August Newsletter

[HGBode]

i would not change everything, i would change the backround and i would place a picture of the badge in the middle of the sheet, like in the original eib certificate. and of course the right names...

[TK Keith[TK]]

I want to thank Ingrid for sharing info about removing yellow from the armor. Any suggestions for buffing- what to use/how to use it? Recently I tried using my dremel and it took a chunck out of my cover strip.

 

"Take that yellow off by gently wet-sanding your yellowed parts until they get to the desired whiteness and then buff and polish." I dont have that problem yet but I know it will drive me nuts if/when it comes up.

Edited August 6, 2012 by TK 5376

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

I want to thank Ingrid for sharing info about removing yellow from the armor. Any suggestions for buffing- what to use/how to use it? Recently I tried using my dremel and it took a chunck out of my cover strip.

 

"Take that yellow off by gently wet-sanding your yellowed parts until they get to the desired whiteness and then buff and polish." I dont have that problem yet but I know it will drive me nuts if/when it comes up.

 

Really, really patient hands and hard labor, I'm afraid! I generally sand and/or polish while watching TV, watching my kid in the back yard, etc. Long hours of repetitive stress injury on my shoulder......

 

I learned from Rob "Matt Black" here on these boards how to sand. And I know Vern doesn't like it but I still use Maguaiar's compound to polish, though of course everyone uses Novus 2 & 3. If you need more help let me know - I can't stand yellow armor

[bobojuice]

How does your armor get so yellow? I had a set of FX for 2 years that never had any discoloration problems. I also never buff or polish or even clean my armor. I also keep my new armor in a large duffel bag with all of my stuff including my painted blaster and just toss it around hoping it'll get some nice marks on it.

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

it's ok ingrid, you can use car polish if you want.

[Owen91]

Possibly, the boost in registrations is in part due to the amount of people selling recast and super cheap suits on ebay. For me, I started searching ebay on a whim for armor since I've always thought about it. I saw a seller selling them cheap, and figured, why not. Once I started bidding and watching prices, I saw a ton of sellers touting the 501st approved. So I thought, hey, I should look into if the sellers are full of crap or they are telling the truth. This led me to the FISD and ultimately to register.

 

So there are a lot of poor quality recast suits out there being sold now, this may be driving up registrations as people start to do their research into what it takes to get their newly purchased recast suits 501st approved, that's what drew me here, I know I'm not alone.

 

I second this. In my early interests in becoming a trooper I gravitated toward Ebay to see what was up. I started seeing a bunch of 501st claims and was like "wait a minute, I thought the 501st were hired actors? I must verify." Later my girlfriend, by pure happenstance, runs into the 501st at a sci-fi event at the local library. She gets their info for me, a few emails get sent, Bam. Registered to the FISD and am sooooooo glad I did!

[Dizzydevil105]

I second this. In my early interests in becoming a trooper I gravitated toward Ebay to see what was up. I started seeing a bunch of 501st claims and was like "wait a minute, I thought the 501st were hired actors? I must verify." Later my girlfriend, by pure happenstance, runs into the 501st at a sci-fi event at the local library. She gets their info for me, a few emails get sent, Bam. Registered to the FISD and am sooooooo glad I did!

I had a similar situation always wanted a stormtrooper costume and always saw one online by rubies and was impressed with the idea but not with the price then i started really researching online cause i collect helmets as ornaments as well and I came upon the celebration star wars convention on google and at the same time found a convention going on locally so i decided i would go to the convention and check it out and i met a member of the 501st from this area next thing i know he emails me all this info and links and i now have joined multiple forums and found a better deal on a much more detailed costume then the rubies one and now around tax season i will order it after years of waiting and dreaming of joining an organization like this

Edited August 28, 2012 by Dizzydevil105

[Mongoose[TK]]

I too almost went with Rubies, the price stopped me cold though. Then I found the FISD and now I'm a registered TK working towards Expert Infantry. By working I mean trying to get the time to suit up again and get the close up pictures required. Doesn't seem like much until you add the 2 year old and the 2 month old. My days are busy. It'll get done. Hope to apply we'll say before Christmas as I'm moving in a month as well. I need more hours in a day. Great newsletter as always.

