and a private rest area to get the bucket off our heads without an audience. I encountered a lot of people that I knew since it was local and had fun with them until they could guess who I was. This one photo/encounter ended up being extra special but I didn't find out why until later. This gentleman was non-verbal but I'm told after the photo he whispered, "Thank you." which I couldn't hear, but the photographer and his aid heard. The aid was surprised and very happy for him. My sister-in-law, who did double duty for photos and being our handler, thrust one of my trading cards into my hand to give the man which put an even bigger smile on his face. People were encouraged to dress up but really only a few kids did. The little TK was excited for a photo and not shy in the least to run up to us for one: There will be payback for this one... At least I can take comfort in the fact that if I was hot in mine he was melting in his! Once again, ran across this guy. This time he was trying to get past customs. I don't remember how this ended.... Yup, I stopped. We took a side tour to the nearby fire station, but they didn't turn the hoses on us like we hoped. I don't even drink it, but if I did it would have to be dark roast. They are called potatoes on this planet. I know I won't like them. This is the first time I have met/trooped with the pilot, but the others are quickly becoming my trooping gang as I've done the most troops with them in my short time with the 501st (4 of my 5) All of us go with the motto that no troop is too small to attend if it is making people happy. We have a fun time every time. There will be a 6 week dry spell now to troop number 9 and 10 which will be a fan expo a couple hours away. After that most for the rest of this year becomes tentative for me due to potential weather and road conditions in October and onwards but I'm hoping to get to them especially since 2 of them are little events which allow for a lot more interaction. Bart

Here I am! My first trooping at the Friedehorst, Bremen, Germany 02.07.2023 Thank you OLC Kai & Katja for this honor. And The team who gave me a warm welcome and supported me! It was a special and great day in my life!

So good, dude. I’m pretty sure you troop enough to cover the both of us. ;-) And at least if Jango hadn’t spotted your wayward TD you’d have had an extra to replace it with!

ArtneoES on etsy. Cool dude and a legion member. Definitely been a big help with this. And super affordable Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

nice photos

7/29/23 - Rudi Foundation 5k Charity Run 70th TK troop, 25th for 2023. A fun run to benefit the Rudi Foundation who donates to cancer research. We had a great turnout. The organizers requested we be there to hand out awards and cheer them on at the finish. Me and Brandon became the finish line. It was very warm work out in the 88* sun (like 31C?) but we managed thanks to our superior white armor. (do I want to rethink that wording? hmmm... honestly, the white is just far better in the heat than anything else...) Liz and Chuck (reserve and Boba) were both on their first troop with the DRG. Liz was one I recently got to approve! Fantastic to have them both. A small Sergent showed up later in the event. We gave him the appropriate welcome. Vader is turning over a new leaf. Nose boops instead of force chokes. A TK could really get used to this! TKs in action. Look at those buttplates. Once all the runners were done, they had the Kids-K event. Kids would run a kilometer around the park. There were only three of them and the event organizers were trying to drum up support... @elwessbrandon and I looked at each other, nodded, and went off to join them. We ran a kilometer in armor in the late morning heat. It was EPIC. Memorable. Amazing. Crossing the finish line! I don't know how folks run actual marathons in their armor. 1K was very much enough for me. But man was it fun. And the props/accolades/high5s!!! Worth getting a little (more) sweaty.

looking good to me.

Time for an update, after managing to get the armour into work for may the 4th and with my wedding less than 2 months out i have had a chance to look at my armour (finally) I'll be picking up some compression gear this week and will test fit pieces. I am wondering how best to trim or fit to my shape? have messaged my local garrison on fb but haven't received a reply as yet. There are some pieces that I feel are a bit too big and mainly the arm and legs pieces are restricting movement. Lastly i am looking at ways to keep the thigh pieces in place, they have elastic straps at the front I'm wondering if these should be attached to anything in particular.

WoW, It looks great! And if he is going to thin the strap, the Pauldron will be perfect.

Sent him the critique and he is going to thin the strap and make it the neck hole wided so its not layed right up against the neck

@Sly11, @gmrhodes13, @revlimiter, @Chemi what do yall think? Flat without any puffiness to the pauldron and the attachments are not evident on the left side.

Boots came in and will be working on them this week. Only issue I have with them, but working on it, is they are press branded in the side of the heel. If anyone knows how to get that brand out would be greatly appreciated. The boots are a leather or leather like vinyl that will be painted white. there is also a rubber sole that is ridged. The sole is technically flat as required by the CRL but does have some cuts in it that I want to get rid of to make it smooth like the animated version. I have already taken a sander to the sole and it worked great getting them to flatten out in the back, so will do this to the rest of the sole and make them more accurate. I will post pics this afternoon. Pauldron should be finished sometime this week and shipped out. Hoping to have it in hand to add pics next week and get it added to the CRL

[46] 7-29-23 Relay for Life Novato

Hello, I am building an ANH trooper. Kit is WTF base and I am building from partial finish with help from my brother. He is the GML for our local garrison. I look forward to join the armored members of the 501st!

Gloves - check ✅

Awesome work, Cam! I love seeing these updates!

