Ruthar

Weathering To weather my suit, I used Strider's weathering technique as a base as it looks pretty close to how it's done in the film (and my helmet was already weathered this way). I actually did the same technique as the base for my Rogue One Tank Driver. To briefly describe, I took a can of flat black spray paint and sprayed it toward the armour from about 2 feet away. This basically mists the armour with black to give it a naturally dirtied look that is much lighter than the heavy weathering of Sandtroopers or Heavy Weapons TKs. To start, I tested out the technique on a few pieces of scrap plastic just to make sure I could get the heaviness I desired. I started with the chest/back and worked my way around to the other pieces. Just as a point of comparison, here is the chest/back before weathering. And here's what it looks like after: In addition to painting, I also use some high grit sandpaper (400) and a rag with some isopropyl alcohol. These are used to take off some of the paint to create a more used and less uniform look. Sometimes, the paint will splatter a little bit and give you these little dots that I don't particularly like. I just use the rag with some of the alcohol to gently remove them and then spritz the area again with the paint. Here's another example of some of the pieces: I chose to go pretty light with my weathering, but I might add more later on. It's definitely easier to add than to subtract with this kind of paint, so I chose to start pretty basic - just enough to make the helmet not look out of place. Speaking of making the helmet match, I always make sure that the regions between pieces match with the weathering. The helmet has a region on the right side (wearer's left) that is a bit more heavily weathered. So, in order to make everything look like it fits together, I more heavily weathered that upper shoulder region as well. After going around and touching all the large areas with the spray paint, I turned to a small paint brush and some black acrylic paint. In areas that are hard to reach (like these bicep greeblies), I use the acrylic and the paint brush to get a little weathering beneath the edges just so it looks a little more realistic. Also, don't forget to put a little weathering underneath moving parts such as the shoulder straps that can flex and slip. You wouldn't want them to shift and reveal a perfectly white underside during a troop! That's pretty much all there is to it. Just go around carefully spraying and painting until you have the desired heaviness that you want. All of this weathering is, of course, optional, but I suggest giving everything a nice light coat.

Complete Test Fit With the knees reinforced and the side straps in, the time has come for the first complete test fit. Without further ado, here's what I've now got. Criticisms definitely welcome! At the moment, the one thing that I think I see is that the posterior flap needs to be shortened a little bit so that it isn't so obvious from the sides. It should terminate just about at the end of the butt, and mine is a definitely longer than that at the moment. The biceps should probably be turned a little more to the sides as well - right now they seem to be facing too far toward the rear. Also, the right sleeve of the vest may also need to be taken in just a touch to get it to wrap a little tighter around the bicep just as the left one does. Overall, other than those few things mentioned, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out so far. If you see something that I have yet to catch, do be sure to note it - all the extra eyes always help. Next up is adjusting those few things (and anything else that may come up) and then moving on to weathering and some final details!

Strapping Velcro Reinforcement When I did my first rough test fit, I found that the knees wouldn't stay quite where I wanted them. So, I decided to use some velcro to keep them in place. 1) First, I put on the flight suit, knees, and boots and got them into the position I wanted. 2) Then, I used a strip of painter's tape to mark exactly where the tops of the knees sat. On the tape, I marked where the center indent of the knee was so that I could replicate the position exactly. 3) Within the center part of the knee on the inside, I installed a piece of adhesive hook velcro that matched the shape of the area. 4) Then I placed the knees upon the legs, lining up the top edges of the knees with the tape. I then lifted the back of the knees and installed a matching rectangle of velcro on each knee, removed the adhesive backing, and carefully pressed them down against the leg. I ran some super glue around the edges to keep them firmly in place. Ideally, I would have sewn these into the flight suit, but I didn't really want to mess with reopening the seams to get inside the pants again. Now the knees will stay nicely in place. I might do the same with the biceps later on, but, so far, they haven't given me as much trouble. Even so, the technique would be the same if you wanted to do that.

Strapping Chest/Back Side Straps It's really starting to come to a close now! Time to put in the straps holding the chest and back together at the sides. 1) Cut two 12" lengths of the 1.5" cotton webbing. I also cut two small strips of 1.5" white elastic for reinforcement, but this isn't necessary. 2) I installed a male snap into the strap facing inward as well as a female snap plate in the back armour to hold the strap in the back firmly. 3) I then ran the straps on the sides into the chest plate. One of my Garrison mates gave me a hand in getting them to match up on each side. I found that each strap was 7.5" between the slots for my size. 4) I used a strip of blue painter's tape to mark where the strap enters the slot so I knew how much extra material I had to work with. 5) I cut a 3" long and 1.5" wide piece of sew-in hook velcro. This will be sewn onto the strap facing inward so it can hold to some loop velcro installed in the chest plate. 6) In order to help the strap slide into the slot more easily, I cut 45-degree corners into the hook velcro piece. 7) Then I sewed the piece down against the strap with a large box and an "x" going through for security. 8) I also glued a small piece of gaffer's tape to the backside where the velcro and strapping meet. This will help guide the strap through the slot without allowing it to get caught on the edges of the opening. 9) Finally, I installed a 2" x 3" strip of adhesive loop velcro into the chest plate 1/2" away from the slot opening. Simply slide the strap in through the slot and press the velcro together to hold it all in. 10) And here is what the strap looks like installed.

