Harbinger

Do these boot closures look L1/L2 acceptable? I had to hem the tops down a bit.

Congrats Dennis!

If you started casting those in hard rubber I think you would have a market.

That turned out... amazing! Maybe that will be my next build as well, in 5 years, lol.

Made a lot of progress over the weekend! Sewed up most of my strapping. How do my forearms and gloves look? Took a little material off the knee return edges to curve them, so they don't 'bite' into my shins as much (ouch!): Then sewed and riveted on the upper elastic with 1/8"/3mm rivets: Sewed up the chest shoulder covers, and drilled out extra holes in some zip-tie anchors, then hand-sewed those onto the elastic: I designed these based on the ones @Chopper posted in another thread. These attach to the front/back chest pieces using velcro, but at 2" wide for more surface area, then 1" to wrap around, over, and attach at the bottom. Here they are installed, with the shoulder bells zip-tied to the anchors:

None of the OT costumes are about looking clean. The entire “we found these parts in a trashcan” aesthetic is part of the charm.

I noticed the cod on the CRL has a clip on it. I don't really see mention of it elsewhere though. Yes/no? Did the film suits have them?

I was able to see the photos through your drive link now. Very nice, good job. I love thematic armor bins. One of our shoretroopers made theirs look like one of the cargo containers on Scarif.

Same for me.

If you want direct reference to real soles I am happy to help!

I think the websites may be confusing you. It doesn’t appear that you have to but the set on IB and chef offers a boot sans holster. Either would accept an SC holster, as would the other options. None are ‘L1 approved’ out of the box… nothing is.

Sounds close enough. I traced screen reference for mine. If you have a vinyl cutter I can send you my file.

Masked off and painted the chest rectangle with Testors 1138, and then did a bit of clean-up with some hobby sized Q-tips, toothpicks, and rubbing alcohol:

I used the included double-sided foam adhesive from RS. It might need some help - we'll see!

Had a bit of time to work on this over the weekend again. Making progress, slowly but surely. Put all my armor on for another refit after the tailor but before strapping and further tailoring to get it all dialed in (thank you in advance my sewing friend!). Shoulders/biceps are right on top of each other so they need to be trimmed down. Not really in height, but in angle, to match the CRL and screen reference: Vs mine (trim lines in red): All masked off and ready for cutting: While I had the files and Dremel out, I figured I would also tackle the holster. RS cut slots but they are only about .5mm deep into the ABS, and per early questions sounds like those need to go all the way 'through for Lancer: Both after cutting, sanding and clean up: With that out of the way I can now move onto the shoulder/chest strapping. Step 1, velcro: And that's all this week!

Mine are too! But I have a feeling sewing would be more comfortable, mo more breathability/give to the fabric post-glue.

Chef sews his covers on though, like the prop department did (and you kind of have to if you have HiTecs, IMO) - not sure anyone else is.

Thanks. To clarify, you have velcro on the cod/belt backside to keep it in place vertically then?

Trying to figure out how the soft parts all go on. Flight suit, vest over flight suit - duh. Bund over that... cod velcros to vest on front/back? Velcro on chest armor to hold down to bund? @Chopper I see you have your flak/cod together on a hanger in your last reply to me. How does the rest go together?

You bet! There are some details IB seems to have nailed better, to be fair. Their mid/rear sole is otherwise closer to the originals. Reference: (Yes, I had to paint mine. Couldn't find tan ones!)

Great write-up, Andy - I very much look forward to where this takes you. The CP soles do indeed look more accurate than the IB, especially the faux stitching on the tops - I didn't even notice IB's was lacking it. For purely useless reference, the narrowest part of the soles on my Sierra Sneakers is ~2.75" at the narrowest point. Adjusting for shrinkage from the 40-something year-old rubber CP is likely the more accurate of the two as well.

More questions! #1 - Is there a right/left for the shoulder/bicep/forearm/knee armor? RS specifically? Mine weren't labelled so I assume not. #2 - I still need to get some areas taken in, I believe, but I took photos of my armor fitted while in my suit and I wanted some feedback, not just for basic clearance but eventual Lancer... #2a - Armor, overall fitment. Comments on fitment, flight suit, vest - everything please. Apologies it's split but was hard to get everything on and not fall off, with all the tape and no handler: #2b - Boots/Knees. Does this look 'right'? Where should the knees sit? I took plenty of measurements pre-boot covering but I'm concerned my knees sit too high or I'll need to shorten the boots. The knees are not terribly comfortable and I'm not sure where they are supposed to sit on the knee. Took a photo with a bent leg to hopefully help diagnose as well: #2c - Shoulder/biceps/vest - Currently, my vest extends about 2" under my bicep armor. So obviously I'll need to hem it. But - bicep and shoulder armor nearly touch, and shoulder bell is butted up against chest/back bridge. So question part one, how much gap is allowable between armor pieces, is butting OK? And second, would I want to trim the tops of the bicep, bottom of shoulders, or both to give enough room? Thirdly - forearm armor, do I need to trim it so more of my wrists are exposed? Thanks again everyone.

HIPS was only used on TKs I thought? I believe the original scout suits were haircell ABS.

More build questions, in no particular order, as I prepare to work on my kit this weekend: How much should the belt overlap in the back, other than 'the TD should hide it"? Was there a set overlap on screen suits? Does anyone have photo reference of the shoulder strapping from the inside of the screen suits, or in lieu of that recommended methods that best approximate the look (other than Strider's thread, wanted to see what others have done). How are people mounting the back armor cotton webbing on the inside of the armor? Glue/velcro, vs. one continuous piece from one side to the other, etc. Anyone know what the film suits did?

What happened to that maker that was casting accurate soled boots? Did they shut down?