Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Other Hobbies and Interests => Topic started by: Welshtrooper on May 09, 2010, 08:18:51 pm
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Hi all just thought I would let you know what else I do, well firstly I am a member of the Galactic Knights Costuming Club and basically we go to events large and small around the country dressing up as various sci fi characters(mostly Star Wars). My costume is a Shadow Stormtrooper from the Star Wars extended universe.
(http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii332/Fuzzwuppet/Pics%20of%20me%20in%20costume/22546_294680148415_743768415_345-1.jpg)
The Armour is by a firm caled FX its 3mm black ABS plastic and cost £430 but the blaster I made myself from PVC piping, some aluminium parts I made myself and some cast resin parts of Ebay.
Heres a closer pic of the Blaster
(http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii332/Fuzzwuppet/self%20built%20blaster/28012010054.jpg)
Secondly I am a member of staff in the Air Cadets, I am uniformed and I am Sqn Warrant Officer at my sqn in charge of discipline, uniforms and dril, although I am on long term leave at the moment and will not be rejoining my sqn till October at least.l
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No I mustn't. :-X
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No I mustn't. :-X
Why NOT??
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Oh come on !!! ok2
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While I myself do not follow this hobby there are some that do and find as much if not more enjoyment from their chosen venture
I like yourself build and use model vessels, we find a level of enjoyment from this and so the Welshtrooper finds his in his way so why not !
I do know some that "scoff" at the likes of us model enthusiasts with sayings not unlike
Ooh look at the OLD Grandads playing with their TOY boats..
I defend my hobby with the fact they are models and mostly scale sized and when you know the cost it is quite clear they are NOT TOYS.
R,
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Second pic looks surprisingly like a Sterling MkIV to me....
-Rob
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I learnt at a very early age you do whatever makes you happy in life, forget what everyone else thinks >:-o
Inferred swearing as obvious as that is, I'm afraid, as unacceptable as swearing itself.
BB
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Superb outfit ,
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Thanks Catengineman
I might add that we do the troops as we call them in return for donations to worthy charities of the organisers choice, these can be from a few hours in length to a whole weekend. We ask nothing for ourselves in money, just somewhere secure for our kit and a little food and water. The most recent high profile event was in Camber Sands on the south coast. The SFX magazine held there annual convention weekend and we were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tom Baker, Elizabeth Sladen(DR Who) Gareth Lloyd Jones(Torchwood) and James Marsters (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). We regularly meet up with Star Wars actors such as David Prowse, Kenny Baker and Peter Mayhew to name a few, who place us in high regard.
I say to those who might regard me as sad, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone"
The costumes we have are not the cheap of the peg stuff, some of these costumes value into the thousands of pounds so they are not toys either but made to look as close to film quality as possible alot of the time with very high detail which takes time to get right just the same as scale boats.
Robert you are pretty much spot on, it has the Sterling as a base but the scope is an M38 sightig scope of a Sherman tank. The box on the side is a Hengstler electromechanical counter used in logic control machinery but in this case it is the power pack for the scope and the targeting sensors which are the two cylinders on top of the mag receiver. The only thing missing off the blaster is the catch at the rear of the main receiver and the cooling fins which cover the vent holes in the front of the barrel.
The blaster took some 30 hours to make and in Star wars is called the Blastech E-11 Blaster Rifle
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Hello Graham!
Thanks for the info re: the Blaster
I'd no idea there was such a large interest in (re) creating the Troops.
-Rob
(from 35 miles to the right, and a few miles down a bit)
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There is quite a big following actually Robert, The Galactic Knights has roughly about 200 members, but not all are active troopers, we are but one club around the country, there is also the Hollywood Heroes and the 501st UK Garrison to name a few others, how many they have I do not know but the 501st is by far the largest club going and are a branch of the 501st Garrison in America which is huge. Check out our website at www.galacticknights.co.uk, we also have one or two bits of footage on youtube.
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heres a few general pics of us.