Strapping Cummerbund/Vest/Cod Connections Now that the pouches are installed and the snaps on the cummerbund are ready, I moved to installing the final bits on the connections between the cummerbund, vest, and cod pieces. 1) The first thing I did was install the matching snaps on the vest for the cummerbund. While wearing the vest, I held up the cummerbund and marked a line with the silver marker where the pouch attachment tabs of the cummerbund sat against the vest. Then, I took off the vest - the line helped line things up without me wearing them. I then sewed in the matching pair of snaps. 2) Here's what the chest, vest, cummerbund combination looks like with the cummerbund to vest snaps installed. And with the belt held loosely in place right against the bottom edge of the cummerbund. 3) As you can see in the pictures above, the vest is actually longer than the cummerbund now (due to my shortening of the bund from 11" to 8"). To fix this, I shortened the vest by a few inches to have it terminate beneath the cummerbund. I used some clips to hold it in place while testing the cummerbund attachment. (Note: I suggest using black sew-in snaps for the cummerbund/vest attachment. Otherwise you are left with these...interesting looking snaps....) 4) I sewed in a new hem a few inches higher and then cut off the extra material within the vest to make it a much smaller piece that ends a few inches above the bottom edge of the cummerbund. 5) With the cummerbund/vest now strapped together, I turned my attention to the cod piece. Mickey pointed out to me that the cod piece was actually affixed to the vest on the screen-used suits (not the cummerbund), so I decided to make that switch. I had installed velcro on the inside of the cummerbund to attach the cod piece to, but I won't be using that any longer. However, with the adjusted size of the cummerbund, I found a new error - the cod piece was 2 1/4" too short now, leaving a sizable gap between the top of the cod piece and the bottom edge of the vest. 6) So I made a new cod piece that was 4 inches longer - 2" to cover the gap between the pieces and another 2" to have some extra attachment room between the two pieces. I pinned it in place underneath the edge of the vest, centered upon my body. I also installed the 2" elastic strap at the tip of the cod piece while making this new version. 7) While the piece was pinned, I put on the cummerbund and belt just to make sure things were sitting nicely before committing. 8) On the top of the cod piece facing outward, I installed two male snaps. The black around the snaps are thin plastic washers that I cut out of some spare ABS just to give the snap something firmer to hold onto. 9) Then, on the lower edge of the vest front, install matching female snaps to hold the pieces together. I chose to go with snaps so the pieces are easily disassembled for laundering. You could just as easily go with Velcro, but I like knowing things are as secure as possible. 10) The final connecting point is the lower tab of the cod piece to the back of the vest. I opted to follow in Mickey's shoes and install these together with a buckle that sits beneath the cummerbund. I got a few extra 1.5" buckles for the belt straps, so I just used one of those and some 1.5" nylon strapping. First, I installed one half of the buckle up against the lower edge of the vest. I sewed the 1.5" nylon behind the loop velcro of the vest so that the webbing sits against my body behind the velcro vest closure. 11) The last measurement needed is the length of the 2" elastic strap that runs up to the lower edge of the back of the vest. I put on the components once again and gently pulled the bottom of the cod up until it basically floated against me. Too tight and all the material bunches up between the legs, too loose and the cod piece flaps around, so I found a sweet spot where everything sat nicely and felt comfortable. Though I'm still holding it in the picture below, I had an assistant mark how long the elastic needed to be to meet the buckle installed on the back on the vest. 12) Then, I removed the vest and cod piece. I looped a section of the 1.5" webbing around the end of the other half of the buckle then sewed it closed. I then sewed that piece to the underside of the 2" elastic strip right where the mark was made to indicate its length. I then glued the elastic down over the end of the buckle to hide the connection point a little bit. It's not really necessary as the cummerbund and belt will sit over this connection, but I wanted to be safe just in case things were to shift during a troop. 13) And here is what the back of the vest and cod connection looks like all finished up. You can see how the 2" elastic runs almost all the way to the bottom of the vest, hiding the clips somewhat. Only two things remain before we can actually suit up - the side straps between the chest and back plates as well as some velcro reinforcement. The end is near!

Strapping Cummerbund/Pouch Connection It's time to get the pouches connected to the cummerbund. 1) I used some clips to hold the pouches in place. The top of the attachment tabs should be flush with the top of the cummerbund. The pouches should be 1" from the ends of the 1" ribbed center sections of the cummerbund. 2) Because I'm a bit smaller, I found that pulling in my pouches a touch on each side was necessary to get the pouches to sit on my front instead of more toward the sides. Mine sit 5/8" from the ends of the center ribbed sections instead, though this is all based entirely on your body size. 3) I ran a single stitch along the top of the attachment tab and through the top of the cummerbund to firmly hold them in place. 4) I couldn't get the sewing machine in against the bottom section of the attachment tab as the installed box frame keeps it from being able to be pushed into the machine. Also, the fabric here is pretty thick, so hand sewing was difficult, too. So, I instead opted to use a length of adhesive Fabric Fuse tape to keep the bottom of the attachment tab affixed to the cummerbund. I just ran a strip of the adhesive tape to the bottom of the attachment tab. 5) Then, I removed the adhesive backing and I pushed the bottom of the attachment tab firmly against the cummerbund. 6) In order to keep the cummerbund and pouches in place, I decided to add a pair of large sew-in snaps that will snap the cummerbund against the vest. I installed the snaps in the top center of the attachment tabs which will be covered by the chest plate anyhow. 7) Here's what the installed snap looks like from the front. I've seen some folks use velcro to hold the bund up to the vest, but I like the security and ease of use of snaps. Next, I'll tackle the matching snaps on the vest to finish up the cummerbund placement.

Strapping Shoulder Connection The most important part of the first fit above was getting the measurement between the chest and back plates at the shoulders. I removed the pieces with the painter's tape on so that I knew exactly where to cut. In doing so, I realized that I could actually simply remove the chest and back plates together without pulling them apart. So, for construction, I decided to affix the chest and back plates together at the shoulder with some degree of permanence instead of worrying about the need to disassemble the pieces. 1) After the initial fitting, the pieces are overlapped and held together with painter's tape. In the middle, I made a mark with a pencil on each of the pieces to mark where I need to cut in order to get the pieces no longer overlapping. 2) I cut away the extra plastic and sanded the pieces back down to a nice, finished edge. I neglected to get a picture as I was chatting while doing this part - my apologies! 3) For connecting the shoulders together, I started by cutting four strips of 1.25"x2" adhesive loop velcro. These are installed right at the edge of the four points that meet (2 on the chest and 2 on the back shoulder straps). 4) To connect loop velcro together, I cut two strips of 3" sew-in (non-adhesive) hook velcro. 5) In the center of the 3" straps on the non-velcro side, I glued in a pair of 1" zip tie anchors. These will hold the strap that holds the shoulder bells to the middle of the shoulder connection point. I superglued them in addition to the adhesive on the zip tie anchors just for added support. Clamp and let the super glue dry before handling further. 6) Install the zip tie anchor and hook velcro strap centered right between the chest and back plate to pull the halves together. 7) The seam between the chest and back plates is covered with a loop of 1.5" white elastic. I slipped a short length of the elastic around the seam and measured with a marker where the strap ends met. 8) I then sewed the elastic loop shut where the mark was made and cut of the extra elastic. Then, I inverted it to get a loop like this. 9) The loop was then slipped around the armour. 10) Slide the elastic loop up into position covering the middle seam as well as the zip tie anchor. Then, I made a mark on each side of the loop where the slots in the zip tie anchor line up with the elastic loop. 11) Using a seam ripper, I carefully cut two very small slits into the elastic loop where marked in the previous step. This will permit the zip tie to slip into the elastic loop, then through the zip tie anchor, then out the other side of the elastic loop, holding the elastic loop in place with the shoulder bell zip ties installed. 12) To install the loop and zip tie, I removed the zip tie from the loop, pushed the elastic back in place around the zip tie anchor section, then slid the zip tie through the elastic loop on one side, through the anchor, then out the other side of the loop. It's definitely not easy to navigate, but the elasticity of the loop definitely helped as I could pull the loop back to see the anchor underneath and feed the zip tie accordingly. 13) I folded the zip tie so that both ends stuck out away from my neck. I also used a bit of heat to permanently bend the zip tie toward the shoulder bell to keep things as flat as possible. 14) For the shoulder bell connection, simply install a matching zip tie anchor inside of each bell. I went 1/8" away from each edge of the top of the shoulder - further down into the bell results in the zip ties not being long enough to be able to slip through the shoulder anchor, too. 15) Slip the upper exposed end of the zip tie through the shoulder bell anchor and then slide the zip tie closed. I left the zip tie long enough so that there is a 1" gap between the shoulder bell and the shoulder bridge. Once the position is final, I cut the zip tie down and super glued around the square zip tie head to prevent things from slipping around or tightening down further. 16) And here is what the connection looks like all wrapped up.

Strapping Initial Fitment Now that all the pieces are pretty much finished, it's time to move into the final parts of getting everything strapped and sitting correctly. With the help of one of my Garrison mates, I put on everything except the arms just to see how things were coming together. There are a bunch of things to note with this first test. Primarily, I needed to get the size of the bridge between where the chest and back plates meet. This was the most important thing to start with as it is the first place I will finalize for strapping. From there, there were a few other observations. First, the lower return edges for the chest and back need to be taken in a little bit more (especially the edges of the chest) in order for them to sit tighter against my body with less strap distance on the sides. The cod strap needs to be added so that can be pulled up into position and the chest pouches need to be stitched to the cummerbund (they are just clipped on in the test fit which is why their placement is a little haphazard). I will also add snaps to keep the cummerbund up against the flight suit/vest as well as add some velcro to keep the knees from slipping down against the boots. Speaking of cummerbund, the one I made is a few inches too long. It should terminate at the top of the belt - mine is a good 3 inches too long in that it terminates at the very bottom of the belt. Here's my to-do list in order for this strapping section: finalize shoulder bridge connection between chest/back trim bottom edge of chest/back plates install side straps for chest/back plates reduce the cummerbund width from 11" to 8" stitch pouches to cummerbund add sew-in snaps to keep cummerbund in place against chest add cod strap and finalize placement add knee velcro Once all that is done, I'll do another test fit and finalize the arm components. The finish line is starting to approach more quickly!

Armour Assembly - Completed Parts Here's a shot of everything ready for the first test fit. The end is nearing ever closer!

Armour Assembly - Belt The final item to assemble before strapping is the belt. 1) First, I cut two 1.5" slots beneath the center "v" exactly wide enough to receive the cotton webbing. Speaking of, I found this cotton webbing on Amazon that I thought was a very close match to the ones seen on the trooper references. It's got a very similar texture and a slightly off-white colour that seems to match this reference quite well. 2) Next, I heated the belt into a shape that matched by waist. The plastic of the belt is rather thin and I was very worried about it cracking as I tried to pull it into shape, so, to be safe, I used heat to carefully bend the plastic into shape. I heated the joints between the belt boxes and then pulled the belt around the spare bit of thermal detonator tubing to create a smooth arc rather than a harsh angle. 3) After a fair amount of cautious heating and bending, the belt was finally formed to my waist size. 4) To reinforce the areas between the belt boxes, I glued in strips of spare canvas cloth with super glue. This will permit the regions to still bend (as opposed to reinforcing with spare ABS) but give the plastic just enough extra strength to prevent dangerous cracking. 5) With the belt reinforced and in proper shape, I placed it against my waist and measured how much strapping I would need at the rear to fit around my body. I found that I would need a 16" length of webbing at the rear. On the notebook paper, I sketched out the straps. The velcro overlap between them would be 4" and 5" would be glued into the rearmost belt box on each side, so, in order to get a full 16" length along the back, each strip of white 2" webbing would need to be 15" long (2" per side for velcro overlap, 8" for half of the total 16" length and 5" more for gluing inside the box). First, I sewed in the matching pairs of 4" velcro on the ends of the belt. 6) The straps are held onto the belt armour with two centered rivets. I installed these the same was as all the other rivets (with a scrap ABS and metal washer on the inside), then glued the remaining inches into the belt box to prevent the ends of the belt from rotating. 7) The two hanging belt boxes need to have 1.5" slots opened within the indented boxes at the top to receive the cotton strap. 8) Using two small cuts of the white cotton webbing, I made two snap plates to hold the webbing strap in against the front belt box. I glued them in with super glue in the small area between the slot and the "v" detail. 9) I cut two 12" lengths of the white cotton webbing. I installed the matching snap on the end of these straps and then slipped them into the slot of the front belt box. 10) At the rear of the belt, I installed a pair of snap plates made with the nylon webbing against the ends of the 4" velcro section facing inward. I pinned them down, used some super glue just as a precaution between the plate and the belt, then hand sewed the plates to the belt. 11) Once the plates were installed at the back, I returned my attention to the front to install the first pair of parachute clips. I found these clips on Amazon that seemed like a rather close match to the screen clips in the reference mentioned above. In installed them in this configuration to match this reference. 12) I found that the clips were 2" away from the center "v" box. 13) Using a bit of super glue, I glued the back of the clips against the strap that runs behind them to keep them from sliding out of place. 14) With the clips installed, next is installed the belt boxes to the webbing. I installed a quartet of snap plates (made with the cotton webbing once again) into the insides of the belt boxes about an inch and a half below the open slots. 15) Then it's a matter of finding how much length is needed to get the proper hang. I found that it was 1.75" between the top of the hanging boxes and the end of the clip. 16) Install the matching snap to affix the webbing to the snap plate within the hanging boxes, then trim off the excess cotton webbing so it doesn't hang beyond the bottom edge of the hanging box. 17) For the rear strap, I once again cut lengths of 12" white cotton webbing. I started by installing them into the back of the hanging boxes by matching up the snaps. 18) Then it was just a bit of testing to see how much length I would need to get the hanging boxes to hang parallel to the plastic belt. 19) I clamped the straps in place against the snap plates installed on the belt. This allowed me to remove the belt and still have the straps affixed at the correct length. 20) Then I installed the snaps to hold the rear strap up against the inside of the belt. 21) After laying the belt down to take the last picture, I realized I forgot to install the rear parachute clips onto the straps. Oops! I drilled out the snap and removed it so I could then slip the clip onto the belt and glue it into place. I matched the distance between the top of the hanging box and the clip to the front - 1.75" - then glued them into place. 22) With that minor mistake handled, the belt is now actually complete and ready for the next phase!

