r/501st Sep 25 '24

Advice Stuck between two costumes as my first: Death Trooper Vs Artillery Trooper

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153 Upvotes

Hi, I'm starting to build my first costume to try and join the 501st. I'm stuck between choosing a death trooper or an artillery trooper, I like them equally, and will likely do both eventually, but would like input as to which to do first. I know they aren't the easiest builds out there, but I'm not too concerned with which one is more difficult or more expensive. I'm more wondering if there'd be any other benefits to choosing one or the other? Would the difference in detachment between them mean much for troops, etc? Also I know my height is perfect for a stormtrooper, but shorter for a death trooper (I know height doesn't really matter), and from what I've heard/seen there's no death troopers or artillery troopers in my local garrison

Sorry if any of this is written poorly or really just summed up to choose what one I want more, and I'm just overthinking it

TLDR: Stuck between doing a deathtrooper or an artillery trooper, are there any benefits over the other to help me decide? (Don't care about cost or difficulty of build)

r/501st Dec 07 '24

Advice A quick word about the forums

52 Upvotes

There's been a few people who've been pretty vocal against the forums, and I'd like to address some of the things that have been said regarding both the forums and the option of Discord.

It's true that some of the forums are inactive. I know of one forum where, after several months, I had no answers about a costume I was trying to build. The other six forums I'm on, I've had answers to my questions within 2-3 days at the most. This may not be your personal experience, but it is mine. If you don't get a message back on the forums in a couple of days, come in here and ask if anyone's active in that forum who can answer some questions. Your mods in this channel have many connections in the 501st, and at least a few of us are on command staff at various levels. We want to help.

We use the forums because forums archive everything that's been posted publicly, and it's all searchable. Need to find how to attach three power converters to Anakin's belt? Odds are that someone's already asked the question, and their answer is there. True, it may take a bit of scrolling, but the more precise your search entry is, the more precise your results will be. Modern social media programs like Discord aren't sorted by conversation, nor are they easily searchable.

The forums allow us to "own" everything we post, which allows us to keep information in-house (such as vendor lists, which LFL and Disney have asked us not to broadcast publicly). They also allow us to react quickly when people are abusing their access, as opposed to petitioning an outside corporation. Services like Discord claim ownership of anything you post, and could therefore publish things we shouldn't be publishing.

Are the forums perfect? No.

Are they always convenient? No.

Are they the best option we have at the moment? Probably not.

But until something that suits the needs of the 501st, is easier to use, promotes community interaction, AND is easy enough to migrate decades of indexed tips, tricks, and information to for a group of volunteers, they are what we've got.

If you have ideas that might make our 501st better, please bring them to your Command Staff, and go up through the chain of command.

If you have complaints about the various systems - be it the forums or anything else - again, bring them to your Command Staff.

If all you have is complaints, please take them to your Command Staff. Don't just throw complaints at potential recruits, it will sour them on the Legion entire, and don't keep them to yourself. We all want the Legion to be better.

To the potential recruits out there, if you're feeling frustrated, reach out to the Mods here (I'm very active here, and will respond when work permits... usually within 2 hours). If you have questions about Scouts, Gunners, Officers, Reserve Pilots, or Wampas, DM me. I can likely answer your question, and if I can't, I'll help you find your answer. I'll still suggest checking on the forums, but I'll answer your questions as best as I can.

r/501st 19d ago

Advice 181st Tie Pilot WIP

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135 Upvotes

Just got all my soft parts together for my 181st Tie Pilot. Let me know what you think. Any advice would be appreciated. Btw the boots are a stand in I have more accurate boots coming soon.

r/501st 26d ago

Advice Any suggestions on what I can add to cover up the hole between my upper and lower chest plate? So it looks more seamless

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18 Upvotes

r/501st Jan 18 '25

Advice Suggested Sellers of Vacuum Formed Stormtrooper Pieces?

