405th.com -- Costuming Wiki -- Tutorials

[dannifood4less]

yeah i think we need to condense down some of the sticky threads into one main tutorial, that covers it all,,,

-Links to files (image with click-able armor links is a good idea, vrogy)
-FAQs
-cutting/scoring tips
-gluing
-reinforcement
-bondo/glaze/mud
-paint
-strapping ideas
-visor tutorial
-safty/resperator
-wiring LEDs

also having all this in a LOCKED sticky would be ideal. then if there is other pieces that need to be added the mods can do so.

i would be happy to compile a nice and comprehensive A-Z tutorial, if the mods would give me the O.K. because, lets face it, the pepakura section has ALOT of good info, but its eally hard to find, especially because our search button works so well

-----
edit....
i have started a more detailed tutorial,, still needs alot of info/pics... hopefully i can make something organized, and easy to follow, that includes multiple methods, without over complicating things...

 

[Vrogy]

Or the mods can ignore suggestions, and sit around while we do it all on the wiki, as is the current status quo.

 

[Xavier]

Vrogy, dude, chill out.

Haven't you cause enough damage on this forum so far?

Your just gonna end up getting booted if you keep up the attitude.

 

[Belakor]

Perhaps I'm a bit dense but why is it you need moderator approval?
If you want to improve/change the current situation with the stickies then just do it, write something up and if it works it'll be stickied... sounds pretty straight forward to me

 

[dannifood4less]

Perhaps I'm a bit dense but why is it you need moderator approval?
If you want to improve/change the current situation with the stickies then just do it, write something up and if it works it'll be stickied... sounds pretty straight forward to me

the idea would be to make there be less pinned threads,, easier to find a tutorial,, not 15 different pinned topics with 25 pages on nonsense on each one.. like i said its just an idea.. i think it would make things alot easier.

 

[Vrogy]

Your just gonna end up getting booted if you keep up the attitude.

Meh. I've already been warned, and I've stated that the things I suggest are to the benefit of the 405th.. but not the status quo of the forums. Tough. If worse comes to worse I'll just do my work at the wiki.

Perhaps I'm a bit dense but why is it you need moderator approval?
If you want to improve/change the current situation with the stickies then just do it, write something up and if it works it'll be stickied... sounds pretty straight forward to me

Because what needs to be done is not another tutorial... it's less noise for people to wade through to find the scarce nuggets of insight. That's the entire point of wikis- everything unnecessary gets edited out over time, and better edits are favored over worse ones, so over time content improves. With stickied topics, unless mods go in and delete the fluff, combine stickies, standardize titles, etc.. it doesn't get done.
The pool of editors is reduced to the original posters and the mods. Unless mods proactively and heavily edit the stickies... you have the lumbering, >1600 post, ungainly thing that's there now.

I'll make an analogy- it's like you're burned, then infection has set in. You have to clean away the bad flesh, and graft in new skin to redefine the original shape. Additional bandages do not help.

 

[Primal Weyland]

Vrogy, dude, chill out.

Haven't you cause enough damage on this forum so far?

Your just gonna end up getting booted if you keep up the attitude.

Actually, that's *my* job.... and I'll step in to defend Vrogy on this occasion.

Back when all we had was a Download Database thread, do you recall my efforts to try and settle everything into one post?

No, didn't think so, because nobody paid any attention to it. They were all busy fapping over something else - the usual occurence of this forum. And despite numerous occasions of having the motion to condense the information on this site into one easily-accessible area.... what do we have to show for it?

A half-complete Wiki with links to the files, which is most of the time pretty much ignored by members who wander around going 'OMG CAN'T FIND TEH FYLEZOR INFOZ!!11!1ONEONE!!!ELEVENTYone'. And it's no surprise, because most of the information because it's buried in long-abandoned stickies - and as I quote myself as once saying: nobody wants to dig through page after page for information. We're human - we're just not designed to have that line of attention span.