Thanks, it's definitely been a lot of fun! It's been a rather productive few days recently, so I'm finally catching up to getting these assembly posts up and organized from the similar thread on my Garrison boards. I'm nearly caught up I think!

18) The large tank greeblie needs a little painting. There is a small slightly raised edge on the middle large fin of the detail piece that needs to be painted red as well as a small circle on the right that needs to be painted white. One of my garrison mates who has a great ability with small-scale painting assisted with her expert skills to get these ultra fine details with some basic acrylic paints. 19) Once the paint had dried, it was time to install it to the top of the tank. Before gluing it down, however, I drilled the hole through the greeblie and the tank to fit a washer and rivet that will hold the piece down. I didn't install this rivet yet, only made the hole for now and slipped the rivet within. I then glued the greeblie to the back armour using a clear two part epoxy for maximum strength (I was worried about the super glue being too brittle for such a large piece). Once the epoxy was applied, I used clamps and magnets to hold the piece down while it dried overnight. 20) Once the adhesive was dry, I removed the clamps and magnets. I installed the rivet permanently after installing a long 1/2" black elastic strap on the underside of the tank via this rivet. I finished it off with a plastic and metal washer on top of the elastic just as I did with the knee armour earlier. 22) Before permanently installing the tank to the backplate, I took a moment to open two 1.5" slots for the side straps at the lower indents on the back armour. 23) I pulled the 1/2" black elastic down into the inside of the back plate and cut it where it meets the bottom edge of the adhesive velcro. Then, I sewed in a strip of velcro onto the black elastic strap to pull it tight against the velcro already installed in the back plate. 24) Here's what the tank looks like from the top with the 1/2" strap now installed appropriately. 25) The final piece for the back/tank is to install a rivet to connect the bottom edge of the backplate and the bottom of the tank. First, drill a hole for the rivet between these two bottom pieces. 26) Lastly, install the rivet to permanently hold the two pieces together as one. 27) The back and tank are now ready to go!

Armour Assembly - Back Plate and Tank With the relatively simple parts of assembly finished, it's time to move onto the more complicated bits - the back/tank and the belt. a ) Before I began assembling these two pieces, I used some scrap ABS to reinforce the very top edge of plastic of the tank as I found it to be a little thin there. I cut a strip with two rounded edges that matched the inside top edge of the tank. b ) Then I clamped and glued (with ABS cement) the reinforcing plastic piece and set it aside to dry for a few hours. 1) To hold the tank to the back armour, I will be using 2" white elastic and 2" velcro. To begin, I cut two 2" slots at the base of the raised center plate in the back armour. 2) Then, between these holes, I installed a strip of 2" white adhesive hook velcro. 3) Inside the tank itself, I installed a matching strip of 2" white adhesive hook velcro. The holes in the back plate will end right where the curve of the bottom of the tank begins (below the notches in the side), so I installed the velcro strip right along that line in the center. 4) Then, I made a pair of 2" elastic straps with 2" sew in loop velcro. I placed both straps onto the velcro in the tank meeting in the center so there is an equal amount of pull on both straps. 5) Place the tank upon the back armour and slide the 2" elastic straps through the slots to pull the tank firmly against the back. 6) Tighten the straps and then install the final bit of 2" white sew in velcro. Once the velcro is in, firmly push it against the installed adhesive velcro to firmly hold the tank in place. 7) Here's what it looks like from the top rear view with the velcro and elastic installed. 8) Now that the tank was roughly installed, I began to work on the finer details. First up is the pinstriping. I couldn't find any exact dimensions anywhere, so I based my tank off of this screen image as its a pretty clear reference. I started by running a strip of painter's tape across the tank with the lower edge running parallel with the top of the tank roughly half way down the surface. Along this bottom edge of the tape, I ran a strip of 1/8" wide black automotive pinstriping tape. 9) There is a raised portion at the center of this pinstripe, so I cut a 1" piece of 1/4" pinstriping tape. I then cut each end off in a downward angle as well as rounded off the upper corners to get a piece that looks like this. 10) I then installed this little detail piece in the exact middle of the installed 1/8" pinstripe. I lined up the bottom edge of the 1" piece to the bottom edge of the 1/8" strip and firmly pushed it down in place. 11) For the vertical stripes on the sides of the tank, I ran a 1/8" length about 3/8" away from where the raised center of the tank and the sides meet. Then, where the 1/8" meet at the corner, I used a utility knife to cleanly cut the strips into a seamless looking corner. 12) Just for added safety, I finished the side strips beneath the tank with a small dab of super glue. 13) For the rank stripes on the right side of the tank, I used four strips of the 1/4" pinstriping tape. I spaced them out 3/16" of an inch apart face down upon a piece of 1.5" painter's tape. 14) Using the flat side of a metal ruler, I cut the strips down to the 1.5" length of the painter's tape edge with a utility knife. 15) To install them to the tank, I lined up the inside edge of the painter's tape to the inside edge of the vertical 1/8" line on the tank. I placed the lowest rank strip about 1/8" away from the top of the horizontal 1/8" stripe to recreate the spacing seen on the reference trooper. 16) Finally I carefully removed the painter's tape making absolutely certain not to pull up the pinstriping tape along with it. 17) And that just about does it for the taping portion of the tank. It's not pictured here, but for even more safety I put the smallest dab of super glue beneath the corners of the 1/8" pinstriping tape to keep them from pulling away from the tank later on.

