Reapercon 2013

For my birthday, I took a trip to Denton, Texas to visit the offices and gaming store for Reaper Miniatures.  Denton is the backyard for GM Dave and GM Chris, hosts of the Order 66 Podcast.  For the past few years, D20 Radio has flooded that convention running games and having a grand time with the folks from Reaper.  Many listeners as well as the folks from Chris's various Star Wars games have some to Reaper and made it a sort of unofficial "D20 Radio Con".

At Celebration VI this past year, I got to hang with Chris Bradshaw (a.k.a.GM Chance) from D20 Radio.  We got him and his Republic Commando spot-approvals so he could be in the big photo-shoot with the 501st Legion.  While talking about various other conventions, and he invited me out to Denton for Reapercon.  I'd wanted to go since I heard about it when I first started listening to the network, and figured it would be a cheaper con to see the D20 Radio folks at than going to GenCon, so the plan started.

Around about November another plan was put in motion too, but I'll go into that later.

At the Airport

I left on my birthday; Thursday, April 18.  Getting off the Logan express shuttle with my suitcase, computer backpack, and duffel bag.  The suitcase got checked, which contained clothing for 5 days and my Jedi Knight outfit.  Also crammed in there is my 24" short-blade for my lightsaber.  The lightsaber itself was in the duffel bag; I didn't trust it going through checked baggage screening and it not getting damaged by TSA agents.  This was 3 days after the Boston Marathon bombings; if I'm a TSA agent and I see a bag go by with a metal cylinder with wires in it, I'm going to search that bag.  Now I've got some TSA agent showing all his buddies the lightsaber he found in some nerd's suitcase, and blinding his buddies with the high-power blade-LED because they don't understand how bright Rebel Star LEDs can be.

So I've got it in my duffel and I get up to the first person at Security; the woman who checks boarding passes and licenses.  I let her know I'm a Star Wars costumer, on my way to a gaming convention in Texas, and I have a replica lightsaber in my bag and want to declare it.  Explaining that it's a 16" long metal tube, she gets an odd look of "that could be used as a weapon" across her face.  I suppose it could be, because that's exactly what I want to do with my custom and very expensive lightsaber prop; bludgeon some stewardess and try to take over an AirBus A320 with it.  Maybe I could blind the pilot when he looks through that peephole on the cockpit door.

She asks me to place it in the bin on the conveyor, and tell the next TSA agent about it.  They might want me to check it with my luggage. I shrug, and I get to the next guy, an older gentleman with a blue-collar look about him (a little rugged, a little surly, but mostly business).  I let him know about the lightsaber, and my travel plans.  He looks at it, ponders for a moment, and then says the Supervisor should probably take a look at it.  I head through the body-scan machine, and the supervisor comes over.

The supervisor looked about my age, and heads over to the x-ray viewer for the conveyor.  I can tell exactly when my tray passes by when his eyebrows pop up and he get's a small smirk on his face.  The tray comes out, and he asks me to get my other belongings and come over to him when I'm done.  "Take your time!" he says.  He heads to a test counter, and I get my stuff and go over to him.  By then three other TSA guys are standing there and a fourth is called over "Dude, you're gonna love this, get over here."  After a brief period of several exclamations of "DOOD!" and "Sweet!", the quick demonstration of the lights and sounds of my saber, and the cursory confirmation that there are no explosives in it, I'm allowed to move on with the saber in my carry-on.

Out of Service (i.e. "Broken Plane")

My flight was supposed to leave at 1:05.  The plan was to arrive at 4:30, get a quick bite, and head right to Reaper to play in a Star Wars game run by GM Chris.  At noon, we were informed our flight was delayed.  At 1pm, we were told that our original plane was taken "Out of Service" and a new plane was on it's way from Orlando.  It wasn't going to arrive until 2:45.  Figure at least a half hour for it to deplane, load up our luggage and passengers, and get moving.


Even the President is delaying my departure...


Oh...and we had the announcer come on, asking for someone to please claim a black backpack that was left at the counter.  THAT request got everyones attention.  Thankfully, a nice lady did.  Swiftly.

