Chopper

I took out the tool pocket when I opened the seam in the side of the leg, so I could sew in the suede panels. For the hip pockets I ran a stitch over them to keep them closed.

Hey man, go ahead and post up your build thread and we're happy to answer any questions you might have.

The Alt helmet fits some pretty big domes. If you're concerned, you should drop Spike a note on here. I'm sure he'd be happy to answer your questions about sizing.

Personal opinion, but between the model on the site and an Altman, I'd go with an Altmann.

For the sides of the armor, you can do that. Personally, I think it would be easier to just user Devcon to glue a second, reinforcing, piece of ABS to the inside. It'd be a lot less work than messing with the iron/heat gun. As for gluing the tank, the originals weren't actually glued on. They were actually just attached with a single loop of 1/2" elastic. You can see in a lot of photos that there were significant gaps between the tank and the back plate! Now, for additional stability, a lot of scouts use velcro on the inside to attach the tank. This also allows you to remove it, if need be. Here's how mine is set up:

The wait for approval seems like forever sometimes, doesn't it?

Hey man, in addition to reinforcing the areas where the straps insert, you will definitely want to reinforce the two places I've highlighted in orange on the attached image. The top and bottom of the center ridge are the two weakest parts of the chest armor and the most likely to crack.You can heat up some scrap ABS and bend it to fit, then affix it with devcon plastic weld. WRT trimming the bottom lip, the WTF chest is bigger than some of the other ones out there, so you'll have to see how it looks once you trim the bottom return edge. Def don't trim the whole bottom lip off, since that's a sure way to stress the center ridge on the armor. For the small triangle cut, it's not a great photo, but you can kinda see it here. Be warned, the triangle cut can lead to cracking if you don't reinforce it properly, so be careful!

First off, you should have no issues with basic clearance as is, so great work there. Minor things for the future -- The front of your right belt box looks a little high. Make sure your bicep armor sits at 90 degree angles. You might want to add a bit more stiffener in the cod. Like I said, this is little stuff. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to submit for approval right now

When it comes to weathering, remember that less is more! Strider has some great tips in his Lancer build. Also check his quick YouTube video. http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=17305&st=20 Take it slow and steady. Just a little bit goes a long way.

Worst case scenario, if you can't find anything, go ahead send me a note. I can probably dig up some extra webbing in my box o' parts.

You're looking for 2" nylon webbing for the back of the belt. I did some poking around a bit to see what's available in Canada and I'm not having a whole lot of hits either -- at least nothing that wouldn't need to be shipped from the US. You're not going to need a lot, do any other scouts in the garrison have leftovers? Which maker are you getting your armor from? If you're using SC, he sends the strapping with the kit.

In local ART news, a few of us scouts found a pretty cool tower for a quick photo op at the Washington, DC Convention Center. Lots of vigorous pointing going on... I need to photoshop us and the window into something more "imperial", but that's for another day.

I like how you did the weathering. Less is more!

Hey dude, now you look like a scout! A few minor things you might want to tinker with -- nothing huge. Do you have the 1/2" strapping on the upper knee? I can't see it in the photo. Try and get those drop boxes to sit level. The rear ends on both should come up a bit. When you pull the elastic strap through to attach to your back, you don't need to pull it super tight. Try and let the cod rest flat against the front of your body. Again, this is small stuff. Great work getting it all together. Are you planning on submitting soon?

The CRL states that the bund needs to "close in back with 50mm (2") hook and loop fastener". It'd be down to the particulars of your specific GML, but you should be ok for basic approval. For anything further, I'd encourage you to try and center the closure, as per the CRL model image: [

If you're buying the kit, then you'll need to cut out the visor area yourself. I can tell you the technique I've used to cut visors from the various helmet scout makers -- First, I mark the outline of the visor in pencil, then I use a small drill bit to drill holes just inside where I've made the line. This should allow the inside of the visor to push out pretty easily, but the cut is going to be super jagged. After that, I use a combination of lexan scissors, emory board, and dremel sanding bit to smooth everything out.

Pouch building thread: http://forum.bikerscout.net/index.php?showtopic=10140&hl=%2Bpouch+%2Bpattern&fromsearch=1

Hey buddy, that balaclava will work just fine.

Pretty good man. Getting there! The excess plastic on the top and bottom of your belt could be trimmed down a bit. Also, some small stuff -- check the attached image for some suggestions on your back flap size and drop box strap placement -- the back flap should be a bit smaller and the drop box straps should be connected a bit closer together. Really close now! Keep it up.

I assume you're building and painting your own bucket? Short of painting everything, it's going to be difficult to exactly match the white plastic colors between the different makers, but you can get close. You can always test to see how the final white color looks when dried by painting plastic spoons, or other pieces of white plastic, then comparing it to your armor. Are you using rattlecans for paint or airbrush?

There is no specific width stipulated in the CRL or Lancer specs, as the various armor makers have different sized "slots" for the armor stripe. What you've done in the photo looks a-ok.

You're gonna have one fine tuned scout when you're ready to submit, dude.

There's no reason you can't do this, but unless you're planning on cranking the elastic down super tight, I'm not sure you'll need it. Personally, I use some velcro on my flight suit to help keep the bicep armor in place, so I don't need to rely on the elastic to keep them from falling down. Otherwise, the return edges on the part pretty much give it enough strength to keep from cracking. Once place on the bicep that I did reinforce is where I made the cuts to insert the elastic. The slot for the 2" elastic doesn't leave a lot of remaining space at the top and bottom, and I was a bit worried that it would start to crack eventually, so I glued an extra strip of ABS with devcon plastic weld behind the slots before I cut them. It's held up pretty well so far.

Lookin good lookin good. Horizontal spacing on your pouches looks good. As Cheesewoopy said, bring your belt down about an inch to an inch and a half and we can take another look.

Great work. Love it!