Chopper

For a lens template, once your visor slot is cut, trimmed, and sanded, hold a piece of paper behind it and trace the slot with a pencil. Then, add maybe 3/8" or so to the edge of your trace line. Cut that shape out with scissors and that's your template.

How does it look when you're wearing it? For Level 2, the drop boxes are supposed to hang approximately 1" under the belt, but for basic clearance there's more leeway there.

Hi Jeff, if you're in Iowa, then you're in the domain of the 501st Central Garrison. I believe Iowa would be under the Korriban Squad. Each 501st Garrison can have a slight variation on how they want candidates to submit their photos for approval, and the review is handled locally by the Garrison Member Liason (GML). Our job as detachment is to help with build advice, though that can happen locally as well in some cases. I would start with getting registered on the Central Garrison forums, here, and from there you can determine how they want you to handle it: http://www.centralgarrison.org/

What sort of chipping are you looking to do? Are you basing your weathering off of the photos of the Steve Sansweet scout helmet on starwarshelmets.com? Unlike the Stormtrooper, there isn't as much information about the scouts in terms of exact colors or pantone matching. For the Ferrari white, we usually recommend that folks use an appliance white color, though this doesn't always match the abs used by whatever vendor you used. I also have this reference on Ferrari white, below. Where are you getting your other armor parts from?

No worries, glad you got it sorted.

Peter, Yes, you should cut out the rectangular slot at the top of the det box greeblie. The whole "button" greeb on the tank topper greeb can be black. Also, I would sand down the height of the button greeb some more. It's hard to judge the measurements, but I can tell you that the one I have from RS is about 9.5mm in total height.

If you want to post a photo of the strap in question, go for it. SC used to send a lot of strapping, and not all of it is always needed as per the CRL. I don't see any issue with the ding marks in your photo. They won't be very noticeable from more than a few feet away.

Based on your description, that is likely for the side strapping.

Hiya Victoria, and welcome to the detachment. Yes, Lancer is the highest level of scout accuracy. There's a bit more info here on a level 2 build, as well as vendors that currently don't make the cut: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/17305-lancer-build-tutorial/ http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21881-rotj-scout-armor-kit-accuracy-and-level-2-lancer-applications/ The thing to note about Lancer is that a lot of it comes down to how the armor and soft goods fit you. Nothing is Lancer out of the box and always double check against the CRL. Mon Cal makes the smallest sized armor, though you'll likely still need to make some trimming adjustments to some parts in order to fit your size. Cal is on Etsy and Facebook. And if you have concerns about sizing, you should talk to them. They're pretty responsive: https://www.etsy.com/market/far_away_creations?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search_US_DSA_GGL_ENG_General-Nonbrand_Catch-All_New-LPE&utm_ag=US_DSA-General&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAiAvK2bBhB8EiwAZUbP1El5JABAlneJZRM0yaPD07Mr2nDrEEwTYzwmbeCVx_ykAX2oFD1AfBoCR5UQAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_18274398216_140418366425_544453574788_dsa-19959388920_c_&utm_custom2=18274398216&gclid=CjwKCAiAvK2bBhB8EiwAZUbP1El5JABAlneJZRM0yaPD07Mr2nDrEEwTYzwmbeCVx_ykAX2oFD1AfBoCR5UQAvD_BwE https://www.facebook.com/Far-Away-Creations-124196600929034/ There are a number of soft good vendors that make accurate scout parts. For example, KriptonTop on Etsy, Chef's Creations in the UK, Steph's Imperial Outfitters. Most soft good vendors will ask for your measurements, but you may still have to do some minor tailoring to fit. One challenge may be finding a set of finished boots in your shoe size. If you're willing to make your own, which many of us have done, you can take a base boot and build it up, as per the thread below: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/19708-biker-scout-boots-tutorial/ Hopefully that gets you started. Let us know if you have more questions.

@MrPoopie

The SC helmet is slightly on the smaller side, so whether or not you want to go with their helmet would depend on your size. You can check out this thread here to get a sense of some of the helmets that are out there:

SC armor with KriptonTop soft goods should be just fine for basic clearance, provided that everything is fitted properly.

A gap is okay. The tank rattled all over the place on the ROTJ scouts. Here's what it looked like on one of the screen used armor sets in the Magic of the Myth exhibition:

Yes, if you want to go that way, it not a problem.