Armour Assembly - Knees Before diving into the more complicated assembly components (back plate and belt), I tackled the knees. 1) First, run a 1" strap at the tabs at the lower part of the knee just like the forearms. 2) Once the 1" strap was installed, I slipped them onto my knee. Then, I measured how long the upper 1/2" strap would need to be. I've got pretty sizable thighs, so I found that my thinner strap needed to be quite a bit longer than the lower strap. 3) The upper 1/2" strap is installed with a pair of rivets, so I drilled a pair of holes just below the indentation of the slanted groove. 4) I then installed the 1/2" strap with the same combination as the boot holster - rivet, armour, strap, ABS washer, and metal washer. 5) Install both sides of the small strap with rivets and the knees are ready to go. Assembly - Chest Plate The chest plate only needs two small things at this point. 1) First, cut a 1.5" slot on each side within the strap area on each side. 2) Then, the detail slot on the front needs to be greyed out. I picked up some grey adhesive vinyl at the craft store and simply cut out a rectangle to fit within the region. It looks a little more sleek than what I could do with painting. And that's it for the chest for now. There will be more when we move to strapping the chest and back together, but that's all in terms of assembly for the time being.

Armour Assembly - Boot Holster Time to affix the two part holster to the boot. It's a tricky little build but is such a neat piece when completed. 1) First, line up the front tab piece with the rear stepped piece. The front tab will slip into the rear piece via a long cut into the rear, so mark how long this cut will need to be. 2) Before cutting away with my Dremel, I ran a pair of strips of painter's tape along the edge just to protect the edge from any nicks from the dangerous Dremel. 3) Using a cutting wheel, I opened the slit with the Dremel. Then, once it was the correct length, I finished off with a small metal file and some 220 sandpaper just as I did with the other cuts for strapping earlier. 4) I must have tested this fit a hundred times along the way, so I'm pleased that it turned out pretty clean. 5) To attach the front piece to the larger holster piece, I cut a 1" strip of scrap ABS the length of the front piece. 6) This piece will need to be angled so it can create a corner between the front and rear pieces. I clamped it to a metal ruler with 1/2" hanging over the edge. 7) Then I used a heat gun to carefully pull the 1" scrap piece over the edge of the ruler to get a straight bend. The angle is more than 90 degrees, so I bent it a little further to around 70 degrees. 8) Once the angled tab was cool, I used ABS cement to glue it firmly against the front holster piece. 9) After about a half an hour, I tested the fit of the angle piece against the larger holster piece. 10) I was pretty pleased with how it sat, so I put a strip of super glue against the angled piece and then clamped/magneted it down to the rear piece and set it aside to dry for a handful of minutes just to be safe. I would have preferred to use the ABS cement again, but I was afraid of having it run out and damage the face of the holster as it can be a little messy around the edges. 11) This part isn't entirely necessary, but, just to be safe, I put a bit of ABS cement between the front piece and the larger holster piece at the rear just to keep things a little more stable. 12) Once the glue was dried, I removed the clamps and magnets to reveal a holster that I was quite pleased with. 13) Now it's time to get this guy onto the boot. At the four corners of the holster, I drilled 4 holes just wide enough to tightly hold a rivet. 14) I then used a couple clamps and some magnets to hold it against the boot to find the right placement (I put it almost near the rear inside seam as well as 1/2" from the top seam). 15) To rivet the holster to the boot, I made four plastic washers out of ABS and drilled the same size hole into them as I did the holster itself. I also used a metal washer the same size as the rivet to finish it off inside. 16) I used an awl to carefully push a small hole into the vinyl at the location of the four rivet holes. Then I simply installed the components - rivet, holster, vinyl, scrap ABS, and washer in that order.

Armour Assembly - Biceps 1) The CFO pulls are on the thinner side than some of the other kits I've worked with (which I assume is what permits the armour to be pulled so accurately and with so much detail), so I decided to reinforce a few areas to be safe. The edges of the bicep into which the straps are installed were the first part I wanted to reinforce. So, I cut four strips that fit into those side areas (about 1" x 2.5" ). 2) Using ABS cement, I glued them into place on the upper edges of the bicep. I usually let them set for 30 minutes or so before working with them again. 3) After the reinforcement was dried and in place, I marked where the holes needed to be opened for the 2" strapping. I went 1/4" from the edge and centered between the top and bottom to create the 2" hole. I started with the pencil mark first. 4) Using a cutting wheel on the Dremel, I slowly cut along the pencil mark making absolutely certain not to cut wider than 2" as I don't want to see any spare hole beyond the width of the strap itself. I used a very small metal file as well as some fine (220) sandpaper to clean up the holes after cutting. 5) Once the holes were cut, I got a rough length for how long the bicep strap would need to be. I just put the piece on my arm and used this tape to get a estimated measurement. 6) I then cut the elastic strap to the measurement. I glued each end of the strap in against the armour with some super glue, then clamped/magneted it down and set it to dry. 7) Once the straps dried, I installed the bicep greeblies. The CFO kit greeblies are in two parts, so I installed the upper pieces first. I gently sanded the surface of the armour as well as the back of the greeblie to give the super glue a little more surface to adhere to. 8) Then I installed the lower greeblies the same way. The Lancer requirements state that the circles should face forward on each piece, so I glued them down against the top greeblie as well as with the circles facing forward so that each bicep is mirrored (one for each arm). 9) Here are the final biceps once the glue for the greeblies has dried. Assembly - Forearms The process for the forearms is pretty much identical with the biceps just with a smaller, 1" strap. 1) There wasn't a convenient place to reinforce on the angled inside edges for this strap, so I opted not to add additional plastic as I did with the biceps. The first step was to cut a 1" slot to feed the strapping into. I used the cutting wheel on the Dremel again, but I cut from the inside of the armour this time - I found it far easier to get the hole lined up that way as well as there being less risk of accidental cutting of the raised surface edges. Then I sanded the slot with the small flat file and the 220 grit sandpaper again. 2) Installing and gluing the straps was the same as the biceps, so I won't belabor the subject. Super glue/clamp the strap into place and then it's ready to go. Assembly - Shoulder Bells 1) I took a moment now to install the 1/2" shoulder bell elastic at the bottom to pull it against the arm. It's similar to the TK shoulder bell strap, so I installed these basically the same way. I started by affixed the front of the strap with super glue (the rear of the strap is just held on via clamps for placement). 2) The rear of the strap is held on via velcro. I decided on that so I can slip into the chest/back/shoulder bells all attached and then just velcro the small shoulder bell strap closed after the armour is on. I used a bit of adhesive white hook velcro and stuck it against the shoulder bell. Then, I sewed in a small 1/2" wide strip of black loop velcro onto the strap. Push them together and voila! It's also worth noting that I left an inch between the strap's contact point and the edge of the shoulder bell. This is because I don't want the shoulder bell to appear to be pulled in too tightly against the body so it can retain the natural shape of the armour piece. The strap is just loose enough to keep things in place, not pull anything tight.

