trencher

appreciate the advice greatly 

Remember, we are a costuming club, so this chart is simply based on things we've "seen" and have approved costumes of. 
Of course, anyone is free to troop with whatever rank they feel is fine and correct for the uniform or character they are representing, and can call it Senior Chicken Plucker 1st Class if they're so inclined. We just try to use this chart to stay in the realm of things we have seen. 
We could go on forever about novels and where they fit in, but like any costume component, a rank badge is another detail that unless there's a clear view of, and some description of what it's called from a movie, comic, official illustration, ect, it's not really possible to fit it in here.  

Hello everyone,
 
Check out the trailer for a fan film that I was honoured to be part of and spread the word! I've seen the final cut already and it's great!:
 

Class A sideburns though

Good luck. We will be waiting excitedly to hear you progress!

ID 15302 thinking about her next scheme with TI 91111 at the Night at the Museum event at the Tellus Museum, Cartersville, GA (both of us are GA Garrison)!
 

Grand Moff Tarkin (Marc Hense, ID 55255) and Director Krennic (myself  ) desperately trying to enjoy each others present at the 2018 Legoland Event in Günzburg, Germany.

That was the toughest thing I had to do when I put my Bridge Crew costume together. I hadn't shaved in over 15 years. But, duty called.

I've got a Staff Officer build, but I'm the only 501st member within 200 km (120 miles) of here, so quite often it's just me and a handler who's working on his first costume.  If I do find myself with no other troopers around, I've found three fun roles to play, depending on my audience and my mood.
 
First is my "Advance Reconnaissance" duty... This one's especially fun when I'm caught having a bite to eat, or watching the local seaplanes or some such "touristy" thing.  I'll simply explain that I'm performing a routine inspection and evaluation on this system, before the Emperor commits troops to the task.  I'll follow that up with something to get people engaged, such as "You haven't seen any... Rebels... have you?" or "This <gesture at food> is wonderful, and very filling.  This will definitely keep our troops well fed.  Can I place an order for 150,000?  To go?"

Second is my "Recruiting Duties"... if someone expresses an interest in costuming in general, and the 501st in specific, I'll switch over to "Really?  I'm actually here to bolster our ranks in this system!  Do you have any experience operating AT-STs?  No?  How about Z-74 Speeder Bikes?  Can you program a Gonk droid?  Have you ever considered becoming a Stormtrooper?"

Finally, especially if there's kids who are a bit wary or concerned, I approach within about 3 metres of them or so, and (in that "little kid whispering but not really" voice), confess that I've gotten lost from my squad, and ask if the child if they or their parents have seen any stormtroopers.  I did this to one kid, and his older sister immediately pointed down the street and said she'd seen Darth Vader "over there".  Knowing there was no Vader around, I tried to look worried, looking for Vader, and I overheard her tell her brother "He's a bad guy!  We're Rebels, like Jyn and K2!  Shhh!"

Hope that helps give some ideas for if you're caught without your squad. 

Ah, another thing to do is to let people in rebel or Jedi shirts to know about "the emperor's seditious clothing act of 1977." ( Or of '77.)And by wearing seditious clothing , that they are in fact breaking imperial law. Which is punishable by five years of hard labor in the emperor's work camps. And you can make up some kind of job they would do. Like washing tuskens, shaving wookies, or the ubiquitous cleaning of the ewok cages at the local imperial zoo.

I’ve actually been called a Rebel spy. So, does that mean I have to fax all this intel to Mon Mothma? 
 
Because I’m not her biggest fan...

Man that's even more worse than going on patrol in the desert of Tatooine

Troops in Ohio are a'plenty. But work is killing it right now.  I'm working on average 70+ hours a week. but the money is good. all in all, the troops I have had were good. I got to use my new navy trooper (shield gate officer) and had a good time too. I'll throw out some pics to show this summer's activities.
 
The Columbus crew soccer team had us for star wars night.

 
Then, we were hijacked by a hermit. :p

 
had the Dayton vectren air show parade in vandalia ohio. My home town.

 
 
Paraded with some subs out guns out mandos and rey.

 
And last is the Dayton children's hospital. This was my fourth visit to there. It's heartbreaking to go through the critical care ward. I envy those in helmets on these troops.

 
All in all. Not a bad summer yet.

T_T it is summer for the next few months more for me here... T_T /dieing of heat

I like the looks of this. Myself I'm planning on getting a bigger one I can fit my boots and hat in.
 

It's almost exactly what I use for my Officer stuff
 

Tetris skills are really practical here

I found this on Amazon, which would be nice since it has rollers. 
 
I forgot that I had this one for my real life uniform, and it would definitely be better for storage of the accessories.  
 
I should also say that along with the normal accessories, I also carry boot pulls, boot remover, lint roller, deodorant, extra rank bars, belt boxes, gauntlets, and two sets of straps for my pants and gloves (if I am wearing them). 
 
I'll try the second one out for next week's troop and see how that goes.  I am just always paranoid about folding uniforms for fear of wrinkles. 

I have a garment bag for the tunic and jodhpurs, and a large boot container from the Container Store for everything else.  So I roll up to a troop carrying just the two things.
 

 
The boot bin is large enough to hold my Hessens (barely!), with plenty of extra room for the various costume accessories, including belt(s), the boot jack and boot hooks and blaster.  Your standard plastic tub with a latching lid, but larger and flatter than usual, to accommodate the tall Hessen boots.  I'm toying with picking up a cheap folding hand truck, then I can wheel everything out very easily.  None of it weighs a lot, though, so to date, it hasn't been a huge hassle to transport.
 

 

 
 
 
I made a "tool roll up" out of soft polar fleece, wrapped in leather (laying across the boot above), to hold my various dosimeters, rank badges, and belt boxes, to keep that all nice and shiny.  It fits in the boot box as well.
 

 
My hat I carry by wearing it on my head.  Boxes tend to be too bulky, if you're going to protect it well!

...... I just throw everything into my bag and go....

So i did not expect this to happen... 
 
strange to be so excited for an animated show to return, even if it's only 12 episodes (announced) 
 
https://www.starwars.com/news/sdcc-2018-the-clone-wars-to-return
 
 

Ultimately, whatever rank you choose should be one that you want/like to wear. Matt's suggestion is good if you have any interest in going for L2/3 because you'd need to replicate an on-screen Officer. However, if you have no interest in that, then pick whichever rank you like best. 

Josh,
My suggestion would be to find an on screen character you like and model your uniform after he/she. That way you'll know what rank to buy. This is also the best way to progress to level 2 and 3. Good luck!
Matt

As far as a rank bar goes, I'd recommend one that an Officer of your age would probably be wearing. For example, a 20 year old probably would be sporting Lieutenants bars, while Officers in their 50s or older would be senior Officers (Colonels and higher). Not sure about the boots, can you post a pic or two?

Hi everyone, in order to help me understand the numerous variants of the black uniforms & what costume components could be used in other configurations, I created the Shared Components Matrix.  That black flight suit is quite ubiquitous!  I hope you find this useful. 
 
It's not an official 501st document, just something I put together to help current & aspiring members.  The CRL is always the official reference which goes into more detail than I could include here. 
 
(It has been pointed out that "Navy Trooper - Dress Uniform" isn't included; it would have made the matrix 3 columns wider due to all its own variations, and I had to stop somewhere...!)  So it's not
 
Thanks to @tristanuk and my garrison GML for providing feedback before being finalized, much appreciated.

https://i.imgur.com/hxppuwp.jpg
 

 

Looks great. Can I share this with our academy Facebook page?