Brand new and hoping for some advise

[BrewMongrel]

Hello and greetings from the North Bay of the SF Bay Area! I’m a brewer here in San Francisco who is currently out of work until COVID decides to relax a bit. I’ve wanted to join the 501st, the Pathfinders specifically, for many years now. What better time to start putting together a kit than now. My goal is to make a ROTJ biker scout as close to screen accurate as possible. I have a sewing machine and plan to make all the soft bits from scratch. I’m pretty handy with needle and thread and the resources here on the forum are very helpful. My problem here in my tiny apartment is space. I don’t have much room for armor craft. So my question is, what are the best sources for buying (relatively) ready made armor? I’m willing to buy from online craftsmen or members who are selling off extra bits here and there. I’m a fairly average sized man (5’ 9” - 190 lbs) so I should fit most sizes. In the meantime, I’ll take all the advise I can get and hopefully before long I’ll be out and trooping. Or at least once the need for social distancing is at an end. 
 

Cheers!

[Retrofire]

Welcome to the Pathfinders brewmaster! You’ve got a whole host of folks that are glad you’re here and are ready to help you with your build. If you haven’t yet had the chance I would encourage you to reach out to your local 501st Garrison which for you is the Golden Gate Garrison and sign up for their forums here: http://www.501stggg.com/ That will help provide local resources to you and they will be the Garrison you will be submitting for membership with.

That’s great to see that you’re handy with needle and thread as the majority of this costume is made up of soft goods. Armor only makes up a small part and should do just fine with the space you have. A good place to start is in the following forums:

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/forum/3-the-rotj-biker-scout-armory/

And

http://forum.501stpathfinders.com/index.php?/forum/96-biker-scout-wip/

You will find all sorts of information in these areas on the various parts of the Scout armor. The WIP threads are where you learn about how to build by folks who have gone before you. Feel free to wonder around the barracks and ask all the questions you want and someone will be along to help.

To answer your first question yes there are indeed sources where you can have a suit commissioned and built for you but due to the costs involved most Scouts build their own sets.

[Bootlegger137]

Welcome!

I built an SC armor kit to Lancer spec in a one bedroom apartment (using the kitchen counter as a workbench, and sitting on the couch using the coffee table for workspace). It can be done! 😉 

I’m not much at sewing, so the soft bits were purchased from fellow forum members...so you’ve got a leg up in that respect.

Best of luck!

 

 

[BikerScout007]

If you need help building a screen accurate Scout, you need to get in touch with @ShaunPug.  He's in your area and he is an accuracy fiend!

[ShaunPug]

If you need help building a screen accurate Scout, you need to get in touch with [mention=25773]ShaunPug[/mention].  He's in your area and he is an accuracy fiend!

I approve of this description.

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[BrewMongrel]

Thanks all for a warm welcome. I’m glad to hear working on armor will take less space than I anticipated. I’ll go ahead and get in contact with the GGG as well, I’d love to meet up with someone local at some point to get some pointers firsthand. I’ll pour over the info here on the forum and hopefully I’ll get started once I dig out the sewing machine. 

I’ve worked on projects in the past that have required 100% accuracy, I’m excited to learn what makes screen accurate and apply it to this project. 

Thanks again for the advise, I’m looking forward to joining the Pathfinders.