Aradun

The coveted blasters are the rubberized ones, but they've kinda of gone the way of the dinosaur due to 3D printing being so readily available, cheaper, and with the 3D printing hobby growing, you can just buy good files and print and finish it yourself. Hellhounds Props is the only one I know of that makes rubber ones, but like Chopper said, he isn't taking new orders until his current backlog is complete. He had some life issues that set him behind, but he is working with the help of others to clear the backlog. If you can wait it out, and are in no rush then just hang tight. There was someone here on the forum who was making resin blasters recently, but I'll be darned if I can find the post. @Chopper do you recall? You can also post on the 501st Legion forums that you are interested in buying a rubber DLT19. You'll see a Praetorian or Hyperfirm come up from time to time, but they go quick! If you post you're interested in buying one, and then bump the post maybe monthly, you might get someone who is either retiring or looking to sell off costumes or accessories that they no longer use and they'll reach out. I think one guy did that this year, and after months of waiting finally got a bite. I'd be cautious in ordering 3D prints from merchants on Etsy or Ebay without vetting them first. Makes sure that you ask for feedback from the Pathfinder Community or FISD (whitearmor.net) if you find something. FISD's Heavy Weapons Troopers usually carry the DLT19 and would be able to provide some guidance. There's a guy I know who bought a DLT off of Etsy, not sure the vendor, but you can see the quality difference right away. The stock is thinner, the barrel a smaller circumference, etc. Keep in mind also that if you get a fully finished blaster that it will run you around $300 or more, which is also the price of a really good 3D printer. My advice, which I followed myself, is to invest in a 3D printer and print your own. There's not a huge learning curve and printing one will probably take one roll of filament (about $20-$25). If you want to make post processing quick and easy, buy some XTC-3D, ($20 - $40 depending on the size bottle you get). It will cut down on your sanding and provide a nice smooth surface to paint. There's really good files for free online, so with paint, your looking at around $60 - $80 give or take. I bought mine in January of this year and it has literally paid for itself saving me hundreds of dollars buying finished props from vendors. As to durability with 3D prints, it varies. ABS and PETG are the most durable, but ABS needs special ventilation if printing indoors (nasty stuff), and PETG needs a lot of fine tuning to get it dialed in for perfect prints, but once dialed in you're always good to go. PLA+ is the easiest, but it's also susceptible to warping if left in the heat (like the trunk of your car during summer) for several hours. Keep in mind that if damage does occur, it's can be pretty easy to repair or worst case you just print out a new part and replace the damaged one with your nice and shiny 3D printer. Most props on Etsy and Ebay that are 3D printed use PLA or PLA+.

A couple of questions to help provide you with the best info…What options/vendors have you looked at? Are you looking to buy a completely finished and ready to troop right out of the box prop, or a kit that you put together yourself? Is 3D printing an option for you?

Post some side profile pics with it on so that the armorers can see what it looks like. Sometimes the helmet is sitting too high and just needs to be dropped down (e.g., removing padding or moving the head band) and the chin strap magically disappears. Keep in mind also that the chin strap is optional even for lancer, so if you don’t like the look you can go without it.

John that's awesome news. Glad all those tips paid off for you. Don't get too hung up on matching exact shades of white. You'll never get it exact and it sound like you've dropped a lot of cash on paint already. As Chopper said above, most will never notice the shade difference when you're all suited up. You will, but not the fans. They're just to giddy to get their pic taken with you. My RS bucket does not match my RS Armor. That's how RS makes them. The former is a flat white and the latter is semi-gloss, which is not just a shade difference, but also a finish difference, and no one (fans or fellow troopers) has ever mentioned anything to me except how awesome the armor looks. Don't stress yourself. Close will be good enough.