Armour Assembly - Thermal Detonator In order to create a more screen accurate thermal detonator, I followed the awesome guidance on Strider's Lancer Build thread. 1) To start, you'll need a length of this hose material. 2) I cut it down to the same size as the tube that was sent with the armour (11.5"). 3) You'll also need two lengths of 12' extension cord, easily found at Home Depot (and cheap!). 4) Cut the ends off the extension cord and pull them apart at the middle. Once you have both halves, discard the textured side and keep the smooth side as the smooth side is the one we want to use. 5) I centered the tube within the plastic rear piece and then marked where the wire will need to be wound to. You don't need to wind the wire around the entire tube as the center is hidden. I also figured it's easier for the zip tie later to grab and pull the bare tube. 6) To begin wrapping the wire, I drilled a hole large enough to slip the end of the wire into the tube to provide an anchor to start with. 7) Then, simply wind the cable tightly around the tube to the end. (Note: this is my practice wind using the textured side that is thrown away - don't use this side, use the smooth side.) Once I reached the end of the tube, I cut off the little bit of extra and super glued the end down, clamped it, and let it dry for a little bit 8) Do the same on the other side. Here is what it looks like all wound up. 9) Time to paint! I used a grey that is just a few shades lighter than the traps/teeth of the ANH TK to paint the white wire. You can see the difference between the white beneath the clamp and the grey around it. 10) There are two black clips that hold the detonator to the belt at the rear. I got them from right here. To install them, I first drilled a hole into the tube after carefully separating the wire. I used a small screw closed off on the inside with a washer and a nut on the inside. 11) I placed both clips 1 3/4" from the ends of the tube. 12) Time to install the plastic shell. The only thing holding the tube and the shell together is a single black zip tie. I first drilled two very small holes (5/32" was the drill bit size I think) right above the little cutouts in the center of the panel. 13) Using the same small drill bit, I carefully elongated the holes until they were just wide enough to receive the zip tie. I wanted no extra space between the zip tie's edges and the hole/slot in the panel. 14) Slip the zip tie into place and pull it through. Before putting the tube into the box, I used a heat gun to gently soften the tube at the center in order to allow the zip tie to pull the tube into its slightly curved shape. I was worried that the tension on the zip tie could crack the plastic cover if the tube wasn't bent a little beforehand. Place the tube into the panel making sure it's centered and then tighten down the zip tie to hold it in place. 15) Now that the panel is installed, glue on the rear greeblies. The larger one should be on the left with the u-cut out on the top. The small circle greeblie sits on the right, roughly centered between the edge and the zip tie. I'm really impressed by the quality and detail of these greeblies - they look beautifully sharp! 16) The final thing to do is to install the end caps. First, I used a Dremel to flatten down the ends so there is a flat surface to glue the caps onto. 17) I ran some super glue around the edge of the flattened end and then pushed the cap against the end making sure it was as centered as possible. That's it! The first piece of armour is now finished.

Congrats!

Forearm armour (cut on the left, Dremeled on the right). Knee armour. Belt boxes. Boot holster parts: Here's the thermal detonator box. I cut open the sides and cut down the back enough so that the tube can fit within. Then I used the sanding drum on the Dremel to open up the sides to receive the tube. I won't be using this particular tube, but its the one that came with the kit and it is a good, convenient size reference. For the TD end caps, I cut them down to 1/2" with a pair of snips. To finish them off, I rubbed the bottom edge flat against a piece of rough sandpaper upon the workbench. This evens out the cuts pretty easily to get a nice, flat edge. The chest was another exercise in patience. Getting the edges just so is difficult to do, so I just went around very slowly, first with the snips and then with the sanding drum on the Dremel. I took off little bits of plastic at a time until I got right to the edges I want. Here's the finished bottom edge of the chest. There will most likely be more to take off later on for fitment, but I wanted to start by leaving a bit extra for now instead of cutting off to much and regretting it later. And here you can see the sides of the chest. I left a little over 1/4" of return edge around the sides and center to give the illusion of thickness. The back armour as its the same process as the chest - I went around super slowly to get very similar return edges to the chest so the pieces look closely related. The back tank was definitely the most challenging to trim. First, I cut the tank out from the obvious edges (look at the beautiful, plastic-covered floor ). Then its a matter of constantly tweaking and adjusting to get the tank to sit comfortably against the back plate. I first made this cut at the top to get the tank to sit atop the raised portion of the backplate. Then it's just a matter of shaping and adjusting until the tank sits nicely. It took me at least an hour or two to get it sitting where I wanted, so patience is definitely key once again! The final thing to trim is the belt. My belt was shipped pretty much trimmed already, but I just touched up the edges with some sandpaper to get things nice and clean. And that's it! Everything is trimmed and now ready for assembly.

