Author Topic: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!  (Read 5824 times)

Offline adentw

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Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« on: April 10, 2013, 10:33:10 PM »
Hey guys! Saw one of your events at a best buy near my house and absolutely loved it! Been a fan of sci-fi stuff, and love star wars. Been looking for a way to join you guys and make my own costume! I know it will take a long time, but I have always been a fan of learning new building techniques and such. I had a few questions, and not sure where to get them answered, so I am posting here. Any advice you guys can give would be great.

So first, I was looking through characters and the requirements for specific characters, and really found I have just always been a double-bladed light saber fan. While I like Darth Maul, I don't think I wanna cosplay him. After looking around I found a guy by the name of "Teneb Kel" or otherwise known as "Darth Thanaton". He looks pretty awesome to me. He appears in Star Wars: The Old Republic (the MMORPG) but I don't like that costume so much. He also seems to be a prominent figure in the comics from the Old Republic. This is the wiki page for him.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Thanaton

Would this be a valid character and costume choice if I could create it?

Here are some of the images of the character:
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120926195659/starwars/images/3/31/Kel_on_Begeren.jpg

http://www.starwars-universe.com/images/encyclopedie/personnages/sith/Kel_beast.jpg

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100714135854/starwars/images/3/38/TenebKel-TOR4BotE1.jpg
« Last Edit: April 10, 2013, 10:41:38 PM by adentw »
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Offline TurboCam92

Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2013, 11:26:32 PM »
First off- Welcome! :D
Second, I don't think that Darth Thanaton is an approved character yet, but I could be wrong. There is a list of official 501st costumes on the 501st website under "Costuming". If someone were trying to get him on the list of approved costumes, they would probably be talking about it on the Flagship Eclipse forum, which is for all of the Expanded Universe characters. Right now, the only SWTOR character that's being worked on (at least that I know of) is the Sith Acolyte from the "Hope" and "Deceived" trailers.
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Offline adentw

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Re: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2013, 12:00:49 AM »
Well yeah, what I meant was, if I were to make this a costume, could I get it approved? does it follow the rules? According to what I read it seems to, just wanted to double check and see what people thought. What goes into getting a character approved?
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Offline TurboCam92

Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2013, 12:21:38 AM »
Oooooooh. My bad.
I drudged this up from the 501st website as well. It looks like Thanaton would be "Level S" and in a grey area. Mosi (our GML) will probably welcome you in the near future and be able to help you turn Thanaton into an approved costume. In the meantime, it's always good to come to troops and help out by spotting (when you can). That way you get to meet people and get some experience with trooping before you get your costume done.

http://www.501st.com/databank/Costuming:CharacterApproval
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Offline adentw

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Re: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2013, 12:19:10 PM »
I would love too! what's involved with spotting? How do I sign up to help out with events? When looking for events under the main page calendar, I only saw 1 for like 4 months. Is that the case? or are there others available?


Also, what do I have to do to get Darth Thanaton approved as an S level character? I've started doing some basic costuming and looking at materials and prices. Not wanting to go too deep before getting approval on the concept.
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Offline TurboCam92

Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #5 on: April 11, 2013, 12:53:51 PM »
Spotters are like Stormtrooper babysitters/security. They make sure that the people in costume don't trip over/run into anything, make sure people don't tackle them when they come in for hugs, make sure that they don't pass out, and offer to take pictures for people. The common phrase is "it's like herding jello cats," but once you get the hang of it it's pretty easy. What you have to do to sign up is just stay on top of the public event announcement forum and send a personal message (PM) to whoever started the event thread. There's also a "Spotter's Needed" section, but it's not always as up to date.
In regards to the costume, I will find the person who knows the most about that and have them talk to you. I promise I'm not the only one here.
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Offline Mosi

Re: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2013, 12:57:56 PM »
Yeah, your best bet is going to be at the Flagship Eclipse detachment for help and to see if it's something that could be approved as an EU costume. Katie on here was the detachment leader there last year and can probably help you.
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Offline Aysel

Re: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2013, 01:03:21 PM »
Hi! and welcome to the wonderful world of Star Wars costuming. I can give you a few tips on how to get a new character approved. You have to build it first >.< then it goes through a rigorous approval process at the main legion level. This can be a really long process as people compare your build to the reference pictures of the character. Expanded Universe costumes are always approved at the legion level. If you go to http://www.theflagshipeclipse.com/forum/index.php for more information and help from the EU costumers in the legion. Sign up for the forums (it may take a bit for your access is approved since the board is going through a spam registration attack right now and we're having to go through and check each request manually)

Good luck with your research and build!
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Offline carpe mindiem

Re: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2013, 02:29:36 PM »
RE: Helping out by spotting at events... I'm going through right now and posting our public events for the next couple of months in the Public Event Announcements forum. For big events where we specifically need to recruit spotters, you'll find a post in the Spotter Check In forum. If you find a public event that you want to come out and help at, feel free to volunteer even if it's not listed in the Spotter Check In forum.

