MANILA, Philippines—You’ve probably seen pictures of the stormtroopers and Darth Vader, or even seen them for yourself at malls, on TV, at big events. You’ve seen them in their armor, posing and marching with their blasters and their helmets. You probably even have pictures with them.
But have you ever thought of what it’s like to wear all that armor? I’ll tell you what it’s like, because I wore clone trooper armor three days in a row at “Star Wars” Celebration Japan.
First of all, I’m a member of the 501st Legion, an international organization of Star Wars fans who wear the costumes of “Star Wars” villains. It is Lucasfilm’s preferred Imperial costuming group, and is represented locally by the Philippine Outpost. And I’m the only girl.
It isn’t easy. My other costumes are the Imperial officer, which is all cloth, and the scout trooper, which has no leg armor. So the transition from those costumes to the full body armor of the clones wasn’t easy.
Midget
The clones in the movies were around 5’10”, and of medium build. The fiberglass armor we wore was built for guys who were 5’5”. I’m just over five feet tall, and compared to the other two Pinoys who wore the armor at Celebration Japan, I’m skinny!
The armor enclosed almost the whole body in fiberglass. There were only small openings at the joints and the neck so one could move, and even then mobility was very limited. The arms were too big for me, and kept moving around.
Fortunately, the bicep pieces are attached to the shoulder bells, so they stay in place.
Not so for the elbow and the forearm pieces: they kept rotating on my little arms! The legs were too big for me, and it was difficult to walk. I had to waddle most of the time!
The knee plate kept getting stuck between the thigh and the shin pieces, and it would pinch. And worse, we had to put lifts inside the shoes to make me look taller, and they hurt!
And then there was the helmet. It’s like a cage around your head! The opening was so small that the face plate had to be removed so I could put it on. It was so stuffy that my sweat condensed. Visibility was limited too. I couldn’t even look down at your feet, so I was always afraid of stepping on little children, or hitting someone with my blaster!
But don’t start thinking that clone armor was all pain and no fun. Sure, it hurt. The armor pinched when I walked all over the convention hall during the costume parade on the first day. I found out later that people were saying in Japanese, “That one’s quite short!” “Chibi clone,” I think, is how I will be described in their photos.
Parade
But during the parade I could see little kids waving and smiling. It’s heartwarming when you see little kids look up at you in awe, their parents excitedly telling them to pose for pictures. It’s a great thrill when you realize that the “Star Wars” celebrities and artists want to have their pictures taken with you.
And because the Philippine Outpost of the 501st wore the only white clone armor costumes at Celebration Japan, two of our members were able to participate in the opening ceremonies of the convention, standing alongside “Clone Wars” Jedi padawan Ahsoka, Steve Sansweet of Lucasfilm, Clone Wars director Dave Filoni, visual effects guru John Knoll, and master sculptor Lorne Peterson. One of our clones even got stuck doing photo-ops for two hours with the crowds!
So when I remember how much the armor hurt, pinched and ached, I remember how many people smiled because of me and my armor, and that makes it all better.
