mjhenks

What is the general thought about leaving access zippers in the side of the flight suit to access your pockets under the suit? In the last post above, last picture there are pockets in the side which allow access to inside the flight suit. This is not on the original suit but is the a no-go for approval? Thanks

Any thoughts on this flight suit as a base? It is a Tru-Spec CWU-27/P flight suit. $50. Black and already has waste, and wrist Velcro straps. Two way zipper up front and zipper ankles too. All the pockets can be removed except the waste. They are thru. Not sure what to do there yet Thought it might be a good starting point. Comments other than "smile" or that I need the next size up? 😠Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks guys. Everything stated so far makes alot of sense and i realize that most of the suit is covered up. I plan to wear cooling packs under mine as i already know what overheating is like with my ESB Vader. I hope to get something that wears well and looks right. I know for sure i am looking for something better than the Redkap. I am 6' 5", 210 pounds and the long version looks terrible on me and is not very black. The "Ladysewforus" unit i have is alot heavier cotton that give body but i am sure will be hot. Anyways, keep the feedback coming. Any input on suitable patterns to start with? Matthew

In my quest to join the ranks of the TB i feel like i have done my research and i had things in place to get my flight suit where i felt I needed to go. The best plans though.... So.... - I have a Ladysewforus suit that i think is really nice. Deep black, nice heavy cotton and well fitted. I would have ran with this one if i were 8" shorter than i am. - I also have a redcap that i was going to tailor up i find to be just OK. Poor fitting and not very black. - I have looked at the racing suit inspired ones too. They seem to be better fitted and heavier material but not alot of detail on them. I now find myself starting over. I plan to tailor the suit myself this time and pondering a few things before i strike out again. So, being that i am very tall and slender I would appreciate input from the experts on what we are trying to match screen wise that might not be gleamed from the "scout on the bike" reference photo. So.... IT probably does not really matter but Is the flight suit supposed to be: Baggy, loose fitted or form fitted? Flat Black, Matte Black, Blue Black? Cotton or Poly? Heavy fabric or light weight. Any patterns out there that people have used to make their own? (searching for this is like a jump back to the 70's) Thank you for helping me re-set my direction. Matthew

The leather I am using is a bit thicker that 1mm but worked fine for the toe. (about 1.7mm) For my first go at the shaft I glued my white leather together with 1mm goat leather to make the shaft. That failed and the glue buckled. I used contact cement for a car top as the adhesive. My second go I sewed the two leathers together on thee sides. That worked but the liner leather was way too loose and buckled alot. It really did not lend any support to the outer leather. For my third go I likely will stick with the sewn concept but try to taper the inner liner better to take out the extra material. I am also having a tough time sculpting real leather at the attachment point to the boot so that the dog bone piece comes out smooth. Not sure the best path there yet. I am super pleased though with the rear leather look and feel. If you need some thicker white leather PM me. I have more than i need. Hope this helps. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I finally located my white leather hide. Smooth and bright white. What is your guys opinion on the lining for the boot shaft? Not many picture out there showing the inside of the shaft and the ones that are posted seem to be pleather with no liner. Seems like most real boots are lined with some sort of soft (lamb or pig) leather and it seems they are usually tan. What would a TB have used? White to blend in with the rest? (It's not like they are trying to blend into the forest background) Tan or natural? Am i just being silly and should i use the back side of the hide? I realize i am just gluing this to a standard boot but might as well ask. Matthew

Not a whole lot going on right now. Finishing up a non-prop project. I will say that next week we will start in on the flight suit. In the mean time i have been doing research on using real leather for my boots. Not alot of luck finding the leather i want to use though. I bought a piece of patent leather and tried steal wool, acetone and paint thinner to try and dull it down without good results. I also tried some hydro forming of the leather over the toe to see what i was in for. The results were promising. High hopes still of doing these in leather. The surface texture is the part that is stalling me. Hard to find something that does not have alot of grain.

Any further info on this? I too am looking into real leather. Seems like this is not the common route. Texture is what stumps me. How do these sound for search parameters? - White white. Not off white or anything with some color. - Something with very little grain. Some grain is OK but more smooth than pebbly. - Upholstery or thin weight for the toe and bone for good lay. - 3-4 oz for shaft. - Internal liner may help shaft but probably not needed. With this i am looking at two different pieces of leather which compounds the problem. Wonder if it was shoe patent leather originally???? Any thoughts?

Starting with the boots. I started with Kmax2 boots in size 12 as these were recommended by another builder in a boot questions thread i created. http://forum.bikersc...l=&fromsearch=1 After looking an many, many boots both purchased, home made and the original screen ones i settled on my plan of attack. The easy part was removing the lace hooks. The harder part was laying out the notches in a way that mimicked the screen used that i could lay out on the Kmax2 boot. This is what i came up with. Real vs. fake. Remove the lace hooks Side by side. New vs. carved. The heal The tools. (Also used a pencil and a straight edge.) Matthew

Thanks Mickey. Request sent.

Was not sure if it is better to have a thread in each component category or one build thread. I opted for this way. Relatively new here but not new to building. Built a ESB Vader a few years ago. Built and R2 10 years ago as well as multiple lightsabers and blasters under my belt. I am shooting for Lancer so please let me know where i go wrong. I am 6'5" so i expect some fitting issues along the way. So, without further ado, lets go. This is my plan. Bucket. Altman's. Armor. Moncal. Flight Suit. Red Kap based. Sew myself. Flak Jacket. Sew myself Cummerbund. Sew myself. Pouches. Sew myself. Boots. Kmax2. Building myself. Blaster. Hyperfirm or DVH Gloves. Wampa Wear Sound System. Undecided. Cooling System. US Army cool vest. Balaclava. Under Armor. Most of my parts are either on order or in hand. Lot's of research has been done already and i am pretty sure my direction is clear on everything but the Bund and flak jacket. This is going to be fun. Matthew

I am working on laying out the cuts for my boots. I am using Kmax2 size 12 boots. I noticed that the most often "original" boot is the below image which is a size 10 but not sure it is Mens or Womans size. http://s190.photobucket.com/user/asiandoood/media/blogspot/gallery_1_5_24193.jpg.html Then again looking at the Biker scout but here we do not know the boot size. http://s190.photobucket.com/user/asiandoood/media/blogspot/gallery_1_4_14757.jpg.html So as the boot gets bigger do the spacing just space out more? Sort of a scale up? This is what i think would have happened. Follow-up to that is did all the screen used boots have the horizontal rib? Thanks.

Thank you guys. These will not be used. Going with MonCal instead.

New to Biker Scouts but not to costume building. I am shooting for Lancer because if your going to do it, do it right. After a hours of searching and reading about boots i have a few lingering questions that i hope are not so simple that i simply missed the answer somewhere. 1. Leather vs. Pleather. Seems most are using pleather. Is there a pro/con on one vs. the other aside from cost and a capable sewing machine? I am guessing the toe forming is the challenge with leather but in the end does it really matter? 2. Sole notches. I see lots of versions. For acceptance how picky does it get for the right spacing of the notches and the notch depth or is it just "are they there and close". Seems like base boot has alot to do with how close you can get here. 3. Lots of builders show their cheap base boots but usually not the brand or model for those of us who are searching on-line. Did i miss a post listing suggestions somewhere? 4. For us tall scouts, i am under the assumption that we need to height/lengthen the boot wrap to match where the knee armor is rather than standard length to be acceptable. (I'm 6'5") Thanks. Matthew

Can anyone help me ID this armor? Was given to me by a buddy. He got it about 5 years ago. Thanks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk