Aradun

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

Your stuff looks fantastic Christina. Great weathering. I’m looking forward to seeing your kit complete. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Phil, If your interested you can check out my build thread where I detailed how to make a pattern for the patches. I used chalk on the undersuit to sketch out how I wanted them. The benefit is that you can wipe away the markings with a damp cloth and redo if needed. I also posted my undersuit with the chalk outline to get feedback before I created the actual pattern. I then used a brown paper bag overlaid on the undersuit to make the pattern. I have some measurements in the photos but I started with the link posted by Bootlegger to get my starting measurements and tweaked as needed for my fit. I will say that I needed to round the corners of the front patches afterwards as the straight corner was poking out from behind my cod ever so slightly. I’d recommend rounding that edge in your pattern. http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21137-dennis-scout-wip-lancer/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey Mike, I just want to echo Retrofire’s comments above. I’m just finishing up a ROTJ scout build that I started in January with no sewing experience and I’ve done my own cummerbund, cod, boots, undersuit and flak jacket using a $100 sewing machine. I’m quite please with the results. Once you get the knack of it, it really is super easy and will save you a lot of money in the long run as you put your build together. The other scouts, command team and armorers on this forum are awesome resources and always ready to chime in and lend a hand with someone’s build and questions. Your in good hands brother. Be sure to check out some of the WIPs as they are a great guide as you work on your own WIP. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats Marc! Well done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats Will! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Congrats brother! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mention]Pandatrooper [/mention] and [mention]Chopper [/mention] thanks guys! This was great sound advice and definitely helpful. Love the idea of letting the acrylic airbrushed paint weather naturally with scrapes and such from trooping. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Would the airbrush paint be a risk of running if it was exposed to inclement weather, like say a light rain while trooping? Would you need to seal the airbrush paint afterwards because it’s water based, and if so what sealer would you use? I’ve been reading a lot lately on how mixing brands of rattle cans can cause some horrible effects to the paint requiring a complete redo. So, I’m just wondering if this is a concern when applying airbrush paint or a sealer overtop of the airbrush paint. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Option 1 is the easier root imho. You’ll need an exacto knife with a chisel blade. I think I used a 1/4” chisel. Take a look at photos of the original sierras and then draw out your cut lines with pencil. That way if you need to adjust you simply erase and readjust. There’s a great tutorial here: Biker Scout Boots Tutorial http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/19708-biker-scout-boots-tutorial/ Cheesewhoopy used a regular exacto blade, but I found a chisel blade to be a bit more precise and easier to use.

I’m counting on it brother! Thanks! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk