Hello Joe.
405th Membership is tied directly to participation here on the Forum, and with your local Regiment if you chose to do so. A completed costume is not required to be a member of the 405th. See our New recruit and New Member FAQs for more information on the voluntary levels of 405th Membership:
Hello, and welcome to the 405th Infantry Division, the world’s premier Halo Costume and Prop construction community. This document is designed to help answer some of the common questions new members have about our organization and its Forum or Message Board. First, what is the 405th? As...
www.405th.com
Membership FAQ How do you become a member of the 405th? If you are reading this, then chances are good that you are in fact already a member! The 405th has several levels of voluntary membership where an individual can choose how much they want to be involved with the 405th and how much they...
www.405th.com
If you choose to to participate with and join your local Regiment you are then eligible to participate in the
voluntary Deployment Program. The Deployment Program is the place where the 405th can be consider to have "Costume standards." Deployment is an
optional process where a 405th Regiment Member may voluntarily submit their completed costume for evaluation and sorting into one of three (3) tiers based on the accuracy of their build and it’s fit to the wearer. The program is meant as an acknowledgement and celebration of a member’s hard work on their costume as well as an encouragement and goal for new members starting out on their great journey into the costuming world.
In order to be deployed, a costume must be from an official Microsoft or 343i source. While this is primarily the games, Graphic Novels, Live Action Productions, Animated Projects, and even some concept art from Official published Art Books can be considered. No original, fan designed Armor Sets, permutations, or components are applicable for Deployment as we are unable to objectively evaluate them against a Bungie, 343, or Halo Studios source or metric to fairly quantify tier level of fit into the Halo Universe.
Again, Deployment is optional and a costume does not have to have gone through the Deployment Program in order to be worn at the overwhelming majority of 405th events. There have been events in the past where Bungie, 343, Halo Studios, Microsoft or another Event Partner or host have specifically asked for only Canon Halo Universe costumes, no Mash-Ups, Cross Overs, or Fan Designed Armor Sets or Costumes, but those events are rare and are usually High Profile events involving a lot of Media where they want to be sure they are promoting Halo specifically and not another media franchise or someone's fan art.
Congratulations on building your first Halo costume! You've taken your first step into a larger world. If you wish to delve deeper into your passion, your next step is the Deployment system. AugmentedHuman013 and MNKr are the current Division Membership Officers if you have any further...
www.405th.com