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Greeny's 1st ever costume build TB


greenyone

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Sven,  You're right.  It's was free to give it the ol' college try.  I think this looks better.

I used this thinner 1/8 inch tighter woven batting that somebody gave to me.  I think that was the issue.  In hindsight I should have used that fluffier thicker stuff that I see most people using here on the forum.  Anyway, after using 3 layers of the .125" stuff I have on hand (bringing it to 3/8 of an inch) I think this should work. 

I only used the triple layer behind the sewn 1" rib lines.  The rest of the bund still only has the single layer of 1/8".

 

bund_fix

 

 

 

 

 

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It's about 9.5 inches.  I made it long enough to trim it later when I fit it to my armor.  That being said, I had to trim my chest/back armor shoulder straps by about 2 inches.  The bottom of the chest was way to low on my body.  I'm only 5'-8.5"...maybe 5'-9" first thing in the morning.  So with the pouches attached to the bund (about 2" from the top of the bund) and my belt in place it actually fits pretty well.  Albeit with an extra 2 inches of bund tucked up under the chest/back armor.  I have a little tucked behind the belt, and I understand that technically the bund it supposed to stop at the top of the belt line, but things seem to stay in place better on me with it like that.  We'll see what my GML says.

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Cod all sewn up.  I used Pandatroopers idea of putting a thin piece of heat shaped plastic and padding in the lower cod to avoid the dreaded camel-toe.   Above the chevron has only padding.  I sewed a 1" strip of velcro to the top (not shown as it's laying under the bund)) with plans to put a corresponding piece on the jump-suit for on-the-fly height adjustments.

cod_sewn2

 

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2 hours ago, Chopper said:

That looks really good so far. Good work.

Chopper, 

I posted this elsewhere but with you following my build and offering feedback at times I figured I'd put it here too.  Question regarding the leather riding patches and butt flap.  I looked at a couple of faux leather (micro-suede/micro-fiber) materials at Jo-Anne fabrics.  They are so very thin.  So I turned my attention to actual leather hides.  Then it occurred to me that I have some old black leather coats hanging in the closet.   I know this is not technically suede, but the backside of the leather very much appears like suede.  Has anyone ever used this method?

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Not that I can recall, but if you post some photos of what it the backside looks like, we could tell you if it looks the part or not.

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Is it a rivet?

Belt Rivet

It's actually a binding screw with a hole drilled through it (and the chrome scuffed up to look like a rivet).  Unlike rivets, I can remove these without drilling if needed.

belt rivet backbinding screw

 

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On 6/21/2019 at 3:25 PM, Chopper said:

Not that I can recall, but if you post some photos of what it the backside looks like, we could tell you if it looks the part or not.

Here is a photo (for what an internet photo is worth) of some of the material from a torn apart leather coat.  The left is the raw side and the right is the finished side.  The finished side looks brown in my photo, prob due to the lighting in my dining room, but rest assured it's from a black leather coat.

leather_compare

 

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On 6/22/2019 at 9:59 PM, greenyone said:

Is it a rivet?

It's actually a binding screw with a hole drilled through it (and the chrome scuffed up to look like a rivet).  Unlike rivets, I can remove these without drilling if needed.

I get why you rigged it up that way, though would check with your GML as well. The CRL actually the language "rivet" in the basic clearance section:

"There are only two (2) visible rivets on the belt: one on each side toward the back to connect the webbing closure material to the plastic belt"

 

The inside of the jacket looks ok for your suede riding patch. 👍

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Before taking on the leather patch project I figured I should revisit my under suit.  I'm still kicking myself for buying a 42R instead of a 40R.  I must have trimmed $15 worth of material from this $30 garment.

One of the biggest issues I was having was the pants were sagging down way too low in the crotch.  This was making cod fitment a royal pain in the well....cod.  I separated the top and bottom of the RedKap suit at the waist line, cut out about 1.5" from the pants portion and carefully sewed it all back together.  Getting the zipper back in place is not fun.  I also took another 2 inches of slack from the arms.  Overall it fits much better now.  

Anyone reading this who's contemplating  this costume should really order multiple coveralls.  Try them on, choose the best fitting one to do the modifications on and send the others back. 

  A little test fitting with some of the other soft parts and armor.  Getting there slowly.

test_fit

 

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This has to be the hardest part to sew.  This 3M light duty repositionable spray adhesive seems to be doing a pretty good job of holding the leather in place while I manipulate the suit around the needle in my sewing machine.

Front_Patches3MSpray

 

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The suede riding patch def is one of the most challenging parts of a scout build. 

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I think I got this dialed in.  I had some trouble trying to sew the leather around the zipper bottom.  My machine just kept bending needles and jamming.  I guess that area just has too many layers for a plastic sewing machine to plow through.  I was able to sew around it and remove the excess.  The cod covers this so good enough.  

FrontCrotch

My first attempt and splitting the in-seam to insert the leather was a failure too.  The way the RedKap suit is constructed with the double folded over inseam made this next to impossible.  I ended up just ripping the seam down the entire leg, tucking in the leather patches and sewing it back shut with a single seam and some heavier duty upholstery thread.  I hope that holds up.  Velcro tab installed for the cod strap too. 

All that's left on this is the thigh straps.  I think I'll have to wait for a helper (wife after work) to assist me placement and sizing as it's very difficult to lean over and bend backwards while wearing this to ensure they are not too tight or crooked on my legs.

RearFlap

 

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While still in sewing mode I went ahead and added some stirrup straps to the bottom of the legs and some thumb straps to the wrist cuffs.  This should keep things securely in place while wearing.

stirrupsthumbstrap

 

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On to the Flak-Vest.  I found a cheap thin weight raglan sweatshirt on Amazon.  The reviews said it was not as thick as a typical sweatshirt so I placed an order.  And yes...it's pretty thin.  Maybe just slightly thicker than a regular old t-shirt.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077YX2HJM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Not knowing if this will even work I only spent time ripping off one arm.  After cutting it down to a more manageable size (leaving extra arm length to trim later), I spray glued some batting to the back of it, used some extra shirt material (from the bottom of the original shirt) and sprayed glued that on to the opposite side.  After marking the 1" ribs in chalk and sewing them in it looks like it may work.

Flak1

 

Flak2

 

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Flak vest fail.  I made the arms too short.  Tried letting one sleeve out a bit bit still too short and not enough material to bring it out any more.  Lessons learned I guess.  Round-2.

failure

 

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24 minutes ago, greenyone said:

Anyone have a good recommendation on a vest maker?  This one may be beyond my abilities.   This thing is like another Denise Huxtable masterpiece.

GordonGartrell

 

There's more than a few soft goods makers and they can be found in the Vendors section:

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/forum/156-vendor-sales/

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4 minutes ago, BikerScout007 said:

There's more than a few soft goods makers and they can be found in the Vendors section:

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/forum/156-vendor-sales/

The only one that seems to be currently making them on the vendor section is Steph.  Her version is basically of t-shirt material construction.  I may go that route but I'd prefer something a little more substantial.  

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Ah okay. I thought Chrisx909x had a post in there but I don't see it any longer. 

There's also Chef in the UK and Kriptontop on Etsy.  

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As I'm wrapping up this build using the conventional methods my thoughts are starting to turn towards future wearability improvements.  First on my list is the bund.  I have a relatively broad barrel chest (wider than my belly) and the bund being basically a 9" tall symmetrical tube that meets in the back caused me to have to make a pinch/tuck behind the pouches.  For the most part this solved my fitment issue and the tuck/pinch is hidden behind the pouches.  The only issue here is that now the bund sits lower in the back.  I guess I could re-make this and go through the painstaking task of trying to figure out perfect geometry with my torso and waist....but idea.  I'm a motorcyclist and I've always hated the fact that most properly sized jeans/pants don't have any give to them.  This is especially annoying when throwing a leg over the seat to get on/off the bike.  A few years back I tried a pair of Duluth Fire-Hose Stretch work pants and fell in love with them for motorcycling.  Sturdy cotton pants infused with some spandex for stretch.  I started looking at fabrics that have this same makeup 97% Cotton / 3% spandex.  Now I'm thinking cummerbund.  I wonder if using this kind of fabric would have enough stretch to make the bottom fit properly and just have the top stretch enough to make it around my rib-cage/chest area without having to worry about complicated patterns and/or making tucks/pinches to achieve a proper fit.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FD63RT5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

BundTuck1

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11 hours ago, BikerScout007 said:

Ah okay. I thought Chrisx909x had a post in there but I don't see it any longer. 

There's also Chef in the UK and Kriptontop on Etsy.  

I see folks here have had good things to say about Chef's products.  Know anything about Kriptontop's stuff?

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