indylead

Mine align fine, a slight difference in the round over between the two halves,but nothing dramatic.

I've bitten the bullet and ordered two redkaps, both long, but in different chest sizes. Hopefully one will fit well! I did email wampawear for a measurement on their suit, but just got an email back with the sizing chart which doesn't quote the body length. I'll update once I get them so others have some data.

I know they have the long option, but how much longer is it? They don't quote dimensions of the torso.

Ok, one troop under my belt and the only issue I found with the costume from a comfort point of view is...how can I put this...it's a bit of a challenge to bend over/kneel down without risking some seriously embarressing ripping noises from the nether regions. Bascially, the overalls I used are a little short in the body length and don't give much space to bend over. This is despite the waist being a little larger than I need, and enough hip material to set sail in windy conditions. So...some help please. Can someone with a red kap Large or XL (48" chest or 50" chest version) measure the distance from the top of the collar, down the back to the crotch then back up the front to the throat for me? For example, my suit is 76". If anyone has other overalls of a similar chest size, this would be really useful too. I'm 6'2", inside leg is 32", waist 46", chest 48". Thanks

It came up elsewhere - someone asking about the shoulder bridges. I thought I'd post what I ended up with. Materials: Elastic Velcro Cotton cloth as used on the cummberbund I started with the basic elastic "T" that connects the front, rear and shoulder bell with matching velcro glued to the armour. I then made up a double-thickness piece of cotton. One dimension is long enough to wrap around the armour three times, the other is the gap between the armour plates, plus 1/2". Velcro is added to this cloth so that, once folded around, it stays closed. The next photo shows the bridge wrapped around without the armour included. It looks like there is a visible edge of the bridge when worn, but this isn't the case. T-piece fitted to the armour plates, before the bridge is wrapped around: Wrap bridge around... ...add attach in place with the velcro on the underside. I hope that's clear enough!

Heh, I think I'm glad i went with the Scouts

Hi Joel, and welcome. I'd love to have a Boba Fett costume, but it didn't take too much research to realise it's not a simple one. Also, if there was already one locally I'd not get to use it so often (how do Garrisons decide who troops as Vader? I'm imagining light sabre duels to pick a winner) - so for my first costume I went with the Scout. Good luck with whichever you go with.

Welcome, and good luck with the build.

Update!! I'm in! ): TB-22512 reporting in. Heard from the GML of the French Garrison that my costume has been accepted, and that I should be hearing from the 501st shortly. just heard from the 501st officially. I've been sitting here smiling like a loon for the last hour. Thanks, everyone, for all the help, advice and encouragement, and to the various sources of materials (you know who you are!). I'm looking forward to trooping, and hope I do the Pathfinders proud. Now, how do we handle those pesky trees, again? Aim for the middle?

Great idea on the stitching! I riveted mine, and haven't noticed any problem with it rubbing - although there are different types of rivet, so maybe some are worse than others. As for the glue coming off...I used a lot of E6000 adhesive on mine. I then had to re-do the leg section as I had made them too short - it took *a lot* of pulling to get the old material off, and for the new version I've no worries about things coming apart.

Welcome, Alex. Six months ago I was in the same boat as you. A Scout costume looked like a good idea. What next? Getting started is easy. Reading. Lots of reading! I spent the first three weeks reading the guides and build threads here to get an overall view of what was involved and the costs. I had a few specific questions about the helmet (I wear glasses) that I was able to resolve, plus trying to narrow down which armour and helmet to go for. In the middle of this, I met up with Garrison Titan in Seattle as they happened to have a meet-the-troop night whilst I was in the area on vacation. They were a friendly welcoming bunch of people, and although no scout armour was present for a view, there was lots of good advice on costumes in general. Plus it reinforced my view that the 501st were a group I'd get along with. Back home, Pandatrooper's guide was incredibly helpful, but in a few places I found other ways of doing things that worked better for me, or I was able to do with the tools I had. For example, I wasn't going to have the time or tools to make the armour and helmet, so went with a pre-assembled helmet, and SC armour. I was willing to give the soft armour a go, though. I'd used a sewing machine once at school before starting on this project. I bought one as I have a couple of other (less fun) projects to use it on. It took a lot of patience and a few false starts, but pretty much everything came together on the first try. Again, there are lots of guides on youtube on how to sew things. Plus, there is a lot of experience from the folk here - I asked plenty of questions once I'd been unable to find an answer already in the forum. You will find your Google-Fu improves, even if your aim and tree-dodging abilities don't. Good luck!

