Chopper

I glued mine all the way across when I built my boots.

It's not really specified in the CRL aside from the statement that "Decals are screen accurate". Just speaking in general though, *most* of the photos of the different screen used helmets that I've seen have the stripes going all the way through the vertical backing. So if your goal is to get as close to what was done with the majority of screen used helmets, then I'd go with the option on the right.

A lot of the prop makers have distinct traits or features in their sculpts that sorta stick out when you've seen the various armor types over and over again. In this case, it's the chest plate that's the primary indicator of the armor likely coming from a Mon Cal kit.

That looks pretty much dead on. Nice find!

Thank you for that @Digger. I checked around on amazon.de to see if I could find anything and most everything seems to be two-toned soles, as you said. @OnkelPaschulke the amorers chatted a bit and unfortunately, the soles on the Dockers appear to be too dark for Level 2. If you can only find two-toned soles, then you'll need to go with putting some acrylic paint on the sides. If you scuff the sides with some 400 grit paper and clean them with rubbing alcohol first, you should be able to get some decent adhesion on the paint. The paint will flake off as you use the boots, but you shouldn't need to repaint it after every troop.

A lot of people put a magnet in the capacitor and then some strong rare earth magnets behind the plastic of the holster. Dark Voorhees used to put a magnet in the capacitor as well as under the nose of the barrel. The boots are definitely not stiff enough to hold up a resin pistol on their own. You can sew an elastic leg strap to the vinyl behind the holster, which will help.

It looks good, Jenny. It all looks really good.

I think that's about as good as you can make it, given the limitations of not having an actual sierra sneaker. The size of your foot is going to affect where the lace ridges are on the underboot, as well as where the dog bone falls. If you made your dog bone wider and canted further forward, then that'd throw the look off in a different way.

If you don't have a vinyl cutter, you can use the 3M tape for curves, which will help you with the top rounded part. https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-051131936133-FA2038-Original-Version/dp/B0027AC9RI/ref=pd_bxgy_1/141-3035324-4373405?pd_rd_w=Durqj&pf_rd_p=c64372fa-c41c-422e-990d-9e034f73989b&pf_rd_r=N6BYHKK3VBWYJMAA0SZN&pd_rd_r=1f2e45b3-297b-4a35-805c-7d0c8e5de91a&pd_rd_wg=4Gdup&pd_rd_i=B0027AC9RI&psc=1

I don't want you paying import and custom fees on boots as cheap as the kingshow boots if you don't need to. Stand by please and let me consult with the others in the armory collective.

It is a little dark, I'll agree there -- maybe a touch too close to the edge of a chocolate color vs wheat color. Are you planning for Level 2 or just basic clearance? I know with boots, styles and local availability can play a big part in what you have to work with. Remember, you can also paint the sides with acrylic paint if you need to lighten it up a bit -- and it's a lot easier to lighten up a single color base vs a two tone base.

That sole color looks good to me.

Some sellers also sell pig leather portions on ebay. For example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/283761786191?hash=item4211853d4f:g:zH8AAOSwjyZeMeFe

Keep in mind that there is no requirement to rig your chin cup up that way in the CRL. In fact the chin cup is optional, even for Level 2.

Sven is correct. That's the way the elastic was rigged in the original helmets.

It's not specified either way in the CRL, but between the CRL images and the screen images, I'd say that it should not be hemmed on the vertical seam for Level 2.

1) Having the stitch line where you have it is a bit low in my opinion. Looking at the screen scout boots in the photo below you can see that the hem line is much higher up and closer to the edge. 2) Great work on the dog bone. It doesn't need to touch the sole. The size and shape looks right on to me. 3) I think the strap would work. I think my concern, which I mentioned before, was that because offset from where the weight is on the right, that it wouldn't work as well. Plus, you're also going to have the strap in the same place as where the velcro seam is, which means the strap right pull that apart if your boot sags as well. 4) Regarding hemming the vertical seam, if you look at the photo I linked under bullet 1, the screen boots just used a raw edge. No hemming needed.

The only issue with the boot you posted is that there's a two tone sole. And that aspect only really matters for Level 2, where the CRL states: "The boot sole is a single color with no visible stitching."

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8bgo83jk0a6zwsd/PouchDimensions.pdf?dl=0

Yes, that appears to be a Mon Cal / Far Away Creations scout kit, so it's very likely a re-caster.

Don't sweat it too much, dude. These things happen. I remember the horror I felt as I melted one of my shoulder armor parts with the heat gun. I was actually going to take my initial approval photos the next day...I just wanted to tweak it a little bit. I think there's a number of things going on. Some of it could be chemistry, in that the various solvents aren't playing nice together. Another part of the issue is that bondo isn't great for structural fills. Bondo works fine for gap filling in places that aren't meant to flex or bear loads. Those parts on the sides of the helmet, near where the visor rotates up, gets a ton of flex. If you have your armor trimmings, I try to make an ABS paste to fill those sorts of gaps. I think your approach makes sense. Leave it be for a few days, let everything cure, and see how it looks. If you have to buy a new helmet b/c the plastic is still soft, well...that does really suck, but I can tell you that pretty much all of us have been in that boat before.

If you can, you might want to see if it's possible to carefully trim away some of the material from the top of the visor.

I do have one comment about the top of your visor? It looks like it's jammed right up against the top of the helmet? Are you able to open it all the way without scraping? The original ROTJ scouts had the 3M head band riveted to the helmet. The rivets went through the "wings" on the sides of the band and through the left and right sides of the helmet, underneath where the visor comes down, so you can't see the rivet heads from the outside.

Yeah, I think it would work. I don't think it would work as well, because your point of attachment is no longer directly attached to the weighty area, but my guess is it'd work ok if you had a lighter 3D printed blaster or something like that.