TB-1019

Hah! Sorry for resurrecting a three year old thread but when I saw our garrison pauldron photo (above) I had to laugh. We took it as a goof on the proliferation of pauldrons and, as an extra goof, the Sandies took theirs off in the photo. I'm the scout in the front row wearing my clone commander pauldron. Anyhoo, I'm happy to see my brassard inspired others. I used to love wearing it whenever canon concerns weren't an issue, usually during events when I wanted to help promote the garrison, the detachment and the Legion.

No problem, David. Good luck with yours! Be sure to post pics, I'd like to see how it turns out.

There was a long thread on this a couple of years ago and I posted a couple of pics showing the shape of the item. Here is a LINK to my post in that thread, if anyone is interested in making one of their own.

That scout with the brassard was me, and I wore it to a cystic fibrosis charity walk in order to help promote the Legion, my garrison and this detachment. For the record, I never, NEVER wore it to a canon event. John, I'm not a fan of attaching patches directly to my armor either, which is why I made the brassard. And Jake, my back plate wasn't about to fall off. I had lost weight and the photographer caught me slouching. I know this might not be some people's cuppa tea, but *shrug* I feel that any scout carrying a BFG looks like they're trying to overcompensate for something. Different strokes and all that.

Speaking from past experience, what the Lancer review committee is looking for is the overall costume presentation. Don't think of it as buying individual parts, think of what all the parts in combination present as a final look. What you want to aim for is an aesthetic where your cummerbund and armor pieces do not force your undersuit to bunch or puff out. Flightsuits tend to do this while racing suits tend not to. Obviously, if a racing suit is too large for the wearer, it will bunch out too, but they are tailored differently than flightsuits and, again, tend not to on the average wearer.

I think I was one of the first to try the method of securing the faceplate with rare earth magnets. I mounted mine on the inside surface of the helmet cheek area. I used ABS coated magnets to help keep them protected and to be able to secure them to helmet. On the inside of the overlapping faceplate, I used a 1.5"x3" piece of sheet steel to give the magnet something to grab. In this last pic, you cannot see the steel strip because it's under the perforated vinyl on the edge of the faceplate. In the second pic, you can see the faceplate in the closed position and the white magnet has grabbed the steel strip.

One thing I would like to add, if I may, is that I noticed by your location that you are in Arizona. You are very likely going to find that keeping the Rubies helmet from warping in the Arizona heat to be a near impossible task unless you reinforce it with metal wire loops and fiberglass along the inner surface (making the already small space smaller). If the idea of constantly tweaking and repairing your helmet after every use like a finely tuned Italian sports car appeals to you, by all means go for it. Otherwise, your time and money can be better spent with one of the fan made replicas like KS or MC makes.

I think Dave hit the nail right on the head when he said, "If the person had a quality product, they would no doubt at least come here and try and show it." Honest sellers tend to come right to the source (the detachments) to get exposure where it counts instead of casting their lines and trying to get bites on eBay.

Sounds like he's describing the old Gempler's PVC boots to me. Some of the other old timers out there will know what I am talking about. They look like this: My first pair of boots were something like these. As to whether they are acceptable now or not, I am not sure. Back a few years ago they were but almost everyone goes with the boot tutorial boots, which is really my recommendation.

Congrats, from one Jay to another!

Whenever someone claims something is "accepted by the 501st", take it with a grain of salt. Buying a Ferrari might get you into a Ferrari owners club, but simply buying armor doesn't get you into the club. Talking with Bluecyclone gets you going in the right direction. The makers he can recommend are good to great starting points. After that, you still have to assemble and wear the armor properly in order to become a 501st member.

I'll be there, but not as part of the 501st. I'll be with the Colonial Marines.

Thanks, Bob.

No worries, Dave. I like to think of this time off as a sabbatical. I don't intend on being a non-scout forever.

Ahh... I miss that thread. Good times, good times.

Congratulations, Dave, I finally get to pass this torch off to you already... it was starting to collect dust!

