Aradun

Bucket Question: I’m a bit of a detail and perfectionist kinda guy when it comes to stuff. Here’s photos of the left and right side of my bucket. There’s a noticeable gap on the right. Thoughts? Does this need to be corrected, and if so what’s the best way to do it? It doesn’t appear that there is any warpage . The lid itself is fiberglass and the faceplate and visor are abs. LEFT SIDE: RIGHT SIDE: VIEW FROM TOP: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cut the slits into my holster using a dremel. Easy peasy. Should be receiving my strapping from Amazon sometime today and tomorrow to redo the straps on my knee armor and between the chest and back armor. Also added Velcro to my armor pieces as per Chopper’s tutorial http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/18894-some-tips-for-keeping-your-scout-costume-together-while-trooping/ to secure my armor to the undersuit and flak vest so as to keep things neat and tidy and prevent everything from shifting or drooping while trooping. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Pete. I did notice the weight of the TD when finished it last night. I’m using Chopper’s tutorial on how to secure your armor for trooping, which including adding Velcro to the back of the TD and belt, but he does note that that set up is one thing he’s do differently if he had to do it again. I like the rare earth magnet idea. Can you post up pick of your set up? I might go that root to keep the TD secure. I think adding the magnets combined with the Velcro tab Chopper added to the CB, which attaches to the Velcro on the back of the belt, will secure everything in place and keep the weight of the TD from pulling down the belt.

Thanks Corey. I’m redoing the entire TD with the wire wrap method. Didn’t care for the molded tube from RS. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why put off for tomorrow what you can knock out today? I reduced the profile. The caps are primed in gray, but I sanded the edges down to white so that you can see the profile against the TD. Cap #1 Cap #2 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the feedback Corey. I thought the thickness might be an issue, which is why I posted that angle shot showing the edge on the TD. I’m going to try to thin the insides down with a dremel and sanding bit. It’ll take some slow and steady going. I’ll repost some updated photos tomorrow to see if they’ll pass muster. Worst case, I use these to get basic like you said, and then replace with abs replacements when I submit for Lancer. Thanks again! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mention]Chopper [/mention] Give me your honest opinion on whether this would be acceptable for submission. Here’s the end cap from RS. Started flat, applied heat from hair dryer and hot bath in boiling water and got a little concave curve going after several attempts and applying pressured with a baseball. You can see from the shadow that depth of the concave. The second RS cap cracked so I decided on a trip to Homedepot to see if there was anything I could fashion one from. I found this monster and at $1.67 I said “why not?” It’s sitting next to the original. After a applying a pvc saw, several dremel tools and about an hour of sanding (including sanding with a baseball!) here’s the homemade end cap on the right. You can see that it has a deeper concave from the shadow. And here are two shots of it on the end of the TD. Thought I’d run this by an Armorer first so let me know what you think Corey, and if there’s any issues or further mods that might be necessary. Anyone else who wants to chime, your thoughts are welcome. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well the hair dryer was somewhat successful. I was able to get a minimal concave impression using a baseball. Gave it a hot bath in some boiling water (not fully submerged to the rim wouldn’t warp). That made it slightly better. Then the second cap cracked while trying to remove it from the detonator. That bugger was glued to ensure survival through Armageddon. Looks like I’m purchasing concave replacements from SC. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hope you get it soon. If they emailed you and gave you an estimated ship date then it’s pretty spot on from there regarding delivery. My set went from England to Philly in 2 days, then sat on a UPS truck for 6 days before being delivered. I’ve read of others who made similar requests to have them match the sheen of the helmet to the sheen of the armor when they placed their orders, and RS fulfilled their request. I think you’ll be fine. I ordered mine dirty so the sheen on the armor is actually knocked down a bit due to the weathering. You really don’t notice the difference much, but that’s just my humble opinion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I corrected the problem this morning and documented it in my build thread. Waaaaay easier than I thought it would be. http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21137-dennis-scout-wip-lancer/page/3/#comments Thanks for the assists! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

