Techne

Thanks man, I didn't realize there was such a team. I'll check it out.

Hi there folks. I've been a TK for several years now, but I also happen to be an art professor. I teach at Syracuse University. I am particularly interested in getting the professional art world and the academic world to pay more attention and respect to the world of costuming. My school is having a faculty exhibition this fall. What I would like to do with my space in the exhibition is show images of people who would consider themselves part of a marginalized group within society, and who in some way use their cosplay to make themselves more visible, or to combat standard social notions of their identity. If you feel like you're a part of a marginalized group--you can define it however you like, but certainly that includes people of color, immigrants, women, LGBTQ+ people, people who face religious discrimination, people who are neurodiverse and face mental or emotional challenges, people who are “disabled,” and people whose bodies don’t fit within supermodel norms--then send me a photo with: your name your character name the name of the photographer and an explanation of how the costume connects to your identity. The costumes can be Star Wars, or anything else. The 501st obviously works with a lot of people who are marginalized due to sickness, so I expect you might know people who costume with disabilities or health issues that might be interested. If so, pass this on to them. And my experience as a middle-aged dude whose body is turning on him as he ages is that a lot of us don't look like supermodels, but like to show off our costumes anyway. Anyone who just feels like they don't fit in, but costuming helps them feel normal, special, more visible, or more respected would be a great fit for this project. You can message me with your photo and info through this site, or email me at cwildric@syr.edu. There's a longer explanation of the project here: https://chriswildrick.com/portfolio/call-for-photos-of-cosplayers-battling-marginalization-through-their-cosplay/ Questions? Let me know! Thanks. If this call for participation in an exhibition isn't allowed here, my apologies.

Congrats Tom! It looks just as great in pictures as it does in person. Glad to have another Centurion in Syracuse! Looking forward to many troops woith you in the future.--Chris

I coincidentally dropped in to research this myself. My belt was rubbing up against some stained leather (non-TK-related) and got red stain all over it. Based on another thread, I used some Borax (the powder detergent I happened to have on hand), mixed it with some water, and made it into a paste. Then I rubbed the paste on the stained parts of the belt with a toothbrush. It worked pretty well. I can still see some of the stain, but it's very faint, and basically falls under the category of "acceptable wear and tear" for me.

Always amazing to see what the FISD is up to, and how awesome to have some members in Force Awakens!

That's a fantastic video. And I was so excited when I saw the troopers at the Egg Roll.

I haven't been around these forums much lately so I'm sad to see that when I just happened to drop by, that I saw this. Steve, you did a great job on the EIB and Centurion approvals. Great attitute, great knowledge.

I remember when I made my Doopy's blaster and thought I had some awesome mods...this kind of thing is in a whole other universe of awesome. I'm so impressed with all the scratch builds I see. Even if they don't work out perfectly, or aren't exactly canon this way or that way (I"m not commenting on yours, just the general genre), they're a real testament to creativity and skill.

Looking good! Go ATA!

I am always amazed at what kind of creativity and effort people put into their work on here. These scratch builds are so ambitious and challenging, I think it is great when people take it on.

Yeah, slow and steady gets it there. This is a great start on am ambitious build, we all have plenty of screw ups along the way.

I measured my screws, they look like their heads are about 3/16" across. I'm not sure if I got that measurement from somewhere, and matched it, or if I just eyeballed it based on pictures.

Nice! That would be a major pain cutting all that tiny plexi.

Yeah, I can see the channel is a little wonky. One thing I did was practice cutting on a bunch of scrap first. After a while you get a feel for how the dremel shaves the plastic. You might still be able to just shave down the sides of the channel a bit to straighten it out. Or maybe build the edges up with bondo to fill the edges in. Or I suppose if you really don't like it you could just do it again. One nice thing about starting off with a PVC pipe is that it's cheap and readily available if you make a mistake...it's not like screwing up your facemask or something, where you're out $50 bucks and have to hope you can get another copy from the armorer!

This will be great to see! I think the title makes sense if it means "attempting to build a scratch build as cheaply as possible"--it may not be the cheapest build out of all the options, but maybe cheap for a scratch! Doing it like this is a cool idea and I'm looking forward to seeing how you deal with all the parts. When it comes to the holes, sanding can really achieve wonders. And there's always Bondo to fix 'em if they're in the wrong place or something. Looks like you already got that dealt with by the most recent pics anyway.