Ketchup

Hey gang, I'm painting my lid right now and had an idea to do some paint chips on the high corners of the helmet. I know this isn't seen on any screen scouts (as all the lids were vac-formed white plastic and not painted fiberglass like mine), but it's not stated as forbidden in the CRLs, either, so I was wondering if that would make for a passable Lancer lid. If not, cool, but if so, I think it will add a nice touch.

Thanks to our fearless leader, I now have boots! Didn't get much done on my own kit at the aforementioned armor party, unfortunately. However, I did help out TWO fellow potential bikers, so all was not in vain. (I also re-strapped an entire TK that was held together with a decade's worth of duct tape/hopes and dreams.) But there is another armor party in two weeks, and I'm gonna cash in a few favors to help get my kit together. My goal is to have it wearable for the St. Patrick's Day parade, and approved by Celebration.

That's a great point about the bund, I'll have to remember that for mine! MJ - Yeah, i'm planning on using a straight-up pattern on mine and cutting them too big, so I can scale them down if needed.

Thanks, Chunk and Chef! Love this community, seriously.

I'm trying to visualize it, but what I'm getting would put the faux velcro flap off-center. I think it was suggested to me before, but since it's only really extending one side, that would throw the whole thing off, wouldn't it? What I've thought about doing is zippering the two edges together (giving me the maximum amount I can take out), and covering the zipper closure with a velcro flap. It would still be pretty snug, but at least I'd be able to bend over without the whole closure busting on me. Would that work?

Ohhhh that's pretty.

I've been a bit at a loss on my bund. It's tighter than a corset...I can physically get it on, but forget bending over, sitting, or breathing, really. I'd have MC remake it, but it would take me less time to make one from scratch. I'd really rather just try and make this one work, but I'm not sure how to proceed. It needs a 2" velcro closure at the center of the back, but I need to take out the velcro so I can take out the bund enough. I was wondering if anyone has advice on taking out a bund...I'm sure someone somewhere has had the issue where they gained too many pounds and needed to take out their bund. XD

I hope my friend's passes clearance as it is, it was such a pain in the arse. XD I traced the patch onto her pants directly using a white crayon, and transferred that to a pattern. We cut the patch out in the microsuede (accounting for seam allowance) and it looked fine, but when I gave it to her husband to sew onto the pants, it ended up being smaller than what I'd traced onto the pants. o.O Hopefully it'll be alright. I think I'm gonna post up in here for pre-clearance before she submits, just to be sure. I'm also doing this for another friend's pants (good practice for my own, I figure), and after wrestling with the sewing machine I just decided to hand-sew it on. It's already hand-basted. But it looks good, so I suppose that's all that matters. Lol.

Yeah, I had to rip the side leg pockets off of my friend's Dickies pants to ensure we had enough room for the crotch patch. I second the seam ripper...although I end up poking my fingers with that, plenty. XD

For Lancer, all of them. Every single last one. (Although, I suppose you could leave the breast pockets on, but I went ahead and pulled them off, anyway.) There are a couple of pockets on the leg that will require you to rip the seam of the leg open to get them all the way off. For standard clearance, I'm not sure if you have to...

Fantastic, thanks spookymufu I'll grind down the fiberglass a bit to make it sit more flush. Even the screen lids weren't perfectly flush, but I'd like to get it closer than it is at present.

Did you have to carve out the fiberglass any to get the bolts to sit right? Or did they fit just fine once you cut the covers off and attached them as-is? Thanks for the feedback, guys. Much obliged!

I got some 3M bolts from KW Designs for my MLC lid, per Lancer spec, but there's a couple of problems... 1) The bolt shank isn't anywhere near long enough to be functional (pictured alongside the bolt that came with the MLC) 2) The square piece that protrudes from the bolt cover prevents it from sitting flush on the side of the lid Which leads me to my question... Can I just cut the bolt cover off and use it instead of using the bolt as-is (which is basically impossible)?