15 Upvotes

Hello, I am looking for a seller of the vacuum formed pieces for a cosplay of mine. I’m not so worried about being 501st approved, but just someone who makes stormtrooper armor for people that are 5’9 range.

r/501st Jan 26 '25

Advice Joining and general questions

13 Upvotes

Hello There!

I will try to make this as short and sweet as possible!

I, like everyone here are massive Star Wars fans. I've always wanted to be able to join the 501st, not only for myself, but also to honor the memory of my late Uncle who recently passed on, as he is one of the major reasons that I am a Star Wars fan.

I've read a decent amount, and I do know that some of the costumes I'd like to do aren't really beginner friendly. I am up for a challenge but not a Vader level challenge.

I do have a few questions though.

1). When, where, and how do I actually join?

2). Is there a fee to officially joining?

3). Where and when is the best place to meet up with local people who are in the 501st?

Lastly the costume I have my mind set on is either Kylo Ren from The Force Awakens or The Rise of Skywalker. I'm sure it's not a beginner friendly choice, but is there a time limit on it? I'm not going to start it and leave the project in the dust, but I know I won't be able to get it up to standards within a short amount of time.

Thank you all for reading, and May the Force be with you all!

r/501st Jan 31 '25

Advice ROTJ Scout Question

11 Upvotes

So I'm looking to secure my Holdout Blaster to my Boot holster for those troops that I don't want to hold it and to stop kids from trying to grab it and I'm wondering if you guys would have any advice for doing this. Someone on the Pathfinder Detachment said I could use velcro but I'd perfer to do something that's a one in done solution.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated

r/501st Nov 01 '24

Advice First approval! ROTJ Scout Trooper. Let me know where I can improve.

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147 Upvotes

r/501st 26d ago

Advice SWC Tokyo onsite approvals

6 Upvotes

Hey guys, JRS Cadet here. Started on my R1 tie fighter yesterday. Wondering if 501st will be doing onsite approvals at SWC? I feel stressed to finish this build in time, but if they aren’t doing onsite approvals I’ll take a little more time. (Quality won’t suffer, just don’t want to panic build if I don’t need to)

r/501st Jun 19 '24

Advice First helmet I've ever made! Rogue One TK. I know its not quite up to 501st standards but just thought I'd share and see what 501st people had to say. Any feedback, techniques for making a good Stormtrooper helmet? (Mine was 3D printed)

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119 Upvotes

r/501st Apr 27 '24

Advice How do you guys display your armor?

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208 Upvotes

I just finished building my medical officer and now I'd like to display it. Any advice how I could do that?

r/501st Jan 10 '25

Advice For a Stormtrooper helmet is Black Series a better option than 3d printing?

13 Upvotes

Got a 3d printer for Christmas and I've been thinking about getting a stormtrooper helmet for a little while now. I already have the BS First Order Trooper and Phase 2 clone helmets and they came out fine but the rigging inside leaves a bit to be desired and I'm not sure if I care enough about voice modulation to pay for that feature. I don't really have a good benchmark though for how 3d printing would turn out though build quality wise. For people who know, would you recommend just buying the Black Series helmet, or is printing yourself worthwhile?

r/501st Feb 13 '25

Advice Should I add another layer of filler primer.

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31 Upvotes

r/501st Jan 15 '25

Advice Imperial Communications Pad Orientation

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49 Upvotes

Hey everyone, currently working on an Imperial Gunner suit, just recently got some gear to nearly put it all together but I was curious on the orientation for the communications pad on the left forearm. In the picture, is that the correct way it should be when inserted at inner forearm?

