Deployment

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FANGS

Commanding Officer
Community Staff
Division Staff
Good morning!

Just to give you an update on the deployment process - I've provided a membership application form to the Regiment Staff to submit their own gear so we can test out any potential issues that may arise in our process.

Once we have that smoothed out, we'll be having the Regiment Staff work with each of you in their Regiments to get your applications submitted. For the time being, we're going to start with our costumed tiers simply because the form is designed for that and I believe it won't submit without photos of your costume. We'll get a form for our Non-Costume tiers set up shortly so we can get all of you properly registered as well!

I suspect that we're going to come across some issues as we go along so we'll do our best to keep you all informed. I realize that at the moment the below descriptions taken from the Mantle are a little bit vague in terms of exactly what each tier looks like. However, as we go through this process we will be working hard to develop specific examples for each tier and keep our determinations consistant. I do expect there to be hiccups but we'll always do our best to fix them.

Thanks everyone!

Costuming Members


  • Type D - Deployed Membership:is limited membership open to persons 18 years or older who own a completed Halo-based costume that meets the requirements of the organization.
  • Tier 1 - Apprentice Costumer: is limited membership open to persons who own a costume that meets the first level with regard to the standards of accuracy, completeness, and quality of construction as required by the 405th.
  • Tier 2 – Hero Costumer: is limited membership open to persons who own a costume that meets the second level with regard to the standards of accuracy, completeness, and quality of construction as required by the 405th.
  • Tier 3 - Legend Costumer: is limited membership open to persons who own a costume that meets the third level with regard the standards of accuracy, completeness, and quality of construction as required by the 405th.
A Deployed Member is defined as a member in good standing who meets the following requirements:

  • Meets all 405th Deployed Membership Requirements (i.e. ownership of an approved costume, is over 18 years of age, etc).
  • Has submitted and had approved a Deployed Membership application.
  • Maintains active contact with their Regiment/Battalion.
  • Participates in at least one Regiment/Battalion or Division activity per year* while wearing an approved 405th costume owned by said member as recorded during their application. Examples of an activity include, but are not limited to conventions, charity events, or any activity designated as an event by a coordinating administrative unit of the 405th.
Upon becoming a Deployed Member, applicants agree to:

  • Having their personal data stored with 405th records, e.g. the Deployed Member database.
  • Disciplinary data being held against that personal data.
  • Their personal name being used in the course of business in the 405th Infantry Division.
  • The 405th being able to share personal data to any justified party within the course of the 405th's business, including convention organizers, 343i, social media and law enforcement.

*Members who serve in military branches or in professions that may keep them from attending events for a time greater than twelve (12) months are exempt from activity level requirements if their service or profession renders them unable to meet these requirements.
These Minimum Activity Level Requirements should be administered as justly and with as much common sense as possible.
A member may retain active status, even if they do not meet all of the requirements listed above at the discretion of their unit Commanding Officer.
A Deployed Member is eligible to:

  • Vote in polls of the Deployed Membership.
  • Vote in local elections.
  • Run for and/or hold elected or appointed offices in the 405th.
  • Coordinate/host official 405th events as designated or allowed by their unit leader.
  • Create “Deployed Member-only” merchandise. (creation must be approved by the DIO)
  • Buy 405th merchandise.
  • Have their picture displayed on 405th produced promotional materials/websites/social media
  • Participate in official 405th events (i.e. charity benefits, celebrity appearances, guest escorts, etc).
  • Have access to the Deployed Member forums.
Upon admission, Deployed Members will choose a unique number in the 405th member catalog. The catalog number is unique to the individual member and is non-transferable.
Members agree to use and wear their costumes in accordance with the participation requirements as set forth by the 405th.
Members are expected to comply with their respective applicable local, regional, and national laws.
The right to grant, deny, revoke, or suspend membership is reserved by and under the sole authority of the Division Commanding Officer and may not be superseded by any rules of any 405th subdivision or unit.
We reserve the right to deny or revoke membership at any time, based on any past criminal history as outlined in Operational Procedures and in accordance with the laws of the applicable country or region within. Notice of such denial or revocation will be filed with the 405th Command Staff.
 