I got to Dallas at 7ish.  Went right to GM Chance's place and got settled in.  GM Chris, his wife Krista, and GM Dave showed up soon after and started pulling out Edge of the Empire books.  I ended my birthday hanging with the folks from D20 Radio, playing Star Wars.

Gotta admit, only one way the day could have ended better, but sadly the wife was at home...

At the Con



The non-Star Wars game I played: Warlords In Wonderland

I have to say if you're looking for a great little gaming convention to go to, Reapercon 2013 is it.  I've been to some of the bigger conventions, like Origins, many times.  Reapercon is a fun little con of a few hundred attendees, and has a real family feel to it.  It helps that a good number of D20 Radio folks are there so it feels like you're coming home to old friends.

I got to play GM Chris's new Convention Module Series, Enemy of my Enemy.  It's actually available for download on the D20 Radio website.  Any of my PCs who want to play it should probably stay away, but for folks who want to run it go and give it a read.  Maps used are available from Chris West's Maps of Mastery site, or you can use a white board to reproduce or your imagination.  I do like Chris West's maps, tho.  They're pretty.


GM Chris runs a mean game, and has a snazzy hat!


As a review, Enemy of my Enemy is a wonderful tale of mystery, adventure, and difficult moral choices.  Don't worry if your character doesn't have a skillset for combat (assuming you use the pre-gen characters).  Look at what you're good at, then look at the environment to see how you can contribute to the encounter.  You get XP for survival, not for opponents defeated.  I got to play Tyrix the Gand, who had disgraced himself in the eyes of his society so he only referred to himself as "Gand" (it's established Star Wars canon; look it up).  A tech and slicing god, I was searching for computer terminals and machines to play with in every situation.

Reapercon 2013 represents the first time I've been able to play in an Edge of the Empire game.  It's also the first time I've been able to play in a Star Wars game since my brother failed to finish his Dawn of Defiance* module series.  It's funny, I found myself willing to skip right into danger, and where I thought the Game Master expected the module to go.  Maybe I've spent too many years as one myself.  I got a sense of where we needed to go to continue the adventure.  I could see some players at the table really getting into the persona they perceived for their character to have, but I found myself looking at the game going "what actions move the plot along" and trying to figure out how to get there.  Maybe that hurt my character's role playing, but it kept the game moving.

* - totally taking shots at my brother for that; he earned it...

Friends of the Legions

Back at Celebration VI, I met Chris Bradshaw from the D20 Radio network and became fast friends.  We made idle plans for me to come out to Reapercon the next year (because GenCon was likely off the table).  Sometime around October I was on the D20 Radio forums, and saw Zrissa's post about Jon Stevens being inducted to the Rebel Legion as a Friend of the Legion.  Jon wrote material for two of the Saga Edition books.  Thinking things over, I looked at all the work GM Chris and GM Dave have done with the Order 66 podcast, and how the Gamer Nation really flourished under their banner.  Checking the Legion rosters, other podcasts have been inducted as Friends of the Legion (since Chris and Dave haven't worked directly on a Star Wars product, they would be eligible as "Friends of" not "Honorary Members"). 

A plan was put in motion.  A petition was sent to the Command Staff of the Rebel Legion, and to the 501st Legion founder Albin Johnson to approve the induction of Chris and Dave into the Legions.  The requests were approved, and the plans for the ceremony were put into motion.  While GenCon might be a large venue for an induction, I was going to be at Reapercon.  Bradshaw would be there, so there would at least be one other member of the Legion(s) in attendance.

There was a period of nail-biting after I booked my airfare and con ticket that Dave wasn't going to be at Reapercon this year.  Thankfully, the trip he was planning was delayed a month and he would be in attendance. 

After several days of hanging with the Boys and the other folks from D20 Radio, Bradshaw and
I surprised Chris and Dave mid-live-broadcast by excusing ourselves and returning a while later in full costume, presenting the induction awards to them live on the air.  Sadly, JustinTV has since dropped the visual recording (possibly to return in 14 months) and the audio from the episode was a little tough to listen to .  It's one of the many hazards of recording with a different computer, like a laptop; it likes to be "helpful" when you plug in cameras and records off the camera mic instead of the 4 good-quality microphones.

