Greetings! Introduction, questions, and comments!

[maxsteele]

Hello to all Cloud City Garrison and Kashyyyk Base members!  I am very excited to be making this post!

For years I have seen various groups of the 501st in different cites.  The most recent was seeing several members of Cloud City Garrison at the Oregon Zoo for the Weird Al concert.  Every time I see them, I have wanted to be a part of it.  Today, I have decided that I wish to pursue a membership in the 501st as a TK Trooper.

I have been looking at the requirements for getting approved as a 501st member, read several posts detailing the types and styles of armor to get, and I have several questions and comments.  I would like to thank everyone in advance for their time and answers!

The first point I would like to get out of the way:   I have the craft skills of a toddler.  I am ok with this.  I have accepted the fact that I know about computers and networking, and my skills lie in the assembling, operation, and troubleshooting of computers and computer network systems.  When it comes to projects like remodeling a bathroom, changing a sink, or laying laminate flooring, I employ the assistance of those who know how to do it correctly.

I bring this up because for me, joining the 501st is not about the construction of my Stormtrooper costume.  I want to wear the armor, have it be movie canon-quality, and act the part of a Stormtrooper to the best of my ability.  I have been in several plays, and I was very active in many California Renaissance Faires as a street hawker and booth attendant.  I enjoy acting, and I enjoy entertaining others.  I want to combine my love for Star Wars with those talents, and becoming a Stormtrooper with Cloud City would fulfill that.

I want to make sure that becoming a member of Cloud City without the desire to create my costume from scratch is a possibility.  I have the funds to purchase 501st-approved pieces, and I am willing to sit down with an expert (or experts) in the art of cutting and shaping those pieces to become a functioning costume.  I would like to know if this type of ambition is accepted in Cloud City.

Second, I have been looking at the different styles and types of armor that are available.  I believe I am interested in going with ABS over HIPS, for the durability.  I have seen the suggestions from whitearmor.net on several vendors to go with, but I would like to hear the opinions of those in Cloud City Garrison who know from experience.  Who should I go with to get armor pieces (and a head piece) for a 501st-approved costume?  Is there a specific online vendor, or is there anyone in the local area that could create pieces for me?

Third, which comes back to my total lack of craftsmanship, I would like to know if there would be someone (or several someones) that would be able to be over my shoulder at every step of the modification process once I had the armor pieces in my possession.  I would like to make sure I get the correct fit, size, and modification, and I leave myself in the capable hands of others who know what they're doing.

Fourth, I have noticed that there are several different types of TK armor styles, and I"m not really sure which one I would want to get, or even the differences between them.  Specifically, I'm referring to:

ANH Hero
ANH Stunt
ESB
ROTJ
(I know what ANH, ESB, and ROTJ stand for at least.   )

I would love to hear from others what the differences between these costumes are, and why I may choose one over the other.

Thank you again for your time reading this and your answers, and I hope to be trooping with all of you soon!

[Leia8674]

Welcome maxsteele!  you have come to the right place!  I love it more and more...each troop is fun and often heart warming!  Although ?I do not own armour you definitely will be able to get suited up(even without much craftiness)  my guess you will be hearing soon from the mainTKs fo CCG to get you headed in the right direction


Look forward to meeting you & having you as part of our crew!

Cheers,
Macy
aka Princess Leia

[RainTrooper]

Hello Maxsteele!  I’m a relative newbie myself here at CCG.  I’ve finished my helmet and just received my armor kit from ATA Works. I wouldn’t consider myself a ‘craftsman' either, but not many troopers do before their first build.  It’s a learning experience that’s half the fun of the hobby! You’ve already been to the FISD.. Good start! Keep reading and researching!  There are several options with TK armor.  There is ATA (Affordable Trooper Armor) out of Michigan who offer a lower cost untrimmed kit that is highly accurate but you’ll have a lot of work ahead of you. If you have the money to throw down, there's RS Prop Masters out of England who can take your measurments and ship a suit and bucket to you, ready to wear.  Authentic Props (AP) out of Canada has a few options for untrimmed, or fully trimmed ready to assemble kits. Those are just a few.  Some makers are more suitable for certain body types and heights than others as well.  My main advice.. Keep reading thread after thread on FISD, starting with the 'Getting Started’ section.  I’ve been on that site almost daily since February. Email a handful of armor makers for their price breakdown and purchase options.  Also read the CRL for TK stormtroopers on 501st.com (Costume Requirements Library).  You’re off to the right start! Good luck! 