Something that has come up during our testing phase is that not everyone has suitable photos for the application just kicking around. If everyone in preparation for applying could take pictures of their gear with the following guidelines when you get a chance, that will certainly speed things up!

Pictures need to be:

Full front
Full back
Full right side
Full left side

all against a neutral background with good lighting so the detail of your gear can be easily seen.

Certainly these don't need to be professional photos. But we do need to be able to see the details. Darker photos or photos taken with a busy background make that more difficult. If we are unable to see something, we will come back to you and request further pictures, so don't stress too much about this. We definitely appreciate you taking the time to get good shots.
 
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Sounds good, eagerly awaiting opening of applications. Any idea on if/when we can expect guidelines or requirements for each of the tiers?
Or is it going to be a 'assessed individually' kind of situation?

I don't mean to sound pushy. I understand that there is a lot of work going on to get all of this up and running, and developing standards from scratch can be difficult, especially with such a wide universe to draw upon in terms of variation and customization within the games/fiction/film.

Thanks
 
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Sounds good, eagerly awaiting opening of applications. Any idea on if/when we can expect guidelines or requirements for each of the tiers?
Or is it going to be a 'assessed individually' kind of situation?

As far as I'm aware, the costumes will be individually-certified on a case-by-case basis, using a set of guidelines to check against.

I highly doubt (and hope!) that the 405th will turn into a 501st clone and that only the highest-tier costumes will be recognised and accepted. If I were in the position for grading costumes, I'd be looking more at simple things, such as:

- Armour fits well, doesn't hang off the wearer/look like they had to use a crowbar to get themselves into it
- Armour looks decently constructed - no glaring issues with warped pieces, pieces look decently smoothed out
- Armour is well-detailed, has smaller details added to bring it closer to game accuracy
- Painting has been done with care and attention to detail - no drips, runs, splatters
- Undersuit is present and fits with the game model

As above, I certainly hope that those in charge of costume grading don't get terribly elitist and grade everything that's not 3D-print quality as lower than Legendary-tier - and should it appear that costumes are being graded unfairly, there will be action taken to resolve the issue. It's important to recognise that we're still, at the core of things, a community here for the love of building things to show them off, regardless of the level of talent that builder might have - while these new rules may seem awfully scary to some people, we still need to remember that we're welcoming of everyone. And yes, that's something even the higher staff will need to bear in mind as we move forward with this.
 
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Well put. I find the tier system appealing because it potentially allows for people either just getting started, or without the resources, to still participate and get involved. While also giving something to strive for at the higher tiers. I don't think the system will be abused and used to isolate or elevate people unfairly as long as, like you said, the community and enjoyment are kept in mind. I have faith a good balance will be met
 
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I had the same exact fears Chernobyl.


2 points I see.

With starwars stuff there is real suits made hollywood with large budgets, same with any movie based fandom.
Ive seen some of the real suits at a exibit in seattle last year ........ Oh I was SO glad I had my F1.8 lens and DSLR with me.
They have sky walker ranch to get a good set of pics to ref.

from what I gather as the 501 in public is is a legion in formation ( Eg like on a deck of a starwars ship)
you need to have it all look the same .As in the movie they Do look the same .



On Our side
We have what amounts to renders that are at best about 1080*1920. hardly by today's standards a super HQ photo.
Yet we have files :D to help us.
On top of that the game has darn near infinite armor combos Eg REACH .
and spartans DO get battle damage, 117 himself with the gash on his right chest plate in halo4,


While there is armor and weapons and it takes place in space.... The two exists in very opposite words .
 
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and spartans DO get battle damage, 117 himself with the gash on his right chest plate in halo4

I do believe that battle damage should be taken into consideration when costumes are graded - as long as the damage is done tastefully and not displayed over-the top, and is in fitting with the overall quality of the costume, then I don't see why battle damage should be an issue. Conversely, battle damage shouldn't be used by costumers as an excuse to pass off build imperfections - the overall costume should still look decent enough.

