revlimiter

Thank you all!!!

TRENCH RUN SIMULATOR?!?!?! Tell me more. Does it play the vector arcade game from the 80s or something else? So jealous of the conventions with cool props. We just have tables.

TK-89400 requesting the 100 level.

and at last.... 100!!!! 3/2/24 - Destination Imagination State Tournament 100th!!!! TK TROOP!!!!!! And 5th for 2024. 100!!! It seems a little silly but my feeling of accomplishment for this is huge right now. I've been thinking about this since last December, but couldn't make that many troops due to life reasons. It had to wait till March. Five days after surgery to remove one of my balls due to testicular cancer. The extra room in my cod piece is very noticeable! I couldn't troop more than about 90 minutes but it still counted and I'm so proud. Less proud of how I held my little sign... fingers over the P and S... but you can't win them all and we TKs don't have legendary aim anyway. With Brandon and Ben. Brandon was there at my first troop. I bet we'll be together for 200. Group selfie! This was a big STEM tournament at a school and the kids LOVED having us there. No way to stop taking group pix with them. We'd be clear for like 5 seconds and then another bunch would gather us up for another group pic. Which was great! I just wanted one with our group tho. Heidi debuted her Nihilus today, which was awesome. Her very first 501st troop! She's the lady Jedi (Master Kai) who's in so many selfies above. And Mabel. Little Mabel absolutely loved all of the attention. Very rarely was she able to walk anywhere. Mostly it was just kids rubbing her belly and giving her love. She's very good at her job. This was the end of my VERY FIRST troop so many light years and parsecs ago. Froyo with my buddy Gus. And the end of Troop 100 - Froyo with my darling wife Sarah. Same froyo, same armor, just a whole lot more light years on it. 100 troops. More room in my codpiece. Life is good.

Welcome Leia!!! Can't wait to see your armor build thread!

2/9/24 - National Pizza Day 2024 98th TK troop, 3rd for the year. National Pizza day? Apparently a thing. We had a troop at a local shop that does board games and pizza. Good times!! I wore my HWT. Chris, our 2024 GCO, is inside that wampa. It was my first wampa troop. I expected it to be outside. Very much the reverse of the Haven House troop. I was like "how could they have room for everyone inside??" and it was huuuuuge in there. So I wore the HWT and the thermal undies and an undershirt and hand warmers taped to my chest. I was boiling. Chris was also boiling. Neither of us lasted extremely long that night. Master Kai with a board game suggestion! Try to take a nice pic and an ACD just jumps right in the back, lol I love these Good times and good pizza. Would troop this one every year. 2/24/24 - UNM Children's Hospital Visit 99th TK troop, 4th for 2024 An emergency, last minute hospital troop requested by the parents and care-givers of a small warrior with an inoperable brain tumor. I have ball cancer. It's not a huge deal. It's been described to me as "the best cancer you can get if you have to have any." It's super treatable even in the latest stages. I'm in the very earliest stage. My outlook is extremely good. The young patient we were there to see had no such prognosis. He's fighting hard and was an incredible person to meet. He was having a great day when we visited and was so full of life. Full of questions. Full of imagination. If I live 2 more days or 20,000 more, he'll be an inspiration to me for the rest of them. He requested Kylo Ren and Rey. We supplied them. Only one Mando signed up and I was able to take the extra troop slot that the Mercs had for the event. I'm grateful for the experience. I'm a little less grateful for THIS shot. But I love all of my friends who demanded I pose for it. I was in the hospital 2 days after this troop having my right nut removed. And as of now there's at least 99% less cancer in my body than in the above cone-of-shame photo. MAYBE 100% less! I'll know in a few weeks.

1/6/24 - Yo! Toys troop for ACC 96th TK troop, 1st for 2024. I believe we had no less than SIXTEEN of these promo troops for Albuquerque Comic Con. I only made one and this is the only pic I have. At least it was warm that day. Just a little snow. I also didn't make the con or any other troops in January. Life been hectic. 2/8/24 - Clone Wars Week @ Pres Hospital 97th TK troop, 2nd for the year This was my first time trooping at Presbyterian hospital and I believe it's their first event request since 2019. This wasn't one to miss. And the above pic got into the Legion and 501st instagram accounts I believe! Gotta love a good elevator selfie. (I'm all the way in the back) Our group. They allowed blasters! I brought my Leia Leveller and made kids smile with pew-pew-pew noises. There were many fun things at this hospital, like this wall of bubble mirrors. We took a TON of pix with kids and the hospital released all of them on social media. I added the sticker here because I don't believe in showing a kid's face in my troop log. The mood was extremely light around the hospital. Everyone was overjoyed to have us, doctors and patients alike. Some hospital troops really tug at your heart. This one filled it up. I was very happy to attend. I'd also just learned I had cancer. It was important to me to attend this one.