[Luananeko]

Hello and welcome! It's totally okay to not be an armor builder yourself; there are LOTS of builders out there for you to choose from. Most people buy their first set of armor. Unfortunately there are a few unsavory folks looking to take advantage of new folks unfamiliar with the build process and will try to sell you inaccurate and/or "recast" pieces (pieces made by other builders that they dunked in silicone and made their own molds off of instead of building their own master). Not trying to scare you off, just warning so you know what to look out for when buying armor Just make sure you research any builder you consider buying from and run any questions of authenticity/accuracy by our GML (Marc Mosiman) before purchasing and you'll be safe!

I also recommend posting a progress thread as you research and purchase parts, rather than posting a final "Hey look at my kit!" thread right before submitting for approval. This allows you to get lots of eyes looking at your kit and calling out any potential problems or make suggestions for improvement before you're too far along to fix them Hope this helps, and again, welcome!

[maxsteele]

Hello Maxsteele!   There is ATA (Affordable Trooper Armor) out of Michigan who offer a lower cost untrimmed kit that is highly accurate but you’ll have a lot of work ahead of you.

Yeah, that doesn't sound like the way I'd want to go.

If you have the money to throw down, there's RS Prop Masters out of England who can take your measurments and ship a suit and bucket to you, ready to wear.   

I was looking at them, and my concern with getting a 100% to wear out of the box is the fitting.  I was reading some threads on whitearmor that were saying you <b>shouldn't</b> get a ready-to-wear kit because any set of armor will require modifications to fit properly.

Authentic Props (AP) out of Canada has a few options for untrimmed, or fully trimmed ready to assemble kits.

Would the work needed with AP untrimmed kits be the same that you had to do with the ATA kit?  I'm wondering if there are kits that are "more ready" than others, which require less modification, but aren't 100% assembled and ready to go.

A new question for you - how did your process go?  Once you purchased the armor from ATA, did you do the trimming and assembly yourself, did you have someone who was already familiar with the process help you, or did you have someone else do the trimming / assembly?

[maxsteele]

Hello and welcome! It's totally okay to not be an armor builder yourself; there are LOTS of builders out there for you to choose from.  Most people buy their first set of armor.

Thanks Luaneneko.  It's good to know.  This was a concern I had, but I like that most people do buy their first set of armor.

Unfortunately there are a few unsavory folks looking to take advantage of new folks unfamiliar with the build process and will try to sell you inaccurate and/or "recast" pieces (pieces made by other builders that they dunked in silicone and made their own molds off of instead of building their own master). Not trying to scare you off, just warning so you know what to look out for when buying armor Just make sure you research any builder you consider buying from and run any questions of authenticity/accuracy by our GML (Marc Mosiman) before purchasing and you'll be safe!

Oh, absolutely.  I have read up on recasting and the perils of unscrupulous vendors who are trying to make a quick buck and provide shoddy work.  I have no intention of diving into a vendor without getting several people's write-off on them.

I also recommend posting a progress thread as you research and purchase parts, rather than posting a final "Hey look at my kit!" thread right before submitting for approval. This allows you to get lots of eyes looking at your kit and calling out any potential problems or make suggestions for improvement before you're too far along to fix them Hope this helps, and again, welcome!

