scout.trooper

I just took a look at my notes... it's a v3 helmet.

Yeah, I see what you mean. Maybe it's the angle I was laying it down...? You're bucket looks really cool, by the way.

Hey, Scott. Yeah, it's an MLC by way of MC. I thought it was just like the others... what does your snout look like?

Hey there, Mickey. What do you mean by that? Seam-rip the entire pants leg apart? Um, is there an easier way? How would I sew the pants leg back together?

UPDATE: Got a replacement helmet decal in the mail! Here's how it looks now (I kinda had to eyeball the placement): Got my elastic cut. Working on sewing the velcro on the forearm, bicep, and knee armor.

My finished MLC is about 7.5" wide (ear to ear), 9" long (snout to back of head), and 8.5" deep using a flat ruler. It's actually too big for me (I have a fairly normal sized head, I guess??). I will be putting extra padding inside because right now it wobbles when I move my head. *This came me finished, tho. Not as a kit. Hope that helps.

Did some more work this week. One thing I'm stumped on is how to attach the bottom of the tank to the botton of the back armor... This pic shows the two pieces put together This pic shows the gap between the two on the inside. It's a good 2 inches or so. Because the tank bottom is rounded out, if I were to put a rivet through the back armor, it wouldn't touch the tank. Working on modding the undersuit. I followed Griffin's advice and modded one of the pockets into a collar. The tricky thing was getting that mudflap just right. It looks kind of short in this pic... But when I wear the suit, it comes just above the rear end (like everyone said it should). Was going to start on the riding patch but had a REALLY hard time trying to figure out how to sew it. Apparently, we don't have a "pants machine" that's made to sew inseams. I heard someone mention "Magic Web" or something where you can iron on the material?

Haha, thanks Dylan! You know, in all the James Bond type movies I've seen when the good guy is the in evil villains lair and he steals a bad guys armor for disguise, the poor guy is always tied up and left in his underwear so I guess that makes sense!

One other thing... I'm working on modding my undersuit, an RK coverall. It says the coverall is sized to fit over regular clothing and even has open slots in the sides to get to your inner pants pockets. Do you wear regular clothes (t-shirt and jeans) under the coverall? I tried mine on over regular clothes and it seems really puffy... not at all "fitted" like the requirements say it should be.

Awesome. Thanks, guys! UPDATE I promised pics so here they are! Putting the belt together by threading the straps behind the "belt buckle" The tank has a plastic "bar" across the top for riveting to the back plate. Is there a limit to how many rivets go in the top? It also has the itty bitty hole at the bottom for another rivet. Does the bottom rivet have to be attached to anything? The way it fits to the back plate, it doesn't look like it'll latch on to anything. Is this normal? The helmet! Showing the insides because I need more padding. Anyone know where I can get some motorcycle or football helmet replacement padding? Also, just for the heck of it, my tub! I guess the correct term is "Armor Transportation Case." The white parts are just paper for now so I could see what it would look like in the end... I plan on replacing the paper and covering the tub with white duct tape. So hey, if you get a crack in your armor before a troop and need a quick fix, I'll have extra tape in my tub! Thanks for everyone who commented so far. Your help is greatly appreciated!

So I went on a shopping quest and found this pair of suspenders: It seems a bit shy of the 1 3/8" mark but very very close. That same day, I also found this elastic woman's belt: It seems to hit the 1 3/8" right on the button. Will either of these work, or just the belt (second pic)?

Hey, guys! Great thread! I recently got my bucket in and it needs a bit more padding on the inside. I went to a craft store and they had some Foamology Design Foam with adhesive backing (for decorative crafts) that I thought would be perfect. I was checking out the instructions on the back and saw that the material, polyurethane, was known by some state code to contain materials that cause health issues...?! I don't want that on my face! Anyhoo... I've been looking for baseball/football helmet foam, motorcycle foam, and even military helmet foam. I can't find anyone who sells replacement foam... just the helmets. Where did you guys get your foam from? Besides that, where do you get that 3M hardware that forcesensitive posted? It would be cool to have it adjustable.

