Retrofire

Cody, Excellent job on your submission. Here are our findings: - the shoulder bridge covers are too wide and should be halved (~ 1 inch). - The blaster should not be weathered. - Your belt is sitting too high. The cummerbund should not be visible below the belt. - The TD color looks too light of a grey. It should be a medium grey color. The rest of kit is really well done and you should be proud. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at any time.

Chopper is right. I have SC and I didn’t use any glue at all just the two rivet attachments. I made a tab at the top and riveted through the tank topper into it and then riveted the bottom. Over two years and 60+ troops and no issues.

Good on ya for sticking it out! Glad you did as it looks good. Before you start chopping the cod it looks like it just needs an adjustment. Give this a try: 1 - put on your vest 2- put on your cummerbund bring it up to your pec’s so it rides a bit high. 3 - now the cod. It should sit at the front and not be pulled under your legs by the 2 inch strap that attaches to the back of the bund. This strap should be snug but NOT tight. That’s what makes the cod fold since it gets pulled under. 4 - put on your belt. Take a deep breath and get it tight to where it’s not uncomfortable. It should be at your belly button level and not on your hips. 5 - now for the chest/back armor. The bottom of the chest may ride on the tops of the pouches and that’s ok. 6 - now the cod should be riding just in the front with only the strap going underneath. You can also add interfacing or dense foam to the bottom of the cod to keep it firm. Here’s how mine looks: Note that the cod sits in front and is not pulled underneath. I think you’re doing great and I recommend making a few figment adjustments first before cutting away at it. It might still be necessary but give this a try first. Hope this helps and keep up the great work!

Great job sir!

I got to agree with you guys there. Fiberglass can be miserable to troop in for any extended period of time which is most troops. I applaud their intent of making a sturdy shell but I prefer lightweight ABS on my noggin in the Arizona desert and especially since I’m prone to migraines and having more weight on my skull makes it worse.

It’s just the nature of the beast. The belt is the piece most prone to failure due to wear (moving with your stride) and taking it on and off. Another area prone to cracking is the chest armor tab where the strapping pulls through to tighten the front and back. Reinforcing those areas is a good start and you can “beef” up those areas by adding scrap plastic and gluing with Devcon or another strong glue/epoxy. If it’s too far gone most armor vendors sell a la carte so you can sent them an email/pm and see what they can do for you.

Totally understand and we’re looking forward to seeing this finished! If you need anything don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

The Palladium along with the Zahal scout boot are a great base boot for the Alliance Endor Commando because of the toe cap but not so good for the Biker Scout. The issue with these boots, as chopper mentioned, are the soles. The Sierra Sneaker boot has a much thicker sole especially at the heel than these two examples have. I would recommend going with the boot Chopper discussed in his post. The most important thing to keep in mind is to make sure they’re comfortable since you’ll be in them for long periods of time.

Congrats Vanguard!

Congrats on your approval Pathfinder! The crew has some great advice regarding Lancer so listen to them. You can always reach out to me or Strider as well along with the DL and XO.

Mickey makes good points regarding only the two rivets at the ends. The build thread I directed you to will show you a technique to glue the three parts together without fasteners. Your belt should only have one rivet on each side like this.

Take a look at Pandatroopers build thread in the Biker Scout armory. He explains the build of the three piece belt and the thermal detonator in detail. http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/9781-pandatroopers-sc-biker-scout-build/

Shelbi, Excellent work on a difficult upgrade. We have one finding that will need to be addressed. Your vest is flaring from under the shoulder bells. From the CRL: Vest sleeves do not flare when worn with shoulder bells. (https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TB_Scout_trooper) Findings not affecting approval but should be reviewed by the candidate: Flight suit a bit baggy at the knees and thighs. In some cases stirrups in your flight suit legs will keep it tight from your toes to the neck. As always you can contact any of the staff for assistance at any time we're here to help and we want you to be successful!

RS makes nice armor but please, everyone, keep in mind that even though they may have a “Lancer” equivalent kit it isn’t a shoe in. It’s just as important how the armor fits on you the wearer. Everyone should thoroughly review a potential armor set as it’s a big investment so ask those questions and get all the information before you buy.

My boots were the first step I took in becoming a Scout. I got a pair of boots from Kmart and some vinyl from hobby lobby cracked open some build threads here on the forum and dived in. I had help the whole way because that’s what these folks here do...help each other. If I can do it anyone can do it and it gave me the confidence to move on to building my armor. The boots are a great place to start your journey. Doing it yourself will save you money and build confidence. It’s a win-win!

Congrats Mike you earned it! Welcome Lancer!

Thank you for your application Shelbi. We will review and get back to you. We ask for your patience as Lancer reviews are quite involved.

Fully understand. I ran into some of the same problems with my submittal too. A full resubmit is not necessary. Please provide new photos with you suited from the front and a detail shot of your revised bund/cod. That will be sufficient for the follow on review. You’re just about there just a few items to address![emoji106]

Mike, Apologies for the time lag but if you're ready here we go.... Your cod piece is folding. Looks like it is too tight and needs to be loosened. It should ride in front and not be tucked underneath. The bund has six ribs with seven vertical stitch lines. CRL states five ribs with six vertical stitch lines. This can be remedied by carefully removing the extra stitchline and using a warm iron. The double stitching for the curve on your cod piece is too far apart. It should be approximately half that width. This can be remedied by carefully removing the stitchline and using a warm iron. Then resew it closer together. Your back armor seems much too low. You can make this look better by trimming the shoulders some and bring it up. Boot closures do not look clean and should be redone. Findings not affecting approval but should be reviewed by the candidate: Left forearm sneaking under your gauntlet. Flight suit a bit baggy above the knees. Drop boxes a touch low, Could go up a bit. You're shooting for 1 to 1.5 inches from the belt. Bicept armor not squared up and aligned to your arm. Hold out blaster barrel is drilled out. He stated that he will fix that and resubmit. TD color should be a darker grey. You can remove and spray paint a medium gray. You are off to an excellent start on a difficult submission. Just a few items to address. As always you can contact any of the staff for assistance at any time we're here to help and we want you to be successful!

Dart is right on point with his input. As to your question regarding strapping the bottom of the shoulder bells, knees, forearm, and biceps are all connected using various widths of woven elastic. In some builds the Scouts add Velcro to these parts and the flight suit to keep them in place. The belt is woven nylon webbing with a Velcro closure. I also have stirrups built into my flight suit to keep the legs tight so it doesn’t bunch above/below the knees.

I guess the phase “can’t see the forest through the trees” would be applicable here[emoji16]

Here’s a part of the instructions I send to our members wishing to join. I would join the UK Garrison forums first and verify what their process is before proceeding. In the Dune Sea we prefer to have the candidates set up in the Garrison forums first so we can answer questions and guide them through the process. We will first need your 501st application to be filled out. All Imperial Citizens wishing to join the Imperial Armed Forces will need to successfully complete this phase. Proceed to this page - http://www.501st.com/members/join_form.php Read the instructions and fill out the form completely. When you get to the TKID portion think of a five digit number that has significance to you as that will be your ID for as long as you serve the Empire. There is a spreadsheet you can review to ensure that your number is available. For example in my case my TKID 91005 is the date of my anniversary.

You’re correct. While we don’t approve at level 2 since that’s for the det‘s to do we do recognize and accept level 2 building techniques when approving for basic. The best CRL is one that the GML doesn’t have to post to the 501st forum for approval help because all the info is there in front of them. This is all good stuff!

Between his Shore and now this we’re not going to hear from him for some time I suspect[emoji16]

Good eye Theo! We were seeing the same thing. Looking closely at your right side pic above it looks like there is seam line just past the end of the bell. That’s about the length you want. Then you can pull up your biceps a touch. Keep up the great work you’re just about there!