Been neglecting this thread a bit, but I thought I'd share some updates. (I blame Dragon Age Inquisition. XD) I got my cummerbund from MC. No pictures of it on me because it doesn't actually fit...it's an inch too small around the waist. Around my chest, it's fine, but somehow my lower measurement was off by a whole inch. I can get it on with help, but there is no way in Hades I can sit in it without busting out of the velcro. (I hate velcro with a passion, ugh...) I decided to try and make some alterations to it before giving up on it entirely and having them re-make me a new one. (I'm already planning on adding shoulder straps to it, as well as modding the cod to prevent camel toe, so what's another alteration? Lol) So my idea is this: I know that a 2-inch velcro closure is required, but I need the extra material to let out the bund, so I'm going to remove the velcro on the bund closure, and zipper the edges together. I'll sew on an extra velcro flap, so that it covers the zipper and gives the illusion that it secures the bund in the back, per the CRL. If I'm allowed to do that, I think it will be a better solution in the long run than a dedicated velcro closure. While I mentally wrestle with the space diaper problem, I've removed the external pockets from my RedKap coverall and am prepping it for tailoring and riding patch/buttflap installation. The size I ordered is enormous on me (That's what you get when the reviews tell you to order a few sizes up...), so the tailoring will be more extensive than I anticipated, but at least I know it will fit me well once it's done. Onto the bucket... Now these I have pictures for. I got my 3M bolt set from KW Designs, and they were clearly not meant for the MLC. Lol. For starters, the shank is not nearly long enough to serve as a proper, functioning bolt for the lid. Here it is next to the bolt that came standard on my MLC: It doesn't exactly sit flush against the side, either... Luckily, the other side of the bolt fits the stock MLC bolt just fine. A little loose, but not too bad. Am I correct in assuming I could just cut the bolt cover off and attach it to the bolt that came with the helmet? It certainly isn't usable as-is. That's all I have for now. My Garrison is having a huge armor party on back-to-back weekends just after New Year's, so that's when I hope to make all sorts of progress. And it will be indoors, so we don't have to pack up an hour in because it's too cold for the plastic...

Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, it is a bit flat... I hadn't noticed that before.

Alright, a bit of a progress update: With the help of my awesome fellow scouts (incl. Chex, Chunk, and mlbukowski THANK YOU!), I ordered my coveralls. I also ordered a ton of supplies like webbing, velcro, and elastic. I've got an armor party on Sunday, so I will post some progress pictures after that. I do need help on one thing, though. The under the arm straps are supposed to be 1 3/4"/45 mm cotton webbing, and I can't seem to find any. I've had a search tab open all day, and nothing. :/ (Although, the Lancer CRL says "around" 1 3/4", so maybe 1 1/2" will suffice?)

O.O I must have it. *Grabby hands*

You guys rock, thanks again!

Wow, thanks Chunk! Great ideas.

Ooooo, that's different from the one I was looking at. MINE. Thank you guys!

I figured. I might just say screw it and make a whole new suit from scratch. Mom's been wanting to make a pink one for her TIE pilot anyways. Thanks, Chex!

Hey guys, I'm looking for a flight suit or coverall to modify, and I can't seem to find one that will jive with Lancer requirements. I already have the suede, I picked it up from Tandy Leather a while back, I just need an acceptable suit. I am very partial to military flight suits, mostly because I have several and I know what size fits me well. However, they have a slight pocket issue... There's a zippered gap on the hip of the standard military flight suit, which allows you to get at your pockets in the pants you're wearing underneath. All the other pockets on the arms and legs are removable, but this is pretty integrated. I'm guessing this means this style of suit is a no-go? I've also looked at RedKap coveralls, but their collars don't zip up all the way, so replacing the collar would be problematic. So, I need some recommendations. Or if one of the aforementioned options will work, that's great, too. Just a little lost.

The flat visor is easier to see out of, at least. The MLC has several stylistic differences from the screen-used helmet that make it not the most accurate one, but it looks great and sharp. Although, one of these days, I'd love to get my hands on a LoneWolf... (As I think everyone here would. Ha!) Speaking of visors, I'm thinking I'm going to install a clip system into my lid, so the visor can easily be removed and swapped out/cleaned. Has anyone done this before?

Mypropcollection is what Sith armory gloves are branded as on ebay. If you get those on ebay, you'll be golden. Those are what I have. He also makes approvable TIE pilot gloves. I have heard good things about the products, but the guy who runs wampawear is banned from both Legions. Don't want to rock the boat, as we have precious few vendors for the gloves, but I believe people should go into business transactions with their eyes open.

Brrrr! It's as cold as Echo Base in the studio right now! Here in Denver, we've got a high of 1*F. Need to borrow some gear from the snow scouts... Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures I took of my tank. I had MC handle the assembly and decal application. Decals are the #1 point of anxiety for me on any build, so watch for the fun to ensue when I get to it on my lid. Lol! And here's a bit of a closer look at the lid. I'd like to get a set of accurate 3M bolts/covers for it, and I think someone was selling them several months back, but I haven't been able to find the FS thread. As you can probably see (couldn't get a good picture of the inside, but you get the idea), it's just a standard bolt and wingnut that's currently in there. Some other mods I'd like to do with the helmet: - Removable chin cup. I'm thinking I might install the straps with rare earth magnets so that I can take the chin cup out if I want to. I'd imagine it might get annoying for general trooping purposes, but I'd like to have it for photoshoots. - Magnetic closure, so the lid stays shut nicely. Probably with a low-grade magnet, since rare earth magnets are very strong and I don't want to consistently put a lot of strain on the lid by prying the magnets apart. Today I'm working on the chest/back armor, just getting it fitted correctly and doing some heat shaping, if needed. I still need to go out and get some supplies like rivets and velcro, but I'm not going outside until it warms up a bit. Haha!