u/trenchcoatedrat

Onlangs zag ik een eenzame wesp in een gaatje in mijn spouwmuur kruipen. Hiervoor heb ik ondertussen al de nodige hulp ingeroepen van een verdelger om de wesp(en) te doden.

Nu vraag ik me enkel nog af of ik na tijd het gaatje in de muur kan dichten, en hoe ik dit het best doe? Ik kan me namelijk voorstellen dat als ik het gaatje gewoon laat zitten, er na verloop van tijd opnieuw wespen (of andere beestjes) zullen in kruipen.

Recently I've tried reaching out to my local garrison (since that's the usual advice I keep seeing being given to people who are interested in enlisting with the 501st), but it seems like they are unreachable through email and their website has been under construction for quite some time now (pretty much as long as I can remember).

Are there any other means of communication for me to try and get in contact with my local community? I'm located in Europe and I feel like they might be my best bet at helping me find resources to build my costume without having to buy from US located people (the import fees and taxes make things a lot more expensive, unfortunately).

I also wonder if it's a thing for not-yet members to be able to get in contact with a local garrison at all even just to get to know the people in it while I build my first costume, or are things such as the forums and communities only better accessible once you have your 501st ID? For example, I noticed that I also can't sign up for the forums linked on the official, global website of the 501st Legion (eg. Jolly Rogers or the Imperial Officers forum)

Hello! I've been a quiet admirer of my local garrison for ages by now. When I first saw them at comic cons, I was still a student with no adult money for cool stuff. In the meantime, we're some 16 years later and there's now adult money in my life. And last weekend, my friends decided to have our comic con lunch break with the garrison's booth right across us in plain view. So that, of course, woke up that old childhood dream of wanting to join the 501st...

I love cosplay and have been in the cosplay community for most of those 16 years of quiet admiration of the 501st Legion, but pretty much all of my costumes have been commissioned or purchased after repeated fights with my sewing machine that cost me precious money on lost and ruined fabrics.

I know there's strict requests in terms of costume accuracy and details, so I wonder if there are maybe Etsy sellers or such out there who are reliable in terms of the work they deliver. If not full costume (or parts), maybe sewing patterns and other patterns for crafts. I do have some friends who are far craftier than I am, but I also don't shy away from working with commissions.

My big dream has always been a TIE pilot, but I've grown to appreciate more and more different costumes through time. Even when I now have adult money, I am still tied to a certain budget. I don't see it possible for myself to spend another four digits on a costume (my fursuit took me almost six months to financially recover from, I'd rather not have to do that again).

Currently my interests for costumes are the TIE pilot (original trilogy or Rogue One), Reserve Pilot, Second Sister, Bridge Crew, Death Star NCO, FO General Hux and Imperial Ground Crew.

Any advice in terms of which costume(s) are beginner & budget friendly, and where to look for crafting/sewing patterns or commissions is welcome! I'm located in Europe, so preferably I'm looking for resources that would spare me from huge import fees :)

I'm also willing to check out resources that may not be entirely up to standards, but still deliver better quality than the average Amazon/eBay/... Halloween costume store. Even if it would happen that I don't get approved with my local garrison, I'd still love to have a really great looking costume in the end!

Thank you for your time and who knows, maybe in the future I can announce my recruitment! 🫰