iconoclasta_88

Hey! THX you all for word words! Specially THX to Tony for making such amazing helmet, Mike A for putting it together, for the super amazing TD decals and for the tutorial over the FISD, and everyone over here for the info, shared tips and ideas... I used Mike's Move Along decals for the tube stripes and grey vents (they are just perfect)... and hand painted according to the Move Along Helmet the frown and ear caps, with testors 1138; and the vocoder with testors sating black. I was not planing to go all the way and make the paint drops and scratches and all, but since my paint job was not that good, I ended up with a drop on the right side. I will just let it there and thats it. I already have Stompers hovi's and screen accurate green acetate for the lenses... I just need to decide how am I going to instal it... and then: DIRT! Here is a picture from the inside. I painted it black cause I think it makes it more real gearwise although I know it makes it less real propwise... But im planning to protect the signatures with some kind of clear spray or something... still thinking about that. And I will put some padding, an amp connected to the hovis and maybe an empires logo sticker or something... Still far from finished. Saludos!

I've been working in my helmet for a while now. I wanted to make it a Move Along but since I want it to use it for trooping, I looked for it being comfortable too. So I was not able to make it 100% screen accurate. Specially on the inside. I have not finished it yet, Im missing the lenses and the hovi's, but I will add them soon. Also need some work on the inside adding some padding and some electronics but, wanted to know what you thought so far... What do you think? Saludos

Hey there bro... This is a very good topic. IMO this is one of the mayor differences between 501st troopers and the rest of the costumed people in cons and all... Being cool, polite, friendly and keeping in character makes fans have a real SW experience when meeting the 501st. So here are a few ideas and stuff I do: -Pretend to be one character and try to impersonate it all the time. -Go around asking people for two droids (maybe aske them for a gold one and a short blue one), they will understand the reference. -Ask ppl to "let me see your identifications" and "how long have you had this droids" pointing to kids, trash cans, toys, etc. -"Search" ppl for rebel related stuff and pretend to put them under arrest or something -If possible, walk around/patrol with fellow TDs and in some kind of organized drill... one could be the leader and the others can follow. -Interact with ppl willing to interact, do not force ppl if they dont want to play along. -Never take out your helmet if kids are looking at you, playing with you, or asking for pictures. You can rest in some place away from main halls and corridors. And watch your language when off character but in armor. -Expect ppl to ask for pictures all the time. If you are tired, tell the politely that you need to rest, but will be back soon or to catch some other troopers. -Troop with an aide or spotter, this will help you get around in busy areas and will prevent kids and teenagers to pick on you. -Watch out for small kids when they approach to you, cause you might loose sight of them if too close. -Never lend ppl your gear, BFG, helmet and stuff unless you can afford them breaking it by accident, also, if you lend your gun once for a picture for example, expect other ppl to ask for it too. -Be polite and friendly. -Remmeber you are part of a fan club with responsabilities and an image to keep. So, understand and remember answers for stuff like: Where did you buy your armor? (remember we dont sell them as a group), What is the 501st? and How can I joing you? -Sometimes kids will ask for autographs, I just sign my TD number and some Empire related quote and 501st legion. -Also, parents will sometimes ask you to tell kids to do their homework, eat vegetables and similar stuff... just play along, parents and kids will appreciate it. -When taking pictures, ppl lots of times say stuff like "smile" or "say cheese", to what you can answer stuff like "Im smiling" or "Imperial Cheese"... and you can also tell them: "please take another one, I had my eyes closed", just have fun. -Expect ppl to see you as part of the show, the con, or security. Ppl will tend to go to TKs and TDs if in trouble. e.g.: when a kid gets lost. And most important of all: Have fun and enjoy being a sandtrooper and part of the 501st Legion... Trooping for the first time is just awesome!!! And it keeps getting better!! Hope it helps! Have fun!!

