Dennis' Scout WIP (Lancer)

[Retrofire]

Getting that BBB will be a milestone brother so be sure to bask in it. Getting suited for the first time can be a little daunting so let us know if we can assist in any way. We’re here for you if you need us!

[Aradun]

Getting suited for the first time can be a little daunting so let us know if we can assist in any way. We’re here for you if you need us!

I’m counting on it brother! Thanks!


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[Aradun]

Getting away for vacation is great, but getting away for vacation and returning home to find a BBB waiting to be opened ... even better!



An 8 week turn around turned into 18 due to Covid, but well worth the wait . Kudos to RS Props for getting the order done despite having most of their staff working from home and a skeleton crew at the shop.

Now, on to fine tuning the fit, finishing the flak vest sleeves, weathering my bund and boots, attaching the holster to my boot, adding Velcro to my undersuit to secure everything in place, and then the test fit. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!


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[Retrofire]

That’s great to see Dennis! So did you put on your lid and check in the mirror at how cool you look?

So now’s the time to go slow and steady. Use the whole measure twice, cut once mantra. Test fit everything as much as is possible before you commit to make sure of fit/function and it meets the CRL. 

Remember also that with the weathering “less is more” so don’t overdo it. Take a look at the CRL model for a good reference.

As always we’re here for you so if you have any questions post them up.

[Aradun]

That’s great to see Dennis! So did you put on your lid and check in the mirror at how cool you look?

Did I put my lid on? Heck I suited up the whole kit! LOL. I was like a kid at Christmas. Rolled in from vacation at 11:15 pm, dropped everything, unboxed the BBB and couldn’t help myself. Stayed up until 2 am ogling over everything.

Looking forward to working on some adjustments and fine tuning fit over the course of the holiday weekend.


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[Aradun]

Okay, so I reviewed everything in my RS kit and all of it will meet basic approval as is, but there are some minor changes that I’ll need to make to bring the armor up to Lancer status.

 

1. Helmet is their Red Label version and is fully lined inside. The ear holes are covered by fabric inside and that fabric is inaccessible from within the lid because the interior lining covers it. I’ll need to figure out a way correct that without removing the lining completely.

 

2. The Chest armor uses 1.25” white cotton webbing straps instead of 1.5” to connect the front and back armor at the sides.

 

3. The knee armor uses 1” wide elastic strapping for the lower strap instead of 3/4”. The top 1/2” strap is fine.

 

4. The TD end caps are flat and not concave so they’ll need to be replaced.

 

5. The holster has the vents scored but not cut out. That’s an easy fix.

 

6. The rivets for the knee armor need to be removed and replaced with 1/8” rivets if going for Lancer.

 

7. Check the rivet on the bottom of your tank. The rivet on my tank was placed too close to the back armor and needed to be removed and relocated. Replaced with 1/8” rivet. There’s a picture of this on page 5 of this thread (8/16/20 post).

 

All in all these are fairly easy fixes but the helmet will be a little tricky and will require some thought. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

 

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Edited 8/29 to include No. 6 & 7, which were discovered after applying for Lancer.

[Retrofire]

Can you trim out the fabric around the ear vents on the inside with an X-a to knife or similar?

[Aradun]

Can you trim out the fabric around the ear vents on the inside with an X-a to knife or similar?

I’m gonna give that a shot sometime today. My issue of concern is that I don’t have access to the material covering the ear holes from inside the helmet as it’s completely covered over by the lining, which appears to have some light foam behind it. The lining is really well done and it is comfortable.

I think I might make the cut from the inside so as to expose the ear hole. I’m hoping that the material covering the hole is a separate piece glued over the opening and backed with a little foam. If so, I can just remove it, and then glue down the liner around the hole so as to keep the opening exposed, which will also restore circulation.

The only way to know for sure is to make that initial cut. I’ll post up pics as I work on it later this afternoon.

When gluing the liner to the fiberglass shell, would it be better to use e-6000 or Gorilla contact cement?