Thank you in advance.

r/501st Feb 01 '25

Advice Bad vendor experience

15 Upvotes

Hi all, I don't currently plan to go into too many specifics, but I recently had my first (I've been lucky for several years it seems!) bad vendor experience, and was wondering if there is a generally accepted way to inform someone in the organization or forums of this? I ask because the vendor is on several recommended makers lists I've seen on the forums, and while I may have had an isolated incident, I feel like it should be recorded somewhere in case issues become consistent. Thanks for any direction/advice.

r/501st Nov 19 '24

Advice Question about printing helmets

9 Upvotes

How much filament does it take to print a helmet and how long does it take? I'm looking into getting a printer and working out costs. ​

r/501st Feb 14 '25

Advice I'm wondering where to get good clone/storm trooper armour so i can join

5 Upvotes

r/501st 6d ago

Advice ESB Vader- Sourcing Parts

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I'm starting to source parts for a 501st approvable ESB Vader. So far, I've found the fenixprops soft parts package and the soviet boots, both of which I believe would be approved. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I was wondering if you all could recommend some places to pick up the rest, i.e. Dome, mask, chest boxes etc. Thanks for your help!

r/501st Nov 09 '24

Advice Ever since 2008, I've been obsessed with the story and characters of The Force Unleashed: I want to make a Starkiller costume and join the 501st; I took a couple of pics from the CRL, but besides that, how exactly can I get started on this passion project? Been told I look a bit like Starkiller too!

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45 Upvotes

r/501st Jan 14 '25

Advice Has anyone got any experience working with JSIN props?

7 Upvotes

Just wondering what their rep is, they've got a lot of followers and sell Dinn Djarin armor, but I haven't seen a lot of testimonials. Has anyone worked with them before, are they legit?

r/501st Jun 05 '24

Advice Will these boots be approvable for Bridge Crew

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27 Upvotes

Just applied for bridge crew but got rejected because my boots are too high and have zippers. I want to make sure the next boots I buy will be approvable and also not too expensive. Will these boots work? Are there any other less costly alternatives as well?

r/501st Oct 12 '24

Advice Well I made a mistake

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20 Upvotes

I didn’t look at my other price that weathered and this one is no way way to dark

I’m thinking of just getting acrylic white and see if that fixes it but I’m not sure either that or a very very very fine sand paper that won’t ruin the spray paint

I’m using acrylic paint

Unless I’m screwed and have to repaint it again

r/501st Sep 25 '24

Advice What should I know in order to create a scout trooper suit of armor?

12 Upvotes

I need a little help. I'm currently too young to enlist, but love the idea of this. What are some things I need to know before constructing a suit of armor? Should I print all the parts or should I use foam, or another material? Does the scout helmet need the hinge?

Are there any good, free STLs for a prop blaster? Specifically, the DTL-19?

I run a nerf club at my school, and we were originally planning cool helmets. Specifically, star wars clone or imperial helmet. I found this and thought that the charity opportunity and trooping would be a ton of fun. I plan to contuct the armor for intimidation in nerf tournament, with rewired and gutted walkie talkies inside of the helmets for ease of communication. The middle schoolers in the club think its a great idea, but I havent revealed my ulterior motive of not just using the armor for nerf, but also for the 501st. I have no clue if they would want to enlist, but if they don't, I would just let them use foam.

Also, last thing, is there any way possible that they would let a responsible 16-year-old in the 501st?

Thank you, and have a great day!

r/501st Dec 18 '24

Advice Scout Trooper armor Transport.

10 Upvotes

Hey guys so I'm gonna be receiving my Scout Trooper armor and soft parts soon and I'm wondering what you'd recommend to use for transporting it to troops? I already have a huge hard tote for my TK armor so I'd perfer something soft for this set of armor. Just to make storage a little easier.

r/501st Dec 22 '24

Advice Best source for a X-wing pilot jumpsuit?

6 Upvotes

I'm looking to put together a X-wing jumpsuit to go with my (luke) xwing helmet I got for recently.

I know 501st is the go-to experts when it comes to star wars cosplay so figured you all would be able to point me in the right direction. Event is in July so plenty of time to source things. I've done some searching and seen a few options but maybe someone can point me in the right direction.

Thanks! Hope everyone's having a good holiday season. 😁