Transparent Plaque Fail

At any rate, mission accomplished, GMs humbled and giddy all at once, and forever supported by the 501st and Rebel Legions.

Aftermath

Given the time and opportunity (and funds), I will return to Reapercon sometime in the future.  Maybe not next year, maybe not the year after, but soon.  I'll bring a game to run, or run one of Chris's modules.  And it will be awesome, because I'll be hanging out with friends from D20 Radio and Gamer Nation.

Next week, I'm thinking of returning to the subject of gaming.  Star Wars Gaming.  I think I've got an interesting exercise ahead of me and need to get it going.

Until then, be safe everyone.

Chillin' at Reaper, 2013

Jedi Knight: APPROVED

Another post from an airport!  Maybe this time I’ll actually get it written and post this one.  Last time I tried this I was on my way to Disney with my wife and step-son…

…sorry, that kinda gets me now and then.  “Wife” and “Step-son”…heeheehee…

…anyway, so I wrote a post, didn’t finish, and didn’t post that week.  Disney takes a lot out of you, and I really didn’t have the time that week to finish up the post and get it up.  That was the end of February.  Today is different.  I’m off on an adventure, and it’s my birthday.  So my birthday gift is to write up a blog post for you all!

Jedi Knights

So my personal big-news of the week is that I finally have joined the ranks of the Knights of the Jedi Order; at least, the group with that title in the Rebel Legion.  My “Generic Jedi” was finished and photographed by my lovely wife.  I’d wanted to sew much of it myself, but once the project really started to get going, I knew that I would not be able to finish it in time nor be able to do it anywhere near as well as my wife could.

Generic is such a poor term for the costume.  I mean, sure; it’s not a “Face” character.  It’s a costume based on the pattern of outfit the Jedi wear, but with colors and styles that are unique and personal.  Many do the typical outfit; earth-tones in the brown spectrum.  But a large number do things differently; they use deep blues, or greens, or crimson and maroon shades of red.  They use more interesting, subtle tones, and include embroidery or graphics printing in their costume.  This is where I wanted to take my Jedi.

I’m glad the Preacher boots worked out.  I love the pouches Nick Perry from R.H.Mardigan made for me.  I’m thankful that my Jedi Food Capsules arrived in time to submit for approval.  I’m glad the covtech knob on my lightsaber is just far enough to one end that the lightsaber hangs tip down (I was worried it would be centered, and more likely to spin in the clip-mount like a propeller).

Join the Jedi Council?

So what does being a “member” of the Knights of the Jedi Order mean, as far as the Rebel Legion is concerned?  It means I can get the exclusive KJO swag, for one.  (They’ve got a neat 5-year Anniversary  Challenge Coin in gold that I’m drooling over. )  It means that I can be nominated for Detachment Leader at election time.  It means I get to be in the KJO photo shoot at the next Celebration, assuming I bring my Jedi (here’s a hint; yes, I’ll be bringing my Jedi to C7).  I think it also means I could become a Jedi Costume Judge, if my interests lie in that area.

Regardless of what I want to do with it, I’m happy to have a finished Jedi, to be a Jedi Knight, and to have yet another “Legion Approved” costume in my closet.

It's Called A "Cliffhanger"

I mentioned I was at the airport, and on an adventure for my birthday.  Actually, I hope to make a few adventures this weekend.  What am I talking about, and where am I going?  I can't tell you this week, but I promise a couple interesting tales next Thursday...

...well, they'll be interesting to ME, I hope you'll enjoy reading about them too...

For Boston.

It's a fucked up world we live in.

Sorry for the harsh language.  I try to keep this blog as curse free as possible (for the childrens!), but every once in a while my filter gets stuck.  Every now and then I'm mesmerized by the news, entranced by the drama of it all, overcome with a macabre fascination of the happenings in the world.  Base, crude language is sometimes all I got left.

I don't want to make any false claims; I don't know anyone who was there and injured.  All my friends who were in Boston are home with their families tonight.  I'm not a witness, other than through TV and the Internet.  I'm not a victim, other than the feeling of "I've been there.  I've walked that street."

