Chopper

Thanks for taking a look, Luis. Yeah, that item sorta bit me in the butt a bit. Wasn't expecting that to happen. I had used excess jacket pocket fabric to make the thigh pouches. You couldn't see the ripstop pattern on the trousers at all until I dyed them. Actually I didn't even know it was there until after they dried. I'd be concerned that I wouldn't get the dye to match on a different set of pockets, and then that's a whole different can of worms. Which is worse right? Different dye shade, or differing fabric?

Dyed my shirt, trousers, and pockets last night. Followed the guidance folks have been using on here -- dark brown RIT dye with a splash of black. There are some darker splotch areas on the shirt. Fortunately, they'll all be underneath the bund, so it doesn't really matter. Looks like none of the thread dyed. Guess it must primarily be nylon thread, as opposed to cotton. Thoughts? Should I give it another dip in dark brown? Compared to what's seen on screen:

No problem at all dude. We here to help no matter what. Just wanted to make sure you were aware of some of the other resources that were out there.

What you've done is fine for basic clearance, but keep in mind that the SC instructions likely haven't been updated in quite some time. What's listed may not always be the most current construction methods. Your choice, but I do encourage you to at least take a look at Strider's Lancer Build Tutorial:

That shade looks correct to me, Kurt.

Hey dude! Kropserkel is at the lower end in terms of accurate scout armor, so i'd encourage you to take a look at the other vendors out there (see link below) before making your purchase. Their helmet is ok, but that's about it. If you go that way, I"d also encourage you to not order the helmet assembled, since they use 3M tape instead of glue, which isn't the most effective method to keep it all together. Assembling scout armor isn't that bad and, in addition to the help we can offer here, being that you're in texas, you can also reach out to members of star garrison for assistance. You can do it! A number of vendors offer pre trimmed armor in the US -- studio creations and mon cal/far away creations are two of them. Both offer excellent armor kits.

Hey there, in addition to what Frank said about posting photos, which maker's scout kit are you currently building? Is it a one piece belt? You should not need to cut and re-glue the belt boxes, but once you get some photos up, we're happy to take a look.

Congrats Lancer!

Yeah man, that looks good. Great work on the adjustment.

Hey there trooper, before you go splitting the helmet into pieces, keep in mind that the gap isn't likely to be all that visible behind the front return edge, especially if you center it so there's only a small gap on each side. Don't use 3M tape for finali assembly of the helmet, that's not going to hold. E6000 will work, but it takes a long time to cure, so you'll really need to anchor everything in place. Most people use clamps, tape, and rare earth magnets to assist with assembly and gluing. Even then, if the gaps are really egregious, you can fil it with abs paste. Before even going that far, are you able to do some slight heat moulding to get it to fit in place better? You can slightly (and I do emphasize slightly, you don't want to melt it!) heat it with a heat gun on the low setting, or with some boiling water.

Update, RS was kind enough to take my feeback on the bicep armor into account and I recently received the replacement parts. Really outstanding work and service on their part and I'm extremely grateful that they went the extra mile on this. The updated biceps looks absolutely dead-on correct.

The RS props armor also has the same sort of kink at the bend points. It will not cause any issues for level 2 approval and it certainly shouldn't at level 1 either. You can see it on the screen used armor below as well.

Congrats Jason. Great work!

Thanks @ferra appreciate you taking a look.

So, this may not be the best news, but, given that your armor is built from thin hips, you're constantly going to be fighting cracking and breakage. Even if you reinforce the cracked portions with fiberglass, it's likely going to just crack in the adjacent non-reinforced places. Most scout vendors use ABS plastic, of varying thicknesses. Having seen a number of the armors out there, I'd say that Studio Creations, Mon Cal, and RS Props have the most durable armor.

Ah ok. CucBlack's armor is made with very thin HIPS, which, as Dart said, cracks easily.

Great work on your application and welcome!

Hi Samantha, your fellow troopers are correct in that the RS armor is pretty awesome. That said, RS is only offering it as a completed set at the moment, which, as you said, means you'd likely have to undo a lot of the strapping and assembly in order to better fit it to your body. Given the cost of the assembled RS armor, this may not be the best option for you. The primary question there is how important is screen cast armor to you? That's the biggest draw of the RS set. If that's important to you, then it may be worth the cost and work to trim and re-rig everything so it fits. I do know that SC recently updated their molds and they make a nice kit -- we very recently had someone get approved for Lancer here: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/20378-tb-21129-lancer-deployment-request-approved/ Also, i'm not sure when Mon Cal is doing another scout run, but his armor kit comes pre trimmed, but unassembled. That would also be a good option as well. As for helmets, the RS is fairly standard sized, meaning that it's neither the largest, nor the smallest scout helmet out there. The SC runs small, and many male troopers tend not to use it for that reason, but it's fairly popular with the female scouts (including the lancer app I linked above). A lot of folks mod the visor slot on the SC, since that's the biggest issue in terms of accuracy, but the rest should be ok for someone of your size. Let us know if you have further questions.

