Retrofire

Dennis is right on regarding using heat on armor. It only take a second in the wrong place and the piece is ruined. The SC you got lends itself well to trimming and fitting to most body sizes. I wear it myself and have been very happy with it. The most important area for trimming will be in your shoulder bridges as that controls the width fitment and the alignment of the chest/back armor. The best way to start there is not to cut anything and use masking or painters tape around the bridges to size it to your torso. A couple of things to keep in mind are that you’ll have a flight suit and vest underneath that armor so I wouldn’t recommend fitting it in a t-shirt as it might come out too narrow. For the boots I used a combo of the Desert Sun and a hairdryer to get a good stretch and that worked just fine. I agree with my colleagues and don’t think you need to purchase a heat gun to get good results. Keep up the great work and keep asking those great questions!

Joe thank you for your application. You’ve been added to the queue and we’ll get back to you as soon as we are able. Stand by Pathfinder!

Hi Jill. Nice work on the trimming that's looking great. The trap on the horizontal tank stripe is looking good as well.

Yeah Spec Ops allows a two piece if that is something you want to do. Most of the scouts will have to do some tailoring of their flight suits to fit their body type. The Shadow follows the ROTJ scout but there are some differences there so I’d recommend taking a look at that CRL as well. Kudos to you for starting your research early and we’re here to help so keep posting up those questions. https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TX_shadow_scout

The chest armor and your boxes are looking much better. Great work on those! One additional item we noticed is the helmet decal above your visor. That particular decal should be rounded and not squared off at the ends. Those will need to be replaced with a set that's more screen accurate. Note the CRL photo here: You're doing awesome and almost at the finish just a few items to finish so keep up the fantastic work!

Hi Jack! Sounds like you're off to a good start. Make sure you pull the CRL from the 501st site so you have a good checklist to work from. So there are several methods that you can use for the cod piece. Most ROTJ scouts attach it to the vest per the movie versions. In ROTJ the bund and cod were two separate pieces and having attached to the vest give a freedom of movement as it's not fixed to the bund. Other methods require the use of hook/loop velcro. You sew a strip at the bottom of the bund and another at the top of the cod. I would recommend taking a look at several build threads and see what some of the approved scouts have done. https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:Scout-Trooper-The-Mandalorian

Congrats Pathfinder! Remember to update your profile and post in the access thread for Pathfinder access.

Hi Cat. The difference between the suits is that the Mandalorian Scout uses a TIE Pilot Flight suit rather than the ROTJ Scout suit. That’s why the one piece reference in the CRL. If you do have a need to use a two piece I would highly recommend that you reach out to your GML to get a read on if they will allow it or not.

Both the visor and the bells are looking much better. Just need to clean up the plastic hairs on the visor. Nicely done!

Hi Jill. That color will work fine. Keep in mind that when you use an enamel paint you need to give it a lot of time (around a week) to cure. Before spraying it I would clean the tube with soap and water or you can use 70%-90% Isopropryl Alcohol to wipe it down. That will give you a clean dust free surface to lay the paint down on. After you spray it make sure not to touch or otherwise bump it as it will ruin the finish.

Hi Jill! You can post the updates however you like either incrementally or all at once. We're here for you so don't hesitate to give us a shout if you need anything.

