The Aren't You A Little Sort For A...Biker Scout (WIP)

[StoutScout]

Hi everyone! I have never done anything like this before and after a lot of research and careful planning I have finally started my build. As the topic suggests, I am less than average height (5' 6") and that has been a big concern of mine when looking into what I wanted to build for the 501st. Obviously I landed on the Biker Scout and I am very excited about the path forward.

 

My plan is to work on the more affordable soft parts while I save up for the hard armor.

First up, the boots!

 

 

I spent about 1.5 hours per shoe using the 'push and pop' method. Tools used were:

• Size 8 Texas Steer (Wheat) from KMart ($20)
  
• Xacto knife Type A with #11 and #17 blade
  
• Drill with a 5/32 bit to drill out the speed laces
  
• New flat laces
  

I then wanted to get a good idea of how high up my leg I needed the boots to go. I printed out a template of the knee piece using dimensions I found here then created a cardboard version of it:

 

 

After putting the cardboard knee piece on my knee, I used a tape measure to figure out how high I needed the boots to be, making sure there would be enough space between the knee armor and the boot.

 

Using the measurements I got and the boot tutorial I created paper mock-ups of the various pieces I'll need to cut out of vinyl:

 

I affixed them to the boot, tried it on with the fake knee armor and was very happy with the result:

 

 

Using the paper templates, I took to the vinyl (Marine White Vinyl purchased from JoAnns which I bought way too much of!!)

 

 

To me the most intimidating part of this entire build is the sewing aspect of it. My intention is to make every part of it myself, so I had to dig out my wife's sewing machine and teach myself how to use it. Having never used a sewing machine in my life I figured some practice was in order:

 

I used some spare fabric we had around the house and cut out a boot dogbone. Could this be the new look for Lancer?!

[Retrofire]

Outstanding work! The boots are a greatest to ease into,the build and you're doing all the right things. Make sure you give the toes a good stretch three times or so. That way they will go on nice and smooth. When you get ready to glue have a couple of tongue depressors/popsicle sticks at the ready to help spread the glue out to all the corners. Keep up the great work!

[9934]

Looking good trooper.

I'd guess you are around the same height as me. Great job, keep at it.

 

Recommend Studio Creations.......

[StoutScout]

Outstanding work! The boots are a greatest to ease into,the build and you're doing all the right things. Make sure you give the toes a good stretch three times or so. That way they will go on nice and smooth. When you get ready to glue have a couple of tongue depressors/popsicle sticks at the ready to help spread the glue out to all the corners. Keep up the great work!

 

I am on day two of stretching out the toes. I have had to use a hair dryer to heat up the vinyl and it seems to have gone well so far. Thanks for the tip on the tongue depressors, I hadn't thought of that.

 

Looking good trooper.

I'd guess you are around the same height as me. Great job, keep at it.

 

Recommend Studio Creations.......

 

Thanks! I am planning on SC for armor, are you recommending them for the helmet as well?

[Retrofire]

Thanks! I am planning on SC for armor, are you recommending them for the helmet as well?

 

SC makes a good lid. I got an Altmann's and I really like it. Might want to check out Spike's thread on the sales forum.

[BikerScout007]

Nice work, buddy!

[BlitzJaeger]

 

 

I am 5'6" and 125lbs. I have SC armor and KS helmet.

 

I think you will find the suit easier to accommodate you than most, just be patient and measure things correctly. Welcome aboard!

[Fluffy Fuzzball]

i like the black suit.. fits perfect .. oh yes, the tb on the left is also very nice :-)

[StoutScout]

Time to finally update this post!

 

I've actually been working a lot on this since my last post, if it wasn't the boots, it was sewing, sewing and more sewing (mostly flight suit related).

 

First I'll post the progress (and completion of) the boots!

