cjfive

love the tk and TB dancing there towards the end. Ive trooper with Weird Al twice now, hope to do another this fall. They are always a blast and I think he gets almost as much of a kick out of it as we do.

I like it. I did my own death trooper for Joe's book signing in Indy. Mine wasn't quiete as extensive as yours though. Love the look with the mask under the helmet. Ernie

The Alice frame isn't accurate. It wasn't manufactured until after the movies had already come out. I did however use it for the base of my pack. Honestly you would be better off useing the boyscout frame or makeing your own out of pvc pipe. The Alice frame is also much heavier then the boy scout frame.

what can I say Chris. Your "radio box" is a joke. Need to step up and get one of nathan's then MAYBE you will be fit to troop with again. (you know I love ya man, and while I may be the best dressed you will always outlast me as the ironman TD)

I ordered one of these "beauties" and I have to say I was extremly suprised. I expected perfection...and my expectations were far exceeded. It is a true work of art. Soon as I find the boxes I like I will get my pack built up with this. Adding a greed LED to the dial, and have got the correct slider switches to install. Can't wait to be the best dressed TD in the Garrison. Ernie

Also in a couple of different Comic books. And yes Comic books are a legitimate source for costume refrences. Most of the other detachments have characters/costumes that are right out of the comic/graphic novels.(Spec Ops, Jolly Rogers, Flagship Eclipse, CT.net, bounty hunter detachment, just to name a few)

As was discussed in the HWT thread in the barrackss, don't get hung on the TD label. HWT is not a Sandtrooper but it is a TD. Unless Thomas changes it, which I don't see, it will remain as a TD label simply because it is so similiar to the TD. I never really understood why FISD took it over. It has more to do with sandtrooper than anything. A garrison mate of mine has one and when he applied for his ID they made a big deal over him needing the Sandtrooper sniper plate and ab plate. He had both the TK ab and knee plate and the Sandtrooper knee plate so it wasn't a big deal but when presented to the GML and the LMO it was specifically stated that he needed the sandtrooper parts. I always felt MEPD should step up and take ownership of all the "Sandtrooper varients" and I include the SE version, the HWT and the traditional sandtrooper in that. Why duplicate all the efforts on the toutorials etc. on the packs, the pouches, pauldrons, etc. just my 2 imperial credits.

Kev, While the HWT is "run " by the tx det if I remember correctly it is given a TD designation. When this orriginally was introduced the MEPD as a whole wanted nothing to do with them. Spec Ops steped up and as usual adopted the unwanted orphan, but Thomas said it would be listed under TD due to the similarities to the rest of the TDs so as not to confuse people. Ernie

Me at work with my Real Kit Me at myother hobby

Saw him on the History channel last night. Shooting a ballista for a Modern marvels show on ballistics. He popped on the screen and I went, Hey I know that guy! As far as age...I am a young un...only 33

Of course no foam on the pack...scuffs add character. In all honesty my pack does have some padding. The first time I wore it it had one sharp edge that sat right over my right kidney. End of a three hour troop I had a section of armor about 3 inches by 3 inches that looked like it had got in a knife fight.

Okay ignor the gentleman behind the straps...he was not having a good hair day or any other kinda day... This is for my bicep/shoulder and thigh rig. What I used was a backbrace(modified). The strap accross the upper chest is simply two strips of 1 inch nylon(not stretchy) and a set of plastic parachute clips.(can use whatever clips you have available) Sow the nylon to the straps and you will have to sow one end of the nylon going through the one of the clips closed. Thats it. My original plan was to mount everything hanging off the back brace. This includes my Biceps, my shoulder bell(I only wear one cause the other is covered up by the pauldron), thighs, and eventually the pack. Not sure on doing the pack that way anymore.

Diana, One thing you might also want to consider is adding a chest strap to keep it form feeling like it is pulling your shoulders apart.

Okay after further rethinking, I have checked the instructions(what are instructions) from TCI's website and found I can attach the speakers directly to the tci, no amplifier needed. So the new set up is a little smaller. To combat the feedback I sprayed the area behind the aerators with an expanding foam that appears to help with the feedback. I have the TCI cranked all the way up, its not a load speaker but it is audible. TCI board and TCI enclosure: the board is small, but the enclosure isn't that big. I ended up cutting the battery cabinet off so that it would fit the way I want. The red and black wires on the left lead to the 9v connection.