Haha... yes yes! I can see it now... "Which scout is you in the picture?" "The one with zebra print elasic straps!"

Yeah, makes sense. If you use the aluminum rivets, do you use steel washers with them? Or is it better to use aluminum rivets with aluminum washers?

I was looking through all kinds of suspenders online; I guess pink and blue zebra print suspenders wouldn't get approved...? (A girl can dream!)

Thanks for all the tips! They're much appreciated! I'll be sizing up the belt in the next few days... I'm pretty sure it'll need to be cut down. I'm also probably going to end up getting some new elastic straps for the sake of accuracy. Oh, and I got my rivet popper! One question about that, though... I was debating the whole steel rivets vs. aluminum rivets. My pros vs. cons: Steel is stronger (better to grip elastic!), aluminum is softer (easier to rivet through plastic); steel can rust over time, aluminum doesn't rust but is subject to metal fatigue. Does anyone find that using one type of rivet over the other is better? More pictures on the way!

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Makes sense... might as well go all out from the start! The 1 3/8" elastic is made from suspenders, right?

I just looked at a bunch of posts regarding the elastic straps for the arms and knee armor, but my question is: If I'm not going for Lancer status right now, is there a range of acceptabe elastic strap widths for regular scouts? My kit came with 2" elastic and 3/4" elastc straps. Now I see that the shoulder and bicep (for Lancer) is 1 3/8" elastic, the forearm is 1" elastic, and the knees have 1" on top and 1/2" elastic on the bottom! Do I need to go shopping or are the 2" an 3/4" elastic straps acceptable for a non-Lancer?

It's an MC kit. I'll take a look at PandaTrooper's thread. And sorry about the Word doc attachment... I tried one of the image hosting sites once and they were jerking me around about my account and I haven't had a chance to try another one. Will attempt to rectify in the future!

Thanks for the responses everyone! Wait, fish hook? Upside-down? Wha... (look at bucket, raise fist to the sky) NOOOOOOOOOOO!

In hindsight, I probably should have picked a differed user name Anyway, at long last, my armor has arrived! Check out the attachment for the pics. The bucket is all done and I am currently working on the armor pieces. You can see the belt pieces that I put together w/the webbing and I am in the process of sewing the elastic for the elbow and knee shells. A few things I would like to ask the community... Do I need a rivet gun to attach the belt straps? If yes, howdo you use a rivet gun? (Bear with me here, I've never had a cause to rivet anything before!). Also, how does the bucket and snout look? The lens okay? Lastly, how would I go about attaching the tank? If you look at the pics, there is a hold on the base of the tank and a hole on the back armor plate... do I run a pole or tie through them or do I just glue the top panel of the tank to the back plate (this assembly wasn't in the instructions...). It's a work in progress, but I'm getting there!

Not a bad idea... I'll look into that. But in the mean time, would the boots listed above be approved?

Wow, we got a lot of rain here! Of course, the Midwest is no stranger to rain and snow! Was breaking in my newly finished boots when I got rained on. They survived but it got me thinking about getting a second pair of waterproof boots for those not-so-ideal trooping days. Found these in the local shoe store (but for much less money): http://www.amazon.com/Florsheim-Trektion-Winter-Boot-Black/dp/B007H6AUQ4/ref=sr_1_11?s=shoes&ie=UTF8&qid=1384199898&sr=1-11&keywords=florsheim+boots. As far as trooper boots go, I know I would have to paint the bottom tan but other than that I think they would make a great base boot (plus, there's a zipper on the side for quick costuming). Does anyone see any major problems with these? If you look really closely, there is "fake" stitching (rubber molding) along the bottom sole but it blends in with the rest of the boot pretty well. Also, in regards to painting the bottoms, does anyone have any ideas for a good paint to use? Something that won't flake off easily? Also, found these: http://www.amazon.com/Mens-Totes-Side-Stadium-Boots/dp/B006GAMI2G ... are the teeth on the soles too weird?

Cool! Thanks, everybody!

Do you know where I would find such information? Also, funny you mentioned the "peace bond" over the trigger/grip... I could always point out to an inspector "This blaster has no trigger!"