Aradun

Here you go... Clips can be purchased here: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07MR3CQCC/?coliid=I9C80S7S166H1&colid=17ZNF8WW4QACN&psc=1 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve never heard of WS, but just looked them up now. All I can say is WOW! The level of detail they put into a foam liner is amazing and the price is reasonable for what you’re getting. I’m very tempted to pick up one for my TB. Given that so many of us line their buckets, perhaps WS Custom Helmet Liners can be added to the vendor list for the benefit of others like myself who never heard of this guy? Thoughts [mention]BikerScout007 [/mention] ? Thanks for posting your pics. Your lid looks awesome! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Awesome! Again, can’t wait to see you suited up and everything complete. You’re gonna look amazing! I’m saving this thread for reference down the line should I elect to do a build with similar weathering. This is a great resource Christina. Thanks for documenting the process with such detail and posting so many photos! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mention]BrewMongrel [/mention] Thank you! I’m glad you find my WIP helpful. I, like so many others here, am merely standing on the shoulders of other scouts who inspired me to bite the bullet and pull the trigger on my own build. Glad to hear I’m able to give back to the community that has been very supportive of me since I joined. There’s a ton of solid advice here from really knowledgeable and eager to help scouts. Be sure take advantage of their expertise, and bookmark all of the pertinent threads for reference. They’ll be your go-to’s throughout your build. I’ll be looking forward to seeing your own WIP! As to your question regarding the RS armor. I’m really pleased with it. The modifications to bring the entire kit up to lancer status are really minor and noted in my WIP. With the exception of the lining in the Red Label helmet which is needed because that portion of the shell is fiberglass, I don’t know why RS doesn’t just make the adjustments on their end. Everything else meets lancer specs. It took me less than a day to make the adjustments. The thing to consider when choosing which helmet to get is to keep in mind that unlike upgraded all ABS helmet, the Red Label doesn’t have much flex to it like ABS. I do find it snug to get it over my head. Not a deal breaker and once on it’s super comfy. I feel like I cheated a bit buying a set of armor that came ready to wear out of the box, but the RS reputation coupled with the fact that building my own armor would have added months to my build time, it was the way to go for me. No regrets. Shipping was about $70.00, which I thought was reasonable. It took two days to get from England to Philly and that with clearing customs. I ordered my armor in the dirty version. I was a bit leery about weathering it afterwards and maybe having a reaction between paints. Though many have weathered their own RS kits without issue. I’m sure you’ll be pleased. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mike, I would recommend going with the curve pictured on the left side in the photo (your right when wearing the undersuit). It’s a more gradual curve. As to the length, Retrofire provided solid advice above. It’s easier to go long and trim it back if needed than to go short and have to redo everything. If you’re leery, see if you can find a scout in your local garrison who might let you borrow his knee armor so you see how things line up. A local scout would be a great resource for you and depending on location might even be able to give you a hand with your build. Don’t worry about all the questions Mike. You won’t find anyone complaining about them. Ask away. Everyone here is always eager to help a fellow scout [emoji41]. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Joe, I’m with you brother. I was super nervous about weathering the boots, CB and cod because I was afraid I’d mess up and have to redo them. I used a rattle can and did a test run on some old fabric to test my technique. Here’s what I found. 1. Don’t start spraying directly on the piece. You’re more likely to get splatter (dots of paint from not pressing fully on the can) or heavy “blaster spots” from pressing too much. Be sure to use a fresh can. An old can is likely to splatter more. 2. Start spraying off to the side of the piece and while spraying, rapidly move it across the area your trying to weather. Kind of like a slashing motion. Move in one direction only making a single strike with the can - not back and forth. 3. Start about 12” away and then you can layer it by repeating and moving a little closer to get the desired effect/intensity. 4. Keep a clean rag handy for the boots. If you feel you put too much paint on a spot use the rag to quickly wipe it away while it’s still wet. This will remove most of the paint from the surface but leave paint in the grain pattern. It really knocks back those dark spots and you can blend it in with the surrounding area. Note: This will only work on the boots not the CB or Cod. 5. I also velcroed the CB and set it upright rather than lying it flat and set it at a height about equal to where it would be if I were wearing it. That allowed my to better visualize where and how much weathering to apply. Remember, slow and steady wins the race, and a little weathering is way better than too much. Think about where you want to weather and have a visual in your head before you begin. Good luck brother, and feel free to hit me up with any questions if needed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My pleasure Mike. Have you considered making a pattern? Concentrate on getting one side the way you want using chalk. Then use a brown paper shopping bag, large sheet of paper, or even the thin cardboard from a cereal box to make the pattern. Once you have a pattern you can transfer it to the other side to ensure that both sides match and are symmetrical. You’ll also need the pattern to cut out the fabric for the patches. If you’re going to have a seamstress do it then at least you can be sure the patches will be done the way you like if you provide them with the pattern. Here’s an example from my own WIP: More details can be found in my WIP if you’re interested. http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21137-dennis-scout-wip-lancer/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mike, looking good! Just make sure that they are as even as possible. In the photo, the right side looks like the curve drops sharper at the top than the left side, but it could just be an optical thing with the way the undersuit is laid out for the photo. You did say that everything was even and it appears less noticeable in the photo where you are wearing it. Get into the habit of double and triple checking everything. It’ll save you a ton of time having to redo things down the line [emoji6]. The CRL is you new best friend. Keep a copy within hands reach as you work on your build. https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TB_Scout_trooper In the CRL photo above you can see how the patch curves in behind the cod piece. I’ve seen some apps where the patches come up higher as in the reference photo posted by BikerScout007 above. Both ways have been approved. You’ll also notice that the patches come down and sit behind the knee armor. I think the rule of thumb is that they end about 1 - 1.5” above your knee. If I’m wrong, someone will correct me. Here’s a shot of my undersuit. You can see the original stitch lines along the top if you zoom in. As I mentioned earlier, the corners were poking out ever so slightly from behind the cod piece so I adjusted them accordingly because I’m shooting for Lancer with my build, and that would be an issue. To be clear, my scout is still a WIP and I have not been approved yet. I’m certain the undersuit will pass basic, but it may turn out that I need to round the front patches in a bit more at the top for Lancer depending on how it looks with the cod piece once everything comes together. I think your layout looks good. I don’t think you’ll have an issue with the new curve. Hopefully one of the armorers will chime in. Keep up the great work and keep those questions coming. You’ll get lots of help along the way. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

