Wook's First Build - ANH Stunt TK (AP)

[wook1138[TK]]

31 minutes ago, Pyrates said:

Open the blast doors!

Welcome TK - 34575 to the ranks of the 501st!!!

Congratulations Greg!!!


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Sweet!!  Thanks Aaron! 

[CableGuy[TK]]

Congrats, Greg. :-)


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[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Great news, congratulations trooper

[wook1138[TK]]

Well, EIB application posted! 

 

Anyway, I want to thank everyone for their input - either directly or just by posting their own builds.  I can't begin to list all the people that helped but I will mention Sean, Dan, Q, Brad, and especially Daniel.  Thanks guys!    You provided sound advice and/or talked me off my OCD ledge.  I also have to thank Tony (ukswrath) for his awesome build threads - this was the foundation for most of what I did.  And thank you Mark at AP for this great kit.

 

This is an amazing community - I'm proud to be part of it!

 

TK-34575

 

Up next... TD.  Gonna get dirty.

[hollowbodies[501st]]

Congratulations man!!! 

[wook1138[TK]]

37 minutes ago, hollowbodies said:

Congratulations man!!! 

Thanks!!

[wook1138[TK]]

Oops, I did it again. Another BBB. It was actually a couple days ago but I’ve been too busy to open it.




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[CableGuy[TK]]

Uh oh!! Is this one going to be covered in dirt and dust? ;-)


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[wook1138[TK]]

Uh oh!! Is this one going to be covered in dirt and dust? ;-)


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And bantha poodoo.


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[TheSwede[TK]]

WOO! Happy second BBB-day

[Steaditrooper[TK]]

Sooooo jealous. 

[wook1138[TK]]

Woo hoo.  EIB approved!!  Still over at MEPD these days trying to figure out this dirt thing.  Did my detail pics for Centurion and I hope to have that posted in the next couple of days.  I'm still picking away at the electronics but I think I have things figured out.  I have my first chance to wear my armor in public on Wednesday - so I'm sure a number of changes will be on the to do list after that. 

[Scimitar[TK]]

Congrats!!! As if there was any doubt.

[wook1138[TK]]

Here goes nothing... Centurion application submitted. 

[TheSwede[TK]]

Well...another Centurion about to join the ranks 

[wook1138[TK]]

7 hours ago, TheSwede said:

Well...another Centurion about to join the ranks 

Here's hoping.    Thank you again Daniel for all your input!

[hollowbodies[501st]]

I might be a little late to the party, but grats on that EIB!!!

Edited February 28, 2018 by hollowbodies

[TheSwede[TK]]

10 hours ago, wook1138 said:

Here's hoping.    Thank you again Daniel for all your input!

You did all the work, just glad I could help

[wook1138[TK]]

Well, I finally wore my armor in public today.  I was a special guest at my son's kindergarten show-and-tell day.  It was a pretty quick visit and I'm pretty sure I spent more time getting changed/unchanged than I spent with the kids but it was a pretty cool experience nonetheless.  It was more of a test drive to see if I could pack and unpack my armor in my Husky 25 gal work cart.  Everything seemed to go pretty smoothly.  I lost track of how long it took to get kitted up, but I'm pretty sure it was less than 10 minutes.  The only glitch was my voice software was playing music from my iphone through the amp for some weird reason.  It was easy to fix, but that had never happened before and it created a moment of panic. 

 

The kindergarten teacher wanted me to meet the kids first out of costume and make it clear that when I got changed, that it was still me in there.  Even with the introduction, a couple of the kids got a bit scared, so my helmet came off fairly quickly.

 

One of the first things I said was that Darth Vader was my boss and he was a pretty good guy.  That got quite the response!  Let's just say that we agreed to disagree.  A lot of them have not seen the movies yet, but they all know the drill.

 

As part of the show and tell, my son had to take questions from the rest of the group.  Nearly all the questions were, "I like Star Wars", or "I've watched Star Wars".  Ok, not really questions but clearly the excitement was spilling out. 

 

Something I wasn't ready for - one of the kids in my son's class is non-verbal.  I had totally forgotten this at first.  There was apparently some concern about how this child would react.  She simply approached me and started touching my armor.  She seemed utterly fascinated with the whole thing.   I just let her do her thing - if she started to grab at something I just causally shifted away a bit and that seemed to be good.  She was smiling when she sat down so I guess everything worked out. 

 

The teacher seems pretty excited about the whole thing, but she could not get over the complexity of the armor and the time that went into making it - and why a grown man would do such a thing (ok, she didn't ask that, but I know the look )

 

So I have to thank my wife for being my handler.  She also shot the whole thing on video so I can see how TK-34575 actually looks when interacting with kids. I'll see it when I get home tonight after work - I'm actually nervous about it.

 

Anyway, seeing the look on their faces is something I'm going to remember for a long time.  Can't wait to do it again.

[Frank75139[501st]]

Well, I finally wore my armor in public today.  I was a special guest at my son's kindergarten show-and-tell day.  It was a pretty quick visit and I'm pretty sure I spent more time getting changed/unchanged than I spent with the kids but it was a pretty cool experience nonetheless.  It was more of a test drive to see if I could pack and unpack my armor in my Husky 25 gal work cart.  Everything seemed to go pretty smoothly.  I lost track of how long it took to get kitted up, but I'm pretty sure it was less than 10 minutes.  The only glitch was my voice software was playing music from my iphone through the amp for some weird reason.  It was easy to fix, but that had never happened before and it created a moment of panic. 
 
The kindergarten teacher wanted me to meet the kids first out of costume and make it clear that when I got changed, that it was still me in there.  Even with the introduction, a couple of the kids got a bit scared, so my helmet came off fairly quickly.
 
One of the first things I said was that Darth Vader was my boss and he was a pretty good guy.  That got quite the response!  Let's just say that we agreed to disagree.  A lot of them have not seen the movies yet, but they all know the drill.
 
As part of the show and tell, my son had to take questions from the rest of the group.  Nearly all the questions were, "I like Star Wars", or "I've watched Star Wars".  Ok, not really questions but clearly the excitement was spilling out. 
 
Something I wasn't ready for - one of the kids in my son's class is non-verbal.  I had totally forgotten this at first.  There was apparently some concern about how this child would react.  She simply approached me and started touching my armor.  She seemed utterly fascinated with the whole thing.   I just let her do her thing - if she started to grab at something I just causally shifted away a bit and that seemed to be good.  She was smiling when she sat down so I guess everything worked out. 
 
The teacher seems pretty excited about the whole thing, but she could not get over the complexity of the armor and the time that went into making it - and why a grown man would do such a thing (ok, she didn't ask that, but I know the look )
 
So I have to thank my wife for being my handler.  She also shot the whole thing on video so I can see how TK-34575 actually looks when interacting with kids. I'll see it when I get home tonight after work - I'm actually nervous about it.
 
Anyway, seeing the look on their faces is something I'm going to remember for a long time.  Can't wait to do it again.

Awesome story and probably the best first time in armor you can have. I’m curious when you review the video what your thoughts are. I haven’t trooped just worn mine around the house a bit (maybe enacting a few classic movie scenes). I helped with one troop and it was obvious when your out of your element in a new environment the helmet can be a pain.


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[magni[TK]]

Congratulations on your first troop!

Glad to hear all had fun. Get ready the fun is just starting and it's highly addictive. Some of my most favorite troops are with Hasbro Children's Hospital.

Way to go Trooper! And remember,

Have fun out there!

[wook1138[TK]]

6 hours ago, Frank1769 said:

 

 

Awesome story and probably the best first time in armor you can have. I’m curious when you review the video what your thoughts are. I haven’t trooped just worn mine around the house a bit (maybe enacting a few classic movie scenes). I helped with one troop and it was obvious when your out of your element in a new environment the helmet can be a pain.


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The video wasn't that bad.  I didn't move around a whole lot.  When I turned to look at something, I kept my feet planted and twisted my body - which looked really awkward in the armor.  I didn't fiddle with my helmet once - so that is good.  Since it was at a school, I obviously didn't have a gun so I resorted to the classic hands-on-the-belt pose for some of it.  I will have to take video of me moving around a bit more to get a better idea. 

[wook1138[TK]]

53 minutes ago, Bud Spaklur said:

Awesome, Greg. As an educator myself, I can only imagine how awesome it was for them to see a stormtrooper in person. I haven’t touched my gear in a week. I’m hopeful I’ll at least get to some this weekend. As you know, it’s hard to juggle kids, wife, work, and life with the armor. I can’t seem to find the energy most the time. Maybe because my kids don’t sleep for crap! But I digress....glad you’re armor was working well. I would’ve panicked about the music....I would’ve been like, “uh, kids, you didn’t know that stormtroopers love Tupac?!”


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Ha ha.  Yeah, apparently this trooper listens to Elvis Costello. Nothing like slaughtering jawas to "Pump it up".  Oh, and I did panic - my wife had to give me a yellow card for language.  Luckily I was out of ear-shot (and Elvis Costello-shot) of the kids at the time, so I didn't sully any of their pure and delicate minds.

 

I hear you about the kids not sleeping.  That just takes whatever fire is left in a guy and stomps it right out. The armor can get shuffled to the bottom of the priority list pretty quickly - totally understandable.  Here's hoping you get some time this weekend.

[TheSwede[TK]]

12 hours ago, wook1138 said:

The video wasn't that bad. 

Then post it already! 

[wook1138[TK]]

Just now, TheSwede said:

Then post it already! 

Ha ha.  Yeah, I'm going to go with the totally valid excuse that I can't show the faces of the kids in the classroom for various privacy reasons.  That... and I totally came across as a goof ball. 

 

Honestly though, if I could post it I would.  The reaction of the kids when I said Darth Vader was a pretty good guy and the Death Star only blew up "bad" planets was priceless.