RS Propmaster Armor Owners

[Aradun]

I corrected the problem this morning and documented it in my build thread. Waaaaay easier than I thought it would be.

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/topic/21137-dennis-scout-wip-lancer/page/3/#comments

Thanks for the assists!


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[iceknyght]

Thanks for this!  I *hopefully* will be getting my RS Red label helmet soon (they said it's in finishing now, whatever that means) and am going to want to do this as well!

One thing I am anxious about, I asked them to finish it less matte, more shiny (to more closely match my SC armor)...  I'll be curious to see what they do, if anything...  But when I emailed yesterday for an update, they definitely were aware of my request at least, so we'll see...

[Aradun]

I hope you get it soon. If they emailed you and gave you an estimated ship date then it’s pretty spot on from there regarding delivery. My set went from England to Philly in 2 days, then sat on a UPS truck for 6 days before being delivered.

I’ve read of others who made similar requests to have them match the sheen of the helmet to the sheen of the armor when they placed their orders, and RS fulfilled their request. I think you’ll be fine.

I ordered mine dirty so the sheen on the armor is actually knocked down a bit due to the weathering. You really don’t notice the difference much, but that’s just my humble opinion.


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[iceknyght]

I haven't got a ship date yet, but hopefully soon (they said it's in for finishing, which sounds like the last step, so fingers crossed)...  It's been over 9 weeks since I ordered, which is why I sent the email, cause I was curious at the time frame...
 

Quote

I’ve read of others who made similar requests to have them match the sheen of the helmet to the sheen of the armor when they placed their orders, and RS fulfilled their request. I think you’ll be fine. 

This makes me hopeful!    I ordered mine clean, but plan to weather everything at some point and I'd rather do it all myself, so it matches (and I don't have to worry about matching their weathering)...  But until I do the weathering, I was hoping it would all look great together clean!  I can't wait!

 

[BrewMongrel]

Hey @AradunFF, I’ve been following your Lancer build for a while now and I just have to say what a beautiful job you’ve been doing documenting your progress. It’s been a huge inspiration to me and I can’t wait to begin my build in earnest. 
 

I too am working on my first build and hoping for Lancer when all is said and done. I’ve got some odds and ends already, a helmet from @spike in the works and some Wampa Wear gear. While I work on my soft parts I was going to pull the trigger and also purchase a set of RS Propmaster armor. 
 

I suppose my question is, now that you have it in hand, how do you like it? I see there were some modifications required for Lancer status but they don’t seem too vexing. The price tag is hefty, especially shipping to the states but I’m willing to cough up for what seems to be some of the most accurate ready to wear armor on the market. 

[Aradun]

[mention]BrewMongrel [/mention] Thank you! I’m glad you find my WIP helpful. I, like so many others here, am merely standing on the shoulders of other scouts who inspired me to bite the bullet and pull the trigger on my own build. Glad to hear I’m able to give back to the community that has been very supportive of me since I joined.

There’s a ton of solid advice here from really knowledgeable and eager to help scouts. Be sure take advantage of their expertise, and bookmark all of the pertinent threads for reference. They’ll be your go-to’s throughout your build. I’ll be looking forward to seeing your own WIP!

As to your question regarding the RS armor. I’m really pleased with it. The modifications to bring the entire kit up to lancer status are really minor and noted in my WIP. With the exception of the lining in the Red Label helmet which is needed because that portion of the shell is fiberglass, I don’t know why RS doesn’t just make the adjustments on their end. Everything else meets lancer specs. It took me less than a day to make the adjustments.

The thing to consider when choosing which helmet to get is to keep in mind that unlike upgraded all ABS helmet, the Red Label doesn’t have much flex to it like ABS. I do find it snug to get it over my head. Not a deal breaker and once on it’s super comfy.

I feel like I cheated a bit buying a set of armor that came ready to wear out of the box, but the RS reputation coupled with the fact that building my own armor would have added months to my build time, it was the way to go for me. No regrets. Shipping was about $70.00, which I thought was reasonable. It took two days to get from England to Philly and that with clearing customs.

I ordered my armor in the dirty version. I was a bit leery about weathering it afterwards and maybe having a reaction between paints. Though many have weathered their own RS kits without issue.

I’m sure you’ll be pleased.


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[BrewMongrel]

Yes, the knowledge and hard work of all those that have come before has been invaluable so far. My web browser is currently a complete mess with how many tabs and bookmarks I have open. 
 

I feel the same way about ordering a set of ready made armor as well. Not only is this my first build but my first project I’ve attempted like it, ever. I think for my first run I’d rather play it safe and also have armor made from lineage. My soft parts however will be made by me 100% from scratch so I’m hoping that adds some handiwork back into the project. 
 