RS Red Label Helmet Mod for Lancer Received my RS helmet earlier this week and the interior of the helmet is lined in 1/4” black foam with a nice herring bone fabric. The only problem is that the lining completely covers the ear holes which must be open for Lancer. Interior of helmet prior to venting the ear hole. There is also a separate piece of foam fabric covering the ear hole that is behind the helmet lining. It’s and easy fix to adapt the lid to Lancer specs. Ear hole backed with fabric and foam. Step One: Using and exacto knife, cut along the interior edge of the ear hole. You’re making this cut from inside the lid and do not cut all the way around the entire hole - just a single slit along the length of the hole’s straight edge. Step Two: Reaching into the slit find the additional foam that is covering the ear hole and begin to pull it through the hole. This piece is glued to the fiberglass shell and secured with and 1.5” piece of cotton webbing along the straight edge of the ear opening. It’s gonna make some crunching and tearing sounds as it pulls away from the fiberglass, but you won’t damage the lid. Here you can see some of the fabric being pulled through. It’s a lot of material as you can see from the second photo. Step Three: Apply contact cement liberally to the helmet along the edges of the now exposed ear opening and press the foam liner down working your way around the opening. Voila! Corrected lid that will meet Lancer specs. Way easier than I thought. Guessing I was just nervous about wrecking something [emoji6]. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m gonna give that a shot sometime today. My issue of concern is that I don’t have access to the material covering the ear holes from inside the helmet as it’s completely covered over by the lining, which appears to have some light foam behind it. The lining is really well done and it is comfortable. I think I might make the cut from the inside so as to expose the ear hole. I’m hoping that the material covering the hole is a separate piece glued over the opening and backed with a little foam. If so, I can just remove it, and then glue down the liner around the hole so as to keep the opening exposed, which will also restore circulation. The only way to know for sure is to make that initial cut. I’ll post up pics as I work on it later this afternoon. When gluing the liner to the fiberglass shell, would it be better to use e-6000 or Gorilla contact cement? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip Corey. I was actually thinking about using a hair dryer to do just that, but was wondering how effective it’d be. Glad to hear that that is a viable option. I’ll give it a shot this weekend and see how it goes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Does anyone know of a vendor that sells the concave end caps for the TD? I don’t see anything on Etsy and the only thing I’ve come across is a listing among SC’s replacement parts. Just wondering if there are other vendors. My kit came with flat end caps and I need to replace them with concave caps for Lancer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Joe those pouches look great. Nice sharp lines on the flap. Kudos! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great tip Corey! Didn’t know that one! Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Okay, so I reviewed everything in my RS kit and all of it will meet basic approval as is, but there are some minor changes that I’ll need to make to bring the armor up to Lancer status. 1. Helmet is their Red Label version and is fully lined inside. The ear holes are covered by fabric inside and that fabric is inaccessible from within the lid because the interior lining covers it. I’ll need to figure out a way correct that without removing the lining completely. 2. The Chest armor uses 1.25” white cotton webbing straps instead of 1.5” to connect the front and back armor at the sides. 3. The knee armor uses 1” wide elastic strapping for the lower strap instead of 3/4”. The top 1/2” strap is fine. 4. The TD end caps are flat and not concave so they’ll need to be replaced. 5. The holster has the vents scored but not cut out. That’s an easy fix. 6. The rivets for the knee armor need to be removed and replaced with 1/8” rivets if going for Lancer. 7. Check the rivet on the bottom of your tank. The rivet on my tank was placed too close to the back armor and needed to be removed and relocated. Replaced with 1/8” rivet. There’s a picture of this on page 5 of this thread (8/16/20 post). All in all these are fairly easy fixes but the helmet will be a little tricky and will require some thought. Any suggestions are welcome. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited 8/29 to include No. 6 & 7, which were discovered after applying for Lancer.

Yeah, the Red Label was a little over $100 bucks cheaper. It’s fully lined inside. They’ll definitely need to be cut, but not sure what’s behind it. May need to doctor something up to get it to pass muster for Lancer, but down the line I might just remove the lining completely and use the headband and black gaffer tape as per the originals. It is comfy with the lining but it’s gonna get hot without circulation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mention]Harbinger [/mention], [mention]TKZombie [/mention] and any other RS bucket owners. Received my Red Label RS lid yesterday and one of the things I noticed right away was that the ear holes not only have fabric behind them but that the ear vents are completely covered over by the helmet lining. That won’t do for Lancer and given that those vents provide for the best air flow into the helmet, I imagine that lack of air circulation will lead to some serious fogging issues while trooping. So I’m wondering what others may have done to open the ears without removing the interior lining completely. Ideas and suggestions would be much appreciated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did I put my lid on? Heck I suited up the whole kit! LOL. I was like a kid at Christmas. Rolled in from vacation at 11:15 pm, dropped everything, unboxed the BBB and couldn’t help myself. Stayed up until 2 am ogling over everything. [emoji16] Looking forward to working on some adjustments and fine tuning fit over the course of the holiday weekend. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats Jason! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Getting away for vacation is great, but getting away for vacation and returning home to find a BBB waiting to be opened ... even better! An 8 week turn around turned into 18 due to Covid, but well worth the wait [emoji1]. Kudos to RS Props for getting the order done despite having most of their staff working from home and a skeleton crew at the shop. [emoji1303] Now, on to fine tuning the fit, finishing the flak vest sleeves, weathering my bund and boots, attaching the holster to my boot, adding Velcro to my undersuit to secure everything in place, and then the test fit. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here you can see the gobs of hot glue along the edges and just a dab where the lens touches the faceplate in the middle. And here you can see the natural gap between the lens and the faceplate as per the originals. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awesome Mark! Proud of you brother! Congrats on completing your journey to Lancer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Sean, I’d recommend checking out the following topics on the forum. For armor vendors, there’s are great comparison thread where you might be able to find a vendor with a more reasonable price point for your budget: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/17774-the-ultimate-armor-comparison-thread/ If you want to save some money, I also recommend investing in a sewing machine and trying to tackle making your own soft parts. There’s some great tutorials on how and the Pathfinders here are super helpful with questions and how-to’s. Boot Tutorial: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/19708-biker-scout-boots-tutorial/ Undersuit Mods: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/19259-undersuit-mods/ Soft Parts Best Practices: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/19967-soft-parts-best-practices/ Flak Vest Tutorial: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/12485-build-your-own-vest-wpictures/ If you’ve never used a sewing machine before then you’re in great company as most Pathfinders never touched a sewing machine prior to getting into this hobby. It’s a lot easier than you think and again, everyone here is ready to help, encourage, and guide you as you build your ROTJ scout. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk