Studio Creations or RS props for 5'4 135lbs

[Guest]

I've heard nothing but amazing things about RS props from my fellow 501st members! It's (apparently) the end-all-be-all of scout trooping. But the problem is, the recommendations I've gotten are coming from men between 5'10-6'2 with average body types. I'm just 5'4 and 135lbs on a good day. 

Hopefully I'm not opening up any kind of rivalry/debate/can-of-worms here. This is going to be the most money I've personally put down on a costume so I want to make sure I make the decision that works best for me! RS props comes pre-cut, but if I have to do a ton of additional trimming and adjusting I feel like that's going to be completely moot. So if that is the case, should I go with the more affordable Studio Creations kit and cut/assemble myself? 

Is there a size difference between the helmets? 

[Chopper]

Hi Samantha, your fellow troopers are correct in that the RS armor is pretty awesome.

That said, RS is only offering it as a completed set at the moment, which, as you said, means you'd likely have to undo a lot of the strapping and assembly in order to better fit it to your body. 

Given the cost of the assembled RS armor, this may not be the best option for you.  

The primary question there is how important is screen cast armor to you? That's the biggest draw of the RS set. If that's important to you,  then it may be worth the cost and work to trim and re-rig everything so it fits.

I do know that SC recently updated their molds and they make a nice kit -- we very recently had someone get approved for Lancer here: 

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/20378-tb-21129-lancer-deployment-request-approved/

Also, i'm not sure when Mon Cal is doing another scout run, but his armor kit comes pre trimmed,  but unassembled. That would also be a good option as well. 

As for helmets, the RS is fairly standard sized, meaning that it's neither the largest, nor the smallest scout helmet out there. The SC runs small, and many male troopers tend not to use it for that reason, but it's fairly popular with the female scouts (including the lancer app I linked above). A lot of folks mod the visor slot on the SC, since that's the biggest issue in terms of accuracy, but the rest should be ok for someone of your size.

Let us know if you have further questions. 

[BikerScout007]

I'd also like to add that the Strider/CFO kit would be a good choice for you.  

[Guest]

On 6/1/2019 at 7:32 AM, Chopper said:

Hi Samantha, your fellow troopers are correct in that the RS armor is pretty awesome.

That said, RS is only offering it as a completed set at the moment, which, as you said, means you'd likely have to undo a lot of the strapping and assembly in order to better fit it to your body. 

Given the cost of the assembled RS armor, this may not be the best option for you.  

The primary question there is how important is screen cast armor to you? That's the biggest draw of the RS set. If that's important to you,  then it may be worth the cost and work to trim and re-rig everything so it fits.

I do know that SC recently updated their molds and they make a nice kit -- we very recently had someone get approved for Lancer here: 

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/20378-tb-21129-lancer-deployment-request-approved/

Also, i'm not sure when Mon Cal is doing another scout run, but his armor kit comes pre trimmed,  but unassembled. That would also be a good option as well. 

As for helmets, the RS is fairly standard sized, meaning that it's neither the largest, nor the smallest scout helmet out there. The SC runs small, and many male troopers tend not to use it for that reason, but it's fairly popular with the female scouts (including the lancer app I linked above). A lot of folks mod the visor slot on the SC, since that's the biggest issue in terms of accuracy, but the rest should be ok for someone of your size.

Let us know if you have further questions. 

Wow so much great information - thank you! It's sounding like SC will probably be the best option for me. While I do value accuracy, you're right that RS is going to be a ton of extra work for me due to having to take it apart to alter it. The possibility of breaking/messing it up doing that concerns me as that would pretty much negate the bonus accuracy I just paid for. I'd rather it be a low-stress build and fit me well. It also sounds like the SC helmet would be a better fit for me than the RS. I'm about to go to a con with another scout that has an SC kit, I'll ask if she'd mind letting me try on her helmet just to be sure! 

It's great to hear about the molds, I didn't know they'd been updated, that makes me a little more confident about them. 

Thanks so much for replying! I only just realized because I forgot to sign up to be notified of replies. Hah! 

I'll also take a look at the strider/cfo but I'd need more info on how the sizing compares!

[greenyone]

Samantha,  I just received one of the 'updated' kits from Jeff at SC.  I'm not a big guy at 5'8"-155 and this kit seems to be fine for me, however..some things to consider.  I believe part of the update to the SC kit is the addition of the strap recesses/indentations in the chest/back armor.  This could possibly cause you some issues if find that you'd need to trim the area where the front & back meet at the sides at your rib-cage to accomodate your size.  If you read through this WIP (albeit a bit dated) you can see how this scout was able to adjust the chest/back for his body type with the previous version of the SC kit.  