Essentially, I think the following would be a decent way to look at things:

Acceptable:
- Minor scuffs
- Mild/light battle-scarring
- Weathering effects (black-washing, silver-brushing)

Unacceptable:
- Turning up to a deployment with a costume that looks like it just got dragged kicking and screaming through a bramble patch arse-first

Put simply: as long as it's in fitting with the overall costume theme, battle damage shouldn't be an issue.

As for fidelity of references and resources: we're very lucky to be a part of a costuming community that has such a detailed and easily-accessed set of resources to enable our users to create high-quality sets. It's one of the reasons I work so hard with the Archive - I want our users to have the materials at their fingertips that they'll be able to then use to create awesome costumes. I love seeing sets being built from the resources I put up and thinking 'I helped that person do that, there's something of me in that set'. All I hope and wish for is that the user makes their best effort with those resources, and that the grading rules take into account the effort that individuals put into their work.

Again, it's not going to bode well for the community if the staff in charge of grading armours look down upon sets that aren't up to the quality of, say, Sean Bradley or Cereal Kill3r. I shall be very upset if the 'Legendary' tier simply becomes an elitist and unattainable roost for the talented few.
 
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Agreed, we dont want the "Legendary" Tier to be an unattainable goal. We want to be sure that those that spent countless hours and restless nights to make sure their outfit is above par to feel that their hardwork is recognized. :)
 
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Agreed, we dont want the "Legendary" Tier to be an unattainable goal. We want to be sure that those that spent countless hours and restless nights to make sure their outfit is above par to feel that their hardwork is recognized. :)

I agree, but to relay words from a friend of mine:

what I would be upset about is if it simply became a checkmark for owning a CNC machine
 
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The One thing I see from years of cosplay . Is we take our time....
It Really sets us apart from many other fandoms .

I see a spidy cosplayer and I wonder who was there print service . As
there are only a handfull of places that print on lycra that are used by cosplayers.
My first real costumes was a set of 2 $500 dye sub printed spidy suits back in 04' .

I see the folks here with there armor and props My first thought is " how much time did it take ;) "
What skills did they learn in making there suits and props.
From Build to R and D ,every day I see us take on new ways to make stuff from the game.
We learn from what Not to do and teach best practices .....

Be it foam or pep or print it takes loads of drive to stick with it .

My reward is to know I did it....It got done on time....... That makes me happy to no end.
 
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The One thing I see from years of cosplay . Is we take our time....
It Really sets us apart from many other fandoms .

Not really. Any costuming venture takes time and effort - regardless of the fandom. The thing to factor in is exactly how much time and effort the individual puts in. And, honestly, that's something that worries me - I realise how much work actually goes into 3D printing and manufacturing a costume, but I fear that the highest tiers of the costuming group will simply be taken up with bought kits and costumes made by those who have them machine-made.
 
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Well surely the 'no commercially bought' part is a no-brainer. Bought from other costumers/commissioned is harder to police. It would be terribly unfair for someone with a 120+ hour build to be told "not good enough" while someone who threw cash at etsy for a finished suit gets high status.

It would be nice if origin of parts comes into consideration with the application. No necessarily for lower quality builds to be elevated simply because the person tried harder. But more to limit the grading of costumes which not a lot of the work was done by the applicant. At the same time we don't want to make people who have bought or had parts made, feel any less a part of the community.

Maybe something about copies of the same outfit. Not multiple builds of the same set, but say if I went out tomorrow and cast/vac formed my whole mk5 and then mailed it off to multiple other people. It wouldn't be fair to make a set of tier:X suits in that format (not that anyone else would fit into mine anyway).

