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HappyTrooperDotCom

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Posts posted by HappyTrooperDotCom

  1. Troop 51: June 19th, 2019 - got to go to DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) in Ballston, VA to ask them to help us design a better Death Star.  DARPA held their annual family day.  R2 and I got to see a few of the amazing projects that DARPA is working on.  Incredible stuff here.  As you can imagine...security was pretty tight.

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    Troop 52: September 29th, 2019 - The Rebel Legion and 501st Legion joined forces to support the Histio-Ty Fighters 5K race. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and raise awareness for Histiocytosis.

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    Troop 53: October 6th, 2019: The Empire took a walk with Apraxia Kids at Lake Anne Village Center in Reston, VA to help raise awareness for Apraxia. We had a great crowd & beautiful weather.

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    Troop 54: October 18th, 2019 - The Empire teamed up with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Reston, VA to celebrate those who have fought, and currently battling cancer. Another beautiful night to be outside with some awesome people.

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    Troop 55: October 19th, 2019 - The Empire got to meet and walk with some awesome kids from the Cure Spinal Muscular Atrophy VA chapter. Just the day before, we had a gloomy day of heavy rain. The skies cleared, and a beautiful fall day presented itself to all of the participants.

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    Troop 56: October 20th, 2019: Rain couldn’t stop CureSearch Northern Virginia from holding their annual walk & fundraiser. The festivities were moved inside of Tyson’s Corner Center. We celebrated the children who have battled and are currently battling cancer. Local WASH-FM DJ: Chilli Amar was onsite to MC the event.

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    • Like 1
  2. On 7/7/2019 at 5:02 AM, RebelHunter said:

    are all the configuartion pictures available somewhere? the link just shows the cantina version .. also the black and orange pauldron

    Hello Sebastian,

    Pandatrooper's breakdown library is still available.  If you go to our home page: http://www.mepd.net/ please click on Costume Reference Library (CRL) and then scroll all the way down to the bottom in the SWAT section, you will see the various links for all of the various pauldron sandtroopers.  Here is the direct link to that page: http://www.mepd.net/?page_id=867

    Because this is such invaluable information, I will put this in the drop down menu shortly, so that it can be found a little easier.

  3. Finishing up 50 troops here!

    Troop 47: on May 26th, 2019, our local periodical: Northern Virginia magazine, put in an official 501st request to interview and photograph a member from Garrison Tyranus.  Our CO didn't have time to meet them, so I got the call as acting squad leader in this region.  I conducted an intervew with the editor of the magazine, and also came into their office for a photoshoot.  It was a long shoot, at almost 3 hours, but the photographer really knew his stuff.  He had fog machines, various colored lights, and took some great pics.  Here is the link to the article:

    https://www.northernvirginiamag.com/culture/culture-features/2019/04/26/inside-the-world-of-damon-degner-northern-virginias-local-stormtrooper/

    and a few shots:

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    Troop 48: On the morning of May 4th 2019, I attended a local "May the Fourth Be With You" event at our local community center.  The county had put together a bunch of Star Wars related activities for kids, such as: crafts, Star Wars foosball, Star Wars obstacle course, Star Wars rock climbing, and to rest, a screening of ESB.
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    Troop 49: I attended a 2nd local event on May 4th 2019.  This was a comic con hosted at a middle school.  It was a great turnout, and John Morton, the actor who played Luke's gunner "Dak" in ESB, was there too.  AND hot off of the Northern Virginia Magazine interview, the "Voice of America" attended this event, and did a story on the 501st and May 4th, broadcast in Russian.  VoA is a US Government news agency that broadcasts news in over 40 languages.  Here's the link: 

    https://www.voanews.com/a/spreading-the-magic-of-star-wars-worldwide-through-costumes/4913994.html?fbclid=IwAR3mU0-xdiM1e7UgmFmFQp0Vxc9Ji-De2ujnlEOLGzbSfwRSfWb2Ud4zzAQ


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    TADA...Troop 50 as a Sandtrooper. On May 10th, 2019: I attended a local PTA fundraiser basketball game, that benefitted 2 of our area middle schools.  It was an incredible turnout.  The kids were well behaved, and it was a great way to start a Friday evening.
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    While I do have a few other 501st costumes, the Sandtrooper was my first, and it is my most heavily trooped in.  It took me 3 years to hit the 50 mark.

  4. Troop 46: On Saturday, April 27th, 2019, R2 and I supported the "Arlington Bunny Hop 5K" race that benefited "Bridges to Independence" - a charity that helps lead individuals and families out of homelessness.  Over $10K was raised by the runners in this event.  It was a beautiful morning in Virginia, and the crowd was wonderful.  We hope to attend next year too.

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  5. 2 more missions chalked up:

    Troop 44: March 30th, 2019: I attended a local elementary school's fundraiser carnival.  It was a beautiful day to be patrolling outside, and a wonderful turnout.  Lots of Star Wars fans here, and the kids were very well behaved.  The local fire and rescue gave me a tour of their state-of-the art ambulance.

