Dart

Congrats Sarah! Thanks for stepping into this important role! Thanks very much for your work, Jenn! It's appreciated and you'll be missed!

The Fila's look good. The sole has that extra edge on them, but I honestly don't see that as being a huge issue...

I seem to recall a thread here, a looooong time ago, where someone actually contacted Hi Tec (the manufacturer of the boots) and asked some questions about making more of them. IIRC, they had no desire to start making them again and I don't even think they had much production material for them (designs, moulds, etc...) but I don't think they were interested in the legalities of a boot they stopped making 40-ish years ago. Crowprops makes the best replica sole for this that's currently available but the boot is not the right shape (more like modern "hiking style" boots than those with the softer toe vamp (front part of the boot over the toes). So yeah, Crowprops can afford to make these because that's what they do. Any other manufacturer that would consider making these again would need to know there's a market for them and, sadly, it's kinda limited to us scouts and maybe the small number of Rebel Endor Troopers who'd be interested.

They can be stickers, or waterslide decals. I believe Trooperbay still makes the stickers. If you really want to paint them, you can but it doesn't make them "more accurate". I believe the originals used waterslide decals. Building the helmet can be tough, go easy on yourself.

Welcome aboard, Kevin!

Yeah, I haven't seen many around here that have single-coloured soles. Kind of annoying... Crowprops is a reliable seller, so that's an option, as mentioned above.

Good luck! Looking forward to having another Mountain Trooper!

Yeah, that's about right. As Corey said, it's better than a TK but there are still some limitations.

So, here's the thing... they'll pretty much always break at some point. The best way to mitigate this is by drilling the holes a bit farther in (about 10mm/ about 3/8") in from the edge. You could go a bit farther in (15mm/ about 5/8") but not more than that. And do like the above by putting on some backing on the inside of the boot as well to help take the strain. Also, be mindful of how you pack your boots afterwards. Make sure there's nothing that's going to knock into them or possibly press down on the holster. And when you're trooping, try not to whack it on something as you're walking by. I've had to replace my holster 2 times and now with my new kit, I'll be on #3. It happens.

Having the potentially smelly bits facing out will help air things out more.

I had some boots years ago, now I wished I'd taken more detailed photos -

I always have had just a single length of webbing for the chest/back strap. Makes it so much easier than trying to sew it onto the back plate and it's actually what they did on screen, too. I'll also add, if you're going to be swapping between a clean/dirty look, make sure you also swap out the webbing on the belt and have white/natural pouches as well as joint covers on the tops of the shoulder straps.

Welcome to the Pathfinders, Alex! Hope you have fun with your build! Let us know if you have any questions or need help.

My suggestion would be to figure out whatever the circumference of the sleeve is, and then equally divide it with evenly spaced lines. So, if it's 17" or about 43 cm, try for something that just looks good, probably no wider than 1".

Yes, if you wanted to cut a bit more, you have some extra. Looks good, otherwise!