EnigmaEngine

I grabbed a Rubbermaid 24-gallon ActionPacker from (of all places) Office Depot. Fforty bucks, but everything I read online is that they never break, and it's big enough to hold everything except my helmet....or my helmet, if I'm wearing my boots and undersuit. Decked it out with a couple appropriate stickers.

I haven't been keeping up on my picture-taking. Bad scout. Baaaaad scout. But as a verbal update: belt is done. Knee, shoulder, bicep, elbow armor done. T-straps for torso armor done. Pouch velcro attached, as well as a strip to connect the cummerbund's top edge to the vest. Still need to do the side elastic straps for the torso armor, and the little white bands to cover the join at the shoulders. Planning to get foam for the pouches, and for the inside of the knee armor; I found the bottom edge digs into my shin something fierce on my last test-fitting. Also want to install a tiny fan in the helmet to blow over the inside of the visor....really hoping that will knock out my fogging problem. Rain-X works for a certain amount of time, but when it wears off I go blind. Discovered that at the Havoc troop. Yeah, I can re-apply it, but that could be tricky mid-troop, depending on the setup and circumstances. I'd rather have the fan in there and be able to forget about it. All this should be done this weekend!

Oh, it will be. In these, the torso armor isn't actually attached; it's just dangling from velcro at the shoulders, so it kept sliding back. I've got the straps on all the other armor pieces now! All that's left is the straps for the torso armor itself, and the work needed on the belt. ....and after another test-fitting, I've discovered two things. I need to put a little foam on the inside bottom edge of the knee armor so it doesn't dig in. I also absolutely need a fan inside the bucket, to prevent lens fogging. Rain-X works for a while, but wouldn't be effective enough for a long troop.

Pictures! The pouches aren't actually attached, just held in place by pressure. Also note the torso armor is missing straps, it's mostly there for the look of the thing....it'll fit better with the elastic on. Bonus: my miniature ewok I mean dog.

For lancer, nothing. The ears should be open and empty. Which means the inside (at least where it shows) has to be painted or lined black. I just used black spraypaint. Sloppy, but it did the job!

Bad news! Forced to stay home sick from work due to spending all night horking up lunch instead of sleeping. Good news! This meant I was home when my suit, vest, cummerbund arrived! Props to Cuc; it all fits very well. The undersuit's a tiny bit short, pulling on my shoulders/crotch, but not uncomfortably so or enough to prevent me moving freely. I'm 6'3" and most of my height's in my torso rather than legs. I've been spending my time cutting elastic and velcro, figuring out assorted strap measurements, and should have more images up as things get done. I'm stealing my mother's talents with sewing for much of this, although I intend to watch over her shoulder and maybe learn a bit. Also going to Hobby Lobby to grab a bit more 2" white elastic. Again, big guy, not SC's fault. I just need longer straps in places.

Welcome! I can honestly say that a third of any good costume build is planning and research; measure twice, cut once and all that. So just in doing that, you're on your way!

I am jealous of your LW bucket. With that out of the way.... Check out Marcel's thread here: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=4951 about Lancer-spec boots. Alternately, I got mine from Robbie: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=10218 and I cannot over-emphasize how awesome they are...but would take a bit of modding on the soles to get up to Lancer.

Looks good! One question: where are the rank stripes on your tank?

Heavy mentioned it here: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=11618

My head is about the size of yours, and I'm wearing a KS that's plenty comfortable with minimal padding. My understanding is that SC is a tiny bit smaller, and LW a bit bigger, but the differences are minimal. I haven't heard anything specific about Cucblack's or the MLC in terms of size. This may help, though: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=10737

Once again, I feel....not that bright. My mother pointed it out: I can just thread the webbing behind the buckle. It doesn't have to be riveted, velcroed, or anything. A'durr. I may need to get a different material for the back of the belt, though, as I'm a big dude and what came provided isn't really long enough to attach to the belt AND have overlap for the velcro.

I got my undersuit/cummerbund/vest from him. Mailed at the start of december; still waiting on arrival. Given they shipped from Bolivia, I'm only now expecting them any day. But once they arrive I'll have pics/info up.

