Wingspan's Scout Trooper WIP

[Wingspan]

Parts and supplies have started pouring in, so it's time to get moving on my Scout Trooper!

 

Components so far:

 

Armor: SC 

Helmet: SC and Altmann (on order)

Flight suit: RedKap modified 

Vest: Stephtrooper 

Cummerbund: Stephtrooper 

Gloves: WW

Boots: Imperial Boots

Blaster: Hyperfirm

 

I'm shooting for Basic 501st approval on this build. I'll probably add some Lancer touches as I go, but at this point Lancer isn't a priority. I spent a year and a half sweating every last detail during my R2-D2 build and after a year of trooping him with my local 501st/RL I can honestly say that kids do not care. People just love the characters and having everything 100% screen accurate doesn't matter. I'm not ruling Lancer out for the future but for now 501st approval is what I'm aiming for.

[Wingspan]

My SC Armor:

 

 

Blaster:

 

 

 

I have no experience with sewing aside from hand stitching a patch or two. I'm on Stephtroopers list for a vest and cummerbund but I've decided to tackle the flight suit mods myself. I'm starting with the RedKap suit.

 

First step, remove all the pockets and sew the front pockets closed:

 

 

I then used one of the back pockets to make the collar flap:

 

 

 

 

 

Next up will be taking in a bit of the excess room in the legs and sorting out the size and shape of the riding patches. I bought a piece of thin black suede at my local Tandy leather store for the patches and mudflap. Time to research patch size and shape!

[Stroker]

Looking good so far!

[Chopper]

Great work with the coverall mods so far!

[Aliaz]

Looks good sofar!

[Wingspan]

Thanks everyone!

 

I've decided to try taking in the excess room in the legs next. Again, I need to stress that I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to this sort of thing. This sort of thing has intimidated me for a long time. I'm an aircraft mechanic...not a tailor! I do love learning new skills to advance my hobbies so I'm enjoying this! I'm going to post everything here, good and bad so hopefully others may be encouraged to try this for themselves. At least the RedKap suits are cheap and you're only out $28 if you completely ruin something.

 

I need all the hip room I can get in the suit (I'm a big boy) but the legs were too roomy. After pinching the excess while wearing the suit I decided that taking 2" out at the bottom off the legs and tapering to the hip was a good place to start. I turned the suit inside out and laid it flat on the floor. I marked a seam line, pinned the pant leg together.

 

 

I ran a stitch down that line, then tried the suit on. I may end up going for more, but it was a huge improvement. This isn't the best pic (it's hard to take a pic of your own legs!) but hopefully you can tell the difference between the unmodified leg (left side of pic) and the modified one (right side)

 

 

I was happy with the fit so I ran a second seam along the first for a bit of extra strength then trimmed off the excess.

 

 

Now to repeat on the other leg.

[Chopper]

Awesome, dude. Many of us had no idea how to do this stuff...until we did it!

 

Or as John Larroquette says in Stripes: "Soldier. The only way to learn anything is to do it. Now fire the weapon."

 

[NCwerewolf]

I think I quote him every other day.

 

"Have that removed."

 

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

 

 

[Wingspan]

I'm still researching the riding patch so I decided to put my helmet together. This is the SC helmet. I have an Alt helmet on order as well so this will likely end up as a shelf piece/backup.

 

 

 

 

I used a hard hat liner held in with velcro.

 

[Wingspan]

I need to do a bit more to black out the interior of the helmet but otherwise it's finished:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selfie!

 

[762s]

congrats ... looks good!

 

and no need to black out more of the helmet.

 

for my helmets i do what the screen used helmets have and it works just fine...

 

a piece of 4"x6" gaffers tape inside the helmet at the ear section

 

[Aliaz]

I use that method aswell.

[Wingspan]

Thanks guys! Gaffer tape is exactly what I used behind the ears.

[Wingspan]

Ok...these stupid (said with love) riding patches!!!