(http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii332/Fuzzwuppet/SFX%20Weekend%20Troop%20Camber%20Sands/100_2421.jpg)
(http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii332/Fuzzwuppet/South%20Cheshire%20Militaire/000_0002.jpg)
(http://i548.photobucket.com/albums/ii332/Fuzzwuppet/Dyffryn%20Road%20Scool%20Fair/summerfair09048.jpg)
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The other day at Margam Park, South Wales, they had a weekend where various re,enactment groups took part. They ranged from Cromwell Soldiers, 2nd world war German Soldiers complete with various relative vehicles, American Civil War Soldiers complete with fireing cannon ect, and many many more. They provide great entertainment for kids and adult,s There is also a lake where guys go and sail there boats, Each of these clubs/societies have spent shed loads of money, on their relative interest,s, and apart from being very knowledgable about what they do, they will also readily spend time and talk to anyone interested in their hobby and to what they are about. They also raise a lot of money for various charities. I have no interest in re,enactment, but I say all credit to you guys, I am sure your world is a lot better than than the one we all have to live in, a bit of escapeism in any form cant be bad.
Bosun
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Cheers Bosun
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Anything that scares the **** out of kids is good with me, :}
This IS the other hobbies and interests section ain't it??
Thought I might have stumbled into the masterbuild area.
Regards Ian.
Sorry Graham, only pickup, driLL
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I think these costumes are amazing and appeal to the desires of rather a lot of us to 'dress up'. I personally would get a real buzz out of being an Imperial Stormtrooper but I'm not sure if my shape would lend itself to a costume, maybe I could be a Wookie {-) {-)
.......who said Jabba the Hut? <*<
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Ewok :-))
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Bunkerbarge....
Just think how much egg you could get in all that Fur !!! :}
Regards Sub.
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Welshtrooper.
Absolutely brilliant Mate...
You keep up with it, never mind what any others say there the " sad " ones , get out and enjoy every minute of it.
Regards the ATC.
I spent many a happy year as a youngster going off flying , annual camp , etc , great stuff, pity more of the young ones dont do it..
Regards and " respect " Sub. :-))
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Cheers Sub, nice to meet an ex cadet, I was a cadet for 4 years as a teenager but didnt rejoin until I was 30, but I have loved making a difference to some fantastic young people, plus I get to enjoy all the stuff the cadets get up to also.
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well, with regard to other hobbies and interests out of 'shall we say' the extreme to some folk - having lived with Star Wars episodes having spent £X on life-like light sabers with sound effects; sending for specially turned alloy hilts for these from the USA - my son has moved on to his next stage.....airsoft :-) where even more money is spent kitting out etc., what feels like the entire British Army; with realistic/authentic airsoft weapons - how would you like this bunch of young lads turning up in what appears to be an armoured vehicle - and for ones son to walk out into the street with all the gear - see what ya think %% %% %%
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Omitted to mention ATC connection,F/S and it was down to GCE 's that stopped me from devoting enough time to accept Cdt W/O.
Comment passed on eldests Batchelor do by his prospective Father in law (Ex RAF storeman) when he found I'd been in ATC, "Oh yes, BOYs playing at Air Force"
The egg dribbled down his face when I asked how many Chippies, Sedburghs and Mk3 sticks he'd waggled at 16 years old and when he got his Gliding "C" and when did HE qualify for his RAF Marksman??
Do you have to be "Vetted" by the plods for ATC and the kids connection Graham??
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Yes CRB, and CTC(Counter Terrorist Check) plus a renewal of service every 4 years. I hopefully get my long service medal in 2 or 3 years time, depending on whether they take my year's leave into consideration for it. I hold a marksman on the .22 also, just the Sqn marksman though.
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Second pic looks surprisingly like a Sterling MkIV to me....
-Rob
I agree, I reckon that if you went into Barclays bank with that inside your coat, you would discover how quickly they react to a Bank robbery! Not recommended to walk the Streets carrying that!!
