New picts on my Legion File...

Check it out. My pictures are already on the Legion 501st id files. Here is the link:


http://www.501st.com/members/displaymember.cfm?costumeID=1&userID=6867

Its a hard life

Some damage is always held by an armor after a mission. And the stormtrooper amor is no exception.

After the mission in the Rebelcon a few weeks ago, my Stormtrooper armor got some damage, and also, I found out that some mods were in order.

First of all and most serious, the helmet had some thinning at the lower part of the side walls. It was notoiuos and most important, delilcate, cause it could be the entrance door to come cracking and tearing of the material. It also had similar problems in the chest plate.

So, new modifications and repairs are happening as I write.

My main concern was to make the helmet walls stronger, cause it is one of the parts that get more action, so to speak. Every time I put on and off the bucket, I have to grab it from a rather thin part of plastic, that eventually started to look and feel really bad.

What I did to repair this, was applying a layer of epoxic glue on the damaged part. It looks kindof uncool, but it does the trick. I just need to sand it a bit and paint it black to match the rest of the helmet. Will do fine.

I will do the same to the sides of the chest plate, since the thin plastic is giving up and I would not like it to break or tear.

Next, will ne the re triming and rematching of the arms and thighs, so thet are more comfortable to wear. And joining with elastic the thighs to the abs plate. Will be cool.

This is a picture of the inside of the helmet during the repairing process.




Trooping is not for the weak hearted.

Back on the 70s...

...people were lot more naive than we are today; there were no CGI characters in movies; no amazing special effects; and of course, people would not go through movies, analizing every inch of it.

So, thats why the original version of the SW trilogy looks so much different and even un realistic and still was such a big hit.

Its just amazing to watch again those movies, without all the CGI and new plot lines. It gives me gosebumps just to see agian Han Solo not having to be polically correct and shooting first. The jawas are jawas, the aliens are people in costumes and the puppets are well, just puppets.

Eventhough, the original release of the movies used state of the art technology in its production, today, it looks really well... vintage. LOL.

It must say that I loved the edition. The sound, the dusty film look, the scratches, the colors, the special effects. Even the vintage image look of the DVD menu is great. Its cool. Its original. Its old. I love it.

I must say anyway, that the special DVD set with the orioginal version, meaning, the extra DVD with the special edition release, is not a big plus. I mean, most people buying this version, is most likely to already have the Special Edition DVD set. So, why having it twice. Its the exact same DVD. Its all about business I guess. Cause I bought it anyway. Hope Lucas would think about the fans more and less about money. But oh well... its business, not a pro bono work.

I would have liked some extras though. Just a few, maybe the "Luke watching the starfight from tatooine" or the "I met your father when he was a pilot" scenes. As a bonus. As the extra material. But oh well... maybe later. Money talks.

A new DVD set.

Star
Wars

It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking
from a hidden base, have won their first victory
against the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret
plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR,
an armored space station with enough power to destroy
an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia
races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen
plans that can save her people and restore freedom
to the galaxy...


No episode IV. No A new hope.

Just like that. Just the way it was screened back in 1977. Its the original version of the original movie of the original trilogy, in the latest DVD edition. The Star Wars Trilogy the way you remember it.

Just two days ago, the new DVD set, including the three original released versions of Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the jedi, was available in stores near you. And yesterday, I already had it in my place. Am I a geek, I rather be called a fan.

Its awesome, its cool, its vintage, its... so old. The effects, the sound, the film itself. It just looks so 70ish. I love it. No weird CGI creatqures, no musical scenes, no Greedo shooting first, just the story as it was supposed to be. Even the cardboard soldiers at the end of Star Wars. Its awesome. And its mine.

Still need to go through the audio comentary and the extra features. But it is already a great addition to my DVD collection and to my SW collection.

What else does Mr George Lucas has left for us in the future... TV show and Animated series for shure... And then?

Lests just hope something else will come after these!

News Flash!

After the Rebelcon 2006 last weekend, the Legion 501st Garrison Mexico appeared on different media. From websites to newspapers to tv shows.

Just today I found out that my girlfriend and me appeared on a picture on the on-line version of the biggest newspaper here in Mexico: Reforma.

Unfortunately, a suscripction is needed to enter the site and have acces to the pictures, but here is a screen shot of it.

It was really cool.

Rebelcon 2006

Last weekend took place the Rebelcon 2006 Star Wars convention, with special guests Zachariah Jensen (Kit Fisto), Daniel Logan (Boba Fett) and Ray Park (Darth Maul).

The event was a big success if we take in consideration the amount of visitors, the participation of the actors, and the very outsatnding presence of the Legion 501st Garrison Mexico.

This was my firt mission with the Legion and it was just amazing. We paraded, posed for pictures with the people, played and troop around... and of coourse, had lots of fun sharing our SW fandom. It was just amazing.

