Way cool, Jerry!
Way cool, Jerry!
Took a trip to TN - NC - GA this past weekend, mostly for Tank Town USA but also to just relax and goof around with SWMBO and the 14yr old daughter. Of course I had to bring some Star Wars:
Since we were 3, not just a couple, we took her car (a 500X). This gave her a chance to drive the Dragon herself, and me a chance to be a passenger for once.
And after my bucket list driving a tank (and an excavator for an extra $100), I had to have a little fun here too.
Some minor work being done lately, the main thing is removing as many wires as possible. Or at least any visible wires. I finally added a wireless mic last night at the build party.
There is now a receiver, an amp with speaker, and the ICOMM voice effect box inside the chest piece, all connected by wires. I also put the second battery bank as a spare for the helmet fans in there as well. There's a lot going on in there, but plenty of space.
I also got a little more professional on the bin. I don't think it will be mistaken for a construction worker bin.
There's a house in Columbus that a gentleman made a large-scale (not quite full size) AT-AT for Halloween, this is the second year. We decided the 501st should pay a visit. The weather was crap, poured rain all the way there. It mostly stopped by the time I got there, the AT-AT driver was already there. The Red Guard showed up a little after me.
A member's group Facebook post said they were canceling due to the weather, I was like uh we're already here... Two other local guys finally showed up with just helmets. The homeowner is pretty cool, he said when he first put it up last year a police car stopped in front. He was thinking aw E36 M3, did I violate some ordinance or something? He said they looked for a bit, took out a cell phone to take a photo, gave a thumb's-up and drove off.
In reply to Jerry :
That is extremely awesome!
In reply to wae :
The home owner is planning to build a companion AT-ST for next year. Hopefully we get more guys and better weather. He offered to let 7-8 perfect strangers use his bathroom, offered drinks. I told him I would send a link to where I bought my armour from. I'm an enabler.
First Halloween after 501st approval is a success, weather be damned! We actually got a small break in the rain, enough to get a small steady stream of trick or treaters. SWMBO put together a decent Leia, her neighbors also got into the spirit. Their 3yr old seemed to like my big scary pitbull. Got my photo taken a few times, plenty of compliments, and a good trial run of the wireless mic system. 2 hours and no issues.
Who knew that the Empire had a K-9 Stormtrooper unit?
In reply to wae :
He doesn't hit/bite anything either.
Arms deal goes down... the DLT-19, when you absolutely positively have to miss everything. A local 501st is selling stuff to raise $ for a house down payment, I decided to help.
Thursday is my first hospital visit! I've heard guys talk about being grateful for helmets so the kids don't see you crying, so could be interesting.
Thursday night was my first hospital troop. Myself, two other troopers, a TIE pilot, Imperial officer and of course Vader the boss. The officer was the guy in charge and since he was the only one without a helmet it made sense... A lady coordinator from the hospital met us & led us to a conference room to change. When we were suited up & ready, we went out to the hallway to start our adventure (and he snapped this photo. Hospital is strict on photos with the kids and model releases.)
We spent an hour hitting rooms on two floors. It was a mixture of kids, some rooms were tougher to see than others. The second floor we toured was the cancer ward, kinda glad I didn't hear that till after. Most of the kids were happy once we came in, I found out later more than a few nurses and parents said that was the first time they saw the child smile. Ugh, again glad I didn't hear that back then.
One room we went into had 3-4 siblings running around, I was behind Vader and one trooper. I could hear the kids and then "Darth Vader!" "STORMTROOPERS!!". I have decent straight ahead vision, but below the visor I'm blind. All I felt was tapping on the chest piece, a sign of kids hugging me and wanting to shake hands. I just froze so I wouldn't run anyone over and blindly put my hands out like "hi guys, hey how's it going??"
They have lots of instructions for these. No fake weapons, no photos without model release by parents, hand sanitizer after each room (even with Harbor Freight work gloves), can't say things like God bless you, strict limits on the # of attendees, etc. A few rooms we couldn't go into, and they couldn't come out. So we met in the doorway and talked. I handle heavy drama like this with jokes so I was joking with kids and parents like the TIE pilot got us there in traffic, Vader was there for his breathing treatment, etc.
It was funny watching the hospital staff react to us in the hallways, we got a few selfies along the way. And many thanks for being there. I found out our local region does this about every other month. The bosses were very enthusiastic to hear about the event, so I'm pretty sure I have a free pass to leave early whenever this happens again. And I'll be there as often as I can. (I'm next to the pilot.)
Quick update, Saturday night was Spaced Out! with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. I believe we had 28 costumed people greeting and mingling with patrons coming to the show. Lots of photos and talking to the kids (& parents). Ended up with 7th row floor seats, hearing a full orchestra perform all the Star Wars music by John Williams was a treat. (They also did Star Trek old and new, BtoF, 2001, The Incredibles, Cosmos tv show, and more)
Friday night was the Dayton Children's Holiday parade. About 20 of us spent a chilly evening with the kids downtown. We ended up lining up behind the Humane Society (where I also volunteer), and SWMBO & her daughter wound up riding the float because they were low on volunteers.