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I,m afraid you airsoft guys would not be covered under the re enactmant clause on carrying weapons in public as they are classed as a firearm to some extent whereas our weapons are not designed to fire through construction and so are not classed as firearms, although we dont even carry them out of costume for fear of them being mistaken as firearms, especially the larger blasters which are based on WW2 machineguns. I must however say I,m imressed by the selection of weapons in the picture, Ive only had the pleasure of firing the .22 No8 Lee Enfield and the 5.56 L98 Cadet Rifle myself.
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Hey, Welshtrooper,
Have you considered sticking one of those visible green lasers inside those blasters? Would it be allowed, even?
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He he nice one PMK, you can however get the electronics to put inside the blasters to give lights and sounds, but they cost a bit but do give the blaster that bit more of a realistic edge. My blaster as it stands is worth about £150, but with the electronics it pushes it towards the £300-£400 mark. I cannot put them in this blaster as it was a prototype for me, but I am looking into building a few more, possibly with the electronics in them.
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£400?? Phew! You're a dedicated fella, I'll say that much.
So where do you get the electronics from? Is it some sort of special kit dedicated to the purpose? Or is it not possible to knock-up some homemade circuits for flashing lights and whizz-bang zappy sounds?
Or is there more to it than that?
By the by, I wasn't kidding about the laser. You'd be surprised by just how visible the beam is - especially the green and blue ones. Dirt cheap, too. You can buy a 5-milliwatt green laser diode these days for something like five ~ ten pounds. One of those should be dead easy to fit inside your blaster. And if your mate had a dirt-cheap photo diode or two strapped around strategic parts of his body, could be made to trigger some sort of "I've been hit" alarm. The whole caboodle would probably cost no more than a few beers.
These are just thoughts. Pardon me if I'm waffling.
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Well I could put one in but I wouldnt be able to use that one for trooping as the lasers are not allowed on troops for safety purposes, the normal thing for the blaster flash efect is either a very bright ordinary LED or a Luxeon LED which is almost as bright as a laser but much safer. The electronics for the blaster can be bought ready made for around £130 not including the LEDs for the barrel and flash and main flash LED at the muzzle, this gives a veriety of sounds and settings for the different blaster effects. With this installed the cost to anyone buying the blaster goes up because of the fitting out involved. You can make a basic sound and light card but you need a specific chip to program the sounds into then add a 555 timer and decade counter for the light effects, but you need a bit of electronics knowledge to work out the nitty gritty of the circuit.
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Bet that lots warm i used to do war of the roses re-enactment and a couple of hours in plate knocking each other about was no joke must have drank gallons, i moved onto ww2 after that the comfort of cotton!
i remember seeing the storm troopers with modified mg34s german webbing etc in fact all the empire uniforms were very german esk. a full harness is cheap though at around £500 as a full gothic harness would be about the £10000 mark depending who makes it are there any trade shows for this type of stuff not seen them at any re-enactment markets.
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Hmm wouldnt know there Dave, most of the stuff our sand troopers have are either modified or self made, there are one or two MP40 clip pouches hanging around on Ebay from time to time, these are what they use or modify, as for the back packs they are made from the same bits and bobs that the original Star Wars props were made from. You are correct on the MG34 it is the base for the Heavy Blaster, but the Light Repeating Blaster (the Big Gun) is a British Lewis Machine Gun.
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Where can i get a good Biker scout helmet would like to add one to my medieval ww2 and nam collection
Dave
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Hmm dont know off hand Dave but I can ask some of my GK friends and find out.
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@Welshtrooper:
Love the costumes mate, and love your work! Must be a lot of fun going to events and stuff. I imagine you get a lot of camera action! By the way I live a short drive away from this shop and although you probably know all about it I though others on here might enjoy a look around!!
http://www.jedi-robe.com/home.html (http://www.jedi-robe.com/home.html)
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Don't under estimate the power of the Dark Side of The Force.... I'd love full Stormtrooper uniform but bit too pricey for me, some attended at Crewe Militaria this year, very impressive. Couple of Stormtroopers, Sandtrooper, Jango Fett, Imperial Officer and a Darth Vader...scared me. Just so long as don't turn out like this guy... :-))
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May the Farce be with you! :}