Ahh, der bauchnabel 😉

Arne, you look good for just throwing everything on for some test fit photos. I use hook and loop to lock everything in place so I don’t have any issues during a troop. I pretty much followed Chopper’s guide. http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/18894-some-tips-for-keeping-your-scout-costume-together-while-trooping/ I use h&l for my bicep and forearm armor and it locks it in place nicely. I also use h&l to secure my cod to my flak jacket and that locks it in place too. The strap for the cod connects to the back of the flak jacket. That way the cod is actually keeping the flak jacket from riding up, especially if I’m lifting my arms to wave, etc., and the flak jacket is keeping the cod from shifting and sagging. I also have a little tab on the back of my bund that has hook and loop on either side. That gets sandwiched between the hook and loop on my belt and keeps the back of the belt from sagging under the weight of the TD. The only thing I’d do differently is use less hook and loop on the knees. It initially ran the length of the knee from top to bottom and made for a secure fit, but trying to get the knees adjusted when I knelt was a pain! Trust me, you’ll be asked to kneel a lot for large group photos because there’s not many costumes that have that kind of flexibility. Now I just have a 1.5 inch piece at the top and bottom of the knee and it makes adjustments a little quicker and easier. The belt should rest just below your naval. I have two triangular pieces of loop on the inside of the belt which gets secured to two pieces of hook on my cod. You’ll probably think of a dozen other adjustments to make as you troop and get used to the fit, feel, and capabilities of the costume. I love your attention to detail. Keep up the great work.

Congrats on your approval!

Alright gang. Here we go. Pathfinder build #2. I love the Biker Scout, and always have since I was a lil’ tike. So now that I’ve been enjoying my ROTJ Scout for the better part of a year, I want to venture into another Scout setup, and given that the current choices are JFO and the Mando, I gotta go JFO. I just can’t bring myself to wear my knee armor upside down and have a sagging CB. Sorry my brother and sister Mando Scouts! You guys look awesome, but I’m a bit more of a traditionalist 😉. I should to be able to use most of my RS Scout armor for this build. Some parts will require some adaptation/modification and some parts will need to be completely new. There's nothing being done to my ROTJ armor that would force me to retire it, which is good because I'm not looking to retire anything! So, here’s the battle plans for the armor build. Here’s what doesn’t need to be modified from the ROTJ Kit: Helmet Balaclava Forearm Armor Chest Armor Back Armor Cod Piece Boots Holster EC-17 Holdout Blaster Here’s what does need to be modified from the ROTJ Kit: Shoulder Armor – there is no visible strap for the shoulder armor, so my plan is to merely conceal the strap under the shoulder armor and secure the shoulder armor to the flight suit with hook and loop. This will allow me to use the same Bells for both kits. TD – the housing needs to be flipped so that the circular greeblie is on the left. The more challenging part (due to the CA glue RS uses) is the removal of the rectangular greeblie, which needs to be rotated 180 degrees. Thankfully the recent update to the ROTJ CRL allows for this setup too. Knees – the rivets use for the ROTJ kit may be an issue for some GMLs, so if you decide to go this route using the same set of armor from a ROTJ build, be sure to check with your GML first. There’s nothing specific in the CRL that prohibits the rivets, but there are no rivets in the CRL photos, so some GMLs might flag it. The CRL photos also appear to show just the large bottom strap and not the smaller top one. My GML is fine with this, but an easy fix would be to use a small circular white sticker of some sort that could be applied over the rivet during the troop, then tuck the upper strap behind the knee armor, and secure the knee armor to the flight suit with hook and loop. Here’s what needs to be new: Neck Seal – If you’re interested in trying your hand at making your own there’s an excellent tutorial over at FISD. It was posted literally 5 days after I ordered mine. Uggh! (You may need to register with FISD to be able to access the post.) Flight Suit – no riding patches (YEAH!!!), no mud flap, no mandarin collar due to wearing a neck seal. Just remove any visible pockets! Tapering the legs isn't required either! Bicep Armor (3D Printed) – the is no visible strapping for the bicep armor. The problem with the ROTJ armor is that there are slots for the strapping, so I can't do the same thing I'm doing to the bells and knees. You’ll need a new set without slots or you'll have to fill the slots on a new set. They will attach to the flight suit with hook and loop. Gloves – I'm split here. For the gloves to be interchangeable between both kits, the greeblies that attach to the right glove in the JFO build would need to be secured with rare earth magnets so that they could be removed. Is it doable? Probably. Do I want the hassle of messing with the lining and securing magnets inside the glove? Not really. Hook and loop is not an option because it would be visible when the greeblies are removed. Do I want to drop another $60 bucks on another set of Wampa's? Not really. I'm saving this one for last, to give me time to mull this over. Tank – I was tempted to use the existing RS tank from my ROTJ kit, and just replace the existing 6 rank bars with 4 bars, which is still acceptable for the ROTJ kit, and required for the JFO build. However, the paint schemes for the tank toppers is very different between both builds. While I was considering making the toppers interchangeable by using magnets with the same tank, I'm very leery about trying to remove the original tank topper because RS uses some CA glue that bonds FOREVER. I had to remove my TD caps to make them concave for my Lancer ROTJ app. One cracked and broke, the other came off okay because that cap was glued to the foam in the TD tube. Removing the rectangular greeblie from my TD so that I could flip it for this build took a small chunk of the TD housing with it. So given how thin the tank top is, I think it will be easier (and safer) just to print a new tank and swap them out depending on what build I’m trooping in. Harness (handmade) Battery Pack (3D Printed) Riot Baton (3D Printed) Control Box (3D Printed) Belt and Hip Boxes (3D Printed) – the back belt attachment for the JFO uses completely different material and color (black leather as opposed to white webbing) so there’s nothing interchangeable here. Move along. Cummerbund (handmade). The JFO bund has ribs that go all the way back to the oblique muscle on either side (abt 20 ribs in all) compared to the five required for the ROTJ bund, and there are no pouches. Minus the pouches, it should be an easy build. Not Needed for the JFO build: Flak Jacket (I feel cooler already!) Links to what I purchased for the build are included in the bullets above, but here’s a misc. list of additional items I need for the build (links included). For the 3D printed parts, I’m using MrPoopie's files. Thank you Justin - I can't sing your praises enough brother!!! Misc. Parts: Orange-red tubing for battery pack 2” black nylon strapping for harness ½ Yard Black Marine Vinyl for harness shoulder pads and battery cradle 1.5” white nylon strapping for hip boxes Black belt for Belt (still sourcing – I might use a 2” black leather belt left over from my wife’s Tie Reserve) 1.5” buckles for hip boxes ½” Foam padding for should pads and battery cradle Cricut vinyl for rank bars and tank stripe detail. (I may ditch this and just pick up a decal set for the tank - waaaay easier) Rust-o-leum Satin Blossom White Spray Paint for matching the RS armor color. This list is sure to grow as I progress, and I'll update it accordingly. I have everything on hand and all of the 3D parts are printed and waiting to be post processed and painted. Weather will delay painting for a while now that colder weather is upon us here is the NE of the States, but I can knock out the soft parts while I wait for warmer weather. Let the building (and fun) begin!