The two speeder bike riders had bikes with fully functioning lights and sounds. No trees were involved, therefore no crashes.
i got misty just reading about the hospital visit. I don't know if I'm strong enough as a parent to do that. kudos to you though, making kids smile the greatest gift we can give.
Very cool build, and some very cool events. 
Like you, saw ANH as a kid, and have been hooked ever since. Didn't get serious about it until this year, but I've let my inner SW geek go a little nuts!
SWMBO and I as Jyn Erso and ESB Luke for Halloween this year:
We haven't done any conventions yet, and may look into the trooping thing. We're in rural AZ, so there may not be much here.
Love the DLT-19 heavy blaster! I'm currently working on a Rogue One E-11 based on an S&T airsoft gun. Goes with SWMBO's costume, but it's quite heavy. Your cast version is probably a lot lighter. I'm amazed at the market out there for Star Wars stuff... lot's of small makers doing well! 
I'll be following your future escapades with great interest!
In reply to Rodan :
My E-11 is fairly heavy compared to some. The symphony troop had one other TK and his is completely cast from rubber, weighs almost nothing. I kinda prefer a little weight really, feels more "substantial". Although he added lights and sounds, my next project probably.
You should look into the Rebel Legion for costume requirements, they're the good guy group to our bad guys.
Things have been slow lately, the troops seem to taper off during the holidays/winter except for some Xmas parties here and there. Last night however was the Cincinnati Cyclones (hockey) Star Wars night, and the event list filled up a month ago. Luckily I made it in... I'm on the right.
~7k people and I think every one wanted their photo with us. I suited up at 530pm and was taken up the elevator with a couple others to join those already upstairs.
Here's the group (I think it's everyone), about 27 or so including 3 handlers. I'm the TK behind the yellow-shirt Rebel. From there we hung out until the gates opened at 615pm and the fans didn't stop until well after the game had started. I think I stayed in one spot with my group until 8pm. I had a few friends come to the game so it was cool having them see me in uniform finally.
I watched about 1/2 the game, I know very little about hockey except when the fights break out you get a bonus sport (never seen a hockey game break out in a fight). Got home about 1045pm, and ready for the next event!
It's been quiet lately. But with time off from work for both myself and SWMBO we finally made some time to take some action photos in the suit. I wanted to wait for an overcast day for better lighting (sunshine ruins all but snapshots, overcast is like a giant softbox).
She had spotted something near downtown Dayton that looked interesting. No posted "No Trespassing" signs, gate unlocked. She asked a friend on the police force, they said it shouldn't be a problem, maybe the park rangers nearby might investigate but wouldn't be concerned if you weren't doing drugs.
We aren't sure what it used to be. I didn't see mounts for pumps or equipment, looks like concrete silos for storage. There's a train track closeby, maybe coal storage. I wished it didn't have so much graffiti but maybe the Rebels were trying to spread their lies?
I found an empty can for a fun shot. I kinda wished I brought a real one, "Empire4Life!"
Did a little more Photoshop over the weekend with one of the shots. I learned how to add a decent blaster shot, even the glow on the armour from the blast. Pretty happy with it, I can hear the PEW PEW in my head.
Ohayocon is the next troop next Saturday. They will have a Blast a Trooper for charity, pay to shoot me!
Jerry said:Ohayocon is the next troop next Saturday. They will have a Blast a Trooper for charity, pay to shoot me!
Great pic!!
I looked at the Ohayocon costume policies out of curiosity... it's nice to see that they haven't automatically banned all replica weapons (blasters). Many of the bigger conventions have knee jerked into banning pretty much everything which puts a real damper on attending in costume.
Have a great time!
In reply to Rodan :
Star Wars Celebration is in Chicago in April, very large 5 day full on convention. They have some warnings on prop blasters but I should be ok, I think all or 99% of it is resin. I'll take a magnet with me, and say "see? Toy gun. Pew Pew!"
SW Celebration looks like a lot of fun, but you couldn't pay me to travel to Chicago... 
I'm hoping they do it at Disney in Anaheim one of these years, that's an easy day's drive for us.
Our local 'Con' (not SW specific) is later this year in Phoenix, and they've banned everything that even looks like a gun, plastic or not. Silly.
You may think you're cool, but do you have your very own trading card? Full color front and back, heavy card stock, UV gloss coating, 1000 pcs still only cost about $40. I have plenty if anyone wants one. (Hey there's a good reason to go to our awards banquet on the 19th!)
PS- if you want to make your own these guys in KY seem to be a good place to go - GotPrint.com
Well someone is reading this thread, maybe they just like Harbor Freight?
I ordered something to hold my trading cards while in costume. 3D printed holder, w/ 3 ways to put on my belt (the white part itself, the clip that slides into the white part, or indentation for rare earth magnet).
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