Aradun

Your pouches on the bund need to move in too. They should be about an inch from the outermost rib on each side. The cod piece is not sitting right on the mannequin. It looks like there’s a major camel toe, but it may be fine when you wear it. Stroker is right. You should suit up and take some pics.

Not to drudge up an old thread, but I’ve often wondered why the costumers for ROTJ elected to have the elastic band for the cod piece go over the mud/butt flap instead of under it. I imagine with Velcro that it’d attach nicely to the undersuit just below the waist and under the flap creating a cleaner look to the flap where it actually looks like a flap should - hanging free.

Talked with my buddy today. If you were to build you own boot from scratch, like in the video Mickey posted above, you'd need at least 8 oz leather to give you the stiffness needed. You could just make the back of the boot out of 8 oz leather and use a lighter weight leather for the front. The difference in thickness would be covered by the dog bone. The problem is that places like Tandy don't stock 8 oz leather in white because to get leather that thick in white requires a special factory process. That's why its hard to find. Tandy does carry a deer leather in white, but he said it is super thin and that you wouldn't want to use it on the boot. It's very grainy and wouldn't give you the smooth look that vinyl does for the scout boots, plus it would tear super easy. Even something as simple as someone stepping on your boot could scuff or tear the leather. They have other options for white, but again nothing thicker than 3 oz. A veg tanned leather would be an alternate way to go, but it doesn't come in white and it's pricey. However, he said you could buy an acrylic paint made for leather and paint it white. It'd have to be an acrylic to allow it to flex with the boot. Any other paint from a rattle can etc. would be sure to quickly crack. The acrylic would hold up better, but you'd need to do your homework to know what type of surface the leather has to determine what type of acrylic is best, as some acrylics bond better to certain surfaces. Our conversation concluded with him saying the way scouts construct their boots out of marine vinyl really is the best.

Smart choice. The best tutorial for undersuit mods is here. http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/19259-undersuit-mods/ The CRL is here: https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:TB_Scout_trooper Good luck and ask lots of questions.

Awesome! Gotta ask...what did they set you back? I know when I finally come across a pair that fit I’ll be like, “shoot, I wish I had the cash for that.”

Red Kap is good and the one Chopper linked above looks great, especially if it lighter weight that the Red Kap which is a bit heavy. Chopper’s recommendation even looks a bit more tapered, which may mean less altering. If you’re looking for one with the suede patches then be prepared to pay a LOT. Etsy would be a good place to start, but post a link here if you’re considering anything from there as not all vendors are equal.

A friend of mine is an apprentice leather boot maker for an outfit that staffs renaissance faires. I can check with him. He works at my local Tandy shop too. He might have some ideas. I’ll be sure to post anything once I speak with him. I’ll try to connect sometime this week. I was considering trying to make my books out of leather anyway.

I'd love to add a scope to this to make it a DLT19x. If any Pathfinders know where I might be able to pick one up, I'd be grateful for any recommendations.

So as not to highjack your build Kurt, I posted my photos under a separate post. http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21195-dlt19-happy-trooper-build-with-mods/

Greenyone posted an excellent build here of HappyTrooper's DLT19 DIY project. I did this build about two years ago using Happy's tutorial and actual blueprints from an MG34 making some modifications to the build in light of the blueprints. I don't recall from where I obtained the blueprints online, but I have a copy as a jpg and pdf. The image is pretty large 89.5" x 46" and included top, bottom, left and right full views of the MG as well as several blowouts of other parts such as the site, etc. I broke the image down into something that was printable on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and pieced the blueprint together. I have those image files as well. If anyone is interested just PM me and I'll email them to you. A few words on this build. 1) This was my first ever prop build and I wasn't really thinking about posting a build thread at the time so I didn't take too many photos. 2) Bondo was my best friend on this project. I used a lot of Bondo to shape and blend various portions of the body that I added. 3) This entire body was sanded and shaped using a Dremel 4000 with 1/2" sanding bands. And if you're thinking to yourself, that must have taken forever, the answer is not really. The Dremel really allowed me to fine tune the shape of the body and with it running at full tilt on pine wood it made quick work over sanding by hand. As for modifications, the first I made was reducing the width of the body. Happy uses three pieces of 3/4" wood to build the body. I found that when comparing it to the blueprint that it was about 1/4" too wide. I had two 1" stair treads left over from the remodeling of our basement and they were the exact length I needed for the main body and buttstock. The overall width was reduced to 2" which matched up better to the blueprints. Here you can see the sanded buttstock lined up against the MG34 blueprint. (Happy's templates are in the bottom left of the photo) Here you can see the body assembled, shaped, and nearly finished sanding. That side flare (don't know what it's called on the actual MG) was an additional piece of wood glued to the main body and then Bondo was applied to build it up and shape it. It was then sanded with the Dremel to obtain the curved shape. Photos of my son holding the main body after the grip assembly had been attached. I think I used two 1/2" pieces of plywood glued together to create the assembly. The assembly has no greeblies. The grip itself was created by sanding away the wood around it. You can see it a little better in the second photo. Still more sanding and shaping needed. Here is a photo of the barrel against the blueprints. I made some major mods to the choice of fittings to better match up against the blueprint. Sadly I don't think I kept a record of the exact parts I used, but I did bring the blueprint with me to Lowe's so that I could layout the various pieces against the blueprint to see how best to piece it all together. Got some interesting looks and sparked a few cool conversations too. The major changes involved the muzzle, the tripod attachment and how the barrel connected to the main body. I also modified the barrel where it attached to the body so that it was removable for transportation if needed. You can see it broken down in the photo below. I forget the specific name of the compression fitting that is mounted to the body but it creates a super snug fit when inserted into the barrel. It doesn't shift or move about and it's just a matter of lining up the holes on both pieces and you're good to go. You'll also notice that I added the cooling fins onto the barrel. You can see the full effect in the finished photos below. They were created using plastic sheeting .80 thick for the base and .60 thick for the fin. Then bonded with Plastruct Plastic Weld and sanded to give it a rounded edge. In the photo below, you can see how I added a none functional site and shaped the body just below it to match up with the original MG body. I also didn't use the conduit box that Happy used, choosing instead to use scrap wood and then shape it to match up with the blueprint. The cocking rod is made from pvc pipe because the rod on the original MG was open and hollow so I bagged the dowel option. I filled the pipe with Bondo about half way and inserted a screw to mount it to the main body. Here's the finished product which measures 48" which is the actual length of the MG-34.