Well done, guys! It brings tears of joy to my old eyes. *sniff*

You also need to have the Lancer title added under your avatar.

Congratulations, fellas!

Rawk. Thanks, Dave. It's a good resource that people should see. I'm going to sticky it.

Witness: Could you please re-post the reference pictures that are supposed to be here? I'm sure a lot of people will find this useful.

It's not stated explicitly, but it is rolled into the part where it talks about "overall design aesthetic". Basically, it means that we are looking to see if applicants are putting their costumes together so that, when it is fully assembled, they look like a scout from the films. None of them had baggy pants bunched up behind their legs. Neither were they skin tight or snug. They look fitted. That is the look we're looking for. Now, I am going to say something that might be controversial to some folks, and please do not take this as a personal attack on you, because it isn't. Some body types will just have a much harder time meeting that overall design aesthetic guideline. People with shorter limbs or torsos will have to work harder at constructing a Lancer costume than someone with an average build with average proportions. Just as a tall, skinny applicant would. Or an overweight applicant would. I think, your case, you have shorter limb proportions that force your under suit to bunch up in the legs due to excess material. If you had a tailor or seamstress alter your flight suit to your proper inseam, it may neutralize that effect. It's just a suggestion. As Mike stated, we are not here to haze you or make you jump through hoops. We'd like to see you get it done, but I think you really ought to compare your own photos to movie scouts and those who are already Lancers to get an idea about what we're looking for. Don't become disheartened, and if it doesn't work out in the end, you still have an outstanding costume that exceeds the basic membership requirements. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

I am in agreement with Mike's recommendation. To it, I would also add that one of the major things we look at is the overall look and what jumps out to me is that your undersuit looks just a little too baggy on you. It jumps out to me in the rear view photo you provided, particularly in the way it bunches up around the back side of your legs.

Hi, Sam, I think it's great that you want to take this project on. Being ambitious is definitely a good trait to have if channeled correctly. I think it would be fair to point out a couple of things to you before you invest too much time into this. It's kind of my job here to inject a bit of reality into every situation. First off, the sculpting and molding of armor parts is a more complicated process than you might be aware of. So much that it takes many of the artisans here years and many hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to get it done right. The cost of materials is just part of what you'll be looking to spend. There is safety equipment, supplies, costs of trial and error, things like that to consider. Before you dive head first into making your armor yourself, I recommend you do some reading up on the process of prop building, casting an molding. A great book for this is Thurston James' "The Prop Builders Molding & Casting Handbook". If you're trying to keep to a budget, see if you can check it out from a local library. Second, you may need to rethink your intentions of using this armor for airsoft. The armor will take only so much abuse before being cracked from taking cover, hitting objects, etc. The thickness of the plastics we use tend to be relatively thin in order to vacuumform edges and details. Vacuumforming tables and machines require stronger sources of suction to pull down thicker plastic and, for our purposes, thicker plastic doesn't take details too well. Remember, our goal is to make armor that looks good and can stand up to light use. It's not intended for much abuse. You can sacrifice detail and accuracy for sturdier armor plating, but your vacuumforming table at school might not be capable of pulling that thickness of plastic you need. It's something you really need to check with your shop instructor. Otherwise, you'll do all this work only to crack and ruin it (or get it punctured with airsoft pellets) the first time you go out. If you need some proof as to the durability of the plastic we use, visit this site, and scroll down to where it reads, "What is the armor made out of?" and "Can your armor be used for Airsofting or Paintballing?" Be sure to look at the pictures below it and see the results of what pellets can do to armor. It may not puncture right away, but it'll leave your armor pockmarked. I'm not saying what you want to do cannot be done, I'm just saying you need to weigh the benefit of having distinctive looking armor with the amount of money you are going to pour into it. Be sure you are willing to sink a lot of time and money into something that is only really going to give you very limited use. If you're rich, or you are willing to keep replacing parts all the time, go for it.

I think you have made all the changes you were asked to. The pouches look much more proportionally correct and the bolt covers look good as well. The vest looks fine.