My father worked in the Prudential Tower, which is right across the street from the bombings, for most of my childhood.  I'd gone into see him or other events in that complex many times, at least once a year.  Recently, I've been there for Boston ComicCon, which is held at the Hynes Convention Center two or three blocks west of the bombings.  I've walked down that side of the street more than a few times, and I'm familiar with that area.

It's all surreal to see it in the aftermath; blasted out, litter everywhere, stained concrete sidewalks.  I want to say "this doesn't happen here, this is Boston"; but it did. 

In the weeks ahead I'll remember the attack, but I'll remember the courtesies.  I'll remember the news cameraman who was filing as the bombs went off, who ran to the first blast site and kept his camera aimed just above the injured.  We didn't see the injured, their grievous wounds.  He wasn't overcome with the sensationalism of news media today; he was covering an important story in a respectable manner.  I'm thankful for the producers and editors of the Boston news outlets who showed the human toll by focusing on the injured who were going to be okay.  The ones wheeled away with injuries, but comparatively minor ones.  I know there were victims who lost limbs, and their lives, but I didn't see them.  Nor did I have to in order to "understand the grave nature of the attack".  I salute the Governor, Mayor, and Commissioner of Boston who I'm sure wanted to throttle every single news reporter at the press conference who wanted "their quote", their "buzz word", their moment of "State Officials said to panic, so keep it here or you might get killed!".  They kept their cool, refused to give in, and barely acknowledged any reporter with an agenda.

In the coming weeks we will find out more about this attack; who's responsible, and the steps necessary to bring them to justice.  We'll see the power of technology, and the thousands of cameras and camera-phones that were recording the event helping investigators find those responsible.  We'll see the depravity of today's fear-based news media, but also the power of the human condition and the compassion of humanity.  We'll see the opportunists, and the philanthropists.  We'll see the villains and the heroes.

I'm glad my Jedi got approved this week. 

I'm glad I get to be a hero, even if it's only a costume. 

It means I have another reason to head out to events and do what I can to support the real heroes in this world.

See you Thursday, where we'll return to our previously scheduled blog on Star Wars Gaming and Costuming.

Until then, keep being heroes.

...Oops...

So Thursday the 11th came and went without a blog-post update.  Honestly, I have no clue what happened other than an unusually rough week at work mixed with some frantic costume-fitting with the wife.

I promise this Thursday will be a much more interesting blog update.

And not just because it's my birthday.

Here's a teaser.

It's A Bench. For Working On.

Welcome to April; a month that's traditional been pretty hit or miss with me.  It starts on a day dedicated to fools, has a birthday for me and my father in the middle, and ends with the promise of great outdoor weather.  Unless you live in New England; in which case you might get rain, sun, wind, or snow.  Pick two.

This April is starting off as annoying as most others.  I'm pretty antsy and eager for warm weather, having been cooped up inside since November.  It's compounded by the fact that my home is really small compared to where I was living this time last year.  I have no real place in the house currently to do much of anything for construction or costuming.  Not that I have the cash for much in the way of "advanced costuming".  No kits of ABS coming to my place any time soon, or experiments with resin molds.  See my comment above about "my new home" and you can guess where all my money's gone.  But I digress...

As I look at my yard out my library window (read as "room where all my nerd-crap and books are stored'), see a large yard.  The wife has plans for the yard, good plans involving pergolas and garden beds and the like.  I'd just like a broad surface around three-and-a-half feet off the ground to work on projects at.  Smelly projects that likely will end with me fumigating the house and my wife wanting to kill me.  Plus, having such a work bench would make it easier for making pergolas and cutting lumber for garden beds.

I need a work bench.  An outdoor one that can handle rain and New England snow for at least a few years.

This has some potential...

Browsing around the internet I've come across some interesting designs.  I found this one where a woodworker chopped down and reinforced an existing workbench.  Seems pretty simple, and something I could likely construct pretty cheaply.  Well, cheaply until I start adding in the cost of a miter chop-saw I'd want, and a new reciprocating saw because the one I got on the cheap from Harbor Freight died on it's second use.  Hey, at least it was cheap.



The clothesline in the background
really ties the yard together.



