Chopper

If you have some HH-66 vinyl cement, that should adhere the parts together real solid. Otherwise, shoe goo should work as well.

You should be able to glue a piece of vinyl onto the inside of the boot, then re-rivet the holster back in. Just make sure the patch is big enough to support the edges of the torn portion.

Let me ask this -- are you able to close the back seam of the flak vest maybe an inch or so tighter to see how it feels? Does that help anything at all? Just wondering if you'll be able to do some tailoring to the vest closure to help make it fit better overall.

Hey Robert, thanks for posting those photos for us. I'm trying to figure if your flak vest is too big or your bund is too small. Maybe a bit of both. You said that your bund is tight, but you can still move. Can you tell me more about how the flak vest fits on you? Does it feel like it fits large? The edges of the flak vest collar also extend outside of the shoulder bridges, which tells me that it's a bit large. Let me know and we'll go from there.

Hi Phil, the best thing I can recommend you do, before you submit your Level 2 deployment request, is to look at the fit and finish items under bullet #3 of the linked the post below. Lancer pre-deployment post: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/20150-lancer-deployment-request-rev-2021/ Once you're approved for Level 1 by UKG and you feel like you're ready for us to take a look, go ahead and post your application thread and the team will start the review.

Hey, we're more than happy to give you feedback and guidance, but it'd really help if you could show us some photos. Otherwise we're just speculating.

While Chris' bund does appear to be sitting low and will need to come up once his armor arrives, I think he'll be OK with what he's got right now. If the bund is around 8-9" then he should be just fine with the bund sitting just above the belt. A slipping bund can easily be addressed by adding some velcro and attaching it to the flak vest.

You'll need to size it to your body, but in terms of proportions, this photo might help. The height of the bund is about the width of the codpiece. The cummerbund ribs are 1" wide and, in general, most bunds measure 8"-9" in height. See also: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/19967-soft-parts-best-practices/

Hey Andy, you're build is looking really solid. The front neck line looks good. As you said, I think you can bring the back up a little bit more and then you should be good to go. What method did you end up using to adjust the chest plate to fit better?

Hi Scott, overall I think you look pretty good. The only big item that might come up for basic, and I'd check with your GML first, is the dogbone on the new Imperial Boots scout boots. There's been some recent issues that have come up in that it's more of a "flap" vs a "dogbone". See this thread regarding some of the issues and the quote below for a potential fix, if it's an issue at the local level: In addition, I think part of the issue with your shoulder bells is that you might need to trim your shoulder bridges a bit to fit your torso better. Once your bridges are better centered, that'll help your shoulder bell positioning. Before doing any trimming on the bridges, I would recommend repositioning the bridges by overlapping them a bit and affixing them with tape until you can find the right position. Also, it's hard to tell from where the shoulder bells are right now, but they may need to come in closer to the bridges a bit. I'd focus on getting them centered first though. Your bund should come up maybe an inch or so. You can help hold the bund in place with some velcro on the flak vest. And once the bund comes up, the belt should come up as well. Ideally, you should try to but the top edge of the belt just slightly below where your belly button is. When you put on your forearm armor, try and put them at the 10 and 2 o'clock positions, with the biceps at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions. Basically, the biceps should be straight out towards your sides, and your forearms canted slightly forwards. You flight suit is a little baggy in the legs, but that's a Lancer/Level 2 issue. Unfortunately, the IB soft goods are not clearable for Lancer/Level 2, as we've found that they use either a canvas, or a twill fabric for the cod bund and faux suede for the riding patches and flap. Please let us know if you have any further questions!

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/10270-fs-accurate-tb-helmet-hardware-kit-headband-kit/ or https://www.amazon.com/Fibre-Metal-Honeywell-FM4001-Quick-Lok-Adapter/dp/B002BUMS8Y/ref=psdc_7491811011_t1_B015MG1SMK

Nice work. Scout helmet build can be very challenging, depending on the maker. We look forward to your progress on the rest of your scout.

Sincere condolences. RIP.

Check this post, it'll show pretty well how the zip ties work. http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/17305-lancer-build-tutorial/#comments

Here's some examples, taken by our DL, from SWC 2017 of the Gino Scout. It's a good example of weathering and nicking/wear that I was talking about. From what you've shown, I don't see anything in terms of weathering that would disqualify it in terms of a Level 2 review. Just be careful with the chest, back, and helmet. Those are the parts that can really make or break a weathering job on the scout. Remember, when it comes to weathering, less is more!

That looks alright to me. I would do a little scratching/scraping with steel wool or a sanding pad along some of the armor edges to show some wear, but what you've shown looks ok. How'd the chest and back turn out? Let me find some example photos of what I meant wrt the scraping.

Ah, yes I see what you mean now. There's a bit of an optical illusion with the light in the photos. I know that finding ideal boots has been a bit of a struggle where you're at, so just try to do the best you can and hopefully it won't be very obvious with only a little careful sanding.

I would start by trying to rotate the armor forward by about 3/4" to 1". In the front facing photo, the chest armor looks like slightly high. We can continue to tweak it though.

Hi Arne, I think that, given the way that vinyl tends to lay when using a work underboot, those bumps on the top of the edges of the sole would be visible and should be trimmed flush -- at least for Level 2. You should be able to carefully trim them with a sharp exacto blade. I would also consider trimming down that small ridge that runs around the sole of the boots as well. I think your red outline from the sample is fine. And you shouldn't need to cut all that deep into the sole when you do your cuts -- I'd say no deeper than approximately 2mm is all that's needed.

The CRL doesn't specify, and we've accepted it either way for Level 2 reviews. Most indications point to having it go over all three sides, so that's the way I would go if you have a choice.

For my sandtrooper I use a cloth neck seal from darnan props, which has a zipper in the back. It's far more comfortable and fits better, but one from Steph would be more accurate.

Where'd you get the neck seal that you're using? Can we see a photo of you wearing it without your helmet on?

Yeah you should be able to. I think with some of the films, you can move it into position with a bit of soapy water in between and then you can trim the edges -- you'd need to look at the specific instructions though.

I don't know about a spray, but there's automotive window tint film that you can apply. Since it's already dark, you could prob add some minor tinting to further darken it.

That's awesome, Eric. I love it.