Chopper

Hello! Former long-time Michigan resident here. Welcome aboard! As the others have said, you might want to think about trying your hand at assembling the helmet. It's not that bad. When I first started, I didn't think that I'd be able to build my own boots, but then I did and it's a huge confidence booster. Give us a shout if you need any help or guidance. Stay cool in fashionable Ferndale.

A+ job. Looks ship shape.

Yeah dude! Now you've got the look! Now bring those chest boxes up a teensy bit more, so that they're just above the belt, and you're good to go!

Correct, the gap along the join for the cap and back style helmets is a-ok for basic clearance.

Hey Patrick, Your boxes look good, but I recommend you adjust where they're attached to the bund and bring them up another inch and a half. The bottom of the boxes should just touch the top of your belt. There's still some crunchiness in your cod. Try bringing where it attaches in front it upwards about 1.5 to 2" and see if that flattens it out a bit. A good way to avoid the crunchiness is to make the cod lay flat in front of you when you put it on. The strap goes through your legs, but leave the cod flat, don't try and pull that part through. Here's a photo of Gino's scout (courtesy of Mickey) that shows what I'm talking about:

Hmmm, I dunno. CA can have a pretty low shearing strength and it doesn't physically fuse the plastic, especially if there's a layer of paint on top. I wonder if strategically positioned magnets would hold it up? Sorta the opposite of your magnet idea to keep the lid down, Ken.

It can work after a significant number of mods, yes. Keep in mind that removing all of the pockets from the flight suit, modding the collar, and concealing the front zipper can take quite a bit of work. Most people use black RedKap coveralls, and that's what I'd recommend using, since they require far less effort to modify for approval. https://www.amazon.com/Red-Kap-Twill-Action-Coverall/dp/B007EZ1D0A?th=1

Hey man, welcome aboard. A lot of us use imgur for an image hosting link. That way you won't have to worry about resizing them to host directly on BSN. Don't hesitate to reach out to us for help once you get things posted -- that's what we're here for.

Wow, unexpected location!

The number of vertical black stripes on the back of the helmet should be the same, regardless of how many stripes you have on your tank. Remember, ROTJ only showed 1,4 and 6 tank stripes on screen.

There's no official rank explanation for the number of bars on the tank. In the film, one of the scouts with the four thicker bars is addressed as "sir", meaning he'd be an officer, but that's not a whole lot to go on. I used 6 bars on my scout. For alignment, I lightly affixed the stripes in position using clear transfer tape and checked it in the mirror, before tamping them down more permanently with the edge of a softcover book. I'm not sure what the UK equivalent is, but this is the type of transfer tape that I used...you don't need much so if you can grab some from someone who already has a roll, that's helpful. https://www.amazon.com/Vinyl-Ease-Alignment-Silhouette-V0803/dp/B007JKPK8Q/ref=sr_1_1/135-3981309-9872629?ie=UTF8&qid=1526050536&sr=8-1&keywords=vinyl+ease+transfer+tape You can see the positioning in some of the photos below:

Good choice. You won't be disappointed.

Is this the image you saw?

Nothing is ever as good a new, but this fix would stabilize your belt and make it less prone to cracking and breaking.

Hi Amy. I know the sheer amount if information can be overwhelming, but that's why we're here! If you want to see a good comparison of the various armor and helmets, check here: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=17774&hl=&fromsearch=1 The RS Props helmet is a kit, so you'll have to assemble and paint it. It's currently out of stock. They do them in runs, so you can always keep an eye out for a restock. http://www.rspropmasters.com/product/biker-scout-helmet-kit/ The Australian helmet is an Altmann, which is available from Spike, who is one of the vendors on here. http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=13442&hl=%2Baltmann+%2Bbarn&fromsearch=1 There's also the SC helmet, which, you're right, is on the smaller size, but I think for your height it would be just fine. Take a look and let us know if you have further questions.

I wonder if RS Props will try for it? They've already got an original helmet.

Here's a question -- how many of the other ART's have patches or stickers available? Would anyone be interested in doing some trading?

Did you save any scrap pieces from your build? I think that, yes, cutting a small part to fit the missing portion would also work. Here's my opinion, so you can both repair and reinforce your belt, but also make sure it doesn't crack again: 1) Drill out those rivets 2) You're going to need to reinforce the section that cracked. Get some pieces of styrene sheet, spare abs, or a piece of those plastic yard signs you can get at the hardware store or home depot. Cut two sections the same size as the rectangular piece jutting from the back of your belt. Once you trim them to size, glue them to the back of the belt using devcon plastic weld. 3) Once the reinforcement has dried, you can use scrap abs to make a slurry and fill in the cracked portion. You could also cut a small triangular section to fit into the missing piece, and then fill in whatever gaps are left with abs slurry, or cauk. 4) Drill a new hole through the reinforcing strip and get ready to re-rivet your belt. Loop your belt through, then put a second reinforcing piece of plastic behind the cloth portion of your belt. Then add a backing plate and rivet it together. You can see how I did it at the center right edge of the image below. I also extended and adhered the cloth portion of my belt further into belt, so that that single rivet isn't taking the full load.

I'm guessing it broke bc the single rivet was taking the full stress of the belt closure? There's ways to alleviate this, but it would help if you could post a photo of the damage?

^^^^^ Yep yep

Yeah, the newspaper technique is a good strategy. Pack 'em with newspaper and change the damp paper out when it absorbs enough water to be soaked through.

Excellent work. I really like to plaque.

Great work man. Fantastic job.

No problem. Hard to tell from the tiny photo on the profile page. Do you have a photo of the broken helmet? Even that would help. Otherwise, there are a number of scout helmet makers available. Many are listed here -- http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=19003

Is his number TB1250? The photo on the 501st profile page for him looks like a refurbished don post helmet?