Smiling Fox

Those are definitely CaBoots. Good boots but the shaft is too tall on all of them. You can do that yourself or take them to a shoe repair place, if there are any left. Bring the chest and back up at the shoulders by cutting a bit off at the top where the front and back meet. Also, like me, you have an issue with the biceps staying up. I solved it by getting two small, black safety pins and pinning the elastic of the bicep to the elastic of the shoulder bell. Now they always stay up. As far as the belt, I cut the plastic at the back off about two inches on either side. Then I cut the nylon that was riveted to it the same amount. I then riveted it back together to have a much better fit.

I made mine with the opening big enough at the top that I can slide it over my head. I can't say I did it on purpose, it just worked out that way.

I bought one a few months ago and had to have a replacement right away. The helmet was two different colors and even the second one is off, though less noticeable. The second helmet had less issues with the ear being wrinkled but both were not great. All in all, I would go with another if you can get it.

Dude, that is one of the coolest things I have seen. And I am not even into Steampunk. That totally rocks!

One more thing, if you do decide to keep it. Before you remove the trim on the bottom of the helmet, form some abs strips and reinforce the inside back of the helmet to keep the shape. If you don't, the helmet will warp and it will be very difficult to close. One more perk to owning the helmet.

This is apparently common with KS. I got mine about four months ago after a four month wait and had to return it because it was two (obviously) different colors. The second one was a bit better on the color but not exact and the dents in the ears were and are worse than yours. I kept it and did the same as you, modifying it with the correct snout, decals and bolt covers. Although Scott was very nice about the whole thing, I would never buy another KS helmet. I am sorry for your troubles man, there are a few of us on here that have been in the same boat.

So.... crickets then?

So has anyone made a ruling on this? Is one of those two designations the official one?

I was looking on an online auction website who shall not be named and found that someone made a patch with the holdout blaster on it and designated as the Blastech EB-71. Looking back through the old posts, the last time this was discussed was in 2007. On that post, someone found that it was designated, unofficially, as the SoroSuub Q-2s5. So, now I can't find anything for a name, even the Star Wars Wiki has nothing. In any military / industrial complex, such as the empire, there are countless designations for everything. It has always bugged me that the only name we hear is biker scout blaster, or a holdout blaster (which isn't even close, considering it has a scope). Has anyone heard of the EB-71 or even Q-2s5? Or is it possible that we can come up with an official (as close as Lucas will allow to official anyway) designation for the only little weapon we get to carry?

Bill, who goes by stuffandjunk on here, sells resin blasters that you can add electronics to. I have one and they are pretty nice.

I do have the riding patches, straps and mudflap on the suit. You just can't tell any detail from this picture. I could bring the pouches in a bit but not an inch, as they are only a bit over a half an inch from the ribbing on the bund. I will work on something to hide the zipper, though that may be difficult. I will work something out there. As to the drop boxes. They are huge. Looking at the screen grabs, they are twice the size they should be. I am not sure what you mean by routing them differently. Should they look less like like clips? I sewed the straps so that the clips are actual working clips and not just for show. For some reason I thought it made more sense than having them just free to slide around. But they are adjustable.

I have been at it since yesterday afternoon and believe I have a presentable scout costume. I want to thank everyone who has helped me. Special thanks to Griffin-X for all the help and support. I have rarely met people as helpful as you all. So with that in mind, I have a few pics of the result so far. I would appreciate any criticism. Mind you that these are taken with a tired hand and an iPhone. I will be having a friend take better pics tomorrow with a good camera and proper light.

I am going to keep it, mostly because I fear if I don't, I will never get started here. I am already months behind and have missed several troops for not other reason than because I have had to wait on this armor and helmet. I will be purchasing a better one soon. I am going to chalk it up as a lesson learned and move on. Maybe this will be a good helmet for some battle damage. I am with you, I am grumpy too and I don't like shoddy equipment in my profession, let alone my hobby. You aren't hijacking this. Mine (both that I have received) are thin around the back as well. I began working on it last night and found that the back already was trying to warp. I formed some plastic strips and glued them to the bottom rim in the back which helped a bit.

So after a not-so-nice email to KS, I was promised two things. A new and proper cummerbund and a new helmet. If you read my last post on the helmet, the ear was wrinkled up and the helmet itself actually came in two different colors. I just received my new helmet and cummerbund. Needless to say, I should have expected problems, again. The cummerbund, while the proper color this time, is about four inches too small to fit around my waist. Lovely, I know. But now to the helmet. While it is one color, the ear is still not straight. It is not as bad as the first helmet, but I don't know if this is liveable or not. I have included a link here. Please let me know if this is something that just happens in the forming process or if I need to send it back, again. there is a small blemish on the chin and the ear, is as you can see, still wrinkled. I am to the point now, where I question if I should have ever started this whole thing. Thank you again.

Jeff, I appreciate all the advice. Between you and Jim, I have a good place to start working. I bought a heat gun today and in the next few days, I'll get started working on the issues. I have ordered cotton webbing and buckles for the belt and will be working on the fit. The helmet will be replaced and they have promised to make the cummerbund right. Hopefully before long, I will actually have a working set of armor and a TB number.

