woobiee

Welcome fellow Marylander! It was my first time too when I started and I can say everyone here is super helpful -- you're in good hands here! Hope to see ya around at some troops.

Congrats! I salute you!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Agreed with everyone here. That was my plan of attack. Firstly, how the bucket sat on my head...seeing where my chin lies and adjust padding/head band accordingly. Then adjust chin cup strap for tightness, then the chin cup for fitment. My actual chin is a little shallow so I had to reduce some depth with my chin cup. I recommend doing all your fitments while having your balaclava on. I've noticed it adds just enough material to offset your measurements. For example, my bucket sat a little higher with my balaclava on vs without it. Also, with the balaclava on, my chin is even more shallow and that influenced how much I had to trim the chin cup.

Thanks everyone and thank you all for your guidance!

Took them a bit to review but Lvl 1 complete! It was a nice break from costuming while I waited but gonna start back on and finishing up Lvl 2 -- almost done!

Found some time tonight to do my Basic approval photos and will be sending out my application this weekend! Standard poses and some fun ones!

Happy belated Halloween! OK! Excited to say this will hopefully be my last post before getting Basic approval! The costume is ready for Basic and the only factor now is finding free time to do some proper photos -- hopefully sometime this week! Photo on Halloween! But between now and getting Basic, I will be doing some minor adjustments after learning a few things during my first 'unofficial' troop during Halloween. These adjustments will not delay getting Basic, it is more for me to troop more comfortably and/or for Lancer status. First: the hard hat liner wasn't agreeing with me so I mounted it about 1/2" higher and further back. The bucket is now sitting 1/4" - 1/2" lower, allowing the chin cup to be more canceled. I tried negating the hard hat altogether and only used pads but the bucket felt less secured on my head. Second: my chin cup kept popping off my chin. After looking at images of the movie prop that Chopper provided, I determined that my chin cup was just a touch too deep for my chin since it was digging into my neck. As a result, I removed about 1/4" from the back. It is fitting much better! Third: during my 'unofficial' troop, often time when I looked down to greet children, my face mask would flop about. I went ahead and did what others have done and mounted rare earth magnets to secure the face mask into place with E6000. Fourth: I've decided to trim another 1/4" off of the shoulder bells. I think it is better proportioned to my body. Finally, my Crowprops boots came in (along with some vinyl and elastic laces) and I'm ready to make these boots to replace my IB boots. The Crowprops boots are much softer and I believe will be much more comfortable to be in vs the IB ones. And for you curious ones out there, IB left vs. Crowprops right. I can't comment on which is more accurate to the real ones, but IB is narrower than Crowprops. IB also has 'sharper' features. Color difference is significant!

I'm leaning towards option 3 when the time comes. I did some digging and noticed that the RS folks in their RS buckets have the hard hat brim mostly hidden below the bucket portion of the helmet vs my copy that has the brim showing a good amount. Or....they didn't even have the hard hat innards here. Anyway, it's clear their buckets are sitting a good 1/2" or more below where mine is currently.

Yep the front lip is at the very edge of my chin. Opening up the top retainer will certainly lower the bucket some more and will solve the chin cup issue, but unfortunately, the brim of the hard hat liner (the part that is supposed to be around my forehead), lowers so much that it digs into my eyes. Actually that brim is currently around my eyebrows and it's already a little uncomfortable. I think I just have an unusually long face...

Oh that is interesting indeed! This is how it sits on me at the moment in profile: The inner hard hat is set to it's lowest point to get my noggin as in and seated as possible. Actually, I can set it so my head goes even further in the bucket, but the brim of the hard hat starts to cover my eyes. If the chin cup is still too visible here, I will eventually have to reinstall the hard hat innards so it is further in the bucket. But of course, after I get Basic approval first.

Thanks. I've already reached out to my GML and am in the process of moving forward with Basic. Since my chin cup is already installed, I'm not compelled to take it off for Basic. And because it's already on, I'd love to know more about it (like where it should be sitting, etc).