 

Tops glued down and pinned:

 

Glued down and excess cut off (also joined by a couple of friends):

 

Toe trimming glued on and taped into place:

 

 

Cutting out the calf part of the boot:

 

Folded down about a half inch of the top, taped it down and ironed it to make sewing the top stitch easier:

 

From there I had a bit of a delay. I had the hardest time finding 1" sew on velcro. Everywhere I went (Joann's, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Sewing stores, Hardware stores) only had stick on velcro or only up to 3/4" sew on. A word of advice to novice sewers like myself, do not even try to sew on the the stick on stuff with a machine. It just gums up your needle and will constantly screw up your thread. I finally went to Amazon and found some, sewed on the velcro, glued on the calf pieces and dogbones...DONE!:

 

 

 

 

I'm so happy with how they turned out!

[StoutScout]

As previously mentioned, I have been doing a lot of sewing practice and it has mostly been with the flight suit. I bought a Red Kap suit and of course it came in and was huge on me! Time to learn how to hem and let in the pants!

 

First the let in part of it. These things are meant to be worn over pants and as such are very baggy in the legs. I did the "Pinch and Pin" technique to figure out how to make them more fitted to my legs. Basically you pinch the excess material in the leg and pin where you'd like the new seam to run. I needed to bring them in 2 inches.

 

Turn your suit inside out, and pin up the distance you determined. You can see I also cut out the pockets...

 

Sew it up!

 

You can barely see it, but there is the finished seam:

 

The result! Here I'm pulling out each leg. The left leg has been let in, right leg has no modification to it:

 

Being on the shorter side I often have to get my pants hemmed up. I decided to not take this to my tailor and try it myself. I needed to hem up both the legs and the arms. I followed

and it was great!

 

Hemming the sleeves (the process is the same for the pants)

Roll the sleeve to the desired length and pin:

 

Measure 1.25 inches and draw some lines:

 

I don't have pictures for the remaining steps but as I recall them:

- Turn the garment inside out

- Cut the excess fabric to the line you drew on

- Fold the hem up and stitch it up.

 

Again,

for step-by-step instructions.

[StoutScout]

Here is a separate post for detailed instructions on how I made the mandarin collar for my flight suit. This was done with a Red Kap suit.

 

After having removed the rear pockets from the suit I measured the width of the collar itself:

 

It came out to be 3 inches. I then took the pocket I had removed and measured down 3 5/8 inches:

 

I cut along the line, tucked the 5/8" over and pinned it:

 

I then ironed the fabric to get it good and creased at the top:

 

I then sewed along the line of pins, removing them as the came to the needle:

 

Next I pinned the piece to the collar of the flight suit:

 

Sew on the hook side of the velcro to the collar extension. Make sure it is the entire width to keep it from flopping over.

 

Finally sew the hook side of the velcro to the other side of the collar:

 

The finished product (if you read my previous post you can also see the finished hemming of the arms and legs):

[Dart]

Great work so far, Nick! If I may make one suggestion: to prevent the legs from bunching at the top of the boots, it's a good idea to sew some stirrups to the bottom openings of the legs. That way, things stay nice and tucked in. I find just a 1" elastic is enough to keep things in place.

[StoutScout]

Thanks! I was able to put on the flight suit and boots for the first time last night and discovered that I should probably hem them up a bit higher. I had originally measured the hem of the pants while it was outside of a pair of shoes I had on. With the pants of the flight suit going inside the boots it means I need to make them probably an inch or so shorter.

 

The stirrups are a great suggestion and have been part of my plan, I just need to buy the elastic. Pics to come when all finished.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

 

[Bobik96]

Thanks! I was able to put on the flight suit and boots for the first time last night and discovered that I should probably hem them up a bit higher. I had originally measured the hem of the pants while it was outside of a pair of shoes I had on. With the pants of the flight suit going inside the boots it means I need to make them probably an inch or so shorter.

 

The stirrups are a great suggestion and have been part of my plan, I just need to buy the elastic. Pics to come when all finished.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

Yep. Mine are about three inches above my ankle with elastic stirrups.

 

Thx for the tutorial. Those are always helpful.

