JennyRuth's Scout Build

[Chopper]

Shape, position, fit. It all looks pretty solid. Great job, Jenny.

[CRex75]

Jenny,

Your softs parts are looking great! Keep up the awesome work. 

[jennyruth]

Thanks for the input, Everyone! I'm so appreciative and feel like it's been a group build, and I'm incredibly grateful. Armor has been a pain, but you've really made this a much more smooth process.

I apologize for this next question, but I am not well-versed in rivets. There are a lot of different kinds! I believe these are the right size, but there are apparently long and medium and short kinds, etc. What am I supposed to get?

Short ones? https://www.homedepot.com/p/Arrow-1-8-in-Aluminum-Short-Rivets-100-Pack-RSAW1-8IP/100189414

Medium ones? https://www.lowes.com/pd/Arrow-100-Pack-1-8-in-Aluminum-Rivet/1087333

Also, any tips on the size of the washer that's supposed to go on the tank?

[Chopper]

You've got the right 1/8" diameter rivets picked out, but the question is how much pull you need. You'll need more than 1/8" pull for your armor, so you can pass on the short rivets from Home Depot. You should be fine with 1/4" pull rivets from Lowes for most everything with your scout assembly.

For backing plates/washers, you want these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Arrow-30-Count-0-131-x-3-8-in-Aluminum-Standard-SAE-Flat-Washers/1087319

[jennyruth]

10 minutes ago, Chopper said:

You've got the right 1/8" diameter rivets picked out, but the question is how much pull you need. You'll need more than 1/8" pull for your armor, so you can pass on the short rivets from Home Depot. You should be fine with 1/4" pull rivets from Lowes for most everything with your scout assembly.

For backing plates/washers, you want these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Arrow-30-Count-0-131-x-3-8-in-Aluminum-Standard-SAE-Flat-Washers/1087319

Thank you so much!

[jennyruth]

Before I make another one of these pouches and post for sizing, I have a couple of questions that I haven’t seen the answer to, but possibly I wasn’t looking in the right places.

Does it matter how large the Velcro piece on the front closure is? 

Is there an exact way to sew it on, with the diagonal stitching, etc? I saw this way on Strider’s lancer post but didn’t see anything definitive.

Is it OK to make the pouches kind of sturdy like this? I’ve seen pictures of squishy/floppy pouches, but I know people also use boxes/inserts to fill them out and make them nice and crisp. 
 

[Chopper]

You can see the front tab velcro patch in the photo below. It's subtle, but it's there. What you have looks pretty good in terms of size. It's really hard to tell from the photos if there's a diagonal stitch, but if Strider did it in his thread, then I think you're safe in this instance.

The pouches you see on screen weren't super rigid, but plenty of folks add cardboard stiffeners to their pouches at both the basic and lancer levels, so what you've done isn't a problem at all.

[Aradun]

Clean and crisp! Those pouches look great! Well done!

 I’ll echo Chopper’s observation. What you have looks good. Nice work!

[jennyruth]

While I’m waiting on more pouch fabric to come in, I decided to start on my boots. All the new fancy boots with the accurate soles don’t come in my 7.5 women’s size foot, so I get to make them the old fashioned way  I’ve been staring a boot soles on the screen and then at the ones in my hand for what seems like days. So here’s a first attempt at penciling them on my boots. Thoughts?

Also, the toe and heel areas of the boot don't have any notches. Do I just keep going around with the pattern as if they do?

I noticed some people put rivets in their boots near where the upper vinyl and lower toe part overlap. Is this necessary?

 

[Chopper]

1 hour ago, jennyruth said:

While I’m waiting on more pouch fabric to come in, I decided to start on my boots. All the new fancy boots with the accurate soles don’t come in my 7.5 women’s size foot, so I get to make them the old fashioned way  I’ve been staring a boot soles on the screen and then at the ones in my hand for what seems like days. So here’s a first attempt at penciling them on my boots. Thoughts?

Also, the toe and heel areas of the boot don't have any notches. Do I just keep going around with the pattern as if they do?

I noticed some people put rivets in their boots near where the upper vinyl and lower toe part overlap. Is this necessary?

Jenny, those boot stencils look just fine . You can go ahead and continue the cut pattern around the toe and heel and that should be good for Level 2 clearance.