 

I started with a pic of other patches and made a paper template, then cut one from some extra material:

 

 

Once happy I cut my suede:

 

 

Many finger pricks...so many...so many:

 

 

I split the outer seam of the legs, sewed the patches, resewed the outer seam, then added the straps:

 

 

 

 

I know these aren't perfect but I'm hoping they are good enough for Basic approval.

[Wingspan]

I made my mudflap today. It attaches to the suit with Velcro. I also made the straps for my leg and arm armor and started work on the back hump.

 

 

[Chopper]

Lookin' good so far!

[Aliaz]

One thing to look out for is the straps on your thighs. They look abit tight, they should not be pulling the the suit inwards.

[Wingspan]

It's been a while since my last update.

 

I'll look into the straps again, but they really aren't tight at all. If I loosen them any more I'll have to sew them to the pant leg to keep them from drooping.

 

I haven't made much progress lately because I'm waiting for my vest, cummerbund, cod, and pouches to arrive from Stephtrooper. I don't want to waste time making the various straps until I have all the soft goods on to fit them. It's been nearly 3 months since I ordered, so hopefully I'll have the soft parts soon.

 

I have done a bit of work on my TD. I 3D printed some plugs to attach the end caps with:

 

 

 

Also, my boots finally arrived from Imperial boots. I'm impressed with the quality and they fit perfectly. (I realize they aren't Lancer spec out of the box, but that isn't an issue for me at this time)

 

I made an elastic/velcro calf strap for the inside of the boot to help support the weight of the blaster. I've covered the lower rivets with the furry side of velcro to protect my suit, still need to do the upper rivets.:

 

 

 

On to securing the blaster...

[Wingspan]

I have the Hyperfirm blaster. It didn't come with any magnets already installed so I added two 1/4" x 1/4" round magnets under the barrel. I hadn't painted them black yet in the pics, they are black now:

 

 

Next I added a small steel bracket inside the holster:

 

 

 

Seems pretty secure:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwsw7_sVhPA

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Ra4XJahVE

[spyder918]

Looks good brotha..I like those boots. Wonder why these aren’t good enough for Lancer..the CRL just says ‘cuts in the heel and sole’..it doesn’t dictate how much or how deep..etc.

[Wingspan]

Looks good brotha..I like those boots. Wonder why these aren’t good enough for Lancer..the CRL just says ‘cuts in the heel and sole’..it doesn’t dictate how much or how deep..etc.

 

The imperial boots don't have the required cuts in the sides of the heel and the sole is two colors instead of one. Both could be addressed if you wanted lancer but I think there are more accurate boots available from other vendors. I ordered these before I had access to this forum and could research the subject in depth. Still, I'm very happy with the quality of these boots even if they are currently only good enough for basic approval.

[spyder918]

The imperial boots don't have the required cuts in the sides of the heel and the sole is two colors instead of one. Both could be addressed if you wanted lancer but I think there are more accurate boots available from other vendors. I ordered these before I had access to this forum and could research the subject in depth. Still, I'm very happy with the quality of these boots even if they are currently only good enough for basic approval.

 

Hm, it must be specific cuts on the side of the heels then I'm guessing. Wish the CRL would specify exactly what type of cuts. I agree with you though..I really like these boots and if they work for basic...I'm ok with that.

 

When you riveted that strip of ABS on the inside of your boot with the elastic, did you heatgun that piece of ABS or did it just curve naturally inside the boot?

[Wingspan]

 

When you riveted that strip of ABS on the inside of your boot with the elastic, did you heatgun that piece of ABS or did it just curve naturally inside the boot?

 

That strip of ABS was included with the SC armor formed to the shape of the holster.

[spyder918]

Ah ok..awesome.

[Merlin707]

Hi Wingspan great WIP so far!

 

Just been looking at your helmet specifically the back where the Dome joins the main part.

Is there supposed to be a gap there or is it supposed to be flush?

 

Maybe a more experienced Scout could confirm for us?

 

Keep up the good work though, I’m rather jealous how good your needlework is, I’m shocking when it comes to doing that.