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[Aradun]

RS Red Label Helmet Mod for Lancer

 

Received my RS helmet earlier this week and the interior of the helmet is lined in 1/4” black foam with a nice herring bone fabric. The only problem is that the lining completely covers the ear holes which must be open for Lancer.

 

Interior of helmet prior to venting the ear hole.

 

There is also a separate piece of foam fabric covering the ear hole that is behind the helmet lining. It’s and easy fix to adapt the lid to Lancer specs.

 

Ear hole backed with fabric and foam.

 

Step One:

 

Using and exacto knife, cut along the interior edge of the ear hole. You’re making this cut from inside the lid and do not cut all the way around the entire hole - just a single slit along the length of the hole’s straight edge.

 

 

 

Step Two:

 

Reaching into the slit find the additional foam that is covering the ear hole and begin to pull it through the hole. This piece is glued to the fiberglass shell and secured with and 1.5” piece of cotton webbing along the straight edge of the ear opening. It’s gonna make some crunching and tearing sounds as it pulls away from the fiberglass, but you won’t damage the lid.

 

Here you can see some of the fabric being pulled through. It’s a lot of material as you can see from the second photo.

 

 

 

Step Three:

 

Apply contact cement liberally to the helmet along the edges of the now exposed ear opening and press the foam liner down working your way around the opening.

 

 

Voila! Corrected lid that will meet Lancer specs.

 

 

Way easier than I thought. Guessing I was just nervous about wrecking something .

 

 

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[Aradun]

Cut the slits into my holster using a dremel. Easy peasy.

 

 

Should be receiving my strapping from Amazon sometime today and tomorrow to redo the straps on my knee armor and between the chest and back armor.

 

Also added Velcro to my armor pieces as per Chopper’s tutorial http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/18894-some-tips-for-keeping-your-scout-costume-together-while-trooping/ to secure my armor to the undersuit and flak vest so as to keep things neat and tidy and prevent everything from shifting or drooping while trooping.

 

 

 

 

 

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[Aradun]

Bucket Question:

I’m a bit of a detail and perfectionist kinda guy when it comes to stuff. Here’s photos of the left and right side of my bucket. There’s a noticeable gap on the right.

Thoughts? Does this need to be corrected, and if so what’s the best way to do it?

It doesn’t appear that there is any warpage . The lid itself is fiberglass and the faceplate and visor are abs.

LEFT SIDE:






RIGHT SIDE:





VIEW FROM TOP:




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[Chopper]

Gaps between the visor and dome fit is a question that's come up a few times in the past --

A lot of troopers remember this photo from ROTJ and think that the helmet needs to be exactly flush:

But actually, that's the stunt helmet in that frame, which had no opening face place. It was a fully sealed helmet.

The helmet is actually supposed to have a bit of a gap on the sides and many of them did, due to the 5 piece construction of the helmet.

Now, I know you have the red label version, which is only a 3 piece build, but my RS helmets have similar gaps too. The scout helmet was designed by hand, not with computers, so there's going to be some asymmetry in the build. Embrace it!

[Aradun]

Whew! That’s a relief! I was dreading the thought of trying to correct it.


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[Aradun]

Okay, so I reviewed everything in my RS kit and all of it will meet basic approval as is, but there are some minor changes that I’ll need to make to bring the armor up to Lancer status.
 
1. Helmet is their Red Label version and is fully lined inside. The ear holes are covered by fabric inside and that fabric is inaccessible from within the lid because the interior lining covers it. I’ll need to figure out a way correct that without removing the lining completely.
 
2. The Chest armor uses 1.25” white cotton webbing straps instead of 1.5” to connect the front and back armor at the sides.
 
3. The knee armor uses 1” wide elastic strapping for the lower strap instead of 3/4”. The top 1/2” strap is fine.
 
4. The TD end caps are flat and not concave so they’ll need to be replaced.
 
5. The holster has the vents scored but not cut out. That’s an easy fix.
 
All in all these are fairly easy fixes but the helmet will be a little tricky and will require some thought. Any suggestions are welcome.
 
 
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All of the items above have been addressed and corrected to bring the RS kit up to Lancer specs.

Taking advantage of some down time today and the hot sunny weather to do some weathering.

