Mantroon wrote:
I think rather than screen accuracy being your goal, think of it like an achievemnet in a video game, you don't need to achieve it to play the game, its just an accolade for playing the game.
Now
that was very well put!
Really this topic was about what is considered canon beyond the films themselves (which on the whole is the
only canon source).
Somehow the discussion has evolved to whether or not we here at the Legacy have any kind of standards as to what would be acceptable as a USCM impression.
When I started out here in 2002 and put together my first USCM impression it was somewhat recognizable as being in the Aliens universe (being generous to myself here)... But was it accurate?
No... not really... at all.
But at the time it was my best effort for my limited resources, time, and especially (the big one)
money.
Over the years my rifleman evolved into a Phased Plasma Gunner- this arose mostly out of the need to have a weapon that I could cross the Canada/US border without breaking any obscure replica firearm laws, and still have something impressive to tote around at D-Con:
Eventually I found myself wanting to go more in the direction of SA. Last year I radicaly altered my Marine to look more like something seen on screen...
This was patterned after Drake's gear (minus his smartgun rig)...
In the last year I've found myself striving more and more for an accurate impression... Racal headset, improved camo pattern on my greaves, Gerber MkII knife, screen accurate dog tags, a functional Pulsemeter watch, etc. And while I am please that Harry would cite my Marine Aviator as a "could have been" uniform- my PIG gunner still falls completely into this category as well. No matter how close I might make it- it's still EU all the way.
My Gorman Service C uniform was my first real attempt at true screen accuracy. The fun now became the detective work and painstaking searches for accurate (or as close as possible) components of the impression.
And with my latest effort of a Dropship pilot it was pretty much all or nothing- I was shooting for as screen accurate as possible. With the exception of the helmet modifications I'd like to think I got it spot on (it's still a little EU having my own name on the flightsuit and customized helmet graffitti though

).
Funny enough- whenever someone would ask
"what's the quickest/easiest USCM uniform to put together for a convention?" the answer I would give (along with most of us) is a Dropship pilot. I've now come to the conclusion that
none of these uniforms are easy or cheap if you are trying to be as accurate as possible.
But... The point of all this is that I've been having fun from the
beginning. No one has
ever told me my armour/uniform/gear wasn't good enough (other than Spat

).
In the beginning it was about having something that at least looked like USCM gear. Bit by bit (as I could afford it) I added and improved things.
I find that I am now coming to the end of the journey so to speak. Finally getting a Pulsemeter was one of the last pieces of kit to complete my PIG gunner impression. I guess I could put a shoulder lamp on my battery rig- but I don't think it would be necessary. Other than a set of Terry English armour there isn't much more I can/want to do to improve my "ground pounder" impression.
