"Imperial troops have entered the base..." <KSHHHH>

[Vader]

hey dude, also love the artwork/costumes and would love to see more. I've done drawing/photoshop stuff for years and I'm a big fan.

Btw. Got any tips on making the costumes and about getting involved with the 501st?

Cuz I've wanted to join 501st myself for quite some time but I haven't had the time and/or the knowledge to create the outfits.

Well, the best advice I have is to take a look at www.501st.com and figure out what your local Garrison or Outpost is, as appropriate, and then contact them to get onto their message boards. Due to our agreements with LFL, we have to be very private about our costuming sources, and mostly it's "I know a guy who knows a guy...", etc. Find out from them when they'll be having a troop or an Armor Party or some other get-together, and go hang out with them. If you've got an idea what costume you'd like to start with, that's great - otherwise, go back to www.501st.com and take a look at the costuming menu to get some ideas and see what's eligible for 501st membership. There are no dues for the international Legion or for the local Garrison or Outpost - the price of admission is you building a movie-grade "bad guy" costume, and agreeing to conduct yourself in a professional manner when in public in costume.

Sorry to be cryptic, but LFL is pretty insistent that we not be public with sales of props and costume parts - one of the prices we have to pay for not having to pay licensing fees to them in order to use their intellectual property. All the best info really is in the Garrison websites and fora, frankly, and local advice and help on costume building is really best, anyways. I can certainly give general advice, and tips from my own costume builds (I've done Vader, Maul, a TK - that's regular old stormtrooper, from the line in ANH "TK-421, why aren't you at your post!" - and an Imperial Officer; I've also done a Jedi costume for the Rebel Legion, and have researched and purchased materials to build a Tusken Raider, which can be used for both Legions). Do you know what costume you'd like to build?

[Loyal]

I'll prolly start off with the standard TK but I'd like to eventually do Vader, an Imperial Guard, some Jedi/Sith Robes, and some of the non-film characters like a KOTOR sith trooper and some old republic Mando Armor.

Lol. I tend to get carried away with these things, so I know that once I start...I prolly won't stop.

Thanks for the tips that you could give me and I'll definitely check out those resources. Any other advice you can give would be welcome too.

...and that's so weird that LFL keeps such a tight fist on things, but I guess it makes sense.

[Vader]

I'll prolly start off with the standard TK but I'd like to eventually do Vader, an Imperial Guard, some Jedi/Sith Robes, and some of the non-film characters like a KOTOR sith trooper and some old republic Mando Armor.

Lol. I tend to get carried away with these things, so I know that once I start...I prolly won't stop.

Thanks for the tips that you could give me and I'll definitely check out those resources. Any other advice you can give would be welcome too.

...and that's so weird that LFL keeps such a tight fist on things, but I guess it makes sense.

TK will run you between $800-1200 to do it right (and a lot of that is finding what you need for JUST a little less, or doing extra work yourself). Vader is one of the big ones, and probably the most expensive "regular" (screen-seen) costume in the 501st - you probably cannot do a movie-grade Vader for under $3000. Mine has totalled over $4500 so far, though a good portion of that is replacing old or poorly-constructed parts with better stuff - I could replicate my current costume for under $4000 right now. Vader is also VERY hot to wear - it's quilted leather or pleather, fiberglass armor (you CAN get it in ABS plastic, but the fiberglass generally looks better - it's heavier, though), leather belts and straps and gloves, a neck seal of some kind, two layers of robes (frequently in wool, for maximum canon status - mine are not, and look fine), and a big helmet. I wear a mascot-style ice vest under my costume, and get about 3 hours or so out of it. I can reload it and get up to another 3 hours trooping time, but I have to get out of costume almost entirely to do so, and that would take about 45 min to suit down, recharge, and suit up again, so I usually don't. Besides, the boots are hard on my feet, too. Red Guards aren't terribly difficult, but are nearly as hot as Vader (the robes are velvet), and the helmet is VERY restrictive. If you have a large head, I'd recommend trying some other costume. I would guess about $1500 to do an RG right, but don't know for sure. Republic Commandoes are very popular right now, and only a couple of people make kits for them, so the wait list is long. Armor kits start at $900, WITHOUT helmet (which is another few hundred $, IIRC - helmets tend to be pricy compared to the rest of the armor for just about every costume). Jedi robes aren't too bad, price wise - I think mine cost around $800 all told, including a complete redo of the tunics to replace my handmade ones. Then again, I haven't found a set of boots I like, so I'm using my old Maul boots and am not considering boot costs - custom boots are pretty expensive. Custom armor like a KOTOR Sith Trooper will be pricy, or will be an opportunity for you to learn some new skills (and will STILL be pricy, come to think of it! :mrgreen: ).

Hope I'm not being discouraging - I LOVE being a member of the 501st, and would recommend it to anyone who's got the costuming bug and loves Star Wars. But the bar of entry is pretty high, which a lot of people I've talked to in the past don't seem to realize. Movie-accurate costuming is *EXPENSIVE*, and we do have a code of conduct (nothing onerous, IMO). However, our well-earned reputation for professionalism in attitude and action, and for excellence in costuming, is what gets us troops at children's hospitals and major businesses, and opportunities to work with Lucasfilm from time to time. There are over 4500 of us around the world, and we'd be happy to have more troops.

[vader voice]"Join us. It is your destiny..."[/vader voice]

[Loyal]

Lol. YOu haven't scared me away with the expense. I did look into some of the stuff awhile back so I figured it would take a rather large chunk o' change to put one together...but when I can afford it, I still plan on doing it.

And I prolly will do as much as I can myself. I like a challenge so this is right up my alley.

Besides, if I get good at it, I'm sure I can find a few people who would pay me to get one.

[Oogiem]

Movie-accurate costuming is *EXPENSIVE*,

It could be worse. Try historically accurate for {pick any time period} clothing. I'm still trying to perfect my spinning skills to make accurate Viking woolen and worsted fabric for clothing. I have the right wool now just not the right spinning technique. I still need to perfect the weaving too. A friend makes historically accurate chain mail (riveted) We keep threatening to make a pair of outfits (armor for him, high born ladies outfit for me) and crash the local yearly fashion show at the theatre. He's a blacksmith and is planning on making a totally accurate replica viking war hammer or sword to go with it. I figure they will let us in or we'll bash the doors down. We've been scrounging appropriate metal for a while. My husband just rolled his eyes and said have fun, The friend is less than half my age ;-) I refuse to grow up!

We've also been contemplating making a set of sheep armor for one of the rams. Last time we discussed it the decision was to go for working armor instead of tournament armor but we haven't gotten very far. We need it to be adaptable to different size sheep and until the coal forge gets running he can't really make the parts easily. I'm thinking plate armor is what we'll end up with as it's actually a bit easier to make than accurate chain mail. If it ever happens I plan to enter the ladies lead line class at the county fair in accurate clothing as well. You know, the class where everyone leads their docile, cute, white wooled, bottle lamb around while parading in some fancy dress made of wool fabric that mom or grandma made for them. Somehow I think that leading in a full grown black ram with a full curl of horns in full plate armor while I am wearing accurate handspun and handwoven dresses to match the armor style would be really cool. ;-) Best guess is that it's going to take about 3 years to make the fabric and sew the dress and probably more like 4-5 to make the armor. But it still would be really cool.