Joe Versku Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 A marathon troop being in my kit from 10 to 5 with an hour break. A real test for my kit and batteries ! It was an awesome day as I met more members of my Garrison that I never before and Joe Public loved us for the whacky bunch we were being that day. This part of London is popular with the more well to do so it was fun seeing the usually busy bodied and uptight relax a little ! The kids loved it and pretty much all the adults with only a few exceptions who, having never seen A T21 before, kept a wide berth from me :-) Lifts ? Real men use the escalator ! Getting into the xmas spirit (It's Mid November and the frenzy shopping had already begun !) If you look to the right, you'll see the clay these 2 adorable kids were playing with before I snuck up on them. Clearly, future prop makers ;-) Circumcision... Star Wars style ! And here we have a future Leia. She actually tried to make the buns with her hair and in the process got her keys stuck inside one of the them ! Great girl Okay, I'm out of shot but, love the pic anyway ! In case you were wondering, yes, we did arrest a few people. This guy made fun of my "dirty look". We made him retract the comment ;-) Shortly after this, we let him lie there while we snuck away... We don't discriminate either :-D And here are some more Finally, and it was the end of a loooong day, I let someone handle my weapon... and yes, her colleagues did all snigger... Fun :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthChridan Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Cool pics dude.... ...looks like you had fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inglorious trooper Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 great times man,i can see you enjoyed it! good pics,thanks for sharing!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBoy Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Looking good:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smally Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Looks like a fun troop there Joe. Some hot hotties hotting it up too! How did your armour hold up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Versku Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Yeah, there were ! They kept saying how scary I looked then got really close for pix LOL ! Armour did really well considering I only had one 5min lid off moment before lunch! It was hot but never too hot. The fan worked a treat and my heat-armour balaclava made a huge difference too. No fogging issues even after being outside in the cold. I did rub some washing liquid on the lenses the night before. Since my previous troop (NSC) I've taken apart and put back together the arms to make them have narrower strips and made them a bit smaller. It looks better but I got slightly bitten a couple of times in my fore-arms if their not facing the right way. I've put wider elastics for the thighs and they hold up much better now. I've finally shimmed my left calf properly enough for it to close with ease and not make me worry they would prise open at prolonged walks - this happened at Leicester but Nick kindly gave me some white tape for that "screen-accurate" last minute fix look LOL ! I used Rom-FX in my last 2 troops but the 9v battery doesn't last long. So i decided to use the iComm this time with my Aker. Battery lasts forever and with the directional mic the Aker is supplied with, had no feedback issues even with the speaker in my chest. However, there did come a time when I seemed to have a bad connection but I've yet to find where that is or whether it's the iComm itself. Planning to test at home. I really like that I can use the Aker to power the iComm. As for my Rom, I've now got a new battery holder to boost it to 12v but need to see how long that lasts me. I think I might change my backpack strapping. It works fine and comfy enough for me but can't help feel I could make it a bit comfier. I still need to figure how to NOT have the blue bottle drop off at a troop though. This time it wasn't some kid pulling it but me knocking against a table in the dress room! I have to say, having the TD loop play out of my Sonix makes a huge difference when wondering around the place. I had it off in the morning and it just seemed too quiet. With it on, I felt a lot more in character and it helps get the punters to notice you're there when they're busy browsing for curtains or lingerie... I'm looking for a better way to attach my shoulder bells. They stay on fine and look great but a real pain to put on during initial suit up. Will just need to browse around here for ideas ;-) Lastly I have to say I love trooping with the BFG more than the E11. This BFG is deceptively light and the fact I can rest its butt on the floor is a boon. My E11 gets pretty heavy after awhile and it's not like I can holster it anywhere. Still, I generally bring both to events so I can swap and change. This is probably waaaaay more info than you needed to know Brad LOL Ah well, maybe someone will find it useful :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Versku Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 I just wanna add: We got asked countless times why I was all dirty and after hearing several people describe me as a Star Trooper, it was a huge pleasure to meet this one 9 year old called Lorenzo from Ecuador. He went up to the officer leading this troop (who ranked himself a Captain) and said, "Cool! A sandtrooper ! And he's got the orange pauldron which means he's a captain !" :-) !!! I wanted to adopt him right there. Then I met his mom who said he was at the store earlier in the morning and saw us. He made her come back again with him in the afternoon since they only live around the corner. She said the whole family are big SW fans. But only the original trilogy. She was hot. I wanted her to adopt me !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAND DEVIL Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Joe, That was awesome (last post). Had to read it to the family and everyone laughed. I think your details were great too. You brought up things I can change now to help in the future. Very insightful. Thank you. Looked great. I always get asked why I'm dirty too. It is great that Lorenzo got it. That is what it is all about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Versku Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smally Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Great review Joe. Some goods points about the armour too. The thing I sometimes found with the icomm is that once the sweat/ condensation gets amongst the mic and/or unit, it can sometimes stop working. I found that having foam over the mic and some sort of covering over the unit helps combat this - this is why John May supplies a latex balloon with the rom. Shoulder bells have always been a wonder for troopers. I know there are a few methods out that you could try, however, for me it's poppers from now on. I know some use a piece of elastic which connects onto each bell, this is then laid across the shoulders, behind the neck, and the back and chest is then put on over the top. However I found that the bells have a tendency to keep falling off the shoulders. I had to lol at he whole "why are you dirty" remark. I get tired of getting asked this as well as "ooh, look. This one's all rusty!" - I mean, come on! Lastly, but most importantly, did you get a pic of the hot mum? Great job "STAR TROOPER" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Versku Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Ah ! Penny drop moment ! Yes, that makes sense re: iComm cos it only happened when I'd been using it after sometime and there was a lot of condensation in the armour. Mic already has foam over it so I'll try the condom ....I mean, balloon over the iComm. On the shoulders, I actually did do the elastic-over-shoulder thing for this troop but when I put the armour on in the changing room, I wasn't pleased about the way it felt, kept wanting to move to the side so went back to attaching it to the bridge strap - which I needed the spotter to do for me. I had one person actually say the word "rusty" ! which in it's own way I took as a complement to my weathering skills LOL ! At least no one said: "Look, he's painted crap allover his armour with crayon !" As for Hot mum (of which there were many, I should say, but she was definitely THE one) - I am still scouring social media to see if anyone got that shot ! Over and Out, Star Trooper (should I change my profile name ? lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 You have a real nice looking sandtrooper Joe, looks swat a like bro. Very nice pics as well, of a good day and troop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick.black Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Awesome Joe. Really wish I was able to troop more often with you but we'll try and get all us MEPD guys together very soon. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Versku Posted November 19, 2012 Author Share Posted November 19, 2012 Hey thanks Rolf, all the major work was done by the previous owner of this TE2 so I shouldn't take much of that credit. I've just been tweaking, cutting, sanding, gluing, snapping and weathering it to suit my particular frame and taste. I have a ways to go before I would even dare enter the Hurt Locker ! LOL Perhaps these winter months will provide the perfect opportunity. We'll see. :-) Nick - it would be my absolute pleasure to troop with you again. And this time, I'll go sergeant ! We absolutely should get the UK MEPD gang together ! Perhaps ALL of them in one glorious troop ! Then we can give Luis about 6 months worth of Graphic work to jazz up our photos ! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolf Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Judge from the pics, your suit looks real nice i think. Maybe not much to be done to get it all swat up and loaded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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