Correia13 Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Hello all, I am getting really close to buying a complete set. I just want to make sure it's good, meaning lancer in the future. I have narrowed down to SC and KS. Those are both decently affordable and don't have too bad of a turnaround time. My gloves I would be getting from WW. Boots I don't have the skill to make myself, so I will be buying directly from EB, then cutting the notches in myself. The only thing I cannot find is the vest and the flightsuit. KS seems to offer a decent Cumberbund. any corrections you can make or guide me in the right direction would be appreciated. thank you in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikko Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I'd get the SC armor. That is my personal recommendation. Jeff (the SC guy) is wonderful to deal with, and trims things to the extent that you have very little trimming/sanding to do. He even gives all decals and greeblies/plastic details! Very professional and complete. As for the undersuit/coveralls, I would recommend RedCap automotive coveralls in black. There arw a few alterations, but the pockets and such are fairly easy to remove. I hope this helps you out a little. Good luck! Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Correia13 Posted August 20, 2015 Author Share Posted August 20, 2015 Ok, I will lean towards SC then. And the redcaps look awesome, besides removing all the pockets, what other alterations would be needed for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
01Hawk Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 While I have never purchased anything from KS there are enough negative experiences posted here that kept me away. I bought SC armor and an SC helmet - excellent service and products. I also have an Altmanns helmet now which is nice as well. There are some members here who can help you with the soft parts you need as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayelbe Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 By being a work coverall, the Redkap usually needs to be taken in around the arms and legs, since you probably aren't wearing a lot underneath it. A lot of apps get kicked back because of the bagginess. As for armor, I went with SC due to the combined factors of quality, cost, and delivery time. Please read build threads and in general as much as you can before pulling the trigger. As an example, I nearly went with an SC bucket before I realized it would not fit my Punkin Head. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soundwave Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 I have SC armor, and a KS helmet. I can't recommend Jeff and SC enough. There will be some work you will have to do yourself, and things to figure out as to how to make it work best for you... but nothing super hard. A Scout if a pretty easy build. Especially with the SC kit. As noted above, it does come with almost everything you need in your armor kit set. As for KS, I'll freely admit that I had some delays on my helmet... but it was well worth the wait and hassle. It's a good, quality helmet. Just needs a little work to be better. Easy fixes. And I'd always suggest having them assemble it. They know what they are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stasz Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Ok, I will lean towards SC then. And the redcaps look awesome, besides removing all the pockets, what other alterations would be needed for that. Yeah, you'll probably end up taking in the legs, I took in my arms a bit as well. Then you can use one of the removed back pockets to make a flap closure around the turned up neck (a "mandarin collar"). You'll add suede riding patches on the thighs, and a suede buttflap. You can use faux suede, but if you've got eyes on Lancer go for the real stuff right away. I wish I had. Elastic thigh bands, and I added stirrups as well to help keep the legs from bunching up above the knee armor. Then, Velcro or snaps to help keep the armor in place. It sounds like a lot, but it's not bad. Check out the soft armor forums and some build threads for detailed pics. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Stasz, did you take in your arms and legs yourself? I just got my RedKap and I'm sure I'll have to do the same. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stasz Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Stasz, did you take in your arms and legs yourself? I just got my RedKap and I'm sure I'll have to do the same. Thanks! I did have some assistance from my dear old mum who has a sewing machine. Most of the other stuff I did by hand, but I wanted to make sure it had good, clean stitch lines. Basically, put the suit on inside out, pin it more snug to your arm or leg along the seam you're taking in, run a stitch down that line and cut off the excess. Here's a before and after. In the inset you can see how bunchy the material was around the armor elastic: I wish I had taken pics of the whole process, but I guarantee there's videos on YouTube of taking in a seam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nexous Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 RedKapp does have a bit of a wrinkle as I am learning myself, going through the process of tightening it up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Correia13 Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 Ok, so I'm definitley going to go for the real stuff, for lancer. My worry is how you keep it ckean, being real suede I know it's not machine washable, so how do clean yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navajo Bro Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Thanks for helping Joe on his journey! He's already reached out to us at the local Garrison, sought out some additional advice and even popped out to a troop to meet us in person We pretty much gave him the same advice on the armors - SC is a better bet then KS although they are both nice. I have two KS helmets and always like them with the exception of the snout stuff which was a sticker and came right off (but easily fixed). I had a very negative experience with the KS cummberbunds though, the pockets were way to big and off center and there were no ab lines when I got it. This was like 2008 or so though, and I'm not sure if it's still like that. I recommended trying to commission a flight suit as opposed to build one for his first try if he's going for Lancer. Unless you have some sewing skills it's not as easy as just removing pockets because you have to convert the neck enclosure, add the suede thigh patches, butt patch and thigh elastic. I have some basic ability and was able to fumble through one for my wife a while back but it was not fun and not easy for a novice hahaha! And when all is said and done you honestly don't save a ton of money as opposed to purchasing one from a professional here We've encouraged him to continue research and ask questions here because it's THE place to get the info, and when he ultimately gets his armor we'll have some of our guys (including myself) meet up with him to help with assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Correia13 Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 Thanks for that, me and my wife were budgeting trying to figure out if we should give making the flight suit ourselves or buy it from someone who know what they are doing. You re assured me on what I was thinking, especially when trying to go lancer. Might as well get the real thing made for me first time around, then when o have time and some more money if I wanted to attempt my skills at creating one myself there'd be no harm done, as I'd already have my costume done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retrofire Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I did have some assistance from my dear old mum who has a sewing machine. Most of the other stuff I did by hand, but I wanted to make sure it had good, clean stitch lines. Basically, put the suit on inside out, pin it more snug to your arm or leg along the seam you're taking in, run a stitch down that line and cut off the excess. Here's a before and after. In the inset you can see how bunchy the material was around the armor elastic: I wish I had taken pics of the whole process, but I guarantee there's videos on YouTube of taking in a seam Yeah I'm thankful, and extremely lucky, that my Mum is a pro seamstress so she's going to help me with all the sewing for my flightsuit and vest. I'm going to Marcel for my bund/pouches since I want that to be perfect and his work comes highly recommended. Ultimately I want to go for Lancer too so I feel it's best to put the time in on front end to make sure everything passes muster. Joseph you might want to check out Gabe. I believe he does flight suits. I'm sorry I don't have the post available but you should be able to find more info on the Soft Armor boards. -Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikko Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Max's Sci Fi Creations! I just got my soft parts back from Gabe, and I am pretty impressed. The stuff looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.