That's a great idea.  I may be a little over-cautious in this regard.  This is how I see my process for my first armor set going:

1)  Determining if I'm going to get an untrimmed kit vs. a trimmed kit
2a) If I get a trimmed kit, then I (think) I have nothing else I'm going to need to do.
2b) If I get an untrimmed kit, then I wait until I get the parts.
3) I contact a member of Cloud City to set up times to meet with them and modify my kit so it fits and is up to the standards to get approved for the 501st.

Do these steps seem reasonable?  I'd really like to have in-person assistance if I'm going to go the untrimmed route so I can be sure my kit is properly cut and fitted.  I'd be willing to pay for someone's services if that was expected, but I'm just not comfortable trying to do this on my own and following instructions online from people's comments and looking at pictures.

[greedo]

Welcome!

Here's a great idea to get started

http://www.cloudcitygarrison.com/forum/index.php?topic=7789.0

[stevo502]

Welcome! I think you've already gotten some of the best advice I could offer, so I'll just say how happy I get when I hear we've got new recruits wanting to be Stormtroopers! There are never enough, so the more the merrier!

-steve

[Terrys]

Second what Greedo said....

Another option, boucing by one of the events and you can get a closer glimpse at the armor and what goes into it. Everyone does their armor a little different. I found that valuable when I did mine.

Troopers are good at showing you what they did and options.

I think however you go, you will need assistance. Some of these parts are a 2 person job.

[Aysel]

Hello and Welcome! ^_^ It looks like you've done some really good initial research into this crazy world ^_^ And I'd also like to invite you to the armor party we are having this weekend, it's a great way to meet a lot of the troopers as well as seeing builds in progress.

Building armor can seem daunting at first, but if you can use a utility knife or dremel and glue bits together your about half way there ^_^ There are a bunch of people here that can help you assemble a kit if that's the way you decide to go.

[maxsteele]

I'm all signed up for the party on Saturday and will be there with my wife and kids.  Many thanks to Greedo for pointing me to that, and it'll really go a long way to talk to people in-person on the process to getting a set of armor.

[RainTrooper]

Would the work needed with AP untrimmed kits be the same that you had to do with the ATA kit?  I'm wondering if there are kits that are "more ready" than others, which require less modification, but aren't 100% assembled and ready to go.

I would say that an untrimmed kit from AP would require the same amount of work as an ATA kit, maybe a bit less. I’ve heard ATA armor kits require a bit more tweaking here and there.  I know AP does offer that fully trimmed kit with all the necessary holes pre-drilled, but I’m not sure if they take your measurements and trim it to your exact body size. So, you may still have to do a bunch of trimming, tweaking or heat bending and of course all the assemly and strapping.  Not to mention the extra few hundred bucks they charge for a ready-to-assemble kit.  I personally didn’t think it was worth it, so I went with ATA.  International shipping charges are spendy! 

A new question for you - how did your process go?  Once you purchased the armor from ATA, did you do the trimming and assembly yourself, did you have someone who was already familiar with the process help you, or did you have someone else do the trimming / assembly?

I received the helmet kit about a week after placing the order with ATA, and was put on the 7 month wait-list for the armor kit. Oh yeah, some armor makers have crazy long wait-lists, others no wait at all... I was able to buy an untouched ATA kit from a fellow FISD member who posted a 'For Sale' thread earlier this month.  That saved me about 3 more months of waiting! A bit of a cheaper price too. Score!! I’ll have my kit at the armor party this Saturday..  Anyway, I worked on my helmet gradually over the course of about a month. I worked on it about an hour or so every few days, all on my own.  I followed Pandatrooper’s FISD 'How To’ thread “ATA ABS Helmet #1” to the letter!  I posted photos of my progress and a handful of experienced guys chimmed in with helpful tips.  There are a few difficult and nerve-wracking steps to putting a helmet together, but I got passed it, and it turned out looking good. It’s really not as hard as you might think.  I had never worked with plastic before, or anything crafty at all.   You can do it! 

[NavySith]

Welcome

[David A]

welcome........................

[TD-8821]

hello and welcome:)