I finally finish the sifon-burger-pipe thing... Here it is next to my sifon from crashman's kit. What do you think? Its not identical but I think its fine. Saludos

To me, the Move Along TD is all what a TD must be. So I would go Move Along. That's what I will be attempting with my TE2 bucket anyway. Hope I m able to do it the right way... Saludos

Great! I am just now finally starting to work in my TE2 bucket (assembled by you) and I will attempt a Move Along, so this will come very handy. Thx! Saludos

Im going through a similar moment myself with my TE2 bucket... What I think is important to take in consideration would be: a) Do you want a TK or a TD Assuming you would choose a TD, then the next question is, do you want a 100% screen accurate prop, or just a super cool bucket for your standards. I am trying to make a Move Along/troopable bucket. So for me, I guess i will go something like this: 1. light sanding 2. white primer 3. regular glossy white paint (no extra glossy or car paint stuff) 4. weathering This cause although I would love to have the extra glossy white look and then weather it, it would not match my 3 years old FX armor. Thats my opinion anyway. good luck and keep us posted on your decision and progress.

EDIT------ NOTICE---- The following info although is right for the color and brands, might not the most accurate reference. This should be used as a guide for non Humbrol paints and color. Since this post was written and pinned, there has been an agreement that the accurate color and brand to use for blue parts is the HUMBROL 47. If you can't find it, or wish to go other way, this is a very good guide for what color is acceptable... I am removing Sky blue from the list, since it is not accepted anymore. Different shades of blueish and grayish tones can be expected from the brands listed here, but all of them could be accepted for the CRL standards. The main reason of this post was to give the Pantone colors and unify it around the world, even if the listed brand or color is not available locally. EDIT ENDS--------- Reading several different threads and online sources I have collected these as the colors of choice for the blue parts on the backpack (from most recommended to least) 1. Rustoleum Country Blue 2. Rustoleun Satin Slate 3. Rustoleum-American Accent Irish Blue But taking in consideration that Rustoleum is a brand not easily found in Mexico (and maybe in other countries), I thought it would be good to have a Pantone number for the color needed so that anyone in any country could actually just go to any paint store and have it done... So, my guesses are: Pantone 290C Pantone 291C Pantone 283C Pantone 277C (This is from Pantone solid to process guide) Since I have never been able to find the Country blue or the Satin Slate, Im just guessing here. Does anyone know the actual number of Pantone that should be used to paint the blue parts? Thanks for any info on this... Saludos PS: To know what pantone is just check it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantone

Yes, I will have to cut a couple of inches from the top of the pipe. And I know I shouldn't had paint it yet, but oh well... just wanted to see how it looked in black. Still working on this part, slowly. Thanks for the comments. The process: is in this thread. HEHE. Ill check it again to see if I missed something. Saludos...

Over here in the detachment there are some ppl making really good kits for backpacks... just check out the for sale or the project order sections. I got mine from Crashman and it is just great. Other than that, I made my first attempt on a hamburger stacker from scratch... It can be done with a 100mm pvc tube, some other pvc pipes, some rubber bands or similar and other stuff easily found at the home depot or lowes... Check other threads on ppl making their own form scratch backpacks or just get a kit. Either way hope it goes great. http://forum.mepd.net/index.php?showtopic=...amp;#entry59934 Good luck! Saludos...

Here is another picture, this time I painted black this part. Still working on the other tube and the twinki. But Im happy with the result so far... Saludos

Hey there Bro... It looks that you are half way there... A few things I would do: Get rid off the holster, ribbed shoulder straps and imperial logo on pauldron. Get more accurate boots. Get an ANH helmet. Get a BFG. Maybe try to age your pouches, so they dont appear so stiff. The backpack does not appear much but I guess you already figured out how to improve it. Other than that I see you've got already the sniper plate and ab plate. The weathering looks cool to me. Im more a less is more guy but yours looks cool specially with the higher pieces getting less weathering effect. looking good so far... Hope it helps... Saludos

THX a lot Bro!

