Omaha Joe

Thank you Peter..! ...and yes, I will be making those modifications this weekend and hopefully suiting up, taking more thorough pics, and posting them here for review prior to any level of submission..!! Your’s and everyone else’s feedback is, and has been, extremely helpful and very much appreciated throughout my build..!

Thanks Dennis!! yes, DEFINITELY out of uniform!! Hahahahaha!! but agreed, gonna make sure everything’s well secured before submission pics for any Pathfinder level are taken..!

definitely gonna hit it with a light weathering after final assembly’s complete and a heavy coat of velcro 👍🏼

ok, so THIS was quite the s#!tshow, but an educational s#!tshow nonetheless... the most preliminary of preliminary suit-ups for which I technically have all the components, finished or not... right arm armor completely slid down, pouches wouldn’t stay on with double-sided tape even for one dang pic, ugh... looked more like a blooper reel from RotJ; it was a mess 🤦🏻‍♂️... the plan this weekend is to literally sew up any loose ends and add velcro, velcro and MORE velcro!!! My mother, who has helped me IMMENSELY on the soft parts with her amazing seamstress skills, as well as being my official costumer/wrangler through this TB process, and I had the BEST laugh taking these photos!!

haven’t yet gotten to knocking back the weathering, that’ll come in the next week; been in ‘bund/cod mode’ all weekend... all seem to be fitting pretty well, except maybe to cut back a few pounds and a half inch or so of gut girth which is on my plate as well so to speak..! Anyway, just need to shore up the top of the bund and find the right placement for the pouches... the attachment tabs of which are an intentional afterthought to make sure the height hits where it’s supposed to; they’re there, just not sure yet if I want the pouches/tabs to velcro to the inside of the chest armor or to the bund itself; considering both options at the moment...

no worries, it’s just an acrylic/water mix that I can buff off with a little damp towel and elbow grease..! 👍🏼

codpiece is coming together, got about an inch and a half of leeway up or down depending on the required ‘sewn curve’ location, but used a piece of stiffener on the inside, as well as the tripled-up black elastic connection per @AradunFF’s tutorial!! I’m likin’ where this is but lemme know if adjustments need to be made..! 👍🏼

pluggin’ along, just taking a little longer than anticipated to get it just right 👍🏼

...got started on the bund today, in fact!

I’m anticipating a few necessary nips and tucks between now and Level 1, and then onto Lancer, but abso-freakin’-lutely!! It would be an absolute honor to hit that coveted Lancer status, and that’s the goal!!!

not much of a progress pic but a WIP pic nonetheless... a little naked without the bund and codpiece, but just getting the armor sized now that I’ve had the flight suit and flak vest...

Excellent work with the sole cuts!!

I went through Esty

my order might’ve been a little longer in terms of timing from order to delivery... I placed the order June 6th and was anticipating a mid-late July delivery, but according to KriptonTop, the Bolivian government enacted a shutdown for the month of July which delayed manufacturing and shipping for a month+, but anytime I emailed him regarding the order, he was very quick to respond with updates and let me know when things opened back up... I’m not sure exactly how backed up the orders may still be, but I’m assuming from his messages that manufacturing and shipping have resumed...

a little wrinkled ‘cause it’s fresh out of the package from Bolivia, but oh my word does this thing fit beautifully!!! The first day of the rest of my WIP starts NOW!!! 👍🏼

I do have one recent update from the weekend..! Received my blaster from 7CS (thank you, Lou!!) and was able to finish up the holster and attach it to the boot..! ...a little weathering-match and hopefully should be good to go! 👍🏼

Funny you mention that Dennis!! Waitin’ on the flight suit and flak vest has my WIP at a standstill until I can properly measure for, sew, and fit things like the bund and chest/back pieces, BUT!!! I got word last Wednesday that it shipped out and is due to arrive TODAY in fact!!!!! I've definitely been keeping busy with my Sandtrooper in the meantime, but when this pseudo-BBB package arrives today, the wait will be over and my Scout WIP is gonna hit Ludicrous SPEED!!

I placed an order for both Flight Suit and Flak Vest from KriptonTop June 6th that was supposed to be completed and delivered by July 24th, but having emailed Christian back and forth he let me know that the Bolivian government had shut down his progress as well as his shipping source capabilities. He’s been very helpful with any updates, replying within 24 hours, but did let me know that the shutdown had affected manufacturing and shipping timesframes. This past Sunday’s back-and-forth emails regarding my order sounded encouraging though, so I’m hopeful he’s been able to get back on track and get caught up with the 6 week order-thru-delivery timeframe.

...now if I could only get the Bolivian government to open up their country and let KriptonTop back to work and back to shipping out orders... 😕

I second, third, and fourth all of the above..! Not to take anything away from other vendors, but in making a decision to finally pursue entry into the 501st, Pathfinders, and fingers crossed Lancer someday, I took a ‘researched-yet-undereducated’ shot in the dark with Studio Creations... and have yet to be disappointed!! Even ordering spare greeblies and decals for the parts that I screwed up or was worried about screwing up. Top notch service, great communication, and the armor speaks for itself 👍🏼

on top of that, they probably have better in-helmet audio systems now than they had sound equipment back in the late 70’s recording the dialogue of the filmed troopers anyway!!! 😂

Even better!! If you get to installing the battery pack inside the helmet before I do, lemme know your setup..! I’m thinking I’ll want mine Velcro’d to the inside of the top of the dome toward the front so I can run the mic wire just around the lens to accommodate, but I haven’t gotten that far yet... I’m still figuring out the best way to configure the mic and insulate it enough to cut down on (or eliminate altogether) the probability of feedback as the mic inside sits only an inch or two away from the speaker

For some reason Flickr’s decided to take a couple photos down from that thread, but the one I wanted to add back in is the first pic of how I removed the original engine/mic portion of the S.C. greeblie...

Hey Nathan..! I also went with Ukswraths Audio system and have a ‘mini-tutorial’ of how I went about installing the engine/mic portion of the snout greeblie. Not sure about the Altmann setup, I know different armorers have different greeblie configurations but I have a Studio Creations kit and the greeblie came all in one piece (engine, mic, and backplate) which required some power tools to dismantle prior to installing the new audio greeblie. I’m not tech-savvy enough to link my thread, but the steps I took, along with photos are located at Odds ‘n Ends WIP pics from Omaha.

nothing at all wrong with a shiny Scout!! On the Death Star they had to be pristine for Palpatine’s arrival..! Apparently Palpatine didn’t worry all that much about the on-duty Troopers on Tatooine... or at least he didn’t bother with their unkempt armor 🤷‍♂️