Fabric type, time, and anything the fabric was treated with or exposed to, will all affect how it looks years to decades down the line.

Hi Mathijs, thank you very much for your application. The Level 2 team has reviewed your application. Overall, very good job! The RS screen used armor really looks great. After looking at your photos, we have the following adjustments for you: Shoulder Armor Your right shoulder is extended out a bit too far. The left one looks good. Please bring in the right shoulder so it's the same distance as the left one.. Upper Arm Armor Your bicep armor appears to be riding low. Please bring your bicep armor up about 2". Also, when you take new photos, please rotate your bicep armor to 90 deg position on the left and right. Optional note -- if you're having trouble keeping the bicep armor in place, you may want to consider putting some velcro on your flight suit and bicep armor to keep it in place. Forearm Armor When you take new photos, please rotate your forearm armor to 90 deg position on the left and right. Otherwise, looks ok. Gloves Please trim the connector tab from both gloves Cummerbund The sewn curve on your cod appears to be too high. You should be able to unpick it and remove the stitch marks using an iron. You should aim to replicate the position of the screen used cod. (See below) Knee Armor Your knee armor looks somewhat oversized when they're on your legs. Please look at using some heat molding to fit them to your body a bit better. If you look at the screen scouts, their knee armor fit much more flush to their legs. (See below) Again, great work overall -- just a few adjustments. You're mostly there. Please let us know if you have any questions or need any clarification. We will do whatever we can to assist.

Yeah, while it can be done, you'll likely spend more time and energy on it than it's really worth. That, and the fact that you'll need a LOT of coats of white to cover up the black, and even then, you'll have to deal with the possibility of the paint cracking when the armor flexes. If you reg on the spec ops board you can likely sell it, then use the funds to buy a biker scout kit.

Progress continues: Working on fit and positioning of the bund. I think my bund is too long. My guess is that I need to take maybe an inch or an inch and a half off the bottom. Does that assessment sound correct, Kashyyyk armorers? I also finished up my trouser pockets. They're just pinned in position right now. I'll sew them in later. And finally, I'm used to the snug fit of the scout coveralls. I keep feeling like I need to take in the legs and arms of my DPM fatigues. I'll need to open up the legs anyhow to sew the riding patch. Should the trousers fit more relaxed than the scout coveralls, or about the same?

Great job dude!

I understand. We'll do our best to clarify whatever questions you have.

Hi Loïc and thank you very much for your application! The Level 2 review team has reviewed your photos and we have some feedback that we'd like you to address: Helmet -The close up detail of the MLC helmet shows that the upper snout detail is painted grey with vent holes cut into the plastic. For level 2, the grey and black detail should use a decal, with no holes, as per the film helmets. Example below: Flight Suit -The leg elastic on your flight suit is quite tight. You should loosen it slightly. -You will need to add a collar closure to your flight suit -Your back flap appears to be too narrow. Ideally, it should extend approximately 1.5" (38mm) further on each side for proper fitment Shoulder Armor, Chest Armor, Back Armor -Your back armor is pulling your chest armor up, which is then pulling back your shoulder bells. You should look at affixing your chest armor onto your front, so it doesn't slide back. Also, you might need to trim a very small amount of the back armor shoulder bridge, so everything aligns and sits properly. -Your should bridge covers appear to be 1.5" (40mm), they should be between 0.5" (12mm) and 1" (25mm) wide as per the CRL. -Your side straps appear to use 1.5" (40mm) cotton twill tape. As per the CRL, they should be white cotton webbing. Upper Arm Armor -Bicep armor strapping appears to be 35mm. As per the CRL, it should be 50mm. Forearm Armor and Gloves -When you re-take your photos, please reposition your forearm armor lower, so they overlap the gloves. Cummerbund -Please move your pouches outwards, so they sit approximately 1 inch from the outermost cummerbund rib on each side. Belt and Detonator -Your detonator tubing appears to be silver. It should be medium to light grey. -Can you please provide detail shots on the drop box webbing? From your overalls shots it looks like the same twill tape that was used for the side webbing? If so, the strapping there should also be 1.5 inches (38mm) wide and made of white cotton webbing. Knee Armor -The rivets securing the upper elastic strap are painted white. As per the CRL, the rivets should be silver in color. I realize this seems like a lengthy list, but a great deal of it is strapping and fitment adjustments. The entire Level 2 team is here if you need any assistance, advice, or guidance. Please let us know. Thank you again. You can do this!