What about a minimum level assembly. I think that's along the lines of how some others do it. You can't buy something ready made. But you can buy a certain amount of the parts and finish it off. The example here is people making a suit of armour and buying a cast helmet (not at all uncommon). Say that scenario could be well within minimum build and not a problem for the majority of the population. I don't know what percentage or level of personal contribution would be the limit. Or could have a mix of percentage of suit, with a limit on how finished any bought piece can be (depending on how strict you wanted to go).

Just some brainstorming on things that could be used as considerations for judging. I'm sure it's a bit late in the development process to be very useful and you guys have probably already thought through all that :p
 
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What about a minimum level assembly. I think that's along the lines of how some others do it. You can't buy something ready made. But you can buy a certain amount of the parts and finish it off. The example here is people making a suit of armour and buying a cast helmet (not at all uncommon). Say that scenario could be well within minimum build and not a problem for the majority of the population. I don't know what percentage or level of personal contribution would be the limit. Or could have a mix of percentage of suit, with a limit on how finished any bought piece can be (depending on how strict you wanted to go).

Grading 'pre-fab' costumes is always going to be difficult, and it's very important to realise that, in a lot of cases, people aren't just spamming their wallets at a person to buy a fully-finished costume that they can put on and wear out of the door like a tailored suit - most 'pre-fab' sets come as kits which then require at least some level of care and attention put into them to bring them up to a decent standard (mainly in paint and fixings). Plus, in and of itself, pre-fab costumes aren't a bad thing, since they allow users who have disposable income but very little free time, or a lower skillset and a lack of time/patience, to engage within the costuming community on an active deployment level.

Bear in mind that we, as a costuming community, shouldn't be ostracising members based on how or where they got their costumes. While I personally dislike the idea of somebody essentially buying their way into the Legendary costuming tier, we can't be turning people away because they have, for example, a full Sean Bradley kit. Some people do amazing things with pre-made kits, some don't. Some people do amazing things with foam or Pepakura builds, other people march out onto the streets looking like they were dragged out of the Infinity's armour bargain bin. And, honestly, that's OK - not everybody has the time, patience or disposable income at their fingertips to develop the skills they'd need to put out high-tier builds.

As long as we never become conceited and say 'you're a lower-tier member, we don't want you marching with us', then honestly, it's all in a name. Labels don't really mean anything and they should simply be taken as a reward for hard work or a goal to strive towards. As I've said above, and in the past, I will be very upset if costume grading turns into a way to only showcase the top percentile of this community - we're here to celebrate all builds, at all talent levels, regardless of how or where that build came from. The first instance I see of people being denied the ability to engage and participate in any aspect of the community, simply for not having a required level of talent, and I'll be done with the entire venture. I'd like to believe that things would never get that far, however - we're not the 501st.
 
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okay Chernobyl good to hear some logic in all this because with the first post I was unsure but now it's gone from "this doesn't feel right." to "I just need to fine a member to look my gear over." < this isn't easy or cheap two hours drive to meet with the group (not counting road work might need a better system besides pic's to rate armor.)
 
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I agree entirely with you on not excluding anyone for participating. I do however see the reasoning behind having high tier restrictions on some high profile events, imagine Microsoft requesting an representation from 405th. They aren't going to want the "bargain bin" Spartans giving the wrong image.

There is a local costuming club here which has two levels of costume approval; social, and charity. The social are a very relaxed standard, providing common decency etc are adhered to, for general get togethers, and fun events. The charity approved are to a higher standard to meet public expectations. Such as telethon TV appearances, City Christmas pageant etc.

I think that kind of system works well.

Agreed we aren't the 501st and shouldn't have that level of 'exclusion'. But the origin material should protect us from that anyway. A lot of the 501st nit picking is due to being screen accurate. Every single costume has a standard to adhere to. We aren't building film set replicas like they are. We are building real life versions of what are for the most part, physically impossible devices. Spend any time watching the kinematics of characters in halo and you will see that with pretty much every set of armour is impossible to move the way they do. Various plates and panels are always moving through one another at so point in a shoulder rotation or a crouch. Kind of funny if you start thinking too hard about it. On that alone it would be unreasonable to demand a "501st" level of accuracy. Not without making fully approved statues to place at an event :p

PS. Awesome fun to try convince people you are a statue while wearing the armour. Then move when they a convinced
 
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okay Chernobyl good to hear some logic in all this because with the first post I was unsure but now it's gone from "this doesn't feel right." to "I just need to fine a member to look my gear over." < this isn't easy or cheap two hours drive to meet with the group (not counting road work might need a better system besides pic's to rate armor.)