Armour Trimming - Part II - Cutting and Sanding Now that the prep work has been done, it's time to dive on into the removal of plastic. I do my trimming in three parts - cutting, dremel, then sanding. 1) I started with the shoulder bells. I used tin snips/lexan scissors/etc. to cut down close to the marked lines. 2) Then, I use a sanding drum on my Dremel to slowly work my way down to the marked lines. 3) I removed the blue protective plastic. Then, I gently worked the edges of the piece with 80 grit sandpaper followed by 220 grit sandpaper until the edge was clean. 4) The bottom edge of the shoulder's isn't square, the corners are rounded a bit (here's a fantastic reference of the shape of the shoulder bell corners). First, I drew the shape that I wanted to cut with a pencil. 5) I used a small pair of curved lexan scissors to gently cut the arc shape out. Then, I finished it off with the 80/220 grit sandpaper. 6) The finished shoulder bells. I continued this technique of cutting/Dremeling/sandpaper(ing) for all of the kit's pieces. Next up was the bicep armour (why not go down the arms in order!). Cut down to the lines: Dremel down to smooth out the cuts. Sandpaper until finished.

Armour After a whole lot of deliberation, I finally decided upon the CFO/Strider armour. What was truly amazing about purchasing this armour was how quickly it arrived. I paid the builder on Friday evening once he let me know that a kit was available. First thing Monday morning, I get a notification that a shipment has been sent along via DHL. Great news! On the tracking information page, it told me that the package was arriving on Tuesday, the next day. I thought this had to be a mistake, but I kept my eye on it all the same. For the rest of the day and the next morning, it continued to say arriving by Tuesday. Less than 36 hours later, this box arrived from London. That's incredible service! Cracking it open reveals a beautiful baby blue ensemble! (Not really - it's just coated with a protective film) It's even signed which I think is a lovely touch. Now that everything has arrived and been accounted for, it's time to get to cutting! Trimming - Part I - Preparation Before actually cutting into anything, I took a sharpie and drew the edges. The great thing about the blue protective film is that you can just draw all over the film without worrying about erasing marks upon the armour itself. I started with the chest and slowly worked my way along. For the most part, the trimming is rather apparent, but I also used this thread by Strider to investigate where to make the trim marks as well as referring to screen images of the actual Biker Scout armour (such as the image at the outset of this thread). Shoulder bells were next. Keep in mind that this is just rough trimming. The more detail-oriented cutting (like the rounded shoulder corners, for example) will be tackled after the initial cutting. Forearm armour (forearmour?) Boot holster pieces. Bicep armour The rear tank. Thermal detonator end caps. Thermal detonator center panel. Back plate. Hanging boxes. Knee armour. Now that everything is planned, it's time to dive in for real!

Polymer Armory Blaster EC-17 Hold-out Blaster Before diving in to the armour components, I received my blaster from Polymer Armory! It's a lovely piece - I went with their hero version that they make which includes some of the more accurate details such as an installed allen nut and detailed scope. Here's the little box it arrived in: And here are the contents of the little box: 1) The first thing I did was to hit the seams on the pieces with some sandpaper to try to get them down and as smooth as possible. I used 80 grit followed by 220 then 400 to get a clean surface. 2) Here are the pieces with the seams knocked down. 3) Then I layered on a few coats of grey Rustoleum primer. 4) I followed up the primer with Rustoleum 2x semi-gloss black. 5) After a few coats and a bit of drying, I brought them inside to cure in the more controlled inside air. 6) After a few days, I moved to assemble the blaster. The scope is connected with a long screw that pushes into the side. 7) That scope connecting screw is covered by the scope mount which is screwed down as well. 8) The trigger guard (if there were a trigger) is screwed into the underside of the blaster. 9) Then I painted all the screws black with some Testor's model paint. 10) The final thing to do is to install a lens disc into the scope as suggested by the Lancer requirements. I installed the disc that came with the blaster, but wasn't too pleased with how it looked after gluing. 11) In order to get a better looking disc, I cut out a piece of extra smoke lens material (the same that I used for the Scout's visor) into a small disc the perfect size to fit into the end of the scope. I sandpapered the edges for a while to get it nice and round. 12) Then I glued that in against the original disc to get a much more pleasing scope detail.