I’ve weathered my boots and installed the holster.





Light weathering on the cod piece. Added Velcro yesterday to secure the belt.



And light weathering on the CB.



Also applied a second coat of semi gloss to new end caps.



I had an issue removing the flat original end caps from the RS TD so that I could rework them and get them concave. Got one off and the second one cracked, so reusing them after reshaping went out the window.

I created a separate post for that here thinking it might be helpful to others and more easily found in a search:

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21658-thermal-detonator-ends-caps/

Long story short I found this puppy at Homedepot. It’s pictured next to the original RS end cap that I was working to make concave.











After cutting it down to size, sanding the top flat with a dremel multi-tool, removing the exterior ridges with a dremel sanding band, I then used the sanding band in combination with a cutting tool to thin the wall thickness of the cap’s rim to match the original. All in all about 1.5 - 2 hours work to finish both caps.

Anyone else who does this should have a baseball handy. Once your finished sanding the top down with the dremel multi-tool the plastic is super hot. I used a baseball to press down on the top and it made a perfect concave impression in the cap with minimal effort. Thanks [mention]Chopper [/mention]for that fantastic tip!

I’m pretty pleased with the results.



I also made a wire wrapped TD. But as others noted in my post referenced above the wire wrapped TD is HEAVY, so I’m having second thoughts on using it for trooping. Here it is without the ends caps which are currently still drying.



I’ve sanded and repainted the original RS tube just in case. The original has a great shape, but I’m not crazy about the mold. Lots of small bubbles and blemishes. I’ve hit it up with a coat of gray primer filler to see if I can cover up some of those issues.

The only thing left to do is to hand sew some Velcro onto the undersuit to secure my knee, bicep, and forearm armor and finish the sleeves on my flak jack. The latter of which is presenting some challenges which I’ll document in a later post.


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[Retrofire]

Nice work on the TD Dennis. You can see that the wire wrapped one has a bit of heft to it. As Mickey mentioned your due diligence in keeping this thread so well updated will be a great roadmap for fellow Scouts to follow so I commend you for that. I’m glad you went the “less is more” route with your weathering as well it’s easy to overdo. 

I also like that you’re keeping your E11 close by as you work in your shop. A++ for preparedness as you never know when one of those furballs will show up😃

[Aradun]

I also like that you’re keeping your E11 close by as you work in your shop. A++ for preparedness as you never know when one of those furballs will show up

LOL! . Sometimes I think I live in a household filled with Ewoks.

Thanks Pete, and thanks for all the help over the course of my build too. All of you here at the detachment are so knowledgeable, helpful, and just plain awesome, which inspires me to give my best. This really is the best detachment in the 501st . Looking forward to joining the ranks soon. The horizon is in sight brother!


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[Retrofire]

3 hours ago, AradunFF said:

 

LOL! . Sometimes I think I live in a household filled with Ewoks.

Thanks Pete, and thanks for all the help over the course of my build too. All of you here at the detachment are so knowledgeable, helpful, and just plain awesome, which inspires me to give my best. This really is the best detachment in the 501st . Looking forward to joining the ranks soon. The horizon is in sight brother!


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As Newton said “the only reason I have seen further is because I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants”. I had so many folks watching my build and offering advice and encouragement I can’t even name them all but I couldn’t have done it without them. This is what this det is about at the end of the day fostering Camaraderie, community, and charity. We love what we do and helping others is what we’re about. There are so many here dedicated to those ends and I’m just honored to be part of it. What you’re doing with your thread is awesome so whether you know it or not you’re part of it too. There are a lot of folks who will be looking through this for ideas and suggestions so good on you for keeping it up!

[Omaha Joe]

I haven’t yet begun construction on the bund nor the codpiece; still waiting on my flight suit and flak vest for more precise measurements, but I really like the weathering on the boots..!  I’ve been a little hesitant to weather mine yet because I’m afraid the same acrylic/water weathering technique I used on the armor won’t necessarily work as well on the vinyl...  I’ve tried it on some leftover scrap pieces but I’m still a little afraid to pull the trigger 😬. Can I ask what technique you used?

[Omaha Joe]

14 hours ago, Retrofire said:

As Newton said “the only reason I have seen further is because I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants”

literally words out of my mouth describing the amazing resource this WIP and many other WIP/Tutorials are, when it comes to my own build!  

[Aradun]

I haven’t yet begun construction on the bund nor the codpiece; still waiting on my flight suit and flak vest for more precise measurements, but I really like the weathering on the boots..!  I’ve been a little hesitant to weather mine yet because I’m afraid the same acrylic/water weathering technique I used on the armor won’t necessarily work as well on the vinyl...  I’ve tried it on some leftover scrap pieces but I’m still a little afraid to pull the trigger . Can I ask what technique you used?

Hey Joe, I’m with you brother. I was super nervous about weathering the boots, CB and cod because I was afraid I’d mess up and have to redo them.

 

I used a rattle can and did a test run on some old fabric to test my technique. Here’s what I found.

 

1. Don’t start spraying directly on the piece. You’re more likely to get splatter (dots of paint from not pressing fully on the can) or heavy “blaster spots” from pressing too much. Be sure to use a fresh can. An old can is likely to splatter more.

 

2. Start spraying off to the side of the piece and while spraying, rapidly move it across the area your trying to weather. Kind of like a slashing motion. Move in one direction only making a single strike with the can - not back and forth.

 

3. Start about 12” away and then you can layer it by repeating and moving a little closer to get the desired effect/intensity.

 

4. Keep a clean rag handy for the boots. If you feel you put too much paint on a spot use the rag to quickly wipe it away while it’s still wet. This will remove most of the paint from the surface but leave paint in the grain pattern. It really knocks back those dark spots and you can blend it in with the surrounding area. Note: This will only work on the boots not the CB or Cod.

 

5. I also velcroed the CB and set it upright rather than lying it flat and set it at a height about equal to where it would be if I were wearing it. That allowed my to better visualize where and how much weathering to apply.

 

Remember, slow and steady wins the race, and a little weathering is way better than too much. Think about where you want to weather and have a visual in your head before you begin.

 

Good luck brother, and feel free to hit me up with any questions if needed.

 

 

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[Omaha Joe]

21 hours ago, AradunFF said:

Hey Joe, I’m with you brother. I was super nervous about weathering the boots, CB and cod because I was afraid I’d mess up and have to redo them.

 

I used a rattle can and did a test run on some old fabric to test my technique. Here’s what I found.

 

1. Don’t start spraying directly on the piece. You’re more likely to get splatter (dots of paint from not pressing fully on the can) or heavy “blaster spots” from pressing too much. Be sure to use a fresh can. An old can is likely to splatter more.

 

2. Start spraying off to the side of the piece and while spraying, rapidly move it across the area your trying to weather. Kind of like a slashing motion. Move in one direction only making a single strike with the can - not back and forth.

 

3. Start about 12” away and then you can layer it by repeating and moving a little closer to get the desired effect/intensity.

 

4. Keep a clean rag handy for the boots. If you feel you put too much paint on a spot use the rag to quickly wipe it away while it’s still wet. This will remove most of the paint from the surface but leave paint in the grain pattern. It really knocks back those dark spots and you can blend it in with the surrounding area. Note: This will only work on the boots not the CB or Cod.

 

5. I also velcroed the CB and set it upright rather than lying it flat and set it at a height about equal to where it would be if I were wearing it. That allowed my to better visualize where and how much weathering to apply.

 

Remember, slow and steady wins the race, and a little weathering is way better than too much. Think about where you want to weather and have a visual in your head before you begin.

 

Good luck brother, and feel free to hit me up with any questions if needed.

 

 

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Great pointers Dennis, thank you!  Will post in my WIP when I take that deep breath and make it happen!! 😁

[Aradun]

Flak Vest

Back to the flak vest. I added sleeves to the jacket now that my armor has arrived.

When I put on my armor for an initial fitting and to see where the sleeves should end I saw that the flare out pictured below was going to be a potential issue. It was too low.


So I created a seam along the first two ribs to eliminate the flare. Here’s the seam.

