ID/Registration/armor number?

[SgtSaint]

For context:
55year old, 30 year cosplayer but all 'soft' costumes until recently - 1st armor was Martian Marine from The Expanse, fully modeled and printed by myself.
Now migrating to Halo Spartan as my second armor. Probably a mix of bought models and maybe custom parts I'll model if needed.
Not looking to recreate a known character, but my own character in this franchise - just as I've always done in cosplay for decades.
<Ducking> Never played the game so I know I'm missing history and foundation concepts.
Y'all have assembled a MASSIVE amount of amazing information and I'm consuming as much of that as I can, as fast as I can.

The actual question part of the post:
Looking at the forum I find some 2016 threads on registration, deployment application and so on. But things seem a bit vague or I'm just not seeing a registry of 405th members and their armor/id/registration/serial/service numbers or a way to apply for a unique number. I'm sure its just something I don't know where to find. I mean nobody wants to show up at a convention and there's 5 random "666" or "777" or "007" armors at the event; while also avoiding known/canon/character numbers from the franchise.

The dilemma:
What I'm trying to reconcile is the ID number being inset in the armor against the need to provide photos of the finished armor as described by those 2016 threads. Something of a cart before the horse issue especially for people 3d printing. How do I print a chest armor with an inset unique ID, if I can't get issued an ID without the armor?

 

[Cadet]

So, just some quick background.
There are 3 levels of membership in the 405th. Being a general 405th member, Being a member of your local 405th Regiment, and finally being a "Deployed Member."

A complete costume is not a requirement to be a 405th Member. All you need to do is register a Forum account, which you have, and you are a 405th member with access to all of our files and resources, free of any charge.

Once you have had your account a time for 90 days and made 50 posts, you can apply to be a member of your local Regiment. This allows you to the Regiment Only section of the Forums, allows you to purchase Regiment only merchandise, and participate on the local Regiment elections.

Finally once you have joined a Regiment and finished your costume you can apply for Deployment. The Deployment process is completely optional and is just a process to have your costume objectively reviewed and sorted into 3 levels of accuracy and scaling/fitment. Additionally, with the successful completion of your first Deployment application then you are granted a unique Divison ID Number, or DIN, as recognition of your achievement. In your application you list 3 choices for what you would like your DIN to be.

Now, at its core the DIN is both a token of recognition and a logistical tool for the Division and Regiment side of tracking Deployment apps and completed costumes. We understand that it would be ideal if your original character's ID would match up to your DIN, however, truthfully it would not be fair to reserve a number for someone who might never finish, or even start a costume.

Additionally, there is no rule or guideline that states that the number you display on your armor has to be your DIN. Otherwise no one could do the costume of any of the canonical characters.

We can provide you with a list of DINs that have been claimed already, but my advice to you would be that if you a set on a certain number forthe back story for your unique SPARTAN ( which is not a requirement, you do not need to have a backstory or even a specific character for your costume) then to just forge ahead with that number on your armor.

Membership FAQ

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

Deployment FAQ

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

 

[SgtSaint]

Thanks for the fast reply. I appreciate you re-covering all of that. I know all that is in the FAQ, various posts etc. and I did read pretty much all of those tiers and the steps to get through them - but I know how people new to a site can be slow to research and fast to ask. I really was trying to not be one of them.

The coverage of the DIN not necessarily being a requirement for the armor was a nice bit of clarification.
I wasn't looking to obtain any specific number. Just figured that if I could handle that at some point _up front to_ printing the final chest piece it would be fun/cool/handy since it could then be embossed. But its no heart ache if it's not.

 

[Cadet]

I wasn't looking to obtain any specific number. Just figured that if I could handle that at some point _up front to_ printing the final chest piece it would be fun/cool/handy since it could then be embossed. But its no heart ache if it's not.

Something to keep in mind is that the SPARTAN's operating numbers being visible on their armor is a relatively new thing. In the original Nylund novels they actually made a point that there was no exterior markings to differentiate the SPARTANs from each other, their HUDs displayed who they were to each other and the Marines via their FoF tags, which made Halsey's ability to tell them apart in armor unaided just one more thing that showed how much she actually did care about them.

The comics were the first to start having the numbers visible on the exterior of the armor, sort of as a short cut since it was a visual media. They began to be adapted in other media, such as the LEGENDS anime shorts.

The first in game example of exterior identification was the more subtle IDs on the collar of Reach's Noble team, then braille style on the front of Halo 4 and 5's SPARTAN-IIs. Infinite was the first game where Chief had 117 actually visible on his armor in a large, visible fashion.

Finally, The new Paramount + show is now the first time exterior operating numbers have been expressed as any sort of raised or 3D versions.

So, all of that to say that your number does not have to be raised or embossed, and in fact would only be a Top Tier level consideration for TV show SPARTANs, and if you want to use your DIN on your armor you can wait until you go through Deployment and then paint it on after, as a painted version is absolutely fine and canonical for the overwhelming majority of the franchise's history.

Also, since a member only gets one DIN for life, no matter how many different costumes they Deploy, you could always make a quick simple costume like a CAMs Cadet or a Traxis Dock Worker to "Claim" a DIN, and then use that number in your 3D model.

 

[SgtSaint]

{snip for brevity}

Finally, The new Paramount + show is now the first time exterior operating numbers have been expressed as any sort of raised or 3D versions.

{snip}, as a painted version is absolutely fine and canonical for the overwhelming majority of the franchise's history.

Also, since a member only gets one DIN for life, no matter how many different costumes they Deploy, you could always make a quick simple costume like a CAMs Cadet or a Traxis Dock Worker to "Claim" a DIN, and then use that number in your 3D model.

I *REALLY* appreciate that level of reply and so much history and backstory. As much YouTube background as I've been consuming it takes someone such as yourself who focuses a reply on one element like that to bring a non-gamer like me up to speed. I really appreciate it.

Awesome tip on using a simple costume to registry a number to later be applied to the armor as an inset. I'm big on details. I do a *lot* of planning before a build like this. I like things to *work* and be useful as well as accurate the first time out. Spent about 90 minutes breaking down s01e01 to 4k screenshots, looking for elements that are same or different across male/female, recon/heavy/sniper, HUD visual language, fonts etc. and noticed that even {some of?} the guns are also numbered to the Spartan. {so much easier to do that after each episode than let it build up}

 

[booyaalex]

We can provide you with a list of DINs that have been claimed already, but my advice to you would be that if you a set on a certain number forthe back story for your unique SPARTAN ( which is not a requirement, you do not need to have a backstory or even a specific character for your costume) then to just forge ahead with that number on your armor.

Is there a list of DIN's already taken? I'm really interested in that, and want to make sure my number's not going to be taken by the time my build's complete.