Which is why making ADDITIONAL stickies is bad - it's just more noise to a signal a few of us here are trying to clear up, but we're not getting much help in it at the moment. If people pro-actively took their part in maybe focusing on a few threads, condensing the info, and then sent that information to be put up on the Wiki, we wouldn't NEED a dozen stickies. All we'd have is one - "READ THE GODDAMNED WIKI YOU NUB!"

As for Mod approval - you guys run this site. And we can't really do anything that affects the 405th without permission - think of it like this.

Me: "Hey, can I run around Chesterfield wearing only a 405th-brand thong?"
Adam: "No way in hell can you run around Chesterfeld wearing only a 405th-brand thong."

Get my point?

 

[NZTK]

I've never quite understood why everybody wants detailed models. Correct me if I'm wrong bbut, some of the best looking pep based pieces were done with standard game models. If people spent more time practicing sculpture and teaching themselves basic scratch model making, they would be less dependent on flying squiril to do their work for them.

 

[Primal Weyland]

You're forgetting Belakor... Vrogy... Skullcandy Girl... even Supertaco. Credit where it's due, at least.

Not everyone has the means or ability to sculpt, NZ-TK. Not everyone fell out of their mother with a clay spatula in one paw and a lump of clay in the other, and managed to come up with a masterpiece, and even if they have such an ability, some might not have the funds to do so - myself included. Same goes for CAD modelling - some packages are extremely expensive and difficult to master - again, not everyone has the time, patience, skill or funds to invest in it.

I'm not saying you're wrong, NZ-TK. I'm not telling everyone that modelling from scratch is bad - hell no. It's a good skill, and it can be used to present some very elaborate and well-designed pieces, whether in clay form or in CAD modelling for Pepakura files.

HD pieces mean that people have to do less work to their initial pieces. Sure, it takes away a lot of the skill NEEDED, but for those ABSOLUTE beginners, it's a way to start learning those skills.

 

[Xavier]

Dude, I know I've sorta gone for a while, but whats with all this negativity!

Christ people!!

Something else I don't get at all is why the mods are letting members be openly disrespectful to mods and other members.

Mods, kick into gear seriously, there are more of you now than ever, but less being done in actual moderation than ever.

PS: Guys I agree with you on this sticky business (heh), but cant we do it without causing trouble?

 

[Primal Weyland]

I hate to continue the topic digression, so this will be the last thing I say regarding this matter. However:

if you're asking the Moderators to stop people from having a say in how their community is run, you're welcoming a dictatorship.

We all have a right in sayong how we feel things should be improved. And as it happens, quite a few members are of the belief that the Moderating team isn't doing a good job with the organisation of information on this site, among other things. Several times suggestions have been made and then ignored as irrelevant, despite the obvious actual good those ideas would bring.

So, I'll agree with your comment - the team does need to kick into gear - but not in putting members under their thumb. I actually find that the moderating team on this site is quite good, due to how the team is closer to the community than others. But in terms of actually getting things done, I'll have to agree in saying that... well, for all their 'work' there isn't much to show for it. And it honestly appears to me as though staff is picked more on the ability to craft armor than getting things around the forum actually done.

Disagree with me all you will - that's the honest truth of it. I'll actually take a stance with the staff in some matters, but in ths one I stand firm - something needs to be done about site organisation and control, because right now, the place is an inefficient mess. If it would make things more easy on their 'tough schedule' then I can personally take a small team of people into the Stickies, condense the information into a few Wiki threads, and then present an 'Armor Building 101' topic with the relevant links inside, to replace ALL of the stickies found in this forum. The same can also be done in other 'sticky-heavy' forums if it is needed.

I can fully expect staff action for my opinions - it's happened in the past. But you can't argue with the facts - something needs to be done.

 

[LastSpartan]

Don't forget guys that the mods are doing this during their free time. They aren't paid for this. So we should save them some work and be respectful between members.