I think your tank is sitting pretty good overall. The only portion I see that might need more tweaking is what I've circled in green, on the very bottom of the tank. Those greebs are based on the same found part and usually they're the same size. One goes on the det box, the other goes in the slot on the tank topper. You will need to sand down the taller one until it fits into the slot as per this example photo from Christina's build: Go with flat or matte black. The red stripe color is recommended to be "insignia red". You can paint it or use a stripe decal.

Peter, the way your tank is sitting looks fine. The only area I see that needs attention is the top cut. It looks like there's a curve? That cut should be straight across where I've marked in green.

Thanks Frank. Do you mind if I change the thread title to "Altmann Helmet Review"? It'll show up in searches better that way.

Thanks for the review, much appreciated. To your question -- Some flak jackets have wider openings than others, but yes, the flight suit collar can sit on top of the flak jacket. The collar should not sit on top of the shoulder bridges.

Dying fabric can be complicated, depending on that material. Synthetics will require a different type of dye from natural materials, like cotton. Additionally, those breeches are already a fairly dark color. You can generally go darker with dyes, but altering the shade entirely may not work so well. Your mileage may vary with that particular set and it might be difficult to tell until you see better photos in hand.

The black strapping on the tank is for the Return of the Jedi Scout, which is a totally different CRL. In the Mandalorian Scout CRL, there are a number of differences in strapping and other details, including an absence of tank strapping. https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:Scout-Trooper-The-Mandalorian Since the strapping is not a part of the Mando scout, you can try making a L- bracket shelf to hold the tank on, similar to what Pandatrooper did in his build: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/9781-pandatroopers-sc-biker-scout-build/#comment-81496

Frank, Any specific required measurements will be mentioned in the CRL. For the most part that sort of specificity is only for strapping. For the areas you're pointing to, such as return edges and the bottom of the chest plate, we don't have specific measurements -- just try to get it close to what you see in the CRL photos and, if you're continuing with an RS build, Christina's build thread, which I linked earlier.

Correct. 2" wide thigh straps, which can be either elastic or webbing.

With E6000 you can usually just pick it off once it's fully dry. If that doesn't work you can also use a qtip and iso alcohol.

Hi Frank, Many of the issues you're seeing between what was on screen in The Mandalorian vs the RS armor is because the RS armor is derived from the screen used ROTJ scout kit. The armor used for The Mandalorian Scouts is the Walt's Trooper Factory (WTF) kit, which has a fair number of sculpt differences from the ROTJ screen used armor/RS armor. Everything you get in a RS kit is based around a ROTJ build, which is why the pencil trim markings don't match up with what you're seeing in the Mando screen shots. They're not going to match up perfectly because they're two totally different sets of armor. Before going any further, know that the RS kit can absolutely be built into an approvable Mando Scout. See Christina's build here: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21567-scout-trooper-the-mandalorian-approved-christinas-build/ To your questions -- The RS det tubing is a foam cast of a wire wrapped tube, replicating what was used in ROTJ. The WTF kits use a piece of ribbed pool hose, which is also specified in the Mando Scout CRL: "Thermal detonator box with short corrugated hose attaches to the back of the belt". Some of the issues you're dealing with for the forearm, bicep armor, and shoulder not fitting properly will likely be improved once you add elastic strapping. The elastic will curve the plastic somewhat to fit. As mentioned, you can also do some careful heat forming as needed too. Any specific sizes will be stipulated in the CRL and there's no specific dimension for the scout forearm, it just needs to look appropriate for the scale of the armor and the wearer. The red trim line on your forearm armor looks fine and the forearm armor does have a return edge, yes. There is no return edges on the shoulder bells. Again, the RS shoulder armor will look significantly different from the WTF shoulder armor as used on screen, because they're differently designed kits. Finally, and this is your call, but if you feel that you absolutely need screen accuracy in terms of shape, appearance, and design adherence to the Mando Scout, then you might want to consider not cutting up your RS kit -- sell it and buy a WTF kit. Again, I want to emphasize that you should absolutely be able to get approved in RS armor as a Mando scout without needing drastic mods to the overall look of the parts. Check out Christina's build. She did a great job. Let us know if you have additional questions. Happy to help.

There have been quite a few people approved in the Imperial Boots vest. I don't see it being a major issue for basic clearance. As to sending it back, Imperial Boots is not a custom costume shop, so my guess is that they won't re-make it for you from a different material. You can check with your GML to see if they'll accept it, but my take is that a slight sheen like that will be ok.