LOL! [emoji1787]. Sometimes I think I live in a household filled with Ewoks. Thanks Pete, and thanks for all the help over the course of my build too. All of you here at the detachment are so knowledgeable, helpful, and just plain awesome, which inspires me to give my best. This really is the best detachment in the 501st [emoji41]. Looking forward to joining the ranks soon. The horizon is in sight brother! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

All of the items above have been addressed and corrected to bring the RS kit up to Lancer specs. Taking advantage of some down time today and the hot sunny weather to do some weathering. I’ve weathered my boots and installed the holster. Light weathering on the cod piece. Added Velcro yesterday to secure the belt. And light weathering on the CB. Also applied a second coat of semi gloss to new end caps. I had an issue removing the flat original end caps from the RS TD so that I could rework them and get them concave. Got one off and the second one cracked, so reusing them after reshaping went out the window. I created a separate post for that here thinking it might be helpful to others and more easily found in a search: http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21658-thermal-detonator-ends-caps/ Long story short I found this puppy at Homedepot. It’s pictured next to the original RS end cap that I was working to make concave. After cutting it down to size, sanding the top flat with a dremel multi-tool, removing the exterior ridges with a dremel sanding band, I then used the sanding band in combination with a cutting tool to thin the wall thickness of the cap’s rim to match the original. All in all about 1.5 - 2 hours work to finish both caps. Anyone else who does this should have a baseball handy. Once your finished sanding the top down with the dremel multi-tool the plastic is super hot. I used a baseball to press down on the top and it made a perfect concave impression in the cap with minimal effort. Thanks [mention]Chopper [/mention]for that fantastic tip! I’m pretty pleased with the results. I also made a wire wrapped TD. But as others noted in my post referenced above the wire wrapped TD is HEAVY, so I’m having second thoughts on using it for trooping. Here it is without the ends caps which are currently still drying. I’ve sanded and repainted the original RS tube just in case. The original has a great shape, but I’m not crazy about the mold. Lots of small bubbles and blemishes. I’ve hit it up with a coat of gray primer filler to see if I can cover up some of those issues. The only thing left to do is to hand sew some Velcro onto the undersuit to secure my knee, bicep, and forearm armor and finish the sleeves on my flak jack. The latter of which is presenting some challenges which I’ll document in a later post. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My two cents from my own experience...round the top outside edge of your front patches a bit more like so... The reason being you do not have your cod piece to see how the patches will appear beneath it. You mentioned that you have a relatively thin build so your cod piece might need to be slightly narrower to accommodate your build and then you run the risk of having those corner edges popping out from beneath your cod piece. When I did mine, I had squared off ends. Then when I did my cod piece the corners of those squared off edges poked out from beneath the cod ever so slightly. So I had to go back, seem rip the front patch at the corners, round them, and restitch by hand. You’ll save yourself some potential aggravation by rounding them now, not to mention another trip to your seamstress. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I checked. The caps are good to go. I hope to have pics of it all finished soon. Just need to paint the caps semi gloss white and mount them.

Whew! That’s a relief! I was dreading the thought of trying to correct it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for advice guys. Magnets ordered. Fingers crossed [emoji1696]. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Phenomenal Christina. Again, can’t wait to see this finished and you suited up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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