[SHEEPDOG54[TK]]

I just wanted to add that I trooped in my FX Armor and Rt-Mods Hero helmet since 1998 when it didn't matter how accurate the armor was by Legion standards. Over the years I started to see much more accurate armor but wanted a set that was shiny ABS like my FX and just as durable. My FX is still shiny white and all I ever used on it was Novus 2 and 1in that order. I wanted an accurate set of armor and it wasn't until I found out that ATA ARMOR was coming out in durable shiny ABS that I decided to make the plunge and build the suit to FISD Standards since I was going to build it right out of the box. All I have to do now is fix a couple of things for Centurion and I am proud to say that I can stand now amongst the ranks of the FISD with pride! I think the problem with the older folk in the Legion like myself is that they don't want to put the work in to fix their older armor to bring it up to at least EIB Status. Since I am not afraid of the hard work, take my 501ST Clone for example, it was a no brainer for me! I will tell you that now that members of our Garrison( The Midwest Garrison) see how great the accurate armor looks it is motivating our members to start building new armor and bring it up to FISD standards. I need to mention Steve Gaza who really motivated many of us in the Garrison with his how to build armor that he made step by step with photos and text! I have heard people call the FISD " Armor Natzies" in the past and I only thought of the FISD as "EXCELLENCE" in Armor. Hence my FX Armor is now RETIRED in its original black plastic foot locker. CENTURION HERE I COME! Thanks to the FISD for the motivation!

Edited August 31, 2012 by TK265

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

I just wanted to add that I trooped in my FX Armor and Rt-Mods Hero helmet since 1998 when it didn't matter how accurate the armor was by Legion standards. Over the years I started to see much more accurate armor but wanted a set that was shiny ABS like my FX and just as durable. My FX is still shiny white and all I ever used on it was Novus 2 and 1in that order. I wanted an accurate set of armor and it wasn't until I found out that ATA ARMOR was coming out in durable shiny ABS that I decided to make the plunge and build the suit to FISD Standards since I was going to build it right out of the box. All I have to do now is fix a couple of things for Centurion and I am proud to say that I can stand now amongst the ranks of the FISD with pride! I think the problem with the older folk in the Legion like myself is that they don't want to put the work in to fix their older armor to bring it up to at least EIB Status. Since I am not afraid of the hard work, take my 501ST Clone for example, it was a no brainer for me! I will tell you that now that members of our Garrison( The Midwest Garrison) see how great the accurate armor looks it is motivating our members to start building new armor and bring it up to FISD standards. I need to mention Steve Gaza who really motivated many of us in the Garrison with his how to build armor that he made step by step with photos and text! I have heard people call the FISD " Armor Natzies" in the past and I only thought of the FISD as "EXCELLENCE" in Armor. Hence my FX Armor is now RETIRED in its original black plastic foot locker. CENTURION HERE I COME! Thanks to the FISD for the motivation!

 

That is so awesome and inspiring, Javier! And a great attitude! And I'm glad to hear about your garrison's change in attitude, too, and Steve deserves some props.

 

This whole Armor Nazi thing is saddening. Maybe there were people years ago who took the wrong approach, but I'm not seeing that now.

 

There is affordable and high quality, accurate armor available and pretty much all new members will be starting out at that level. If anyone is feeling bullied - as opposed to perhaps encouraged or inspired - to upgrade, that's a problem. Send them (or the bully) my way and I will help them communicate more effectively (or to any staff member).

 

I have seen some FX armor that is well-maintained and looks sharp and well-fitted to the wearer, and I am happy to stand with them at a troop. And I have seen a few suits in need of serious repair (not just FX) that make you want to troop on the opposite side of the event. A lot of those guys have been open to "cleaning up" and that's a good start. I think we all would agree we like to stand with fellow proud "soldiers" and that means being motivated to look our best.

