greenyone

On to the Flak-Vest. I found a cheap thin weight raglan sweatshirt on Amazon. The reviews said it was not as thick as a typical sweatshirt so I placed an order. And yes...it's pretty thin. Maybe just slightly thicker than a regular old t-shirt. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077YX2HJM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Not knowing if this will even work I only spent time ripping off one arm. After cutting it down to a more manageable size (leaving extra arm length to trim later), I spray glued some batting to the back of it, used some extra shirt material (from the bottom of the original shirt) and sprayed glued that on to the opposite side. After marking the 1" ribs in chalk and sewing them in it looks like it may work.

Thigh straps installed. I'm calling this under-suit done. Special thanks to my mother for donating an old leather coat to the cause.

In your belly pouches

While still in sewing mode I went ahead and added some stirrup straps to the bottom of the legs and some thumb straps to the wrist cuffs. This should keep things securely in place while wearing.

I think I got this dialed in. I had some trouble trying to sew the leather around the zipper bottom. My machine just kept bending needles and jamming. I guess that area just has too many layers for a plastic sewing machine to plow through. I was able to sew around it and remove the excess. The cod covers this so good enough. My first attempt and splitting the in-seam to insert the leather was a failure too. The way the RedKap suit is constructed with the double folded over inseam made this next to impossible. I ended up just ripping the seam down the entire leg, tucking in the leather patches and sewing it back shut with a single seam and some heavier duty upholstery thread. I hope that holds up. Velcro tab installed for the cod strap too. All that's left on this is the thigh straps. I think I'll have to wait for a helper (wife after work) to assist me placement and sizing as it's very difficult to lean over and bend backwards while wearing this to ensure they are not too tight or crooked on my legs.

This has to be the hardest part to sew. This 3M light duty repositionable spray adhesive seems to be doing a pretty good job of holding the leather in place while I manipulate the suit around the needle in my sewing machine.

Before taking on the leather patch project I figured I should revisit my under suit. I'm still kicking myself for buying a 42R instead of a 40R. I must have trimmed $15 worth of material from this $30 garment. One of the biggest issues I was having was the pants were sagging down way too low in the crotch. This was making cod fitment a royal pain in the well....cod. I separated the top and bottom of the RedKap suit at the waist line, cut out about 1.5" from the pants portion and carefully sewed it all back together. Getting the zipper back in place is not fun. I also took another 2 inches of slack from the arms. Overall it fits much better now. Anyone reading this who's contemplating this costume should really order multiple coveralls. Try them on, choose the best fitting one to do the modifications on and send the others back. A little test fitting with some of the other soft parts and armor. Getting there slowly.

It's my understanding from talking to Cal (MC/FarAwayCreations) that he used to be a stateside re-seller of the MLC fiberglass helmet. So it's not the same has his "MC helmet". Cal's current MC helmet is resin cast with thermo-formed ABS face and visor whereas the MLC is all fiberglass.

Here is a photo (for what an internet photo is worth) of some of the material from a torn apart leather coat. The left is the raw side and the right is the finished side. The finished side looks brown in my photo, prob due to the lighting in my dining room, but rest assured it's from a black leather coat.

Jeff, It's so very difficult to gauge and compare colors on a monitor with the photo being taken in unknown lighting conditions.....But from this photo I'd say either the Krylon or Testors would be my preference. Funny...On my garrison builders log (not here on pathfinders), I've been posting similar progress reports on my TB build for GML and member feedback. He told me the color of the hose in the kit you supplied should be darker. No biggie...So I made adjustments. I showed this picture (below) to my GML and another veteran biker scout in my garrison for opinions on the gray color for the TD hose/tube. They both agreed the bottom right photo would be their preference.....that's when I told them it's actually all the same color, albeit taken in different lighting. Point is, I think you have to have real eyes on the choices in different lighting situations to make the best choice. That being said....Whichever one you choose is probably the correct one.

Is it a rivet? It's actually a binding screw with a hole drilled through it (and the chrome scuffed up to look like a rivet). Unlike rivets, I can remove these without drilling if needed.