 

The current/updated SC kit looks like (see link below) this and may be more difficult to trim and re-slot for the straps. 

https://www.studiocreations.com/howto/bikerscout/thechestback.html

I"m not familiar enough with all of the kits to make a recommendation, but perhaps you should reach out to some of the smaller female scouts on here and get their opinion.

 

[Guest]

57 minutes ago, greenyone said:

Samantha,  I just received one of the 'updated' kits from Jeff at SC.  I'm not a big guy at 5'8"-155 and this kit seems to be fine for me, however..some things to consider.  I believe part of the update to the SC kit is the addition of the strap recesses/indentations in the chest/back armor.  This could possibly cause you some issues if find that you'd need to trim the area where the front & back meet at the sides at your rib-cage to accomodate your size.  If you read through this WIP (albeit a bit dated) you can see how this scout was able to adjust the chest/back for his body type with the previous version of the SC kit.  

 

The current/updated SC kit looks like (see link below) this and may be more difficult to trim and re-slot for the straps. 

https://www.studiocreations.com/howto/bikerscout/thechestback.html

I"m not familiar enough with all of the kits to make a recommendation, but perhaps you should reach out to some of the smaller female scouts on here and get their opinion.

 

This is a great catch, I hadn't noticed their molds had changed. 

I tried their Facebook chat and was told: "As you trim down the armor , the slot indents and belvelled edges will need to be reheated and manually pressed back into the surface." 

So I'll basically need to manually reshape both the chest and back plate, which is absolutely beyond me. I can't mold clay evenly, much less armor. It's really unfortunate that in making this update they've made it extremely difficult for people to size down. They were the go-to for smaller folks. I'm pretty disappointed honestly. 
 

[greenyone]

8 minutes ago, Utini58202 said:

This is a great catch, I hadn't noticed their molds had changed. 

I tried their Facebook chat and was told: "As you trim down the armor , the slot indents and belvelled edges will need to be reheated and manually pressed back into the surface." 

So I'll basically need to manually reshape both the chest and back plate, which is absolutely beyond me. I can't mold clay evenly, much less armor. It's really unfortunate that in making this update they've made it extremely difficult for people to size down. They were the go-to for smaller folks. I'm pretty disappointed honestly. 
 

Yes, that's a scary proposition for something that you could easily screw up and cost's hundreds of dollars.  Maybe you could reach out to Jeff and ask him if that is something he'd be willing to do during the trimming process.  That and not cutting the strap slots (which are pre-slotted as part of the kit now)

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, greenyone said:

Yes, that's a scary proposition for something that you could easily screw up and cost's hundreds of dollars.  Maybe you could reach out to Jeff and ask him if that is something he'd be willing to do during the trimming process.  That and not cutting the strap slots (which are pre-slotted as part of the kit now)

So really good news.... I pitched that to them and they came back with:

"I might be able to take the old molds, and cut them down into smaller molds. It’ll take a month or two to do though. Probably wouldn’t have a prototype vacformed until middle of August. Let me work on a Medium sized chest mold then. Take the 15 inch wide mold and cut it down to 11.5 inches. Good for people under 5 foot 4 inches tall.

UMMM Talk about customer service?!!? And I didn't need this kit on a deadline so August or beyond is totally fine. 

Edit to add, from SC: "Check back with my sales page in August and you’ll probably see a medium sized kit being offered. I’ve been meaning to do it for a while now."

[greenyone]

That's great news.  It never hurts to ask.  If you are in a hurry maybe you could even ask Jeff to make you a set with the old molds (if those are the ones used in Pandatroopers WIP I linked to above).  Those look like they could be more easily be adjusted in those areas compared to the new revision.

[Guest]

I'm not in a hurry (seriously if he asked me to pay right now I couldn't even do that) so I'm more than happy to be a lazy bum and wait for the medium kit that involves minimal alterations and a long time of me saving up! I'm just so beyond grateful you said something! 

[Chopper]

Samantha, in addition, you might also want to PM two female scouts that both did sc armor builds. 

I believe @jen0farc did a SC build a few years ago.

Also, @TK-Teri did the Lancer build I referenced earlier. She has the new SC armor.

They might be good additional resources for specific questions related to fit and sizing. 

[TK-Teri]

Hi Samantha-

I have the SC armor and I'm 5'7" 135 lbs.

It's not the new mold but I only needed to make very minor sizing adjustments.  I have bird arms and a Charlie Brown head. 

Please feel free to post here with any questions and/or PM me.

It was a fairly easy build and I'm really pleased with the armor.  (I also have Shadow Scout from SC)