A 501st Newbie: A Death Trooper Story

[GrandMoff501st[TX]]

On 9/9/2023 at 6:52 PM, Mal86 said:

How are the boots from a comfort perspective?

Really good, actually. On Sunday I was standing in them for six hours on indoor concrete and only had mild soreness at the end of the day -- to be expected, obviously. The insole is quite thick and comfortable and so long as the basics of laces and the tongue are taken care of, they have great durability. They look great, too, and KeepTrooping provides the top-of-boot padding with velcro on three sides. It takes some manipulation and weight to get the bend right, but they look great once you do. Fully recommend, especially as the original Doc Martins are so tough to find and are most likely used, anyways. Hope that helps, Paul.

[Mal86]

32 minutes ago, GrandMoff501st said:

Really good, actually. On Sunday I was standing in them for six hours on indoor concrete and only had mild soreness at the end of the day -- to be expected, obviously. The insole is quite thick and comfortable and so long as the basics of laces and the tongue are taken care of, they have great durability. They look great, too, and KeepTrooping provides the top-of-boot padding with velcro on three sides. It takes some manipulation and weight to get the bend right, but they look great once you do. Fully recommend, especially as the original Doc Martins are so tough to find and are most likely used, anyways. Hope that helps, Paul.

Great help, thank you!

I'm a bit of a shoe snob in the comfort department.  That was my biggest concern with getting something that was designed primarily for cosplay.  I'm glad to hear they are good.  I'm currently building out my vendor list for parts.

[GrandMoff501st[TX]]

So, just two quick pics of the (almost-) end result of the last five months' work. I was able to attend the Con on Sunday as a "test troop," and it was naturally a ton of fun. The build was a huge hit and I was on my feet for about five hours on the floor. The "Stormie" wooden doll was by far the most popular aspect of the whole vibe haha.

I wore the pauldron and MP40 ammo pouch, but not the specialist chest rig and grenades, as I had only worn the costume three times before for 20 mins, so I didn't want the strapping and different elements to get too overwhelming. I had the voice scrambler on for the first half, but definitely need some improvements for the wiring going from the speakers and battery pack inside the lid to the activator in my hand. Definitely the most important modification is going to get a fan system, which I'm on top of now.

Anyways, though, just wanted to share the below since the forum here has been so helpful over the past few months. An incredible start to the costuming career, for sure. A big thanks to everyone and I'd be more than happy to help provide the same guidance I received to other acolytes.

(Wish I could attach larger/better res photos, but have to make due with these shots for now. 78kB is so tiny lol)

 

[GrandMoff501st[TX]]

Scratch that - 1 pic* lol. It says I can only upload 22 kB now, so I'll try later when I got my tech guru hat on.

[Dropkick[CMD-XO]]

1 hour ago, GrandMoff501st said:

Scratch that - 1 pic* lol. It says I can only upload 22 kB now, so I'll try later when I got my tech guru hat on.

You can upload your images to an external photo sharing website like flickr or imgur & post the link to the image here & the forum software will magically show your image here.

 

I hope this helps.

[GrandMoff501st[TX]]

1 hour ago, Dropkick said:

You can upload your images to an external photo sharing website like flickr or imgur & post the link to the image here & the forum software will magically show your image here.

 

I hope this helps.

That absolutely helps! Thanks, Shane. Much appreciated.

[GrandMoff501st[TX]]

Alrighty folks, so thanks to the sorcery shared by Dropkick, here are finally some actual photos of my Sunday at OCC 2023.

 

 

 

[Lt. Dan[501st]]

Great pics Casey! So all you need now is to send in some approval pics😉

Btw, the shoulder rest of your E-11D is upside down!

[Mal86]

Casey, I'm planning to order the imperial boots tonight.  How is the sizing?  Did you stick with your typical shoe size?

[GrandMoff501st[TX]]

On 9/14/2023 at 3:07 AM, Lt. Dan said:

Great pics Casey! So all you need now is to send in some approval pics😉

Btw, the shoulder rest of your E-11D is upside down!

Thanks, Daniel! It was a great day and definitely a deep-dive into my first "test" troop considering it was Comic-Con

So about the E-11D! It's weird. I was with the military, and relative to the way my carbine was built, it makes more sense for the butt/stock to be reversed -- the way you said -- with the thicker/wider part at the top. However, I poured through the R1 Ultimate Visual Dictionary and my DT 1/6 from Hot Toys, and about 80% of the depictions of the carbine butt show it the way mine is, with the narrow part on top. Again, it doesn't make sense, but it seems to be a weird production/continuity issue. I'd like to redo it anyways at some point, since the manufacturers built it with the butt permanently extended, which is understandably a pain when you're trying to change positions or shoulder the carbine.

[GrandMoff501st[TX]]

On 10/12/2023 at 8:59 AM, Mal86 said:

Casey, I'm planning to order the imperial boots tonight.  How is the sizing?  Did you stick with your typical shoe size?

Hi Paul; I'm thinking I *may* be (3 months) late for your question, and my apologies for that. Was offline with work. Hopefully you've already ordered and received your boots, though! Just for the record, I'm a size 11 US, which is technically a size 44EU, but I ordered a 45EU, just for a better fit and in the event of wearing warmer/thicker socks for cold troops. They fit very good, super snug and comfortable even with 5h+ of trooping. Definitely recommend, but since EU sizes are have more increments compared to North America, would suggest sizing up just slightly.

[GrandMoff501st[TX]]

Hey everyone!

Wow, it's been a minute since a status update. Thought it high time to get back on here and let everyone know that their advice was not in vain.

Thrilled to say that I was approved last week and am now a TX! As many will know all too well, the DT is a pretty daunting build, and the Type 2 Specialist even more so with the chest rig and everything that comes with it. I was lucky enough to get to attend some events as a test troop while things got finalized between Sept and Nov 2023, and received approval a few days ago. Will be applying for the Spec Ops forum access permissions etc. shortly, but in the meantime, wanted to provide some pics showing off the finished product.

Will be attending a high-profile NHL troop in the coming days and should have some gnarly action shots to share.

I have the voice scrambler kit and used it at a troop once, but removed it for the time-being until I can optimize the wiring, helmet placement, and a sound glove, but that can all wait. Also, will be putting in an order for the DLT heavy blaster rifle, too, but the E11D and my "Stormie" wooden doll for the R1 opening will get me through until then haha.