This one's an even simpler design, without any additional braces or supports.  Not sure I like it, tho.  The first one has a sort of aesthetically pleasing form.  The braces make it more sturdy, and even with 10 deck screws holding the 4x4 legs, I'd be worried about the legs getting loose.

Here's an interesting take on a bench that's outdoors all day long in Florida.  A little bit different on the construction, and a little more involved in the creation process.  Nice looking work, tho...

I guess the biggest think I need to think about, after cost, is figuring out when I'm going to put this all together.  Theoretically since the days are getting longer I could put in an hour or so during the week on this project.  I'd rather bang it out on a Saturday or Sunday, but who knows how many of those I have in the coming weeks. 

Then again, a quick check of my calendar shows that Sunday is open both this weekend and next weekend.  Maybe I'll swing by The Orange Despot and start pricing parts.  I'll try and have pictures of my progress, because watching me with a miter saw might be fun.  I'm sure my insurance company will appreciate the evidence too.

This wasn't much of a Star Wars post, that's for sure, but it is something that will allow me to get some more work done on my Star Wars projects.  I know a Jedi belt that needs some dyeing done to it, and I'm sure my wife would appreciate it if I didn't use the coffee table in the living room to do it.



Jedi Knight: The Costuming




The KJO: Allowing nerds like me
to dress up like a Jedi Knight
since 2007...

  This week I return to my work on the Jedi Knight...okay, maybe not the Jedi Knight Career that I made for the Edge of the Empire system.  No, I mean a Jedi Knight costume.

I really wish this was a progress post on my Jedi Shadow costume, but it isn't.  My recent, major setback (in that I've misplaced a box that contained 40% of the costume and over 30 hours of work) has derailed the costume significantly and sapped my motivation to complete it. It's going to be difficult to find the right material for the robe again, and the skirt had over 30 Mylar-thread-embroidered aurebesh runes in it. The thought of doing it all over again (or rather, ask my wife to do it all over again)...well, I'm just not ready for that.

We also made the discovery this week that the wife's good Fiskars shears were in the box too...bollocks.

Changing Gears...er, Eras




Corran Horn makes
green Jedi robes look good...

I'd really like to get a Jedi done and approved in time for the 5-Year anniversary of the Knights of the Jedi Order group (they're the Jedi "detachment" of the Rebel Legion). I'd also like to finally have a soft costume for the Rebel Legion, so I don't always have to "Represent!" covered in hard, restrictive plastic. So, I've shifted focus for now from the Jedi Shadow and will be working on a generic Jedi costume.

Now, I wouldn't say I push the envelope of approvable costumes and color design, but I certainly want to be unique and interesting in my outfits. Most Jedi are in earth tones, more specifically various shades of brown.  Brown is fine for leather and desert camouflage, but I want something with a little more style.  I'm thinking green, mostly to match the lightsaber hilt I made.  While I don't want to make a pure-green "Corellian Jedi" outfit, I was intrigued by a shade of green I found at the local fabric store. A nice, deep hunter-green that had a darker tone to it.



That's going to be the fabric for the tabards and the obi. Don't let the flash fool you, I swear it's got more earthy tones to it. It's green, but not the GREEN! that the photo presents. It's one of the things that really gets to me about digital photography, and that's how a lot of casual photos (like these) don't really grab colors right. 

My 3-years of college-photo classes is screaming at me to fix it, but I don't have the time for that.  Besides, back then, we worked with this archaic stuff called "film". 

The outer tunic is going to be this fine material. 



It looks like its brown-grey here, but the fabric has a faint mint-green tinge to it (again; stupid digital flash photography).  The pieces have been mapped out, and cut out, based on the recommendations by KJO temple master Roger Allen.  My wife actually drew them out by hand right onto the fabric.  No need for this "tissue paper pattern" tom-foolery for us!  We did a placement fitting of the pieces last night.  The tunic will come down to just above my knee, and the shoulder tabards will come down just beyond that.  I'm designing the shoulder tabards to tapering down to points, so when they're together they make a chevron.  It's a little more style than just having them end at a right angle like a scarf.