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    Troop 45: April 7th, 2019: April 7th, 2019: The Empire was out in full force during Casey’s Automotive Car Show & Spring Fest. There were some magnificent cars on display, including a DeLorean WITH a flux capacitor! Over $7300 was raised by Ellie’s Hats, a local charity that assists children who are battling cancer. 

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    I brought R2 to the event and he found a car that he fell in love with:
    16AFEFFC-AC41-47A3-BDC4-D4E88353B2E3-1.j

    • Upvote 1
  6. Troop 43: February 22nd, 2019: Pack 910 of Chantilly, VA had a Star Wars themed Blue & Gold banquet.  R2 and I were invited to attend.  These young men were very well behaved, and the Scout Masters were wonderful to work with.  They did an outstanding job with organizing the event, and also with their creative decorating...specifically a death star hall entrance made out of paper.  This was a terrific event :)

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    • Like 3
  7. Hey Troopers,

    We are working on tightening up our forum email security.  A few days ago, one of our brothers received a peculiar message, supposedly from the MEPD forums, only it wasn't.  It was a spoofed message.  No damage was done and we can confirm that it wasn't from the forums.  We are working with the 501st web hosting team to ensure that all of our records are in place for secure email.

    In the event that you receive a strange message from forum@mepd.net, please do not click on any of the links.  If you are concerned, or think its serious, please notify me via forum message and we can work together.  Again, we'll get this straightened out shortly.

    Thank you for your service, and your patience.

  8. Troop 41: R2 and I were invited to a very special young man's 5th birthday party.  This little guy has autoimmune encephalitis...he has his days, but he's kicking it in the rear.  He wanted a Star Wars (bad guy!) character to come to his party...R2 and I jumped at the opportunity.  This kid was awesome.  I had R2 covered up under a blanket in his family room (obviously hard to hide him).  I made an entrance up his stairway in my Sandtrooper armor, he ran over to me, no fear, took me by the hand, and said "I found the droid you are looking for!".  Melted my heart.  He's 5, but he knows his Star Wars.  You should have heard him do Jabba and Salacious Crumb impressions.  He can also do a good Yoda.  Awesome troop.   I brought over a Jawa costume, he was definitely ready to sell some droids.

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    • Like 2
  9. Got a few more...trying to get to that 50 mark!

    Troop 38: On September 28th, 2018, R2 and I attended a fundraiser for a local science museum.  We rubbed elbows with some of the patrons, and got to meet Dr Who.

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    Troop 39: On October 6th, R2 and I attended the 14th annual Walk for Autism in Northern VA.  This was the 3rd year in a row that I attended as a Sandtrooper.  Always a terrific event.  We had support from some other costumers as well.

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    • Like 1
  10. Need to catch up on a few events.

    Troop 34: On May 12th, 2018 I marched in a local parade by myself escorting a float.  Was a great workout walking 1.5 miles in armor with a pack!
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    Troop 35-36: On July 19th and August 9th, 2018, I donned my armor and took my R2 unit to a kids robotics camp.
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    Troop 37: On September 15th, 2018, I tried to help sell baked goods, with the proceeds benefiting the Childhood Cancer Foundation.  These young ladies were much better at selling than I was.  Was great to spend the day with other Star Wars fans :)
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  11. Good Afternoon Troops,

    Our server administrator will be performing some maintenance on our host.  He will be adding more resources to the virtual machine, which will hopefully help with performance.  A reboot is required, and will happen around 7PM ET this evening.  Please be advised that the forums will not be available at that time.  Thank you for your patience!

    On a side note, we are aware that email notifications are not working.  Our server admin will be addressing that as well.

    Stay sandy my friends!

  12. The things we do for screen accuracy...I had to paint that pauldron white.

    This trooper's head was a lot more difficult to remove from the body than my other troopers.  If you do try to paint the pauldron, use caution when removing this little guy's head.  

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    Its so GRAY
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    Used some masking tape and HandiTak to mask the pauldron:
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    Used a few light coats of flat white primer:

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    Cleaned up the edges with a toothpick:

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    Used some Tamiya Weathering Master pastels that I use for plastic aircraft modeling, I also weathered the orange pauldron, it was too clean.
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    Now everyone is happy!
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    • Like 1
    • Upvote 1
  13. I picked mine up on Amazon a few days ago: https://amzn.to/2juXq5a

    This is a great piece.  The dewback is very detailed...and heavy.  Articulated too.  I'm very happy with it.  

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    I was never able to get the orange pauldron trooper, so I bought 2 black pauldron troopers and airbrushed one of them.  I plan on doing the same with the gray pauldron...making it white and then weathering it a bit.

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    I used some masking tape and handi-tak to mask the pauldron:
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    I "primed" it with flat black spray, and then hit it with orange acrylic through an airbrush.  There's no way the acrylic would bite into that smooth plastic, flat enamel/primer was a must.

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    • Upvote 1
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