A quick update! The Flak Vest is back and is as good as it can be. I finished my new cod piece and at 1/2" narrower, it fits me proportionately now! I've been working on a new cummerbund and hopefully will get that finished by the end of the week. The pouches will sit better once the new cummerbund is done. My right shoulder bell is flopping about and I found that the attachment point to the shoulder bridge has weakened. My plan is to get the cummerbund finished by this weekend and if weather permits, do a quick weather to the cummerbund, pouches, and cod piece. I'd also like to get the one shoulder bell mounted better. I think I am a few weeks away from taking photos for Basic Approval! Question about the chin cup. Previously my chin cup would show pretty obviously below the face mask (as you probably noticed before). I've adjusted it and it's certainly a lot better now, but it still shows a tiny bit if you look for it -- the side profile is a little more prevalent. What is acceptable?

A little bit of velcro on armor and flight suit does the trick. Also can apply to knee and forearm armor.

Brilliant job!

Updates! It looks like my botched boots will pass Basic so I went ahead and finished the other boot for a completed set. In addition, I ordered some Crowprops short boots and some recommended marine vinyl so I can make it properly on my own for Lancer. At the very least, the Crowprops boots will be more aligned to my foot size since the smallest IB boot is still a bit big on me. I'm still finishing up adjusting the flak vest sleeve which the tailor will be done later this week. I've already made a new cod piece and a new bund is half way there -- just waiting for the vest to come back so I can get the bund sizing right. Hoping I can have these done in the next week or two. I think after that, I'll be ready for some photos and sending it off for Basic approval! I used some simple hardware to fasten the magnet to the holster from DV's EC17. From below: From above: Holster completed: This second boot surgery went much better! I was also informed that my helmet was sitting a bit too high and that my chin cup was showing. After some adjustments, it's now sitting well with no chin cup showing.

Hah I also felt the same way when my 'big' box came in too! The size of the box looked like it only contained the helmet.

OK! Here we go! I spent my weeknights and this morning to salvage the boot in question. I think it turned out pretty decently but please do let me know if this will pass Level 2. I am willing and ready to purchase a new boot setup if it won't pass Lancer -- thinking Crowprops base and wrapping it on my own. This was my arsenal for the week. Black paint for weathering Two types of white vinyl paints Sandpaper Tape Precision knife Wide brush Tiny and normal scissors Leather filler in white Offset spatula Leather filler was from Leather World Tech from Virginia. The two vinyl spray cans are from Rust-Oleum and SM Arnold. SM Arnold was the clear winner. Not just by color and finish, the nozzle was infinitely better at spray distribution. Here I cleaned up the area with the knife. This is after multiple sessions of filler application and sanding. Here it is painted with the SM Arnold white vinyl spray paint, hitting the areas that needed it. And this is with the black weathering applied. For the shaft, I used my already painted holster to hit the areas that would match once the holster was mounted in place. Here is a super close up of the area in question. So yeah, please give me the cold hard truth if these will pass Lancer. If yes, great! I'll work on the other boot. And if not, I'll move forward with getting supplies for the new boots. I'll still probably finish up the other boot so I have something to use for Halloween!

I second the sewing machine. When I started I knew practically nothing about sewing. Now almost a year in my fiance keeps hearing my murmurs "oh I can make/fix that!" to every garment! I just want to sew everything now haha.

Thanks for the tip! The bund in the photo is my temp one without any velcro to attach to the flight suit — I’m making a brand new one that fits better and with velcro! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was hoping some generic white fabric/vinyl spray will be good enough. The leather fill I got is also white and there will be some weather as well. Will be using the white spray as little as possible.

Thank you for the suggestions! I spent last night examining and cleaning up the injury. The fuzzies that you see is actually not the remnants of the dogbone, but the actual toecap leather. I was hoping it was as you stated, that way the material can be easily removed. Basically the glue between the dogbone and toecap picked up the top finished surface of the toecap and ripped that up along with it. My hope is to resurface the toecap with the filler, then sand it down, gently white spray and blend the area, and finally do some weathering.

Nope. I've been actually looking for a cobbler for outside of cosplaying but they are harder to come by these days.

To the OT or anyone else is interested. Because we have a ton of front shots and not too many side profiles of the cod, here is a side profile closeup of my cod piece (you don't say that very often huh?). I'm still tweaking this but I'm fairly close to being satisfied with the shaping. And this is how it looks laid flat

I ordered me some leather filler, tools, sandpaper, and some paint and will attempt to fix this up this weekend. Hoping with patience, time, and some weathering luck, I can pull this off!