The Other Stuff

I have a pair of khakis for my jedi pants (yes, that's what most people wear for Jedi pants.  Works just fine).  I've got the Preacher boots I mentioned last week.  I've got the leather belt, it just needs a fresh coat of dye to make it closer to the boots in the shade of brown.  I think I only need to get the belt accessories (pouches, food capsules, commlink; I need two to get the Formal rating, I believe).

I will eventually make a cloak for this, but that's going to be a little ways off.  Besides, summer is coming.  Last think I want is to put on another layer of clothing.


Lekku Master Molds by Twi'lek Pam


I'm also doing research to get a pair of lekku to be a twi'lek Jedi when the opportunity allows. We keep seeing all these human Jedi in the various bases, and I feel we need more aliens represented. Not a huge fan of a full latex mask, I'm opting for the less-prosthetic wearing alien races. I might also want a set of zabrak horns too, because with my frequently-shaved scalp there's a lot of real estate up there for some good zabrak horns...

Elegant Weaponry For An Elegant Era

It dawns on me that I have yet to talk about my lightsaber.  No, not the double-bladed one I got from Ultrasabers for my Jedi Shadow, I mean my own, custom lightsaber that I mostly built for myself with parts from The Custom Saber Shop.  Back in the summer I decided I wanted to really get this custom lightsaber thing going, and build my own saber.  After all, you can't be a Jedi Knight until you've built your lightsaber.

I poked around with TCSS's java-based saber design program, that utilizes the parts from their "Multi-Hilt System".  It's a fun little program and quite a time sink for making a million lightsabers with.  After some debate I came up with this design.

For six months I had been picking up various parts from TCSS.  As my ebay sales would complete, I'd occasionally pick up a piece of the hilt, or part of the electronics.  I ended up going with a larger pommel, and the switch box is a trapezoid, not a rectangle.  My wiring diagram was poor, and I couldn't get anything to work.  I feared that I fried the sound-card, and the speaker.  Fortunately a trip to my local sabersmith helped me discover that the wiring was wrong, but the sound card and the speaker were fine.  We got it set up and working like a champ.

After throwing the electronics into the hilt, it ended up looking like this...

It's a serious beast of a hilt; almost 16" long.  A bastard sword of lightsabers, it begs for the less flashy styles of sabercombat like Ataru and Makashi, and more for the beatstick end of the spectrum like Djem-so and Juyo.

It's at this time that you can scream "NEEEEEERD!"  It's okay.  I get it a lot.

 

Serious Fat Nerd is Serious

Clones, Clovers, and Costumes

It's Thursday, so it must be time for another update to the "Fragments from the Rim" blog.  Much like last week, this week is going to be a varied discussion topic.  I'll be jumping from subject to subject, interest to interest; try to keep up.

One Sore Trooper

The Rebel Legion and 501st Legion prepare to take on Southie

I'd like to say that my sore back and legs are from the monumental troop that is the annual South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade, but I'm sure that digging out my driveway from another foot of snow on Tuesday is a large contributor as well. 

This year's St. Pats parade with the Rebel Legion and 501st was much different from last year.  In 2012 we had temperatures in the 60s, little police presence that I noticed, and large horse droppings to dodge for most of the route.  This year, we had temperatures in the 30s, a large police presence, and all the horse droppings were pretty well scooped (or at least given a good try).  We had more to fear from South Boston's lack of road maintenance than Boston's Finest Pony Patrol; seriously, some of those potholes could have eaten a jawa (and we had a few marching in the parade!)

The one part of the parade that I dislike the most are the drunks.  They're everywhere, and all ages.  They all want to see "Daath Vayda!" and ask "Wheah's Chewie!?".  They want us to pretty much stop the parade so they can get their drunken duck-face photos with a stormtrooper or a rebel pilot.  We try to tell our people to "stay in formation" and keep marching, and only tempt fate to walk the crowds when we've stopped, but some of our number just didn't care for that, and would constantly get left behind as we marched on without them.  I nearly ran over one of our members several times because she would stop short and pose.  This is the one time of the year that the TV "reality" show Southie Rules is accurate; it's the one time when many in South Boston actually do act like the moronic pricks that show portrays folks from Southie to be. 