Soft Goods Vest The final big component of the soft goods for this build is the vest. This was one of the more challenging pieces for me to figure out (mostly due to my limited sewing knowledge going in), but it turned out to be a fun time. There's an awesome guide on these boards on how to create your own vest. Originally I intended to do it that way, but I decided to go with nicer knit fabric instead of a plain cotton tee shirt. 1) To start, I used the vest of my fellow Scout for a physical reference which has been a huge help - thanks to Dave! I cut a template for the chest piece of the vest. 2) I also made a rectangular template for the sleeves. They will be sewn and cut down to their angled size later on, so I made a rectangle that could entirely contain the unique shape of one of the flattened sleeves. The sleeve rectangle should be two layers with the outside edge being folded over. 3) Next, cut out the template pieces. As I mentioned, I am using a breathable knit cotton fabric. It's stretchy and comfortable, almost like a softer version of Under Armour. I found it in the labyrinthine aisles of Joann's Fabric. I added 1/2" around all edges of my templates to allow for sewing. The front piece is just a duplication of the template. The back, however, is split in half with a 2" overlap in the middle to permit the 2" velcro that holds the rear together. I cut two halves of the template with an additional 2" on each side to account for this. 4) To create the padded texture of the sleeves, I cut a piece of batting (the same batting I used for my cummerbund) to fit within the rectangular sleeve template. 5) Fold the rectangle over the batting. I then used a silver sharpie and a 1" template (made from a strip of gaffer's tape) to draw out all of the lines that need to be sewn into the fabric to get the detail lines. 6) Here is the fabric pinned, clipped, lined, and ready for sewing. 7) This next part was a true exercise in patience - sewing all the lines. It's easy but rather time consuming (at least it was for me! ) Just zip a straight stitch down each marked line until they are all accounted for. 8) Then...do it again so you have two! 9) Shift the sleeves off to the side and pull up the chest and back cuts. I laid the chest down onto the table and then lined up the corners of the two back pieces to start. 10) The center of the two back pieces is connected with a 2" strip of sew-in velcro. Pin/clip one side of the velcro down into place right int the center of the back. 11) I also folded the bottom edge as well as the edge beneath the velcro in about a 1/2" to give a clean looking side once sewn. 12) Repeat the process with the matching piece of velcro to close the back. 13) Now the back is one velcro-joined piece. 14) Now that the sleeves, front, and back are prepared, it's time to get to assembling! First, fold the sleeves in half so you have an open tube. At the top edge (where the piece is folded over), I marked a slight angle a few inches off the corner like so. This will serve as the edge that sits upon your shoulder which allows the rest of the sleeve to hang down over your arm. 15) Sew a basic stitch along that marked line. 16) When you invert the fabric, it looks like this. The angled edge will sit upon the tops of your shoulders. 17) Before moving to assembling the rest of the parts, I did a little bit of research regarding sleeve construction. I found this handy guide that I thought would work great for the construction of the vest as it's pretty basic but seemingly quite effective. Just like the guide says, pin and sew the edges of the front and back to the edges of the sleeve first. 18) I found that it helped to pin things into position just to see how things looked. Then, I would rotate/re-pin the pieces before sewing in order to get the right stitch that hides the seam. Below, you'll notice that the fabric on the left is ready for sewing while the one on the right is just for placement (if you were to sew it you would be left with that very untidy looking edge). 19) After the front and back is attached to the sleeves, I had something that looks like this. 20) Invert the piece to reveal the interior. I pinned the edge shut and marked where I wanted to run my stitch to hold the pieces together. 21) I also took a moment to fold and sew the bottom edge of the front piece as well to get the same finished looking edge as I did on the back pieces earlier. 22) Lastly, once the sides were sewn, I finished the collar the same way - folding back the fabric by 1/2", pinning, and sewing. Unfortunately, I neglected to snag a picture of this, but you should get the idea - I'm just trying to make things look tidy. 23) And here is the finished piece. There is still some fitment adjustment to do, but, as the sleeve attachment guide mentions, taking it in or out a little more is relatively easy to do with this method of assembly. I will most likely need to take the sleeves in a touch more so they pull tighter around the flight suit as well as move the velcro in the back a little tighter so the vest pulls more tightly across my shoulders. I also need to iron out that extra crease in the back.

12) While the outside seams of the legs are still open, I took this time to do some tailoring of the suit. The Red Kap coveralls tend to be a bit baggy while the actual Biker Scout suits are a bit more form-fitting, so I took in the suit quite a bit. I had originally purchased a "long" suit in my size to allow for more movement and ease of putting it on/off, but that suit was horrendously baggy on me so I actually returned it and when with a regular size. I'm only 5'7" so the regular was just fine for my shorter stature. I used safety pins to pull the open seam closed again in a tighter position. You could easily have an assistant mark/pin this for you while wearing the suit, but I was on my own this evening. 13) Here you can see the tremendous difference in bagginess (left untouched and right pulled in). 14) I did the other leg once I had a rough idea of how much I was pulling in. As you can see, it's a pretty significant amount of fabric now beyond the safety pinned edge. 15) Before resealing the legs, attach the other side of the 2" elastic straps using the same method as earlier. Break the seam where the strap should sit, slip the elastic under the suede, and re-sew the seam. I found that the rear straps sat just below the bottom edge of the suede square. 16) Once the elastic is sewn in, invert the legs and sew along the edge of the safety pins to seal the legs. Now you are left with something that looks much more interesting! Front: Rear: 17) Just like the legs, the sleeves were also a big baggy for me. I inverted them and added an additional seam to pull them in tighter for a more form-fitting look. 18) Finally, I used spare 2" elastic to create stirrups at the very bottom of the trousers. These will ensure that the flight suit stays tucked down into the boots and that the flight suit retains its form-fitting appearance. 19) And here is the finished product! Not the best quality pictures (hopefully I'll get better ones when I have someone around who can snap them for me), but they do show the overall look of the more form-fitting suit.

Soft Goods Flight Suit - Part II - Suede Patches and Tailoring Now that the collar is finished, it is time to work through the other flight suit modifications. Next up is the four suede patches at the seat of the pants as well as a square that covers the posterior. 1) In order to get inside to sew anything on, gently use a seam ripper to open the outside seams of the pants. 2) On the inside of the trousers right at the base, the four patches meet to form a region of suede similar to that found on old motorcycle breeches. I used a pencil to draw the shape onto the pants to experiment and see how things looked. Also, this thread right here on these boards is a great help in shedding some light on proper patch placement. I found this specific post to be a big help, too! 3) Once I found shapes I was happy with, I made some templates - again! 4) Trace the templates onto the suede. I'm using a sheet of black pigskin suede from Tandy Leather. Be sure to flip the template for both rights and lefts. 5) Carefully cut the pieces out. I used very sharp heavy duty fabric scissors to make the cuts. 6) Using a healthy amount of pins (and a whole lot of patience), pin the suede to the undersuit. You could, in theory, pin all four patches on simultaneously, but I chose to go one at a time. Once they are pinned down, sew them into the suit. For me, patience was the true key to this part. Getting the sewing machine to work around all the tricky seams at the seat of the pants is no easy feat - I managed to sew a few layers together on more than one occasion! Nothing the seam ripper can't fix, but it can get rather infuriating! 7) To cover the posterior, a square piece of suede is affixed to the flight suit at the rear. I chose to align the top of my square with the elastic waist belt of the suit. Pin it into place once you've decided on a size that is good for you. The square should hang just to the very end of your butt (mine turned out to be a 12.5" square). 8) I used two stitches about 1/2" apart to hold the square down. 9) There are two 2" elastic strips that run around the thighs. To install them, I decided where I wanted them to sit (about halfway down the suede patch), marked the 2" thickness with pins, then used a seam ripper to open the suede seam between the pins. Then, I slipped the elastic through the new gap in the seam and pinned the elastic/suede/fabric together. You can also slip the 2" elastic beneath the suede before sewing the suede in the first place, but I found that managing both the suede and the elastic simultaneously was too much for my novice sewing skills. 10) Replicate the 2" strip on the other thigh making sure that they are sitting at the exact same height on each leg. 11) Sew over the length of ripped seam to reconstruct the seam and hold the 2" elastic in place as well as the suede patch.