[StoutScout]

This week I finished off the cummerbund and pouches. The pouches are just pinned in place so they are crooked and probably a little too high. I still don’t have my hard armor yet so it’s hard to judge exactly where they need to go:

 

 

Here is the finished codpiece. I used a 1cm thick stabilizing foam and buckram for structure. I am very happy with how it turned out:

 

 

The finished pouch. It took a couple of iterations but I’m really happy with how they turned out. I scaled them down by about 10% to fit my body size:

 

 

I had a little fun with the boxes for the inside of the pouches. I used foam board and Star Wars Duct Tape to create them:

 

[Retrofire]

Love the SW duct tape! Great job on the flight suit tutorial that is a really helpful series of snaps. Thanks very much for taking the time to post that up.

[BikerScout007]

This week I finished off the cummerbund and pouches. The pouches are just pinned in place so they are crooked and probably a little too high. I still don’t have my hard armor yet so it’s hard to judge exactly where they need to go:

 

 

 

Your pouch placement is good, but the belt is going to sit directly beneath them, which means your bund is going to stick out about 4 inches below the belt. The bund should only be just about as long as the pouches.

 

Check out my dude here:

 

 

You can see the pouches meet the bottom of the bund, right about at the belt line (obviously the bund has come up a tad because the guy has his hands up).

 

The important thing is to wear the belt on your WAIST -- which means across your belly button. It's tough to get the bund sizing just right when you dont have the armor and belt to work off of, I know.

[StoutScout]

Your pouch placement is good, but the belt is going to sit directly beneath them, which means your bund is going to stick out about 4 inches below the belt. The bund should only be just about as long as the pouches.

 

You can see the pouches meet the bottom of the bund, right about at the belt line (obviously the bund has come up a tad because the guy has his hands up).

 

The important thing is to wear the belt on your WAIST -- which means across your belly button. It's tough to get the bund sizing just right when you dont have the armor and belt to work off of, I know.

 

Thanks for the great advice! I should be able to trim the bund down a bit without too much trouble, but won't do so until I get the armor and belt as you suggested.

[9934]

Sorry, I've just seen this...

I agree with Retrofire... SC buckets will do but have look at the Altmann buckets.

[StoutScout]

Yesterday was BBB day!!

 

 

This is an SC kit and it looks great!

 

Hoping to get some feedback on the TD tube color. Having read through Retrofire's build thread who also uses this kit it seems to me that the TD tube needs to be a little darker? Any specific shade suggestion (no fifty shades of gray jokes please! )

 

 

Also looking for recommendations on what piece to start with first.

Thanks!

[Retrofire]

WOOOOO! It's on now! The armourer I asked said that it was indeed too light and I had to disassemble and paint it to match my chest rectangle. I painted mine a light/medium grey. Before you paint give the tube a wash with hot water and soap and let it dry.

 

[StoutScout]

I started working on my hard armor this week by rounding off the sharp corners, sanding down the sharp edges and working on the elastic strapping which is mostly complete now:

 

 

I do have a question about working with the white elastic that attaches between the chest and back armor. Basically the armor (SC) arrived with the slits cut in both the chest and back, but the slits aren't as wide as the white elastic provided with the kit. The slits are about 1 3/8" while the elastic is around 1 7/8" as you can see in the following pictures. I couldn't find anywhere in the CRL or the Lancer specs that specified the width of the white elastic. So my question is, should I go ahead and just take the dremel to the slits and widen them, or would that make them too wide? Or should I just trim up the elastic to fit into the existing slits?

 

 

As you can see I can fold the elastic in to make it fit, but this isn't ideal for putting the armor on.

[Retrofire]

I went with 1.5" webbing for my front and back armor which is acceptable. You could always drop by Jo-Anns and pick up some similar size white elastic. I think the SC provided elastic is 2".

[StoutScout]

For those following along I decided to trim down the elastic to fit into the chest/back slots, it works well for now though I'll probably move to webbing later on.

 

Since my last post I started to have some fun with E6000:

 

Bicep greeblies glued:

 

Tank greeble glued:

 

Tank decals applied, attached to back, shoulder bell T-straps created, shoulder gap loop created:

 

Next up is TD and belt...

[darth larsen]

looking good!