We realize that the Sierra sneaker sole isn't available (well, until recently...but the point still stands for the Level 2 reviews), so you don't have to exactly match the cuts, but you should try and get close. What you have should be a-ok, once you finish it up.

I haven't heard about using a rivet in quite a while. 4505Marcel used to do it back in the day for his boot builds, but it's not a typical. I wouldn't do it -- who needs a piece of rivet sticking into your foot all day?

 

 

[jennyruth]

6 hours ago, Chopper said:

Jenny, those boot stencils look just fine . You can go ahead and continue the cut pattern around the toe and heel and that should be good for Level 2 clearance.

We realize that the Sierra sneaker sole isn't available (well, until recently...but the point still stands for the Level 2 reviews), so you don't have to exactly match the cuts, but you should try and get close. What you have should be a-ok, once you finish it up.

I haven't heard about using a rivet in quite a while. 4505Marcel used to do it back in the day for his boot builds, but it's not a typical. I wouldn't do it -- who needs a piece of rivet sticking into your foot all day?

 

 

Thanks! 

My thoughts exactly with the rivet.

I see that the Sierra’s are different around the toe too. I’m guessing the heel would look the same? I found a link to pictures of the shoe in cheesywhopper’s tutorial, but I couldn’t access it. At some point I found a post or section of pictures of original costumes, but I can’t find it again to save my life. This picture is very helpful. Maybe I’ll go stalk Crowprops pictures of his boot. Thank you!

[Chopper]

The heel of the sierra's basically looks like the pattern you have marked out. I don't think there's any reason to change what you have marked.

[Aradun]

Jenny here’s a couple more images of the original boots for reference:

[jennyruth]

5 minutes ago, AradunFF said:

Jenny here’s a couple more images of the original boots for reference:

Awesome! Thank you! 

Any preferences of glue? I have heard Barges does better than Shoe Goo, and that’s what I’m used to with leather work. 

[Aradun]

Both of those will work. I used e6000 and it’s held up fine.

[Chopper]

E6000 and Shoe Goo will eventually slip and move over time. Even moreso in the heat, which is a significant consideration given that you're in AL. My covers have moved a bit over time, and I'm only in MD.

If you can get some barge cement, that's what I'd go with and what I plan to use for my next boot build. I'd do some practicing with it first, but Lucasfan7 used it with great success on his boots.

[jennyruth]

2 minutes ago, Chopper said:

E6000 and Shoe Goo will eventually slip and move over time. Even moreso in the heat, which is a significant consideration given that you're in AL. My covers have moved a bit over time, and I'm only in MD.

If you can get some barge cement, that's what I'd go with and what I plan to use for my next boot build. I'd do some practicing with it first, but Lucasfan7 used it with great success on his boots.

Perfect. Yes, I have some Barges from my previous leather (and foam dabbling) work, so I'll go with that. And, yessss, it's already so hot and humid here, so that's a great thought to consider. It's basically hot for 9 months of the year, less hot for 2 months, and chilly for maybe one. haha

[jennyruth]

I've been asked about the pattern I used to make my jacket. It was actually a shirt pattern (and likely two shirt patterns) that I modified for the jacket. 

The one I noted on my pattern that I modified was this one. I believe I had already made a shirt modified from this for my Endor Leia, so I knew how to make it fit.

However, this pattern is one I used for a previous project, and use a lot for shirt bases. I carried over a version of the bust and waist darts from it to give the jacket some shape and a tailored look. So much so that I want to make myself an everyday jacket to wear in real life.

 

Here is what my pattern pieces ended up looking like after a mockup or two. You can get an idea of the size by the 1" grid squares on my cutting board. I used 1/2" seams. Sorry my pencil marks are hard to see, but I tried to get close-ups on important instructions. I made the overlap on the same side as my pants and the same as the other flight suits for sale so that the neck wrap would look like everyone else's (but if I made pants again, I'd probably just do an elastic waist because . . . lessons from Covid eating). That's why there are two different front patterns.

Basically, I just took the neckline up so that it came to the bottom of my neck so that when the collar was attached it would look like the Mandarin collar style. You could also probably find a jacket pattern with a mandarin collar. That may be easier. But I had already modified these patterns to fit me, so it was less work than starting all over.

Jacket Front Right side (as I'm wearing it)

 

Right size zipper instructions (You will want a SEPARATING zipper, so it can separate at the bottom like a coat, instead of staying closed.) I just found the length of jacket I wanted and then got a zipper that size, or close and adjusted my length a tiny bit.