Take a look at the Trooping Handbook for more info about what happens at troops and the duties of our spotters.
http://www.cloudcitygarrison.com/stuff/Cloud_City_Garrison_Handbook.pdf
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Offline adentw

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Re: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #9 on: April 11, 2013, 08:20:20 PM »
Thank you all for the advice! I read all of your suggested information and such. I also got to check out the neat events coming up. I still have lots o questions, so please bear with me.

1. Do I have to go through some sort of training to be a spotter? Even with the guide, I feel it would be unwise to simply sign up as a spotter for an event. As I would be a "spotter in training", it might make more work for those organizing the event.

2. It sounds as though I should begin the costume and start talking with the Flagship Eclipse detachment. If I have general costuming questions, how should I deal with them? do I talk with specific people? start a costume post for Darth Thanaton?

3. I noticed that you guys said it is good to document my work with lots of pictures and stuff, where would I post that stuff?
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Offline TurboCam92

Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #10 on: April 11, 2013, 08:45:16 PM »
1. For your first troop, they'll usually pair you up with a spotter who has a few troops under their belt. After that, the learning curve is significantly reduced.

2 & 3. For your costume, you'll make a work in progress thread in the "Imperial Armor" section. That's where you'll post your progress pictures. There's a similar section on Flagship Eclipse, but it's specifically for costumes that are in the R&D phase. In both cases, people will tell you what you're doing well and where your costume could use some work.
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Offline Luananeko

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Re: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2013, 10:50:22 AM »
First off, welcome! It's always great to see new folks around here :) I know the feeling about loving the double bladed sabers, I have a custom saber for my own personal fun that's one of the Double Helix Parksabers.

As someone who's made an attempt at getting a new character approved for the legion, let me warn you that you're in for a long process if you want Darth Thanaton to be your first costume. This is not to deter you in any way, but you may want to work on a second costume that is already approvable so you have easier access to all the legion forums and events, and contacts while you're working your way through the paperwork for Thanaton. You're in luck that Thanaton is a MUCH more well known and defined character than the one I was trying to have approved, so you won't have to prove that Thanaton really does belong in the 501st's ranks rather than the Rebel Legion. It sounds like someone asked about the costume you had in mind too, but that was a couple years ago and they didn't do much with their inquiry: http://www.theflagshipeclipse.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1903

The Flagship Eclipse forums will have this info too, but here's the rundown of the early steps of getting a costume approved. You'll be asked to create a "costume dissection" post where you list every official source your character appears in the outfit you want approved, along with supporting pictures from every angle. You then break down those pictures into listing out the specific pieces that make up the costume (ie: "Hood: The hood is black in color and loosely drapes to cover the costumer's head and partially obscure the face. It is not so low as to block the costumer's eyes, but it is low enough to cast a shadow on the face from the bridge of the nose and upward when lighting comes from above. The hood connects to a short collared shirt separate from the unitard with enough slack to sag a bit in the back. See closeup used on red hair details for front view, back view below" ). Here's the thread I had going for when I was trying if you want an example: http://www.theflagshipeclipse.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2040

If the Flagship Eclipse folks agree you have enough source documentation to warrant going forward, you then would begin making the costume and posting a WIP thread on the boards where the costume judges can comment on if there's anything you should change to be closer to the reference pictures. As the very first approved person for a costume (as well as it being your first legion costume in general), you'll be under VERY strict standards since you're what everyone coming after will use as a model for getting approved. Everything must be as perfect as humanly possible, but it's definitely worth it in the end when you look back at how much improvements you've made :)

If for whatever reason you're not able to get Darth Thanaton approved, there's always the option of making your own custom sith and applying for membership with The Dark Empire. They're another one of the 5 Star Wars costuming groups that have authorization letters to do costuming on behalf of charity, although they're not as well known or as large as the 501st or Rebel Legion. Several of our members are members there as well, and often swap between their 501st or Rebel Legion costumes and their custom sith costumes at events as needed. We try to be one big happy Star Wars family here :)

Okay, so that turned out a bit longer than I had planned, but hopefully it helps! Again, welcome to the forums, and good luck with your efforts to get Thanaton approvable :)
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Kim

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Offline adentw

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Re: Hello! Possible New person to join? Need advice if possible!
« Reply #12 on: April 14, 2013, 01:15:57 PM »
Thank you very much for that reply! I appreciate all the detail. I actually was expecting as much. I started getting a large set of pictures for comparison together. Different components such as face and hair, his communication arm devices, inner and outter garment. I will try to post those today for some comments. Be looking in the costuming section I guess. Was waiting for Flagship Eclipse to accept me, but it is taking longer than I thought, and I already have started working on some costume components. So yeah. haha. Thanks again! hopefully I'll catch you guys soon!
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