Some of my favorite moments I shared with my girfriend, who was with the whole time. Helping me, taking pictures and just enjoying the event toguether with me. She is so great! And also, we both enjoyed a lot of cool moments with the rest of the garrison and of course, with fellow SW fans who couldnt believe their eyes were seeing some clones, stormtroopers, sand people and even Darth vader just in front of them.

Here are some pictures of these moments.

My Fisrt Mission: BodyGard to Kit Fisto and Boba Fett

Yes. Its amazing. Almost incredible. I was just accepted in the Legion last thursday and on Friday I had my first mission as a Stormtrooper.

I was assigned to the security body of Jedi Master Kit Fisto (Zackariah Jensen) and Bounty Hunter Boba Fett (Daniel Logan). I got to be bodygard for the actors but the cool thing is that I actually met both of them and actually chat a bit with them. Really nice people.

It was awesome. I know it sounds too amazing, but I have the pictures to prove it.

Another great day at the Mexican Garrison.

Im the trooper on the right, the taller one.


With the actors...

TK 8800

Its official. Im part of the Empire and the Legion 501st Vader's Fist!!

My Operation Number (TKid) is TK 8800

I am now a stormtrooper assigned to the Mexican Garrison. This is really cool!!!

And already tomorrow I have my first official appearence as a member of the Legion... and its not going to be just any appearence, its going to be a press conference. Im nervous. Im happy. Im excited! I just want to shoot some rebel scum!

So, stay tunned for more news.

In the meanwhile, checkout my profile and id on the 501st website: TK 8800

Stop that Ship!! Blast them!!!

After 26 years of dreaming and hoping for it. I finallly have my Stormtrooper Armor! Nothing left to say.

Belt, thermal detonator and everything else!

I had read in many places that after the helmet, the thermal detonator is the most difficult part to put toguether. I must say, it is.

The firt big problem, was that both of the main body parts were not circular enough. I mean, the did not form a cilindrical shape when placed toguether. So to soilve this, I used the hot air gun and some tape, to give them the correct shape. It was not very diffciult, but it takees some skill to do it. Most importanto of all is being patient both to heat the part and to let it cool down.

Onces it was done, it was all downhill.

I pasted the main body parts toguether and then painted it in gray. This to paint the glue and hot glue I used toguether with the plastic. No problem. Then, I painted the edges in silver chrome, instead of using the stickers. Dont know if it looks better, buut it definetely doesnt look bad.

Then, I wanted to use the thermal detonator as a sort of storing device for keys or personal stuff. So before glueing the "lids", I glued part of a plastic pen, to tie some bungy cord, to allow me to open or close it. It worked fine. I did glued one of the lids, the other one is loose.



Once this was done, I just had to figure out how to attach it to the belt. I decided to screw it to the belt. And so I did. But before finishing it up, I needed the belt.



Instead of using the extra styrene pieces that I got with the kit to make the belt, I usd some white plastic fabric or something, to make a belt, and then attached the utility belt and the detonator to it. To do it, I fixed a piece of styren to the detonator screws and placing inbewtween them the belt. (sorry, my english is not at its best today). Here is a picture of it.



To attach the Styrene utility belt to the belt I used some styrene strips to make a kind of belt straps on the back side, and passed the belt under them. It was very tricky, but onced I had the correct glue, it was done nicely. And then the thermal detonator, the utility belt and the plastic belt were all one piece. I just used some IS velcro to make them attach firmly.



After placing th eblaster hoslter in place the belt is done!!

Next. Put it on!

Legs.

Next step, and almost there... the legs.

I must say that this seemed to be not a big deal, but considering that my legs are slimer than the leg parts, I had to do a lot of measuring and trimming, not to mention the very difficult part of glueing it toguether.

To bigin with, I used blue masking tape (a very useful tape, cause it does not sticks permanently to the plastic) to secure the pieces in place at the front part. Then, and wearing the black underarmor pants, I measured and marked where would I cut the pieces. It was not very difficult, but deffinetly not easy.



Once trimmed, I glued the front part of the upper legs. And let them dry for 24 hours. In the mean time, I glued some velcro to the back openning of the shins. I used some crappy Velcro since I couldnt get any IS one. And also, used a crappy glue to do it. Needless to say, I had to repaste it later, using the E6000 glue.

I thought and researched about many ways to attach and wear the armor, but since I am just getting started, I wanted to test prove some systems of my own before ribeting or snap buttoning it. So, I went for foam in the inside. Enough foam to keep the pieces in place, and yet being comfortable to wear. So fo now, I think its doing a fine job. Lets see after my first trooping experince this saturday.



After glueing the back of the upper legs toguether, I just had to put the final touch t it: the leg utility belt and the knee pad. To make the utility belt piece fit correctly the circumference of the thigh, I used a hot air gun and after heating the piece, I used thge clamps to make it the proper curve.





I also glued some foam in the interior of the shins to make it more confortable and to keep it in place.

So, with the shins and thighs ready, I just needed the boots. I got them from the local market for a very reasonable price. They are not an exact replica of the ones wore on the films, but they are close enough.



Only the belt and thermal detonator left to do.