 

This is what the right side looks like when finished.

 

Left Side Front

 

Left side zipper instructions. The zipper teeth were placed 1" from the turned edge, and I stitched it 1 1/4" from that turned edge.

 

Here's what the left side zipper and collar looks like finished.

 

Back pattern (to be cut on the fold)

 

Sleeve pattern. Yep, that's a lot of pattern changes you see  That's why I spend a million years doing mock-ups.

 

For the sleeve finish, I just rolled it and did an elastic band. To be honest, I got this inspiration from one of my running jackets. It seemed the easiest way to make the sleeves easy to put on without being floppy and without needing to sew a tab. But it's not super tight so that it will smush my arm with the gloves on.

 

And, the collar pattern, to be cut on the fold. the length of this one will really be determined by how far it needs to wrap around your neck after completing the neckline the Velcro on it was the last thing I sewed. I also used a slim profile Velcro so that I didn't have a lot of bulk around my neck. Just make sure you leave yourself room in the collar for the balaclava. It seems small, but it takes up some space, and you don't want to feel like you are choking. And, if you have long hair that may be in a ponytail down your neck, that takes up more space. So just use care in planning.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm not an expert seamstress by any means, but I can try to help wherever I can.

[Chopper]

Thank you for posting that, Jenny. I have no doubt that it will be useful for many prospective scouts in the future.

[jennyruth]

4 minutes ago, Chopper said:

Thank you for posting that, Jenny. I have no doubt that it will be useful for many prospective scouts in the future.

We're Pathfinders. If I can help clear a path for others, I'll do whatever I can  But, for real, people have been so gracious to me here. No costume is easy. If my struggle can help anyone else, I'll post anything I can. If it's not here, just ask. It may not be the best way or the easiest way, but I'll always share.

[DarthSnark]

16 hours ago, jennyruth said:

While I’m waiting on more pouch fabric to come in, I decided to start on my boots. All the new fancy boots with the accurate soles don’t come in my 7.5 women’s size foot, so I get to make them the old fashioned way  
 

Do you happen to have a link to the boots you're using by any chance? I wear a (EU) size 36-37 and I've been having a bit of trouble finding boots.

[jennyruth]

9 minutes ago, DarthSnark said:

Do you happen to have a link to the boots you're using by any chance? I wear a (EU) size 36-37 and I've been having a bit of trouble finding boots.

It’s a challenge, right? The work boots most use don’t come in my size and neither do the completed boots that are sold. I found some Timberland boots that are a little older style and have a solid color tan sole. I think they are called Timberland women’s originals or something like that. I had to order them off of Poshmark to get the one-color sole. So, I don’t have a link  But that was a while back, so I don’t know if they’ve changed any new styles. It was the most successful boot I’ve found. I don’t know what your shadow scout boot is supposed to look like though. You can always paint the sole if you can’t get it exactly right. But try a search in Poshmark or Mercari and see what you can find. I had to be patient to find my size. And goodness knows, I’m terrified of messing up by cuts or having to replace them one day because who knows what I can find then 😂 

[DarthSnark]

Thanks for the reply! I think Timberlands does make an all black boot (the requirement for the shadow scout) but they're outside my price range to buy new, especially for a costume build. Thanks for the advice though! I'll keep looking around (possibly I can find a used pair online), I'm not really in a rush as my build is on hold at the moment anyways.

[jennyruth]

1 minute ago, DarthSnark said:

Thanks for the reply! I think Timberlands does make an all black boot (the requirement for the shadow scout) but they're outside my price range to buy new, especially for a costume build. Thanks for the advice though! I'll keep looking around (possibly I can find a used pair online), I'm not really in a rush as my build is on hold at the moment anyways.

I get that! The ones I got on Poshmark were used, but barely. Check out those two sites, or eBay even, and you might can find some used ones. 

[jennyruth]

Ok, so, cutting the boot soles. Exacto knife cuts but not efficiently or prettily. I got a chisel blade as I saw suggested somewhere. I can really only get it to push the rubber. What am doing wrong? Is there a better way? Surely there’s a better way. A way That’s probably even safer than me digging into a surface that’s not intended to be cut with an extraordinarily sharp blade that could easily send me to get stitches.