And here’s the finished result.

This narrowed the sleeve opening, which I was hoping would create a more snug fit when worn over the undersuit and avoid the dreaded sleeve flare under the shoulder bells.

I then used the original sleeve from the t-shirt to create a new sleeve (oic below) for the flak jacket.

Instead of making two separate pieces and then adding fill between them, I created a fold along the straight edge (i.e., the rim of the sleeve so that it was one piece. The benefit of this is that the sleeve doesn’t have a hem along the edge. It creates a cleaner look, is easier to see and if it needs to be shortened then you just fold it under and seam it. No cutting needed.

Here it is with the poly fill added.
And here it is all pinned and ready for the sewing machine.
Once sewn, I set the sleeve against the shoulder piece to mark out the rubbing so the it would match up properly when the sleeve was attached.


Here it is after the ribbing has been added.

And here’s the end result.

I added Velcro to the flak vest for the cod piece, to secure the CB, and secure the chest armor. I’ll need to rework the placement of the Velcro for the chest armor, as it does not stick at its current placement.



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[Aradun]

Test Fit!

 

Hot diggity. I’m ready for my first official test fit. The only thing I need to do is add Velcro to the undersuit to secure the knee, bicep, and forearm pieces. These armor pieces are already fitted with Velcro so I just want to confirm proper placement before sewing anything to the undersuit.

 

I also want to add a strap to the sleeve that will go over my thumb to keep the sleeve from riding up. Already have stirrups sewn to the pant legs and that’s a huge help.

 

Note: I’m not wearing the balaclava in the photos.

 

My impressions...

 

Knee Armor:

The knees slipped down a bit walking around. Definitely need the Velcro. They can come up 1 - 1.5 inches.

 

Bicep Armor:

Thought I had that centered around the outside of my bicep, but it looks like it is rotated too far towards the back in some photos. Thoughts?

 

Flak Vest Sleeves:

I’m thinking they need to come up at least an inch, maybe more. Thoughts?

 

Questions:

How is the position of the shoulder bells? Any adjustment needed?

 

It’s tough to see because everything is new and still very dark, but how’s the length and width of the mud flap?

 

Thoughts on the shoulder bridge? Not sure if I should take it in to tighten up the back or if it’s merely a matter of repositioning the front armor by moving it down and pulling the back armor up. I see that the bridge is rotated towards the back rather than seated on top of the shoulder. I’m thinking it’s a dressing issue but would like some feedback.

 

Looking forward to you all weighing in here so that I can get things perfect!

 

 

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[Omaha Joe]

I’ll leave the finer adjustment details to the pros who know what they’re talkin’ about, but wow that is lookin’ good Dennis!!  Well done! 👍🏼

[Retrofire]

Hey! Where’s your balaclava recruit?!

Now to me you’re looking fine for basic minus the balaclava (of course) the stuff I’m giving you is dressing help to make you look marvelous so don’t take it as criticism or feel that you won’t pass basic. Cool? Cool.

Rotate the biceps in and move them up a bit.

bring your forearms down a bit.

Knees need to come up.

Yeah your vest sleeves are still a bit too long. You want no more than about an inch past your shoulders with the target around 0.5”

Pull your bund up so the tops of the pouches are about at the bottom of your chest armor. Is the bottom of the bund at the top of the belt?

In that third photo your right shoulder is “cocking” up and out. Might want to check the connection there. It could be that you need to rotate it back a little to get it to sit right.

I can’t see your mud flap and riding patches nor your thigh straps so I can’t comment on those. Keep in mind that if you go for Lancer, and I hope you do, you’ll want pictures in sun or good lighting so the lvl2 review team can make all that out. 

For your first time dressing you really did an outstanding job Dennis and I can see by the big grin on your face that you’re pretty stoked about it and that’s awesome! That feeling really never goes away so it’s pretty cool and we’re smiling right along with you.

I’m sure Chopper will chime in and that’s the guy you want looking at it too. He’s got an incredible eye for detail.

When you got everything set and you’re ready post up your submission photos so we can give you a once over before you send them to the Carida GMLs. Outstanding!