I'm currently working on a JFO Scout and picked up a Kolossus Coverall for the build so I decided to do a comparison review of the Kolossus and the Red Kap Coverall which I used for my ROTJ Scout. For a ROTJ Scout or JFO Scout you’ll need an undersuit (or flight suit). If you're looking to build a Mando Scout, you'll need a TIE flightsuit so there's nothing to see here. Move along 😉. Comfort and Fit The Kolossus is the winner hands down here. It’s noticeably lighter weight than the Red Kap. It has a fitted elastic waistband that provides a more tapered fit than the RK, and the arms are a bit more tapered IMO as well. The upper portion of the RKs seem to run a bit small requiring one to be somewhat of a contortionist to get it off and on. Whereas the Kolossus slips on with ease. Some will order the RK in a long version to avoid the acrobatics some, like me, require to get it over their shoulders. If you do order the RK, I’d advise getting a regular and a long in your size and then keeping the one that has the better fit, but keep in mind that if you go with a long and want to shoot for Lancer (level 2 status) that the long version may require a bit more tailoring. Both suits have double zippers allowing the suit to be unzipped from the top or bottom. Pocket Removal As for pocket removal, both have two rear pockets that need to be removed. There is also a small side utility pocket on the Red Kap that needs to be removed and a much large side utility pocket on the Kolossus that needs to be removed. This is easily handled with a seam ripper or if you’re careful and go slow, you can use an X-Acto knife. There is a minor issue with the utility pocket on the Kolossus though. The one edge of the pocket is sewn directly into the outer leg seam, so you’ll have to cut that side of the pocket as close to the seam as possible if you do not plan on opening the leg seam. Tailoring the Legs If you’re going to shoot for Lancer with the ROTJ build (there is no Level 2 for the JFO), then you’ll likely need to tailor the legs for a more tapered fit. Both suits may be tapered without seam ripping the sides or cutting and removing any fabric. I left the excess fabric and original seams on both suits when I created a new tapered seam. I ran the seam on both suits from the bottom of the side pockets down to the bottom hem coming in 2” (for a total of a 4” reduction in the leg opening.) You will need to adjust your measurements for a custom fit. The RK and Kolossus use different seams on their legs. Both suits use flat-felled seams that have been overlocked along the inner legs (picture the thick double stitched inner seam on jeans). This is fine because you don’t need to seam rip the inner leg anyway. The difference in seams is along the outer leg. The Kolossus has flat-felled seams running on the outer leg too. Not a deal breaker, but that type of stitch it does make seam ripping a little more challenging. Whereas, the RK uses a simple single stitch seam that has been overlocked, making the RK easier to seam rip for riding patches than the Kolossus. What’s overlocking anyway? It that fancy zig-zaggy stitch you see along the cut edge of the seam. It’s a special finishing stitch that keeps the fabric edges from fraying, but it requires a special machine to do it. It’s nothing to worry about for your build, but it can be a pain to remove when seam ripping a garment. The good news is that you don’t need to have it when you re-seam the leg. Final Verdict For the JFO scout, the Kolossus is my pick. There’s no tailoring required save the removal of pockets, unless you want a more tapered look in the leg, which will then require nothing more than a simple seam. I find that the elastic waistband provides a better more comfortable fit under the cummerbund. For the ROTJ scout, you can use either, but each has its pros and cons. Kolossus pros: lighter weight, more comfortable fit. Kolossus cons: the elastic waistband is more form fitting which may pose a challenge when attaching the mud flap (leather doesn’t stretch – go figure); the outer leg seam requires a bit more work to remove so that you can add those riding patches. The Red Kap pros: easer to remove the leg seam for riding patches; no elastic waistband making the attachment of the mud flap easier. Red Kap cons: smaller fit for the upper body; heavier weight material under the flak jacket. As I said above, have the RK for my ROTJ Scout, but if I had to do it again, I’d go with the Kolossus because I find it much more comfortable. There you have it. YMMV, but that’s my experience from owning both of these coveralls.