It really wouldn't be that bad except for the enclosures...and yes I have a kitchen sink in there...its behind the left ear, the microwave is behind the right ear...Still working on the feedback problem. THat and my TCI is being tempermental. Ernie

The advertised Pics Showing overall view of voice system. Speakers are Stomper's mic tips My wonderful wireing and the mic battery box The TCI temperarily placed. checking fit and waiting till I find some dampening material

Working on my RT helmet tonight...Haveing the same problem of trying to find space. I have my amplifier, TCI static burst, and mic in right now. Used the white radio shack amplifier and a radio shack powered Mic. I am slightly concerned about mounting the TCi or the amplifier without a case to protect them and my noggin from contact/moisture. I pulled the heavy speaker out of the amp and mounted the white case and everything in between the areators.(need to get some sort of dampining material to combat feedback), the TCI box is going to mount in the left cheeck area. Mic will be mounted on the amplifier box right in front of my mouth. It is tight but everything fits, even my noggin. Still need to figure out how I want to mount my fans, and what padding I am going to use on the helmet. It actually sits directly on the top of my head. I will take pics and upload tonight. Ernie

The end goal is to have my shoulders(I only use 1 shoulder bell the other one would be hidden by my pauldron anyway), biceps, thighs, and eventually hopefully my backpack all hanging off of one piece. The goal is to attach clips on the front of the shoulder straps of the brace that I will click the straps comeing off the top of the pack too. I will then let the bottom of the pack hang freely in place. Haven't started that part yet because I am waiting for my new frame and hopefully my new boxes and parts to come in.

Okay so I got a new helmet...figured it was time to do some more work on my TD:D Went out and got a backbrace from Lowes to use as the base. The one I got had really crappy plastic clips to hold it in place. Cut those off and sewed the straps directly to the ab piece of the brace. I also attached a clasp in the chest area to help prevent the shoulder pieces from sliding offmy shoulders. After that I removed the plastic shoulder pieces off my chest and back piece as they are not cannon for a TD. They will be replaced with these two pieces of canvas. I then attached the straps I was already useing for the Bicep, shoulder bell, and thighs to the straps on the brace. And yes I know the sweats are not the correct color:D

My current pack, while not quite correct is made with cat litter boxes from Wally World. Mine would be close if I had stacked them two deep like the movies...Mine is just one box. I am in the process of redoing my pack, just ordered my Boy scout pack frame, and am trying to decide if I can afford to go the MEPD back pack route or not. Hopeing to, but money is a bit tight.

I know at one point there was talk about assembling the SE TDs CRL. Unfortunatly the voval majority at MEPD seem to be against anything that is not seen in the original ANH movie. My attitude has always been, make what you want to make. If your only goal is to get a 501st ID and MEPD deployed then do what the "Officials" tell you. If you do this because you want to dress up and make a difference in peoples lives then do what you want. Remember it is YOUR armor and the only person you have to please is yourself. CJ

Has anyone heard from him lately? I Emailed and PMed about a week ago and haven't heard anything back from him either. Ah well, my head awaits perfection.

I appear to have lost 501st access again.(mutter third time mutter) Thank you, TD9984 Ernie

Hey I thinkI found those 15 pounds...you can have them back if you like...please

In all honesty I have seen a lot worse Diana, The first thing that jumped out at me wasn't that you where being swalllowed by the armor, it was that someone was playing horseshoes with a pauldron and causght you. One thing you might want to do as well is add some padding to the arms. You can also trim the top of the ab and back piece down some, that will help a little with the chest/back, but I realy do think you will need to replace that. Also you can cut the ab/back under the belt, and with a little artistic license you can trim that down as well. The only thing you would need to replace would be the back/chest unless you can somehow trim that down a bit. For the boots...what size do you wear? worst case you might want to wear the elvis boots for now. They aren't cannon and are too pointy but I think they look better then what you have now.