I agree with that being a knee pad from a catcher shin protector... Some guys over Mexican Garrison have tried to replicate those kind of accesories and here is the result. One guy got the shoulder catcher knee pad thing and it looks just the same... We didnt get tghe sword/knife thing, cause it just sounds weird to have one when youve got BFG! Weird that I just posted two very similar entries in two different threads over here... Saludos...

This are my accesories inspired by the shortfilm I.M.P.S. I think those guys are from one of the califronia garrisons, but a year or so ago I tried to reach them with no luck. Anyway, here is what I have... and these are me and my buddies... Saludos...

Thanks for the cool words Lordvader74, Im happy to be of any help. Your pouches came out great. I think the wood blocks will give a big extra to the pouches. I will do something similar myself. Are you planning to mod your 3+1 pocket pouch to make it more screen accurate? I mean, cutting off the big leather loop for the belt? Saludos

I had the same problem with some parts of my armor... mine is HIPS (I think) not ABS, so I dont know what materials will or wont bond to ABS. What I wanted to warn you is about using hot glue or any other hot or corrosive substance. If the armor is too thin and you apply hot glue or corrosive substances like ABS cement, it could just melt down completely. It happened to me with my helmet. Just be careful. What I did, after melting a spot on my bucket, was just using more HIPS from the belt straps, heat it with a hair drier and then fit it on the parts I wanted to reinforeced... apply some glue and job done... Hope it helps... Saludos

Just to ad a bit more realism (if that makes any sense knowing that the movie is 100% fiction), I would suggest that you just use any color that you like, but try to portrait as much as possible one specific TD or rank each time. I mean, matching the weapon to the pouches to the pauldron. Anyway, most people wont be able to tell the difference, but its an encouraged practice in the detachment to be as screen accurate as possible. And its the difference bewtween any regular TD in the Legion and a MEPD deployed TD. Most important of all... have fun being a TD! Just my opinion. Saludos...

Thanks for all your comments... It is really encouraging! Hope to work a bit more on it and will soon post some more pictures... Yep bro, it is part of the ball-float. But it is not for a regula home cistern or wc, but for a bigger cistern. In mexico this size is number 7 (going from 1 to 9 I think). I found it at the Home Depot for around 2 USD. It is around 12 cm in diameter or so. Anyway here is a picture... SALUDOS...

Well... since I tried to copy this specific TD from the movie: And this is me (with my huge bubblehead FX helmet): I would say that I am in the year 0. I was escorting Vader while he was trying to retrieve the death star plans from princes Leia, and then deployed to tatooine... I was just a child when Palaptine became emperor and therefore all I know is the Empire and serving Vader in person was all I wanted when joining the empire. (Dont know much about EU anyway) That is pretty much where Im stuck. In most troops I just keep pretending to be looking for two droids. Search people and make a big deal of any R2 or 3PO image or toy I find. Saludos...

I was not able to work much on this project during the weekend, but anyway I did have some progress. I modified the mushroom cap using a hair dryer to heat it and bend it. And using super strong rubber bands and hot glue I simulated the different layers of the hamburger stacker... And I also trimmed a bit the main stacker body to make it shorter and more similar to the original one. What do you think? Saludos...

I know what you mean and it looks like you are right. Since I dont have a hamburger stacker, I tried and get the measurements from pictures and all... So, so far my guess is something like this... 4.8in X 3.4in (I guess) So, taking in consideration that the widest pvc pipe that I could find was 100mm (3.9in) I guess I will make it 70mm (2.8in). Here is where I took the proportion of the stacker from. Of course, If any of you guys could actually measure up your real stackers and post the measurements it will help me a lot. Thanks a lot... Saludos.

Looks awesome! Congratulations... I specially like the weathering. Welcome! Saludos

Looking good! Just add that cistern siphon and you are done I think! Congrats! Saludos

I noticed that the frown is not yet painted gray. I would suggest you to try and piant it before more weathering comes, so it is weathered in a similar fashion than the rest of the helmet. Just a thought anyway. Cause as has already been stated, weathering is a personal thing. Colors and texture looking good anyway... Saludos