I chose an Altmann helmet for that exact reason, my large head. I’ve heard great things about his buckets and they’re a tiny bit roomier. I’m sure the helmet and RS armor should match well. 
 

Thanks again, this eases my mind about spending the dosh on the armor. 

[Hawk]

Well, you have way more experience then I have but I guess it wouldn't hurt to share my experience. I ordered the armor and red label clean helmet and received them last Friday.
After trying to put it all on I noticed everything all of you noticed, like you need to fix stuff together (chestpiece and cummerbund for example). Because of my lenght, I ordered the soft parts from Chef's Creations.

A few things I noticed on the armour are:

• One of the Thermal detonator screws broke loose after clipping it a few times.
• The kneepads do hurt me when both straps are in place. This is not the case when I use just one strap (bottom one).

Other then that, yeah since I am still building up everything and see how things work, the armor and helmet are good enough to me.

[Aradun]

A few things I noticed on the armour are:

• One of the Thermal detonator screws broke loose after clipping it a few times.
• The kneepads do hurt me when both straps are in place. This is not the case when I use just one strap (bottom one).

Other then that, yeah since I am still building up everything and see how things work, the armor and helmet are good enough to me.

Hey Hawk, just shooting you some ideas for fixes to the issues you noted above.

For the TD: if the holes are too large from the original screws breaking lose, consider either reusing or replacing the screws with a slightly wider and/or longer set. In either case place a little CA glue in the hole and on the screw. Also place a dab of CA glue on the back of the clip around the screw hole so that the clip is glued to the TD where it touches the tube. I did that to my TD and it’s solid now.

For the knee armor: you can drill out the rivets and remove the 1/2” strapping. Measure it and then replace it with a length that will be more comfortable for you. It sounds like it’s too tight for your leg. Rivet the new strapping in place with 1/8” rivets. I would add Velcro (loop side) to your undersuit and (hook side) to your knee armor so that it stays in place, especially if you add additional length to the 1/2” strapping so that it’s loose.

[Retrofire]

2 hours ago, AradunFF said:

For the knee armor: you can drill out the rivets and remove the 1/2” strapping. Measure it and then replace it with a length that will be more comfortable for you. It sounds like it’s too tight for your leg. Rivet the new strapping in place with 1/8” rivets. I would add Velcro (loop side) to your undersuit and (hook side) to your knee armor so that it stays in place, especially if you add additional length to the 1/2” strapping so that it’s loose.

I don’t have RS I have SC but the issue is the same so I added some foam padding to the inside of my knees and trimmed the upper 125mm (0.5”) elastic in half then added hook and loop Velcro to both sides to make it adjustable. This way it looks good and it’s not cutting off my circulation. I typically don’t put all my weight on my knee when I bend over as 1.) It’s painful and 2.) I risk cracking the plastic.

[tk 7261]

On 7/2/2020 at 10:54 AM, iceknyght said:

Thanks for this!  I *hopefully* will be getting my RS Red label helmet soon (they said it's in finishing now, whatever that means) and am going to want to do this as well!

One thing I am anxious about, I asked them to finish it less matte, more shiny (to more closely match my SC armor)...  I'll be curious to see what they do, if anything...  But when I emailed yesterday for an update, they definitely were aware of my request at least, so we'll see...

Ever any word this? Did they end up making it a bit more shiny / gloss for you?

[iceknyght]

3 minutes ago, tk 7261 said:

Ever any word this? Did they end up making it a bit more shiny / gloss for you?

Sadly, no.  They didn't do anything different (still came to me their normal matte).  It's still a great helmet, but I will need to repaint mine at some point to match my armor.  You can see more comparisons of what I got on the thread I started here:  

 

[Chopper]

This photo was posted on the RS instagram not too long ago. My RS scout helmet is also more on the matte side, but the helmets in the IG photo certainly look to be gloss. Maybe they changed it up?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIPyKZSgVc3/

[iceknyght]

52 minutes ago, Chopper said:

This photo was posted on the RS instagram not too long ago. My RS scout helmet is also more on the matte side, but the helmets in the IG photo certainly look to be gloss. Maybe they changed it up?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIPyKZSgVc3/

I wonder if those pics are before the final painting process...  Which, if that was the case, maybe I should have asked them just not to paint it!

[Aradun]

This photo was posted on the RS instagram not too long ago. My RS scout helmet is also more on the matte side, but the helmets in the IG photo certainly look to be gloss. Maybe they changed it up?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIPyKZSgVc3/

Honestly, I bet that they are sitting in queue waiting for paint. There’s no lens installed yet, although they do have the snout painted. Hmmmm.