Chopper, I posted this elsewhere but with you following my build and offering feedback at times I figured I'd put it here too. Question regarding the leather riding patches and butt flap. I looked at a couple of faux leather (micro-suede/micro-fiber) materials at Jo-Anne fabrics. They are so very thin. So I turned my attention to actual leather hides. Then it occurred to me that I have some old black leather coats hanging in the closet. I know this is not technically suede, but the backside of the leather very much appears like suede. Has anyone ever used this method?

Question regarding the leather riding patches and butt flap. I looked at a couple of faux leather (micro-suede/micro-fiber) materials at Jo-Anne fabrics. They are so very thin. So I turned my attention to actual leather hides. Then it occurred to me that I have some old black leather coats hanging in the closet. I know this is not technically suede, but the backside of the leather very much appears like suede. Has anyone ever used this method?

I just got a kit from Jeff. It still looks exactly like this and is definitely cast from resin. He sells the tank decal kit as well (black stripes, red stripe, white button etc..). His decal kit may be tailored to his specific tank though. If yours is not a current SC tank, you could always search the pin-striping decal aisle in an auto parts store. You may be able to source a roll of black vinyl striping that fits the bill.

Cod all sewn up. I used Pandatroopers idea of putting a thin piece of heat shaped plastic and padding in the lower cod to avoid the dreaded camel-toe. Above the chevron has only padding. I sewed a 1" strip of velcro to the top (not shown as it's laying under the bund)) with plans to put a corresponding piece on the jump-suit for on-the-fly height adjustments.

Along the same lines as my pouch templates, I made one for tracing the cod. Anxious to see how this one turns out.

It's about 9.5 inches. I made it long enough to trim it later when I fit it to my armor. That being said, I had to trim my chest/back armor shoulder straps by about 2 inches. The bottom of the chest was way to low on my body. I'm only 5'-8.5"...maybe 5'-9" first thing in the morning. So with the pouches attached to the bund (about 2" from the top of the bund) and my belt in place it actually fits pretty well. Albeit with an extra 2 inches of bund tucked up under the chest/back armor. I have a little tucked behind the belt, and I understand that technically the bund it supposed to stop at the top of the belt line, but things seem to stay in place better on me with it like that. We'll see what my GML says.

Sven, You're right. It's was free to give it the ol' college try. I think this looks better. I used this thinner 1/8 inch tighter woven batting that somebody gave to me. I think that was the issue. In hindsight I should have used that fluffier thicker stuff that I see most people using here on the forum. Anyway, after using 3 layers of the .125" stuff I have on hand (bringing it to 3/8 of an inch) I think this should work. I only used the triple layer behind the sewn 1" rib lines. The rest of the bund still only has the single layer of 1/8".

Meh. An hour of seam ripping for a $7 piece of fabric. I'll just start over. No biggie.

Phooey. I made a bund but I think the batting I used is just too thin. The ribs don't really show up that well. Try again I guess. Back to the fabric store.

I'm guessing all the armor vendors make these to be a universal fit because the radius of my belt was waaaay to big. I'm not a big guy, but not a bean pole either. I gently added some heat (hair dryer) to these areas and bent it around my abdomen. Fits much better now.

After acquiring the correct 1.5" elastic this portion of the build is making more sense. I still had to open up the slots a bit to accommodate the straps width but also to be able to pass the velcro through the slot a bit easier. Unlike the SC instructions which have you putting the velcro tab right near the strap slot...I opted to put the sticky velcro further toward the sternum and add some extra length to the straps. This gives a few inches of slack when disconnected from the chest piece and allows me to pull it over my head easier without having to fight with getting the velro through the very tight strap slot. I can easily reach behind the chest to attach or detach the straps.

Jeff, I struggled with this too. Ended up liking the shade of Krylon Colormaxx Gloss Classic Gray the best. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Krylon-COLORmaxx-Gloss-Classic-Gray-Spray-Paint-and-Primer-In-One-Spray-Paint-Actual-Net-Contents-12-oz/1000460333

I looked at Amazon but ended up going with the smaller of the two popular Husky boxes. Stanley makes nice boxes too, but the Husky boxes have larger wheels which hopefully makes it a little easier to roll around on rougher surfaces. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-35-in-Mobile-Job-Tool-Box-222167/205053257

That's great news. It never hurts to ask. If you are in a hurry maybe you could even ask Jeff to make you a set with the old molds (if those are the ones used in Pandatroopers WIP I linked to above). Those look like they could be more easily be adjusted in those areas compared to the new revision.