Mabel deserved her own post at the end of 2023. She was diagnosed with TVT, Transmissible Venereal Tumor, in December. She had a HUGE tumor growing in her nasal cavity. It had completely shut it off and made it so she couldn't smell or breathe out her nose. The tumor ate away a lot of bone in her snoot and it was very very close to the thin wall between the sinuses and her brain. She didn't have more than 2 weeks of life left. Maybe 1 week. TVT is one of three transmissible cancers in mammals. It can't pass to humans. It's found on their genitals in 99.9% of cases and is passed through doggy sex. It's not common in the US due to our spay and neuter programs. Mabel's was in her snoot, so she was almost certainly born with it. The tumors grow like fire (like cancer) but don't spread throughout the body. They're super super responsive to chemo but not to surgery or radiation. Mabel got diagnosed and had her first chemo that same week. Some amazing doctors rushed her into a treatment program. The tumor started to shrink immediately. By the 2nd week, she could breathe out her nose again. And by the 4th week, she was a happy little Cattle-Pom again. She was very much my little wish kid during that first week of treatment. No one expected her to survive. I took her everywhere she enjoyed going. We said goodbye to all her friends at service dog class. She went on one last troop with me (the school one with her brother). I even let her have some chocolate. Not a lot, of course. But when a dog is near the end of their lives, they are often rewarded with a little chocolate. They love it as you might imagine. A small amount isn't enough to make them sick. Mabel was at the chocolate part of her life. And then she lived. She had 8 chemo treatments and was pronounced clear. She'll get a CT scan in about 2 months to see if anything has regrown. Then she's scanned at 6 and then yearly. She's my little miracle.

12/14/23 - Make-A-Wish Holly Jolly Holiday Party 93rd TK troop, 48 for 2023 CREB 5435 - 29th troop and 14th for the year! I think this was my 3rd troop ever, and my 3rd time doing it. It's a Make a Wish event at a local car dealer and it's always a fantastic time. They absolutely STUFF the office/showroom with toys, have stories with Santa, and give a nice gift to a Make A Wish kid. Me and Brandon escorting Santa and his little Reindeer. My wish was for Mabel to recover from Cancer. I got it. She was very much a wish kid at this point though and rather close to death. More on that later. My daughter and I sat on the floor and listened to the Santa story. Always a highlight. Sorry for all the stickers, but I won't put a kid's face on my stream here. 12/15/23 - Haven House Gift Handout with Santa 94th TK troop, 49th for the year. The actual troop wherein we delivered toys to Haven House! It was the first time they did this event and the 501st (and Rebels) were the only ones invited. It was SO. very. cold. I thought there was no way it would be outside. It was all of 20 degrees that night with high winds. I brought my regular compression suit and not even a jacket... I really thought we'd be indoors... alas. (Bart, it's about -16C with wind in this photo. -6C not counting wind) Before the chilling. Two frozen troopers. But seriously, it was a good event. We gave toys and gifts to the few Haven House residents, posed for some photos, and then scampered inside with hot chocolate. and finally. 12/16/23 - UNM Children's Hospital Visit 95th TK troop, 50th for 2023. Elevator Selfie!!! Three troopers and two Jedi. It was a good time. Megan spreading a little BB8 love in the play area Diane getting her groove on and shaking some dust off And Brandon spreading kindness. It was a great year. 50 troops! I could have done so many more, but life got complex there at the end and kept me from obsessively attending every troop.

Wow it's been a while since my last update. 10 more troops and a couple months. Spoilers: Mabel finished her chemo and is a happy hero pup. She's doing great and living life! I got diagnosed with cancer the same week Mabel was cleared. Stage 1 testicular cancer. I'm dealing with that now. Onto the troops. 12/9/23 - Cottonwood Classical Make a Wish Winter Stroll 90th TK troop, 45th for 2023. CREB 5435 - 28th troop and 13th for the year This one was a troop at a nearby charter school for Make A Wish. They do a silent auction every year to help one of the local MAW kids. It was their first year requesting the 501st and it was also the same night as a big Christmas Parade troop. Having this big a turnout was a huge win. Soos and Mabel got their very first troop together! I need to get Soos a costume. There's just not many for big dogs... The Mando turn out. Soos might need a little rocket pack... hmm. In the back they had RC balloon launches. Very cool and totally run by the high schoolers. Mabel wasn't the biggest fan of them but she didn't mind so much either. 12/10/23 - Holiday Car Show for Big Brothers Big Sisters 91st troop as a TK, 46 for 2023. This one was the next morning and it was COOOLD. Oh em gee. Super cold. Everyone was still all jolly from the previous night's parade troop, so I cuddled up under my jedi blankie and pauldron. The look was honestly good! Dirty armor would have improved it. Too cold for Mabel to troop that morning. She got to stay home where it was toasty. Gotta pose with Santa... Especially when he has a ride like this! Yeah, this vintage red Mustang was the above Santa's car in the show. He graciously let me plop my plastic butt down and get this shot. Worth the effort! And one with the event organizers. Hopefully we get to come back the next year and we get a little larger turnout. Why only three of us? Because another troop was happening concurrently. I removed my torso and drove over. 12/10/23 - 2nd Annual Toy Drive for Haven House (8 of 8) 92nd TK troop, 47th for 2023. The last toy drive troop (8 of 8!) for Haven House. This one is in the shadows in the cold... it was cold. That cloak may seem kinda dumb but it truly helps. And I feel less bad about the lack of screen accuracy thanks to Santa Maul and Santa Vader. Two troops on the same freezing morning. Good times! As we were packing up, literally every police officer arrived at this parking lot. A few mounted but mostly on cars and bikes. Each officer had a kid with them and those kids all got shopping sprees at the nearby Walmart. Brandon and I walked over and welcomed them inside. We posed for several hundred pix. We had a blast. We were just in the right place at the right time.