Hokay. Big update, kindof. So I'm still waiting on undersuit/vest/bund. It's a pity, but I just won't have an ETA on them unless I get a tracking number, which I won't get until they're through customs, and I'm not even sure how/if I'll get it, or if they'll just show up on my doorstep. No worries; they'll get here, but it does make sizing straps difficult. I'm going to be tapping my mother, an experienced sew-er, for help with that and attaching velcro to elastic. But I've been a busy little beaver on anything involving trimming, sanding, glue and rivets! General overview. Slots are cut, most corners rounded. Belt sections are riveted together. Thermal detonator is assembled. Arm sections greeblied. Hump attached to back plate (funny story there, I'll get to that), topper attached and white spot painted. Back of the detonator assembly. No troubles on that, though I'm really hoping those plastic (vinyl?) clips hold up. Bicep piece; rounded corners, greeblied. Holster on boot. It's got a magnet glued between the boot vinyl and holster plastic, helps the blaster stay in place when walking. Great fit all around! Props to Robbie for his boots! I was a bit of an idiot; On the bottom two rivets, I neglected to use a washer on the inside....and of course they pulled straight through the hole in the vinyl. Oops. So, I drilled out the rivets and re-did them with washers. Pain in the butt, but they're solid as a rock now! Okay, so, when I did the hump I glued the topper a little too far back from the edge where it meets the backplate. This meant when I drilled through and riveted, it wouldn't actually go through nor attach to the back of the armor! Oops. So I took an idea from PandaTrooper's build, with my own cheap twist. I got a piece of vinyl gutter that had a ninety-degree bend in it for a buck something, cut off what I needed, riveted it to the back, then the hump to the part sticking out. End result: A tiny bit crooked, but not eye-catchingly so. I think it works! I hope so, because I have no clue how I'd take it apart and start over. Now, before I leave you all to stare in bewilderment at the things I've done, I have a question. What's the "standard" method of attaching the 1 1/2" webbing straps for the drop boxes behind the "buckle" of the belt? This is the place I mean: I know PandaTrooper used extra plastic and some snaps, but these are things I do not have. Is it velcro? Rivets? Sewn together? The directions aren't clear enough for my thick brain.

Okay. Got back from a week out of town. Hopefully now I can get started on working at this properly. But there are a couple updates! The mail we had on hold turned out to contain two packages for me. OH WHAT HAVE WE HERE Robbie sent me some boots! And Duff sent me some pew-pew! I'm now officially only missing my soft parts, which sounds filthy, but means my undersuit/cummerbund/vest. They should get here any day now, since they shipped from Cuc back at the very start of December. I did start a little bit of work before leaving. I removed the mesh from the ears of my helmet, sprayed the visible inside black (somewhat sloppily. Not used to working with Krylon), and cleaned up the results. Also applied my hump decals once I found them because I am stupid.

Yeah, I've been through the box three times now; definitely no vinyl or stickers. Don't have the little gray bit for the chestpiece. I may contact SC, but given they don't look expensive or difficult to source, I'll probably just pick some up or grab it off Amazon. I've started trimming and sanding. Not much of the former, since I am not a small fellow (6'3" and 235), but rounded off the corners of the shoulder bells. Gluing has to wait until a warmer day, since E-6000 is not indoor friendly and it's been under 50 degrees by the time I get home from work. Hopefully when I get back from going out of town, I'll have better opportunities to start on that. Edit: Yup, I have the decals. They were in the very bottom of the envelope with the instructions, and I missed them.

Okay, so question number one. The black stripes on the tank; I've found nothing in the instructions about them, but my best guess is....automotive vinyl wrap? But that's a best guess and nothing I've ever used. The heck is it?

Alright. Still waiting on my soft armor to get through customs and my boots to ship, but my blaster was finished and should ship asap, already have my bucket, balaclava, and gloves: Well, I just yesterday recieved this: Woohoo! I'm not sure how much I'll get done immediately, as I work every day until I go out of town for a week, but I'm going to try. My local garrison is doing an appearance on Jan. 10th....I'm signed up as a handler, but it would be killer if I could actually participate in outfit. More pictures to come!

http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=11542&pid=99184&st=0&&do=findComment&comment=99184 There's some info on speakers/amps here. Might help.

I too am curious about this. I know it's not hard to make yourself heard through our buckets, but it'd be nice to have that authentic static trooper noise....and not to have to raise my voice so much.

As someone who knows absolutely zilch about how casting, molding.....really any of it is done, I find this absolutely fascinating. .....it's black magic, all of it. I knew it!

I know a lot of people swear by UnderArmor brand for the balaclava. The biggest thing to remember is to get a light/summerweight material....you don't need the extra insulation! I grabbed a no-brand one for eight bucks at my local military surplus shop, and it works great. Amazon is full of options as well.

My bucket is a KS, but with no mesh in the ears the air circulation is fantastic. It won't hurt, but it's not as necessary as with the fully-enclosed TK buckets. Since it's something you could install after the assembly, I suggest....trying it on first. I sat around wearing my balaclava and helmet while browsing at my computer just to get a feel for the temperature over time. Perfectly comfortable.

Welcome! I've ordered that exact set to work from myself (hasn't shipped yet). There's a really good build thread here: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=9781&hl=&fromsearch=1 It's up to you how much work you put into it, but it's got some great tips and ideas.

That, and cost, are why I commissioned a suit with faux-suede.