I used a t-shirt pattern and was a lot of trial and error with the sleeves. I used a thin, mildly shiny material I found and folded it in half before cutting the sleeve. Then I cut the padding out to the same shape and sewed the ribbing. Now I had a ribbed piece that looked like two sleeves end to end. Fold it in half again and you have a sleeve that is padded and ribbed. As for the back, I cut two half pieces of the back and made the ends a bit longer to fold over each other to add the velcro closure. As I said, it is a lot of trial and error. Good luck. Knowing how to sew is a huge plus in costuming.

I appreciate everyones input. I just received an email from Scott. He apologized and said he was willing to make it right. He offered another cummerbund to be shipped next week as well as a new helmet and to let me use the one I have until then. Which, of course, does me no good at all without the rest of the armor being right. As for the holster, he said that it is made to fit the blaster, which is huge and heavy. I would not even begin to know how to properly fit that onto my boot. Cut or heat up and shape or both? He did offer a complete refund including shipping. Honestly, I am leaning towards doing just that. My concerns are, I am not certain I have the skills to build my own armor from kit, and the time it takes to build it. I really wanted to make it to mid south con this year and that is a month away. So there is no way to get a kit and build it in that time. So at this point, I am very confused. I am a small guy at 5'6". I knew I would have to make a few mods to get it to fit me, but it just looks plain daunting. Jim, I will pm you and see if this is salvageable. Yours looks great so, I do see a bit of a silver lining here. But the helmet and bund is definitely going back and I am on the fence about the whole thing. This may be one of those lessons learned and passing this armor on later for some MC or SC.

I have sent an email to KS relating my unhappiness with the cummerbund. I have also bought some material and will try and have a new bund done this weekend. Meanwhile, I just have to address the rest of the issues I have with this armor.

So as with the cummerbund issue, of course I have other problems with KS armor. I have added a link for the pics and wanted to see if anyone could recommend how to fix the issues I have listed here. I came into this not knowing anything and still have a lot to learn. Any help here is most appreciated. http://s1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj572/mattsmilingfox/ First of all, the helmet is two different colors. The face and dome is white while the back is off-white. The sides where the face plate meets the helmet are not smooth and there is a big gap where the face plate is riveted on. Is this normal with the gaps and wrinkles in the ABS? Is the color difference noticeable? The chest piece is not rounded at the bottom but almost straight across. When I put it on, it sticks out on the sides as does the back. The back piece is also bowed out creating a gap between my back and the armor. Can the chest piece be formed to my chest? How do I fix the gap in the back? How do I make the armor fit properly? The bicep and forearm pieces are huge on me. Can they be cut down or formed better to fit me? Finally, the holster. It's huge. As you can see in the pictures, it doesn't fit at all on the boot. How can I fix this? This, by the way, is trimmed and finished armor. So I suppose this is normal? Maybe? I paid way too much and waited way too long for this armor to try and start all over again. I am beyond frustrated.

I appreciate the quick reply. When I said off-white, I meant VERY off-white. Sadly, I did ask for white, and every picture of their bunds are white. There were actually several things I was told that were not correct. To say that I am upset is an understatement. So it looks like this weekend, I will be out trying to find the material and sewing one to I can actually enjoy what I do have. After I calm down, I will be sending an email to KS and then sending the bund back on Monday.

Well, after waiting four months for my armor and cummberbund to arrive, I received everything today. Instead of being thrilled, I have mixed emotions. My cummberbund, which was ordered in white, is off-white. There are no vertical ribs in the front and the strap is only 1" not 2". With all that said, I am not worried about the ribs or straps as I can sew and will begrudgingly fix this. However, is the color going to be a problem? I have fought for months to actually get my order here and am hesitant to send it back. I am at work at the moment but I will post pics later. Everything else seems to be ok, with the exception of the helmet, but I think I can make that work.

Thanks Lee, I did get an answer. Marcel explained that the suit did actually show some suede in the rear when it was on and only looked that way in the picture. The pattern I used is one that was posted on here. http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=7393 This is the thread I got it from. I read that someone had printed it and doubled the size and that is basically what I did. I made two copies and used them as patterns for the cloth. I used old cloth to start so I didn't screw it up. As far as the straps, I placed them around the the thighs and pinned them into place beneath the patches as I sewed. I did have to tighten them up on the second go around. If you follow the pattern on the link and pin it properly while sewing it isn't too difficult. Just time consuming. Of course that could have been because I was watching ROTJ while I was sewing.

I could be wrong about this, but in that picture on the link, the patches look backwards. There should be more to the rear than the front so when you are in a riding position, more of the suede is on the saddle, seat, etc. The way that looks, not much is touching, there is hardly any at all showing on the rear. In the diagram that was posted a while back, it also showed exactly opposite of this picture.

Mike and Marcel, I really appreciate the help. I have since changed over to real suede and tightened the straps up. As far as the vest, I am certain sometime soon, the white velcro will bother me like the faux suede and I will change it to black. I am working on my blaster at the moment and hopefully my armor will be shipped soon as it is already over a month late.

I just sewed mine with faux suede and I immediately regretted it. The white thread showed through and it just didn't have a good look. I am not going for lancer but I definitely am using real suede. I bought a used women's suede shirt off ebay for about 20 bucks and am sewing it on now. Go with the real thing, you'll be glad you did.