Like NZ said before, being a moderator is like being a janitor.

 

[Xavier]

if you're asking the Moderators to stop people from having a say in how their community is run, you're welcoming a dictatorship.

And it honestly appears to me as though staff is picked more on the ability to craft armor than getting things around the forum actually done.

As for the first comment, This site is a monarchy. Don't start thinking its a democracy, or even a republic.

For your second comment, I completely agree.

 

[tlither]

Moderator = janitor? Not much cleaning getting done. I did wade through all the stickies when I joined. It was an ordeal. With a lot of younger members here and human nature to want quick answers, wading through 1600+ posts in 25-30 stickies isn't going to work.

A service to the original admins/Adam? Shouldn't it be a service to the forum?! This site is for and about all of us not just a select few who started it or were elevated to a position because they have armor. If the mods are overworked with the forum (since they do it in their free time), perhaps there should be a few more added who are on at different times of the day.

I'll stop now before I can't get off my soapbox.

 

[Primal Weyland]

*sighs*

I'm going to regret this. BUT.

No community can ever be run succesfully as a monarchy. For a community to WORK it has to be just THAT - a COMMUNITY. Where everyone puts ideas in and benefits the site. We don't have one person sat up on high lording it up while the rest do the hard work for them. That's why England had a Civil War, remember? Monarchies generally tend not to work too well as a ruling power.

So, I'll disagree with your comments. If your principle were true, then FS and Vrogy would be moderators by now. And since neither of them are, the logic is flawed.

For a community to work, there has to be a co-existence between the ones 'in power' who make things happen, and those who suggest which things happen. And the problem here is that nothing is actually getting done, for all the suggestions put in.

Edit: tlither mae me nod and say 'there's a dude with his head screwed on'.

 

[Sinjinsmiley]

As for the first comment, This site is a monarchy. Don't start thinking its a democracy, or even a republic.

More of an oligarchy (rule by a few) than a monarchy (rule by one).

However, (no offense intended to the mods and admins here) the site is really just data on a server. What brings the site to life is the great community we have here which is not a monarchy or even an oligarchy but instead just a group of people working together to help one another out.

Essentially what I am trying to say is that whilst the site may be ruled by few we the community still have the rights that Primal refers to as without the community the site is nothing.

PS. Bit rushed so might not be as clear as I would like

 

[LastSpartan]

Moderator = janitor? Not much cleaning getting done. I did wade through all the stickies when I joined. It was an ordeal. With a lot of younger members here and human nature to want quick answers, wading through 1600+ posts in 25-30 stickies isn't going to work.

A service to the original admins/Adam? Shouldn't it be a service to the forum?! This site is for and about all of us not just a select few who started it or were elevated to a position because they have armor. If the mods are overworked with the forum (since they do it in their free time), perhaps there should be a few more added who are on at different times of the day.

I'll stop now before I can't get off my soapbox.

Yes but deleting the posts won't help either.

If you feel like it, make a thread with all the stickies in it. Then ask for it to be Closed and Pinned. They are mod because they have more talents and more experience with prop building than you and me. And I agree, more mod should help.

 

[dannifood4less]

Yes but deleting the posts won't help either.

If you feel like it, make a thread with all the stickies in it. Then ask for it to be Closed and Pinned. They are mod because they have more talents and more experience with prop building than you and me. And I agree, more mod should help.

this is exactly what i was talking about a 'mega tutorial' using bits and pieces of each tutorial thus far. then have one sticky.. then upload all the pictures on a dedicated storage, so 2 months from now the pics wont be broken, etc, etc..

 

[LastSpartan]

Okay. Let's get back on topic now If the mods wants for the big-uber sticky, I can do it.

 

[Twitchfmx8811]

you know ive been thinkng about this also. This might be the motivation I need to create and have closed a total pep tut. I might start asking around if I can use peoples vids and pics that have already been done as not to have to remake almost perfect tuts.