Good work! I’m sure beyond looking good you feel even better! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Painted the soles of the boots - ✅

Gloves ordered from amazon, should be in hand within a week:

Troop 6 : Dominic Strong/Children's Hospital support Medicine Hat June 24, 2023 This was my first outdoor troop and my first out of province troop within my garrison. The weather was perfect. We had shade and a nice cool breeze blowing through the area for the two hours the event took place. Four of us, all 501st members this time, with no rebels in sight, attended a baseball game to lend support and draw attention to the Dominic Strong/Children's Hospital fund raising. Not many photos as we had no dedicated handler this time. I'm hoping the organizers can get some photos from the team photographer who spent quite a bit of time around us and share them with us. No wildly interesting stories from this one. We did get a request for photos with "just" the TKs so we felt special for a bit. I took part in a staring contest with a kid who was trying to stare down the shadow trooper. I took the kid's side. It went on a very long time and I'm told many more kids were lined up behind me taking part too. The shadow trooper did win after the kid's friends got bored and dragged him away. I spotted some photo-op stations so we had a go looking like baseball players: The organizers also wanted us to play some crokinole which I played a lot of as a kid, but it was much more difficult this time. The shadow trooper didn't do any better: Here is a FB video as well: Facebook They have been doing this fund raiser for a few years now and have had the 501st for all of them. I would do it again for sure. They even had a BBQ for us before it started so we went in with a full stomach. We TKs sort of blend into the team! A good month to troop number 7 which is local to me so I only need to travel 5 minutes to it! Bart

Troop 5 : Regina Collectimania June 11, 2023 / raised funds for the Regina Cat Rescue Initially this was to be more of a recruitment drive as we have no members in the province's capital city and we would love to remedy that. Because we ended up with a few more on the volunteer list and the addition of some rebels we were able to do more for their charity with a photo booth. It was not a huge show and it lasted less than six hours., but lots of people in that time. The venue, however, was very warm and that was a bit of a test for me going for three hours straight. I need to remember to be better hydrated in that heat! All was fine though, still some learning curve for me. I'm still contemplating the armor adjustments which seem to focus most on the bucket. I need it a bit higher but not too much. Most everything else seems to be fitting and riding well. I can safely say that I am totally past the whole anxiety thing over getting into costume and out on the floor around the people. I'm finding I really like to interact with people especially when I am away from the photo area. My favorite this troop was once again playing a statue and scaring a group of 16 year old boys when they suddenly realized I was real. I encountered them again later and gave them the whole fingers/eyes/watching you motion and they seemed to really get a kick out of that. Then where was the little kids most of which were excited to fist bump me (well one wanted to every time she saw me, but chickened out each time despite my best attempts to win her over). And a few of the adult kids who were just blown away standing with a stormtrooper. Hopefully at least a couple who signed the interest list follow through when we contact them. One guy wanted to be a TK so pulling for him! Join today. Yes, we mean you! Sort of my statue stand. Takes only minutes to catch someone. This was before it was 2000 degrees and the blaster was 12 feet long and 50 pounds. This one was excited. And with this one there was a combo of fist bumps and high fives instigated by him. To keep myself from seizing up I wandered and checked out the merchandise. Alas, no credits on me. Troop number 6 is already less than two weeks away and is all outdoors so the real heat test will be on! Bart

Troop 4: Luseland reading at the library. Small town Saskatchewan. 27May23 I was much more relaxed for this one. This is the size of troop I thought my first troop would have been. I was generally comfortable in the armor but still taking note of a couple things to tweak. I still haven't got the bucket fitting just right yet with the glasses, but it is workable with just a bit of discomfort. The best solution, if I can ever do it without glasses, will be the hardhat suspension in there. This was a journey. Seven hours of driving in total and three hours of trooping. It made for a long day. The town has never had any kind of event like this before and despite a number of conflicting events in their area they were happy with the turn out they did get even if it did come up shy from their projections. They have ideas for next year to get more focus and participation perhaps teaming up with the local school as well. We had time to play around and the librarian wanted to get some fun shots to use locally and we were all happy to play along. I am not the selfie king but this was their theme. Two of the rebels travelled in from Saskatoon to team up with me and TK-55810 for this. That dude in the middle was cheating. The dice never rolled my way. I'm jealous of TK-55810 who has somewhat mastered sitting. I was standing for three hours but am getting more used to it. I wasn't in agony by the end and the boots were feeling good. I'm in trouble. Wrong book section. This one was better... I guess. The kids were all pretty quiet. Their parents were more excited at times. They got to play a game and get entered for a draw the library was doing. She told us she took her kids to Star Wars in 1977 when they were teenagers and if they weren't in the fields seeding they would have been at this. This guy was the highlight of my day. The four of us were talking with the librarian when no one was in the building when the door opened behind us. He walked in the doorway to see four Star Wars characters all turn and look at him. His jaw dropped to the floor and pretty much stayed there. He brought along all his Lego that he and his dad built so, of course, we had to get this photo with his TIE fighter. He's grinning from ear to ear. So am I. When we were ready to leave they asked if we would mind also walking to the pool which was just a block away. So, yes, of course we will go watch the caged in younglings. Then they wanted us on the pool deck for more photos with the lifeguards and kids. Small town fun. We might not have signed on for a pool shift, but that water did look tempting after the day. Bart