I’d be surprised if after all their talk of researching the bucket and stylizing their paint scheme based on what they found that they’d go glossy, but you never know.


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[Chopper]

@CatfoodRob -- based on the instagram photo from earlier, do you know if RS doing gloss paint on the Scout lids nowadays, or sticking with matte?

[evnltr]

I got my RS helmet a couple of months ago.  It is goregous! They used gloss on mine. I did ask for it specifically in my order but was told that's what they were doing now anyway. I can post pics soon. I'll mark this thread to follow and post them over my Xmas work break. 

[FoxTrooper]

1 hour ago, evnltr said:

I got my RS helmet a couple of months ago.  It is goregous! They used gloss on mine. I did ask for it specifically in my order but was told that's what they were doing now anyway. I can post pics soon. I'll mark this thread to follow and post them over my Xmas work break. 

Funny, what made them decide to gloss up their helmets? My own Red Label Scout helmet from RS is in matte paint, so the new direction must have been made at some point between then and now.

[Aradun]

Got my kit in July so we’re only talking sometime in the last 5 months. Now, when I share that I have an RS kit, they’ll be like “Oh, you have one of their older kits.”

I do like the matt finish with the RS armor kit, and find the difference to be subtle, but I have seen others scouts post pics of an RS bucket with their non RS armor and sometimes the difference is significant. Hopefully, if RS did make a change to glossy it will help their buckets blend in better with other armor kits.

Although TBH, in our role as snipers, do we really want a glossy reflective bucket? What was the Empire’s department of strategic defense and development thinking?


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[tk 7261]

Wow, I'd be very interested to see if they have shifted the paint over to glossy. I also wonder how much the weathered vs not weathered options would effect the shine of the gloss. 

[CatfoodRob]

I don't know what RS are doing if a colour isn't specified , but you guys need to realise that RS aren't one man in his garage , they are a proper company , and have staff available six days a week for email, telephone, Facebook etc etc ... just talk to them !!!  They will customise armour and helmets to whatever state you require ...just talk to them !!!! 

🤣

if you just put in an order through the website , you will get whatever they are doing at the moment , but if you contact them they will do gloss: matt: weathered : clean: heavily weathered:      Whatever you desire .  They are a great bunch of guys to talk to , you've all seen the YouTube videos ... real guys you can relate to . Talk to them and get the exact product you desire . It really is that simple . 

Don't stress out about it , tell them what you want and that is exactly what you will receive . 

 

[iceknyght]

On 12/13/2020 at 1:41 AM, CatfoodRob said:

I don't know what RS are doing if a colour isn't specified , but you guys need to realise that RS aren't one man in his garage , they are a proper company , and have staff available six days a week for email, telephone, Facebook etc etc ... just talk to them !!!  They will customise armour and helmets to whatever state you require ...just talk to them !!!! 

🤣

if you just put in an order through the website , you will get whatever they are doing at the moment , but if you contact them they will do gloss: matt: weathered : clean: heavily weathered:      Whatever you desire .  They are a great bunch of guys to talk to , you've all seen the YouTube videos ... real guys you can relate to . Talk to them and get the exact product you desire . It really is that simple . 

Don't stress out about it , tell them what you want and that is exactly what you will receive . 

 

Sadly, this was not my case.  I requested glossy in my order and even contacted Andrea and confirmed I wanted glossy.  I did not get glossy, I got their normal finish.  Andrea was nice when I emailed her and answered my questions, but when I got my order, it was definitely not what I requested.  Oh well, it's still a great helmet and I'll repaint it at some point...   

 

[Harbinger]

Same here. I'll clearcoat after weathering to match sheen a bit better but mine was not gloss or semi, although... not sure it'll make much different after a year of actual weathering.

[tk 7261]

On 12/14/2020 at 11:56 AM, iceknyght said:

Sadly, this was not my case.  I requested glossy in my order and even contacted Andrea and confirmed I wanted glossy.  I did not get glossy, I got their normal finish.  Andrea was nice when I emailed her and answered my questions, but when I got my order, it was definitely not what I requested.  Oh well, it's still a great helmet and I'll repaint it at some point...   

 

Do you think you will clear coat it, or completely repaint it? 

[iceknyght]

3 hours ago, tk 7261 said:

Do you think you will clear coat it, or completely repaint it? 

Good question.  I'll probably do a full repaint, since the colors don't match either (the RS is more "yellow" than my SC armor) and clear coating it would only fix one of the problems...