Even so, the main reason we were there, the kids, loved us.  We got them jumping out of their chairs and off the curb to see us.  They lit up when we came into view, and went nuts for us as we passed.  I love that part of the parade, and as long as those kids are there and respond like that, I'll keep coming back year after year.

Rites of Passage

The St. Patrick's Day Parade holds another place in the hearts of the New England contingent of Star Wars Costumers.  For years, the mentality has been "you haven't trooped until you troop St. Pats".  It's four miles in weather that could be sunny and warm one year, to near blizzard conditions the next.  The only time we haven't trooped it was the year it rained.  A lot.  Vader doesn't react well to heavy rainfall, neither does any other costume.  You're in-costume from 11am to about 4pm.  That's a long time to be in armor, without many chances to even take off your helmet.  You come out of St. Pats appreciating the Library events, where you stand around in armor.  Stadium events where you can pose for 20 minutes and then take a break for another 20.  Heck, even other parades later in the year where you think "Hey, it's 45 degrees out, and only a mile and a half long.  With a slight drizzle.  This is nothing."

Your armor can take a lot of abuse during St. Pats.  Aside from the drunks who try to take home souvenir shoulder bells and thermal detonators, marching four miles can put stress on seams and edges of armor.  My Commander Fil suit got some extensive repirs after Celebration VI last year, but looking at the armor after the parade has me worried.  I'm missing chips from the shin-guards.  My thigh plates are missing pieces too.  The cod and butt plates are trying to stay together along their seam, but storing them the way I have been has not worked well.  I need to permanently afix the two together, since that's how they're stored.

They're made of HIPS (High-Impact Polystyrene), as opposed to ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene).  What's the difference?  To my understanding; detail.  HIPS holds detail a lot easier and better when used in a vaccuform machine.  ABS is a bit stronger, but shows less detail off the mold.  Having made a clone with each type, I can say I was more pleased with the look of the HIPS over the ABS.  It was easier to work with too.  The issue is that the HIPS is starting to wear out, and break down.  Fil is two years old now, and may need replacement parts soon.  Thankfully, the molds are still being used to make suits, so matching replacements might be available.  It's just that it means more money into the suit.

A Softer Choice

I really need to make a Jedi.

I know, I have a SWOTOR Jedi Shadow in the works, but the writing on the wall tells me that costume is likely to sit in it's current state for a while.  In the meantime, I have several items that work for a generic Jedi:

"Preacher" Boots
Jedi often preach, right?

• A pair of boots that Rebel Legion costume judges think will be fine for a more traditional Jedi
• A pair of khaki pants that I bought specifically to use for a generic Jedi
• Jedi-style undertunic from a LARP costume
• Jedi belt that has been stripped of weatherproofing and is ready for dye to match the shade of the boots more closely (was a more natural-leather color)
• A rack of lightsabers begging to be used for more than just wall art.

The only parts I'm missing for generic Jedi approval in the Rebel Legion is the outer tunic, tabards, obi, and belt accessories (pouches, food capsules, and/or Jedi Communicator).  Theoretically the costume parts of that could be done in a weekend; I'd just have to find the cloth to do it.  The trick is finding it in the color I want.  I'm thinking of a forest green-to-olive shade for the outer tunic, and tan tabards and obi.  I just need to find the fabric. 

Oh, and room in my house to work on it.  That would be spiffy too. 

All Wings Report In

So Erich Shafer and I have been chugging right along with the official Rebel Legion Podcast, All Wings Report In. Seriously, if you're into the Rebel Legion or Star Wars costuming at all, I highly recommend giving it a listen.  You not only get to hear about the Rebel Legion and what we're doing, but we've also started getting more "tips and tricks" segments into the show.  Also, we occasionally get to do interviews with folks in the Star Wars family, like the one we just had with Dee Bradley Baker.  Dee is the voice of the Clones for the entire run of The Clone Wars, and it was a privilege to talk to him the other day.  We split it off from the main episode run, so you can grab the 13 minute interview on it's own if you just want to listen to that.

Otherwise, the show seems to be going well, has a good following, and is continuing to evolve and grow.  Now if only some other folks from the Clone Wars would respond to our interview requests...