As long as you have a decent camera and somebody - be it your mother, father, sibling, auntie, homeless bum from off the streets - who can take a photograph or two of you, you should be fine. We're after, as FANGS mentioned, full-body views of the front, back and sides, with decent lighting. Spartan Selfies aren't going to cut it this time. Check the example below for an idea of what's needed.

I agree entirely with you on not excluding anyone for participating. I do however see the reasoning behind having high tier restrictions on some high profile events, imagine Microsoft requesting an representation from 405th. They aren't going to want the "bargain bin" Spartans giving the wrong image.

The 405th have deployed to numerous official representations before, featuring costumes of all gradings. Again, we're here to promote the entire community, warts and all, rather than just the glossy shine.

I do understand that there will be press releases and such that require high-level costumes. That said, I don't want to see restrictions for general convention activities (parades/group photographs, panel show-offs) based simply on whether a person's costume is 'good enough'. I've seen many people before simply turned away for not having a high-grade costume at other costume-related clubs and communities, and it's truly heartbreaking to see.
 

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I do understand that there will be press releases and such that require high-level costumes. That said, I don't want to see restrictions for general convention activities (parades/group photographs, panel show-offs) based simply on whether a person's costume is 'good enough'.

Exactly how I imagine it should be. :D
That is, not keeping people out of what they enjoy doing or discouraging them simply because they aren't a pro.
 
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Even though I am VERY much 501st and always will be, I am not and will not try to turn this in to the 501st. Art and I and a few others from other large costuming groups spent a lot of time sharing and gathering information on what works and what doesn't. The comments about the reasoning for the 501st being as detail oriented are exactly correct - we have to be. But the basics there still count as the basis here. Your gear should fit YOU well. I'm shorter....only 5'1".....so I have to spend time cutting down parts and making sure to get them back together well so it doesn't look like I've cut them apart. It needs to look like my gear that I could actually function in and not like I borrowed someone elses. As well, because I'm female, my armor needs adjusting to compensate for curves men don't have. That's no different than the adjustments that need to be done if you have a bigger tummy or longer legs or a zillion other things that make your body shape a little different than the armor was designed for. If the thighs should cover a certain amount of your legs and you are shorter or taller or larger or smaller - adjustments need to be made in order for it to fit you properly. Scaling Pep files etc. actually make this a little more attainable than it is for some 501st costumes which is fortunate for us here. I can't fix short so I fix the armor to fit me better.

My skills are going to be better than some because I've done this for a long time. My skills are also going to be a lot worse than some who have been doing it even longer or just have that certain skill set that I don't. We all started somewhere and we all have skills to improve on and learn no matter how long we've been doing this. And most importantly, we all have a place here in the 405th. The Tiers are meant as an incentive for those that want it, to keep learning new skills. They are not meant to be a punishment for those starting out or for those who build once and are happy with where they are. We can all have a sense of pride of belonging to this fabulous group at no matter which tier we end up in. And we can all share what we've learnt along the way with those who are new and just starting their journey. That's what a costuming community is all about.

Don't stress about this process, folks. We're going to do our very best to keep things on a realistic level and keep them consistant.
 
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fangs I understand that idea I'm on my third sniper rifle (reach type.) and I've learned a lot for my frist build till now, but for some one like me who has a large number of prop's and armor like DFT and other's what are you to do, I do know some try at the whole movie idea because they've reached that point; but then you have the ones that sell their hard work. at some point we reach an inpass and what are we to do then?
 
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