stasz

The original Hi-Tec boots had a more (to me) orange color to the sole, and I've never seen anything close on a modern workboot. You've probably seen the pics in the gallery: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?app=gallery&album=138 That being said, I've often seen the color referred to as "tan" or "gum" so of those two boots, I'd opt for the darker sole. These remind me of the Lugz boots some have tried, but I can't speak to the success rate on those. I'm sure there some WIPs in the boot forum. In a nutshell, tan, one color, no visible stitching will get you there. For Lancer you're going to want all that plus a "carve-able" heel.

Chef is the man My vest is just the right height to stay inside the chest/back armor. It's pretty short really, like a crop top. My pouches are attached to the bund with snaps. The pouches (and bund - from Marcel) have a flap that extends from the top of the pouch with loop Velcro that I connect to the inside of my chest armor to snug it up and keep it in place. Works for me! But it's always interesting to hear how different troopers rig up their stuff.

I wish I would've put flat laces in. You can kind of see the laces beneath the vinyl on my boots below the dog bone, but a few troops and things crease and break in. You couldn't tell unless you were looking for it.

Yes! Looking sharp, Trooper. Congrats!

I was fortunate enough to score a built and modded KS lid from Darth Voorhees, and I really only tweaked the foam around the back and in the dome of the bucket. I didn't have an issue with the faceplate. I think this situation would be do what works for you and share the results! My face doesn't quite hit the faceplate but I have glasses and I can't wear them with the helmet on.

If you do a forum search for "NI Bucket" you'll get quite a few threads discussing the NI and some good comparison pics. Make sure you use quotation marks in the search bar, or else it won't let you search for two character words. It's a decent enough looking lid, but it doesn't seem like a lot of troops use them for whatever reason. Personally, I don't like the way the visor joins the face plate but that's nit-pickey

If you used E-6000 you might be able to go SLOW and LOW with some heat and use a thin spatula or something like a .016 guitar string to work your way under the topper. I had to take off my thermal det endcaps in order to attach my Chef clips when they came in and this method worked (granted, it wasn't a large area slathered with glue). But again, SLOW and LOW heat to prevent distorting the tank, topper, or back armor. I used my wife's hair dryer on the lowest heat setting. EDIT: rereading your post, it sounds like the tank was assembled when you got it? So you might not know what type of glue was used?

Are there TK pieces mixed in there? It looks like there are two back pieces and a butt.

Yessssss! Big Brown Box Time!

Yes, Winter's WIP! I knew someone had posted about it not too long ago, I couldn't remember who for the life of me. I also gooped up a couple of my old, super yellow Kenner Stormtrooper figures. They weren't brought back to pristine condition, but it made a huge difference.

By all means, take your time I just meant it as an affirmative. Like Kramer on Seinfeld. I had a lot of fun doing my boots, and I'm proud of how well they came out. That was the first thing I tackled and it definitely built up my confidence for the rest of the build.

Giddyup, Brother! I got a Stanley rivet gun at Home Depot for $10.

My bucket was a slightly different hue than my armor. I read about retrobright - it's an "open source" formula that folks use it to remove yellowing from old PC cases, video game consoles, vintage sneakers, etc. There's a recipe online. I posted about it a little further down in this forum. Well, I got the ingredients, mixed it up, slathered it on my bucket and I am thrilled with the result. I don't have a great before and after, but here are two pics, both taken in the same location with the same light source and camera. In the first, you can definitely see the shade difference between the lid and the armor. This next one is after about 2 hours in the sun coated with the retrobright, same bucket and the forearm from that same armor set. I did remove the faceplate/visor from the bucket and treated them simultaneously but separately. I figured all I had to loose was a couple hours. Had a couple IPAs, turned the parts every 1/2 hour. It made a huge difference!

I'm a big fan of snaps. I use them on my knees, forearms and biceps to keep them in place, as well as attaching my pouches to my bund. I don't see why you couldn't use snaps to have the bund actually attached to the flight suit, but I don't know if you'd want the belt permanently attached to the bund. If only for storage I could see that being a problem.

Huzzah!

I just gotta say - I had some lousy forum experiences in the past (mostly comic book forums) and I was a little apprehensive when I started researching The Legion and ended up signing up on not one, but FOUR forums to date. Some I like more than others, but my experience has been overwhelmingly positive, especially here at BS.N. I'm approved now, but I still come back darn near every day to see what my brothers and sisters are up to, to offer whatever help I can to up-and-coming troopers, to share my experiences or cool Scout Stuff... While this forum is indeed an invaluable wealth of knowledge, it's also a fine community. Props to the Command Staff and Web Team for making it so. See you tomorrow.... ~ John

Most impressive! I'm loving this thread.

If you haven't yet, get ahold of theisaac. He's in your Garrison and did a killer job on his Scout.

Ya hit the ground running! You could pull pockets off and do your collar mod no sweat without the armor, but sizing the riding patch helps if you've got your knees, and sizing the vest helps if you've got your chest armor. I took in the sleeves and legs on my RedKap a bit, and added stirrups to keep the legs from poofing out over my boots. Keep us posted!

Also, I'll swoop in before Griffin-X and say "Altmann! Yes!". It's a very nice lid.

I believe MC is close to a year out if not more. WW has their own website: http://www.wampawear.com/biker-scout-gloves/ and an Amazon store. I'm really happy with mine. I actually have an XL pair which are a touch too big so I ordered an L. They are warm though. At least, they were last weekend at a baseball game in 90° heat. There was also SithArmor, but I don't know if they're still around. Remember with your flight suit, you'll have to remove pockets and zippers that won't be covered by the other layers, and add suede riding patches and mud flap, thigh bands, and the mandarin collar if it doesn't have that style. All easy stuff though. Another good idea, if you haven't done so yet, would be to sign up on your local Garrison forum. Introduce yourself. You may have Scouts close by who could assist or at least get to see some different costumes in person. NCS (non costume support) is invaluable to the Troops and a great way to pick people's brains and see stuff up close.

On your way! Keep us posted

I have Wampa Wear gloves, and depending on what size you need they do go out of stock for short periods occasionally. If you're doing your own flight suit and opt for RedKap coveralls, they're readily available on Amazon. There are patterns floating around for vest and bund, but again you could also commission a quality piece via the trade forum. I wanted to do as much as I could myself, but some folks want it as ready to go as it can be. That's fine too, but you'll have to make little tweaks no matter what.

The quickest turnaround on armor is probably SC. The longest (looooooongest) wait is probably with MC, though a few guys have had somewhat lengthy waits from KS lately. I made my boots, vest and modded my flight suit while I saved up to order my cummerbund and armor. Scored a ready-to-troop bucket on the trade forum (props to DVH). Are you planning on doing a kit bucket? The armor itself wasn't a ton of work - at least mine from SC wasn't. Mostly trimming, sanding, and lots of sewing Velcro onto elastic. If you've got funds ready to go, I'd suggest ordering your armor and bucket and working on whatever soft parts you're planning on doing yourself. It makes the wait more bearable I really enjoyed making my boots, though there are some troops here that sell a fine pair.

Oy... There's a couple sketchy blasters floating around on etsy. I almost bought an enormous Kenner recast when I was first searching, but I *cough* checked the boards first!