Seconded on the velcro to hold the cummerbund, plus I added a strip of velcro to attach the chest armour to the top of the cummer bund as well - this way I know both parts are lined up at the front.

I've found it easiest to put it on back-to-front so I can do up the velcro neatly; then slide the whole thing around me. Then pass the strap between my legs and up the back to attach.

I know I'm a noob at this, but no one mentioned yet that it is a lot easier to switch your helmet cooling fans on if you do it before putting on the helmet and gloves.

Forgot to update in here...Following Marcel's comments, a few improvements were made and I submitted my approval photos to the French Garrison the weekend before The Force Awakens opened in France. I haven't heard back from the French Garrison yet, however I did wear the costume to the opening night in Toulouse. So glad I did - I must have been stopped thirty times for photos walking through the city centre, and got mobbed outside the cinema (lucky I had a 'spotter' friend - the buckets don't give you much spatial awareness of little people!). Had a great time, both with the cosplay and the film itself, and really fired up to get stuck in with the 501st troops.

Pre-approval photos went up in the other forum - a few comments from Marcel that I'm now working out.

Thanks, Marcel - will get on it. Edit - Boots re-done and new larger pouches made, so will get some updated photos on as soon as I can find a willing photographer to help again. Cheers.

I'm hoping I have things sufficiently mature to post here now...I guess I'll find out soon enough! I've had a build thread going and got some comments back last week from here and the French Garrison site, so I guess it is time to let rip and work out what needs to be fixed prior to requesting clearance.

Thanks, Bowfanny - it's a couple of press studs so easy to move them an inch or so. Apart from that, am I almost done, do you think?

Drat - forgot to add - I still need to make the modified T-shirt thing to go under the body armour. I'm going to take in the cummerbund at the top a little to better fit my not-cylindrical torso a little better. I think the flight suit needs a little more tailoring around the arms as it is baggy, but maybe the over-shirt will fix that? Um...I need to velcro the boot behind the holster to my flight suit too I see, and but the sole pattern.

Thanks, Bowfanny. I think I'm about done. Had a friend help out with some photos today - not sure if these are good enough for a pre-approval set, so lets say a pre-pre-approval? I see I need to work on the armour placement on the arms still! Tricky to get them right when you don't have a decent mirror and your helpful friends aren't aware what goes where. I guess some velcro on the back to keep the damn things from sliding around? Anyway, open fire...

Bicep armour greeblies finished and glued. Back armour assembled. I kind of used the same approach as pandatrooper, however since i stupidly glued the greebly too close to the edge, I had to improvise. And not in a particularly aesthetic way, so no photos Helmet cooling fan with switch and battery pack. Being an unfit and short-sighted trooper, I get hot easily, and my glasses steam up. Given the problem I have with my motorcycle helmet, I figured something to keep the visor and glasses clear from fogging up would be a good idea. Tested and works a treat. I might upgrade the battery pack (4x AA) to a single 9V in time. This weekend I focussed on the boots. These were from Toolstation in the UK and I followed the guide on this site. Oops, no other in-progress shots, i'm afraid. The length of the back piece was as per the drawings, but I had to widen the top of the boot considerably to make it fit. The top of the right boot really isn't that wide...I just couldn't find something to stuff in it to hold the shape! I'll cut the sole details later. Only the pouches left as a 'big' thing to make now!

Riding patch added. This was tricky to say the least. Pattern was based on one around here somewhere, but I had to modify it to fit my suit. Sewing this was a bear - getting the material in to sew it was tricky, but it can be done. Hint - pin the crap out of the patch, then pin it some more. Then take your time. I also finished the bicep armour greeblies. These were cut, and the flat plate thickened with some balsa, filled with epoxy putty then painted black. Next up, the thermal detonator. I forgot to take in-progress photos, but the approach is pretty straight forward as per Pandatrooper's mods. I realised I will need to remove the end caps when i add the belt clips (en route) but the E6000 glue is not as strong as I thought . I'm not sure about the magnets, tbh, and may resort to a couple of extra cable ties. Not a bad weekend all in all.

Cheers! Just wanted a little assurance I was on the right track!

Yeah, the shoulder bells are way off They are just hanging from the shoulder T-straps at the moment until I get the velcro in place. In terms of the cummerbund, belt and hip pouches, are things looking about right?