Christina your armor builds are pure artistry! You’ve got mad skills when it comes to weathering. Amazing. Simply amazing.

Awesome! Be sure to post pics and ask any questions. You’re in good hands with our armorers!

The grainy texture your getting might be a combination of your weather in Portland or being too far away while spraying. The paint is actually drying before it hits the surface, which is giving you that sandy/grainy texture. Old paint will do this too, but you’re using new paint so it likely weather or technique. The crackling issue can also be due to the temperature or spraying too much at once. Your best bet is to try spraying indoors if possible or if that’s not possible then waiting for ideal weather (50+ degrees and less than 70% humidity).

Awesome Andy! Congrats brother! Well done!

Looking forward to seeing some photos once everything is in hand. BBB Day is almost here!!!

Congrats Scot! Welcome aboard!

Don’t sweat it Mike. If they feel too snug or uncomfortable you can always remove the inner lining and you should be fine. Some who buy WW gloves do that anyway for comfort because the lining makes the gloves a bit hot to wear during warmer and hot weather.

That’s what I did. I used a paper template attached it to the bund and then dialed it in with feedback from the armorers. Saves a ton of time and material. [emoji6]

Awesome Mike! Looking forward to seeing those pics. Hope the soft goods arrive on time for you!

Ditto Scot. #4.

Good luck Andy! Looking forward to hearing some good news and you joining the ranks!

Mike, great observation of the 2x. I used 2x flat black over a 2x metallic undercoat for my DLT19X and as it dried it left a crackling effect in some spots, not that the paint itself cracked but that it “shrank” as it dried exposing the metallic finish underneath. A very light sanding with 400 grit and an additional coat (or two) of flat black did the trick, but you’re dead right when you say that this stuff doesn’t react well even with itself. So definitely do a test run before laying any layers down on a kit or prop.

Awesome brother! Congrats. I’m working on my JFO as we speak. Thanks for the inspiration!

BikerScout007 gave solid advice as always. Don’t obsess over getting an exact match. Most people won’t even notice a difference in shade or sheen. They’re just all to happy to have photo ops with cool Star Wars characters. My RS armor and bucket are different sheens and shades of white and they do that deliberately. The difference is very visible to me, but no one else seems to notice (or care [emoji6]).

Hey Arne, great job on those boots. Fantastic in fact. Love the tip on the baking paper too. Never heard of that one. As for crumpling of the boots, many will sew an elastic strap to the inside of the boot with the holster which wraps around the calf and it keeps it from sagging under the weight. I also have an elastic strap on my undersuit that is sewn in so that it fits under the arch of my foot. That keeps the pant leg from bunching up in the boot by keeping everything taunt.

Dude! Awesome! You’re nearing the finish line. Keep it up Arne!