Aeruk Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 I've finally completed my scout! I started collecting pieces in early 2012, but I shelved it when my wife got pregnant with our first child. I spent the next few months buying a house and preparing it for our daughter, who was born in November. I got back to working on the costume this past February, and just finished it this past week. I submitted my application today and thought I'd share some of the photos. I hope to submit for Lancer soon after my basic approval, so any Lancer-specific feedback is welcome. (Note: I recently saw the updated specifications for the pouches. I am working on getting a new set with no top stitches. Everything else has been done with Lancer specs in mind). Helmet is a MLCv3, armor set is MC. Thanks to everyone on this forum for all the great ideas and guidance to help make this happen! Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted May 21, 2013 Author Share Posted May 21, 2013 Also, since the sun really blows out the details on the white stuff, here are a few closeups of the helmet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Great pics and setup. You have done a awesome job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chex Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Really I'd like to see close ups of your boot soles, and your legs are a tad baggy. You'll have to shore those up a bit for Lancer. Looks damn good though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted May 21, 2013 Author Share Posted May 21, 2013 The boots were made by Marcel, so they should be up to snuff. I can definitely post some pics to verify when the time comes. [Edit: on closer inspection, I may need to cut the grooves into the front of the soles after all. Only the back currently has them.] It won't be too difficult for me to tighten the legs up a bit. I'll have to stitch them on the outside, since the suede patches are attached with Heat n Bond, but that shouldn't be too much trouble. Thanks for the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chunk Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Looks really good. What helmet do you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted May 21, 2013 Author Share Posted May 21, 2013 It's an MLCv3 fiberglass helmet with the MC snout greeblie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavy Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Looks really good - great job ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southscout Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Looks great! But the closure on the bund is on the wrong side, but it's an easy fix. And since you look so good, I would recommend the plastic insert mod to the cod piece to avoid the camel toe. That would really finish of this great piece of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted May 22, 2013 Author Share Posted May 22, 2013 Hmm...so it is. I hadn't noticed at all, but this will be an easy fix. This was a commissioned piece from LadySewForUs. I wonder if she does them all this way? As for the camel toe issue, I think I would have to tear the whole cummerbund apart at this point to get the plastic inside the wedge. I was planning to try attaching a wedge of thin closed-cell white foam to the suit-facing side, I just need to find a way to do it without stitching all the way through to the front. It's thick enough, I should be able to hand stitch to just the inside layer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jyjellyfish77 Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Wow looks so awesome! Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted May 23, 2013 Author Share Posted May 23, 2013 Jellyfish requested to see the inside of my helmet, and since I thought others might find it helpful I'll post the pics and info here for everyone. I decided to go with Team Wendy ZAP pads which attach to velcro discs on the inside of the helmet. You can place them in any configuration depending on what's comfortable. I actually leave out the top disk when I wear the helmet (as seen in photo on the right) because I found that using it made the helmet ride a little too high on my head. Instead I have placed four pads at the "corners" of my head, which fits perfectly and is super comfortable. I also feel like having a little space between the very top of my head and the dome will keep me cooler than having a felt pad sitting on it. They make a lot of other helmet attachment systems that some might find useful: http://www.teamwendy...-liner-systems/ The ZAP pads can be found all over eBay for a reasonable price. They come in different thicknesses...I went with 3/4" which works well for me (aside from that top disk, as explained above). For scouts with larger heads, 1/2" pads may work better. I added small rare earth magnets to keep the visor/faceplate in place. Because there wasn't enough room to place two magnets between the faceplate and the side of the helmet, I glued one to the inside (covered up by the chinstrap elastic) and one to the inside of the faceplate. Even through the fiberglass, they hold nice and tight. The chinstrap, by the way, is attached with velcro on the inside so that I can easily remove it. It's sort of a pain to wear, and I feel that I'll likely ditch it for longer troops. One other thing I should share while I'm at it is my detonator clips. I ordered a pair of the metal powerdrill clips that others have used to clip the hose ends to the belt, but I instead used them inside the det box to hold the whole apparatus on and let the hose hang free. I used zip ties to attach them so that I can remove them later if necessary without destroying the hose. This allows a slight bit of movement from the clips when it's off, but it's extremely snug and secure once it's clipped onto the overlapped part of the belt webbing and velcro. I'm fairly certain that if the costume allowed me to do cartwheels, this thing would definitely not come off the belt. They were chrome, btw...painted them black and then scuffed them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin-X Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Awesome info...thanks for the helmet padding link too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jyjellyfish77 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Great! Thanks for the help. What'd you use on the lens? I trimmed mine down last night and attempted to heat the scraps but came to the conclusion that I'm not going to do that because I warped the clarity of the lens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted May 23, 2013 Author Share Posted May 23, 2013 Ha, yeah, I totally screwed up my first lens by heating it a little to bend, and it warped it in bad ways. Turns out that's not necessary if you have the thinner plastic. I just held it firmly in place in the middle until the hot glue began to firm up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 I fixed the camel toe issue without tearing my cummerbund apart by attaching a layer of craft foam to the inside-facing side of the flap using snaps. I figured it might prove a useful technique for someone else, so I posted details in a new thread: http://forum.bikersc...showtopic=10898 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jyjellyfish77 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 So you just used hot glue for those spots on the lens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Yep, just hot glue. I held it firmly in place and dropped ten or so globs around the edge of the lens, didn't let it go until the glue had solidified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TB-4813 Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Eric Are you going to the TRats game on Saturday? If so I'd like to scope out those helmet mods in person. Looking to make my MLC bucket better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 Eric Are you going to the TRats game on Saturday? If so I'd like to scope out those helmet mods in person. Looking to make my MLC bucket better Yep, I'll be there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeEleven Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Did you take pictures as you were weathering? I had to paint my helmet as KS sent 2 different colors of ABS in the kit. The paint picks up dirt much faster than unpainted ABS, so the helmet looks much more weathered than the rest of my suit after 2 months of troops (every chance I get). Also, the little stray spots of E-6000 on the boots picked up a lot of dirt, so those look really weathered (especially after I realized how awesome it is to ride my motorcycle wearing this). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper67 Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 Great job!!! Congrats!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aeruk Posted July 3, 2013 Author Share Posted July 3, 2013 Did you take pictures as you were weathering? I had to paint my helmet as KS sent 2 different colors of ABS in the kit. The paint picks up dirt much faster than unpainted ABS, so the helmet looks much more weathered than the rest of my suit after 2 months of troops (every chance I get). Also, the little stray spots of E-6000 on the boots picked up a lot of dirt, so those look really weathered (especially after I realized how awesome it is to ride my motorcycle wearing this). I didn't take any pictures while weathering, only after I was finished. The posted photos don't really show most of what I did (the sun blows it out), and I've added a bit more since then as well. My main issue with weathering my armor was that I was afraid to commit fully to any marks, so I wanted something I could remove later and redo if I wanted. What I used was matte black (and a touch of "rubber", which is a dark brown) Testors model paint, applied with a variety of tools (dry brush, paper towel, rough dry sponge, etc.). To remove it, I can use a citrus based cleaner like Goo Gone. I put down way more than I wanted to keep and then used the Goo Gone to dial it back a bit. This works on my helmet too, as I put down a couple of coats of clear coat before adding the dirt and grime. I'm still afraid that too much of the cleanser will ruin the helmet's finish, but if I needed to I could always lightly sand it down and reseal it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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