Strider

The easiest gauge is really when you sew the 5 rib chambers and then attach the pouches 1 inch away from the last rib chamber (respectively). Other than that the position of yours look about right, maybe just a tad bit too far left and right. Cheers

I don't have any ventilation system in my helmet and find it pretty comfortable to wear. No comparison to a TK helmet eg. Like Shada said your biggest worry will probably be the multiple layers of soft parts.

The padding definitively goes all around and the ribs are just the padding stitched over. I found it difficult however to decide on the right amount of padding as in some scenes (e.g. the one above on the speeder bike) the padding seems to be quite thick while in other scenes, particularly when you look at the ribbed part, the padding seems to be super thin. Another observation is that the cummerbund does not seem to contain any stiffening material since we can see that it folds a lot wheres the cod piece seems so stiff that it bends when attached to the back of the cummerbund.

The tank stripes are always on the right side. They've mirrored a lot of shots in the speeder bike sequences. You can also tell by the missing "PAR" sign on the right side of the helmet. Cheers

Why, thank you!

Thanks for your kind words, gentlemen Yes, quite a lot trial&error involved in the process but it was fun getting a bit closer with each iteration. I think there's still quite a bit of potential but I wanted to tackle the things first that bothered me the most; the helmet, the chest, the soft parts and the proportions in general. Everything in this costume interacts with each other (re the overall look) and if one part is incorrect it will affect the look of the remaining parts. E.g. I had a cod piece that looked good with my old belt but when I changed the belt the piece looked completely wrong so I had to redo it.

Okay, the bikerscout armor is finished. I'll probably do more mods in the future but for the time being I'm pretty happy with the current level. A lot of people have contributed to it so I would like to name a few; first I'd like to thank Gino for the inspiration and tipps along the way, my buddy Alex (TB-86079) for the collaboration on the helmet and a lot of fruitful discussions, John (Lonewolf) for allowing me to use his helmet as a base for my own design and of course the armory team of the BSN for their valuable input and support. My goal was first and foremost to increase the accuracy of the custom but also emphasize the coolness and meanness of the imperial scout trooper. I have to say it was a great experience; by trying to rebuild the original parts as close as possible I really learned to appreciate the subtleties and elegance of this great costume. There are no sharp edges or corners, every line is in flow and connects to the adjacent parts like a classic Italian automobile. So without further ado here it is: Here is a comparison shot to my "inspirations" for this armor and build: Hope you like it! Cheers

That's funny, because the material of the helmet should not matter. At least not when you apply a plastic adhesive and a primer first. The color code we use in Europe is RAL 9016, not sure though how that translates into US or other color standards.

For me weathering always does the trick. IMO all scouts should have weathering anyway, lol.

Very nice!

After seeing this picture I decided to go back to change the design of the drop boxes slightly: The general dimensions are the same but I increased the angles of the sides a bit (unweathered drop box is the new one): Also I got a new pair of knee guards made with a little bit of help from my friends ;-) - Thanks John/LW! A fellow prop maker from the UK pointed me towards a new supplier who had pinseal ABS which is the stuff they used for the original bikerscout armor (or the helmet at least for all we know). I really like working with it a lot, it's a great, high quality material. Tried it out for a couple of my molds and it works just great

Looks good so far. The biggest 'issue' I see at the moment are the pants (a little too baggy) and the straps around the thigh patches which should be more tighter. Otherwise good job! Cheers

That looks great and I think it's as good as you can possibly get it until we know which material they used inside. IMO they used a straight cut which only appeared curved because it was slightly bend. Unfortunately none of the materials I've experimented with so far (buckram, foam, plastic, etc.) were able to do the trick. Cheers

EDIT: Updated link to respective thread: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=15980&view=findpost&p=148345

Looks great, Rob. I'd be in for a pair of leather made boots

What exagerates the challenge is that most armors that are currently out there are too long to varying degrees. So even if you had the perfectly sized pouch it would hang over your belt. Which goes back to Mickey's point to make them rather too small.

Thanks for all your feedback! My motivation for posting this is more to inspire screen accuracy rather than working towards a sales thread. I haven't really thought about selling anything. Also e.g. making the belt is a tricky process because the first 3 boxes are so close to each other that they don't get sucked in when you vac form it so you have to help a bit with a card and push it down (that was actually the same way they casted the original belts). What can happen is that when you bend the belt it might get small cracks left and right of the buckle. No biggie and easy to fix but still I wouldn't like to sell something that is not perfect. For my current costume I won't make all parts myself (but with the option to do so at a later point in time). Some will be modded parts from other makers to show how far you can take them (eg, the LW helmet), other parts I have developed in collaboration with other armor makers (eg, chest/back and shoulders) and a few will be just off the shelf. Stay tuned

If you go to that link and click on the IMG field on the right hand side you can directly c/p the picture in the thread so people can see the picture without going to photobucket first. Cheers

I decided to build some new Bikerscout armor parts to achieve a higher accuracy. The first parts I wanted to tackle was the belt, the drop boxes and the helmet. First step was to get got reference pictures which I found in the extras section of the SW blu rays. As with the original armor I decided to model the belt using good old wood: Belt mold ready for casting: Second step were the drop boxes. I build it with cardboard first to get a feel for the overall dimensions and angles: I found the most tricky part the angles of the sides actually. The appear really different on each reference picture. For example if I compare the front of mine with the costume in the SW costumes book it appears the angle could be more flat. However, comparing it from the side to picture from the MoM exhibition it seems pretty close to me (see comparison pics below) After some trial and error versions this is the version I ended up casting: Next stop: the helmet

Hi Joe, best option is to upload them on photobucket and then use the "insert as img" function to just paste them in your text. Cheers

Not a big fan of either of these but if pressed I'd go for the SC. However since you're located in Europe, have you taken a look at the helmet from Rob D'Chef? There are also some good helmet comparison threads in the armory section. Cheers

Nice project, let's see what you can do with it. Not sure though if riveting the sides to the facemask was a good idea ;-) You might also want to think about exchanging the snout greeblie against something more accurate. Cheers

Nice! So, when are you handing in your TB application ?

As other pointed out you would probably get basic approval with it. Having said this, this is a rather ugly helmet IMO and you'd regret it later on. Better wait until something more suitable comes along or order one from the established sellers.

Welcome Rob! If you need any help, we also have a German Bikerscout FB page (A.R.T. Wolfpack). Just in case Oliver hasn't invited you yet Cheers