It's the kind of serious discussion we have on the FISD Discord server. https://discord.gg/CbUuvdWBNc

But now you have that glorious belt forever and can swap out bricks as needed. Exposed studs next time maybe? Followed by minifigs in a full on (vertical) battle! Maybe a nice vintage Lego Town scene with the old pine trees and rainbow colored bricks. The possibilities are endless. Congrats on troop 2!!! That Lego blaster really went to its best home.

Admittedly I'm on very strong pain meds at this moment. But... were the print files shared somewhere or purchasable? I don't see links in this thread or the Pathfinders one. It's a lovely blaster.

If you've pissed your GML team off before, they're gonna make you shoot on a different background. Your suit looks amazing, but the black pieces blend into the flags. Seriously though, looking good sir.

(I tried. )

An ROTJ bucket is also listed. This reportedly IS screen used. https://propstoreauction.com/lot-details/index/catalog/386/lot/126479?url=%2Fauctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F386%3Fpage%3D1%26view%3Dgrid%26cat%3D4141%26catm%3Dany%26order%3Dorder_num%26xclosed%3Dno%26featured%3Dno%26items%3D100 Our expert’s notes Bidding for this lot will end on Tuesday, March 12th. The auction will begin at 9:00AM PDT and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Wednesday, March 13th or Thursday, March 14th. An Imperial stormtrooper helmet from Richard Marquand's Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. Imperial stormtroopers wore their standard-issue helmets throughout the film as they served the Galactic Empire, notably during the climactic Battle of Endor. Stormtroopers now rank among the most recognizable movie characters of all time. It is estimated that only around 50 helmets were produced for Return of the Jedi, with slight modifications and a somewhat more flattened appearance than the designs seen in the previous two films. All elements on the helmet are original and unaltered. The main body of the helmet is constructed from vacuum-formed ABS plastic. Several striped decals are applied to the helmet's cheeks and temple. The chin and mouth vent are finished in black paint, and a black rubber trim runs along the brow and around the neck opening. The eyes are green acrylic. The helmet's interior features an elastic chinstrap and a plastic headband with foam applied for comfort. "Alan H" is handwritten in blue ink in the interior. This could be Alan Harris, who was an uncredited stormtrooper in Jedi and had small, uncredited roles in both A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. The helmet interior also features a piece of paper taped to the dome, upon which the Yuma, Arizona, address for the "Blue Harvest" production offices is printed. "Blue Harvest" was the film's working title and was chosen to hide the fact that the third Star Wars movie was filming from fans and locals while on location. Yuma served as the location for the scenes at the Great Pit of Carkoon - scenes which do not feature stormtroopers. This is one of the best examples of a stormtrooper helmet in private hands. The helmet exhibits yellowing both inside and outside, and the chinstrap has frayed due to age. There exhibit scuffs, scratches, and paint wear on the exterior of the helmet, and one of the faux microphones on the front is missing its wire mesh. Estimate: $150,000 - 300,000

Our expert’s notes Bidding for this lot will end on Wednesday, March 13th. The auction will begin at 9:00AM PDT and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer; tune in to the live streaming broadcast on auction day to follow the pace. Note other lots in the auction may close on Tuesday, March 12th or Thursday, March 14th. An E-11 Stormtrooper blaster rifle from the promotion of George Lucas' Star Wars: A New Hope - Special Edition. Stormtrooper rifles were created for the promotional tour for the 1997 rerelease of the original trilogy with updated visual effects, additional shots, and altered scenes. Cast from resin and painted glossy black to appear metallic, this blaster features a design based on the Sterling L2A3 submachine gun. It exhibits chipped paint, chipped and exposed resin, and missing components. Dimensions: 18.25" x 3" x 6.5" (46.5 cm x 7.75 cm x 16.5 cm) Ownership may be restricted in some countries; see replica firearm notice in Buyer's Guide. Estimate: $1,500 - 3,000 Pasting the auction images here just in hopes they stay. This is apparently a promo blaster used on the promo tour in 97. Not a screen used blaster. Still very interesting.

I always worry when I see folks spending a lot of time and effort on a PLA print. That material is so delicate and heat-reactive. Please line the inside with fiberglass or some similar treatment to keep the armor from deforming during transport or use.

The work you've done has been extraordinary. I salute you sir.

Seriously.

Just cut all the return edge from the biceps. They'll be much more comfy under your arms that way. Flat plastic is where it's at for all arm armor. And that looks like non-armor area with the waviness. I think it'll get cut out.

I got the joy of paying $12.60 for US shipping of a few coins today from EF. I ship stuff for a living and could send roughly 5 kilos of coins in country for that postage... so yeah.