Nice work Kurt! Can’t beat the price either. I did this build about two years ago with some modifications. I didn’t take too many photos of the build process but I’ll dig up what I have and try to post them. I know I made the body a little different from Happy’s directions. I used two stair treads that I had lying around, which gave me the perfect width When compared to real blueprints of the mg that I found online. The blue prints enabled me to fine tune the build to get it to proper scale.

I'm looking for feedback on the layout of my front riding patches before I cut the pigskin. They start where the zipper ends on my Red-Kap and end about 1-1.5" above the knee. Using the reference photo below, I have them set to come just shy of mid thigh on either side before tapering at the bottom.

Thanks. Drill Fabric is on my radar, but has been impossible to find at Joann. They always seem to be out of it. Must be due to a ton of scouts living in my area 😉. The bed sheet idea might be worth a look. Some use a sateen fabric but I can’t find it in cotton. It always 100% poly. But if it can be a cotton-poly blend then that would open up some nice possibilities.

I’m trying to source a decent fabric for the CB and cod piece. Polished cotton is apparently a thing of the past and only available via vintage fabric dealers online. Looking through selections at my local Joann Fabrics the best looking fabrics that catch the sheen of the originals are always a cotton-poly blend. Would a cotton-poly blend be lancer acceptable, as the CRL states the CB and Cod must be cotton for lancer specs but doesn’t stipulate 100% cotton? Any recommendations from fellow Scouts on what cotton choices they went with, especially if you purchased from Joann Fabric?

I’m considering getting these elastic laces for my build. How snug would you say the boot feels using these? My feet tend to ache if my shoes aren’t snug or tied tight so I’m trying to figure out how to make them as snug as possible and yet still be able to get the boot on without issue.

I’m digging those wheels Kurt 😎

Nice. I’m guessing that’s your bucket in the bottom right stuffed with the blue fabric and the your boots are under the armor. If so, that’s plenty deep.

Ahh. That makes perfect sense. I completely forgot about the bund b/c it’s not usually included in photos dealing with the undersuit and flap. I was having a hard time seeing any stitching along the top seam in your Undersuit Mods photos making me think it was a Jedi mind trick. Mystery solved 😉.

Iceburgh, Definitely check out the link Stroker noted above. It’s well done. My question isn’t so much on the dimensions, but the “no external visible stitching”. Am I correct in assuming that the pigskin is just cut squarish with unfinished edges, and if so how does one attach it to the undersuit if no external stitching is permitted to be visible? Things that make you go Hmmmm.

Thanks Jason. I was looking at that same model from Husky. Good to know!

It's awesome Sven. I checked out Assassin Graphics and his work is amazing, top quality too. Adding them to my "to get" list as well! Thanks.

Great pics. Thanks Frank! This was helpful.

The box looks Imperial 😉. Love the plates with your name and TK #. Did you do them yourself or did you have them custom made for you?

Folding Dolly is a great idea! I’m putting that on my “to get” list.

Thanks Frank. Looking forward to the pics. So, as a newb, I'm wondering what repair and cleaning supplies you pack in that backpack of yours?