Hi Jill, Thank you very much for your application. It takes a lot of dedication and effort to go for Lancer and you've made a great start at it. Here are the items we have for you: Helmet Minor -- There are some rough spots in your visor area and you should go over the edges with the rotary tool or an emery board to try and round them out a bit and smooth out some of the jagged cuts. Shoulder Armor Minor -- You can see some of the trimming edges from the molding bucks on both shoulders, like with the visor you should go over it with the rotary tool or an emery board to try and smooth the edges out. Upper Arm Armor Minor -- These should be positioned at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions/90 degrees from the body. Forearm Armor Minor -- These should be rolled over to the top of the hand. 10 and 2 o'clock positions! Chest Armor There's a lot of excess glue marks on the shoulder bridges that will need to be cleaned up. We also noted some jagged edges on the sides. You can use a rotary tool or an emery board to try and smooth the edges out. Back Armor You’re using the 4x rank bar, so you'll need to add the extra trap in the center of the horizontal pinstripe per the lvl2 CRL. Alternately you can use the 1 or 6 stripe single stripes. The back armor is too long. You'll need to trim the rear armor bridge maybe an inch (?) to try and even the front and back armor out. Cummerbund Bund and cod look to be constructed from canvas material, which is not allowed -- "Canvas or duck cloth is not permitted." Can you verify the material used in construction? Pouches are 6" wide x 6.5" long x 2" deep. Per the CRL they should have dimensions of 6 x 5 x 2 inches. Bund needs to get pulled up, but fixing the back armor will help. The bund shouldn’t show below the belt. There looks to be a line of dried white glue on your cod strap beneath your TD that should be removed. Belt and Detonator In addition to fixing the left box to be parallel with the belt, she should also bring in the attachment straps in the back closer together. Right now they're quite a bit wider than the CRL model. These will need to be brought in closer to the center of the belt. While the CRL does mention that the TD tube can be light grey we usually recommend a medium grey color as that is closer to the screen scout. Boots The vinyl is coming loose in the area around the dogbone. You can repair this by putting some shoe goo or E6000 on a popsicle stick and re-glue the section between the underboot and the vinyl on the outside of the left boot. It may seem like a lot but as I mentioned you've made an excellent start and just have some items to review and fix. You've done an outstanding job trooper and if you have any questions we're here for you.

They way I did my strapping was to sew loop velcro on all my straps then used industrial adhesive hook on the insides of my forearms, biceps, shoulders, and knees. Doing it like that will allow you to be able to adjust the fit so they are snug.

Hi James! Dennis is correct as much as a pain as it is you'll have to remove that 2" and replace it with 1" hook and loop for basic 501st approval. Since the Velcro is rather rigid you should be able to slip a seam ripper underneath it on the back side of the vinyl and get it loose without too much effort. Dennis made a good suggesting pulling the CRL and using that as your checklist as you proceed through your build and I would second that. We're always here if you need us so keep those questions coming.

Cutting it from the front really won’t work since the vest will show above the chest armor and you’ll see that seam. It’s best to take it in from the back as Dennis mentioned.

Take all the time you need Phil. We'll be here when your ready. Family first my friend!

We're very fortunate to have folks like you all. You're no slouch Glen you bring a wealth of knowledge of costuming and talent to this Detachment and it is greatly appreciated!

Dennis has got you going in the right direction for your soft goods. He’s correct in that it’s important how it fits you so you’ll have to work with the dimensions a little to make it work to your frame. You can make patterns from packing paper or I even made patterns from empty cereal boxes. It’s always helpful to have pictures so once you start getting things together take a few pics and it’ll give us a better idea of how best to guide you. I’m not understanding what you mean about the white shoe-goo on your boot threads. Can you elaborate on that a little?

@ScaryGuy and @KOtrooper can you help Scott out with his armor question?

Welcome to barracks Phil! If there is anyway we can be of service please feel free to let us know!

The bicep should be facing the viewer in the side view. The shoulder bell, bicep, and forearm should all align when your arm is straight down with palms flat against your thighs. Everyone is different “biomechanically” speaking so the distances are going to be tricky to nail down for the bicep as to where it falls. What I do is base my bicep just below my vest sleeve. The vest should poke out about 0.5” below your shoulder bell then I align my bicep about equal with my sleeve. Mine are tight enough that I don’t have to use Velcro to hold them on. Once I get both of them on I have a fellow trooper look at me from the side to make sure I’m aligned. The forearm should go just about halfway over the v stitching but that’s a good way to align it. It should be over the top of your hand.

Boots are looking good Mike nice work there! When you start working on the boot shaft make sure you noodle out the closures so you don't get tripped up. Left boot closure is left-over-right. Right boot closure is right-over-left. What I did was use a pen and drew in arrows on the back of the fabric to make sure I didn't make two of the same pieces.

Hi Cole so far you're looking real good! The only thing that is standing out to me is your flight suit. It looks like you have pockets on the chest and those will have to be removed for basic approval per the CRL. The suit is free of any visible labels, logos, zippers or pockets. Keep up the great work!

It can but It'll take a bit of work to make it passible for basic 501st approval. Before you pick up anything I would check out the helmet thread Dart posted and compare it to the model on thingiverse to make sure. I'd also recommend reaching out to the GML team for the Garrison you'll be joining and get a read from them. You can find your local Garrison here: https://www.501st.com/maps/imagemap-northamerica.php

Welcome to the Pathfinders Sean!