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Well said, Ingrid. You too, Javier.

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

Just wanted to share my appreciation on this EIB program "apparent" failure...

 

The MEPD was crated cause some guys thought that no one took seriously the Sandtrooper costume and character on the Legion. So they created the detachment and deployed police officer in the hope of giving new rules to the game and achieving at least some consistency among the Sandtroopers. This, mainly cause even the Legion CRL for TDs did not required being dirty.

 

So, for a starter, the whole idea of the program came from guys who were very serious about making Sandtroopers look like Sandtroopers against common knowledge and appreciation. Now, at that time (and today of course) everyone could tell the difference between a Sandtrooper with lights flashing on a couple of black boxes on the back, a big weird looking rifle, a painted armor and a rainbow like pauldron from a proper screen accurate-ish sandtrooper, except for the Legion command.

 

So, it is no mystery why so many TDs wanted to make their armor look right. They just needed the motivation.

 

Now, TKs is another whole thing. Most people, even some members, wont notice or accept the difference between an avarage Stormtrooper and a EIB. Even some of us wont notice much difference between an EIB and a Centurion if seen from more than 10 feet. That is true. So, it might not be as compelling as being a regular unaccurate Sandtrooper wanting to be screen accurate, as being a regular TK wanting to be an EIB or Centurion.

 

But then... that is refereing the avarage trooper and the avarage Sandtrooper. What about the accuracy geeks that populate the FISD and the MEPD???

 

Well, for instance, I am pretty sure that the ratio of accuracy obsesed sandtroopers is higher than that of Stormtroopers. Why? Just cause to begin with, building a TD requires more time, money and work than a TK. That is a fact. So, if someone takes the step to build a TD, most likely it is not just to retire an old armor and buy a new TK, but cause they want to have a TD. The extra commitment comes with the character and armor. That is a fact too.

 

Not that building a TK is easy, specially a centurion, but numbers are there... only 11 SWATS vs I dont know, a few dozen Centurions.

 

Please, dont take me wrong, I have said a few times before (and Daetrin can confirm this), that I believe that building a Screen Accurate TK is more difficult than a TD. Why, just cause everyone's eyes are on the TKs, not on TDs, that, and other reasons.

But... and dont mean this in the wrong way at all... people willing to build a TD, even if it is a clumsy unaccurate build, are willing to walk an extra extra mile. So it is only normal to have more legion TDs in our program than on the TK programs.

 

At the end of the day, there is a slight handycap on the MEPD program... total TD membership vs total TK membership, nature of the costume, commitment required from the beginning, etc. So, in those terms, you have it more difficult than us. So I wouldnt call it a failure, but a slower program with more ambitious goals.

 

Does that makes sense?

 

And please... there is no TD vs TK issue intended in any of my words.

Just wanted to share my insight knowledge being a TD for 6 years now.

 

Also, I know lots of the TKs have a second set of armor made into a TD... so I hope you understand what I wanted to say and not only what I wrote!

 

Saludos...

Juan

 

BTW. I do believe commitment is required to achive screen accuracy in any costume. I will probably spend a year or two building an accurate TK starting soon. Just as I spend 3+ years building my TD. It also comes to a mater of the "certain point of view" you see things from.

Edited August 31, 2012 by iconoclasta_88

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

Thanks for your "inside perspective," Juan!

[Guest grant2simpson]

Yet another excellent submit! I'll certainly end up being keeping all of your items at heart. Many thanks. and one more thing In my pal's discussion boards they've additional me on their own community forum rolls, however my very own usually is located at the bottom of the list and does not list once I submit enjoy it can for other people. Is this a establishing that I need to alter or perhaps is this a option that they have made?

[iconoclasta_88[501st]]

SPAM!!!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

The more I read the more I am inspired to do better with my build, thanks guys and girls