Lucasfan7 Scout build take 2

[EdwinG]

Hi just thought I show you my shoulder bridge zip tie setup.  After looking at a few I came up with this which works for me.

Two separate pieces using Velcro so that if needed, you can still adjust it to fit.    

First pieces raps around the bridge and attaches with Velcro.  

Then the other pieces just attaches to that also with Velcro.

I just like to have everything adjustable incase I need to readjust of which I’ve already done to shorten the gap between the shoulder armor and the bridge.

Slightly different but everyone uses what works for them.

[Lucasfan7]

Hi just thought I show you my shoulder bridge zip tie setup.  After looking at a few I came up with this which works for me.
Two separate pieces using Velcro so that if needed, you can still adjust it to fit.    

First pieces raps around the bridge and attaches with Velcro.  




Then the other pieces just attaches to that also with Velcro.


I just like to have everything adjustable incase I need to readjust of which I’ve already done to shorten the gap between the shoulder armor and the bridge.
Slightly different but everyone uses what works for them.

That looks awesome, very well thought out and I can tell you thought outside the box for sure. I specifically like how your shoulder bridge strap is attached to Velcro and it loops around like that. Thanks for sharing this with me, I appreciate it.


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[Lucasfan7]

I got the rank decals on and I couldn’t be more happy. Also got the thermal det finished. Thanks to joe for suggesting E6000 on securing the end caps, it might have taken a day for each side to dry but worked like a dream and I couldn’t be happier.


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[Retrofire]

This is looking great Manoah! Keep it up and you’ll be submitting before you know it!

[Lucasfan7]

This is looking great Manoah! Keep it up and you’ll be submitting before you know it!

Thanks brotha, I’m almost done on my end, it will then be a waiting game for the helmet from RS, the soft goods from Kroptontop and the boots from crow props.



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[Lucasfan7]

I haven’t done much this week because i have been out of town for work, but I did bring my sewing stuff and sticky Velcro so I can get a few more small pieces done. My dad had a saying, “by the inch it’s a cinch, by the yard it’s hard”, that’s what I keep thinking during this build because I have done little chunks at a time and I’m almost out of stuff to do.
I think I just have to attach the shoulders to the armor once I get home tomorrow and then this weekend I’m probably going to bust out the air brush and start getting an idea on spray patterns for the weathering. I’m going to use ginos scout for inspiration because his is my hands down favorite weather job on any scout.

[Lucasfan7]

So I have a bit of a problem with my soft goods from Kriptontop.

I asked christian when he thought his estimated time of completion would be back in December, he told me the end of January. So on Wednesday this week I sent him a message to touch bases with him since next week is the last week of January. I simply asked if he is still planning to be done at the end of the month. I was super polite and not demanding at all. He replied to my comment by refunding my money and said, “Sorry, it is not ready yet. 
I refunded your money. Maybe you can find it by other more fast”. Now I don’t know if this is a miscommunication problem but I tried to explain to him that I don’t mind waiting, I just want to stay on top of when it is arriving so I can make sure someone is home for when it gets delivered since I work out of town a lot. I also sent him a couple messages asking how to proceed since the order was canceled through Etsy as well and he hasn’t responded to any of my messages.

Has anyone had this issue with Christian before? I know there were mixed reviews on here about him but I really wanted to go with him because of how tailor made his suits are from the reviews I have read but I’m not getting very good customer service so I’m thinking of jumping over to imperial boots. Any suggestions would be awesome

[Retrofire]

Yeah that’s a bummer but at least he provided a refund. With COVID raging around the world there are quite a few bottlenecks and things have just gotten slower. We have a host of talented vendors in the Trade forum that you can work with for your soft goods you might want to check out before committing to IB. It might also be worth it to post up in the CCG forums as well to see who might be able to help you sew your own. 

I know it’s frustrating but don’t let this setback derail ya. There are plenty of options and plenty of folks that can help get you back on track.

[Nathanzx10r]

3 hours ago, Lucasfan7 said:

So I have a bit of a problem with my soft goods from Kriptontop.

I asked christian when he thought his estimated time of completion would be back in December, he told me the end of January. So on Wednesday this week I sent him a message to touch bases with him since next week is the last week of January. I simply asked if he is still planning to be done at the end of the month. I was super polite and not demanding at all. He replied to my comment by refunding my money and said, “Sorry, it is not ready yet. 
I refunded your money. Maybe you can find it by other more fast”. Now I don’t know if this is a miscommunication problem but I tried to explain to him that I don’t mind waiting, I just want to stay on top of when it is arriving so I can make sure someone is home for when it gets delivered since I work out of town a lot. I also sent him a couple messages asking how to proceed since the order was canceled through Etsy as well and he hasn’t responded to any of my messages.

Has anyone had this issue with Christian before? I know there were mixed reviews on here about him but I really wanted to go with him because of how tailor made his suits are from the reviews I have read but I’m not getting very good customer service so I’m thinking of jumping over to imperial boots. Any suggestions would be awesome

I ordered my soft parts from him, I was very happy with the service he provided. The parts are well made and he was always available to answer my questions. He delivered 2 months from date ordered. How long ago did you order?  

[BikerScout007]

A one month turnaround for soft goods would be amazing.  Highly unusual, but amazing.  I ordered my first flak vest from Cristian and it took about 3 months.  

He's had shipping issues in the past but from what I understand he uses more reliable shippers now.  Still, things take a long time travelling internationally and in my experience items coming from South America take longer than just about anywhere else.  

The only way you would get them super fast is if you made them yourself.  

[Lucasfan7]

3 hours ago, Retrofire said:

Yeah that’s a bummer but at least he provided a refund. With COVID raging around the world there are quite a few bottlenecks and things have just gotten slower. We have a host of talented vendors in the Trade forum that you can work with for your soft goods you might want to check out before committing to IB. It might also be worth it to post up in the CCG forums as well to see who might be able to help you sew your own. 

I know it’s frustrating but don’t let this setback derail ya. There are plenty of options and plenty of folks that can help get you back on track.

It’s cool, I’m not going to let this prevent me from moving forward. Just a little speed bump.

I’m sure it’s just a miscommunication, sounds like he has done pretty good business with everyone recently so maybe I will give him another go. Thanks for the positive words 

[Lucasfan7]

1 hour ago, Nathanzx10r said:

I ordered my soft parts from him, I was very happy with the service he provided. The parts are well made and he was always available to answer my questions. He delivered 2 months from date ordered. How long ago did you order?  

Thanks for the reassurance, I think I’m going to give it another ego with him. I think is might have been a miscommunication issue.

[Lucasfan7]

1 hour ago, BikerScout007 said:

A one month turnaround for soft goods would be amazing.  Highly unusual, but amazing.  I ordered my first flak vest from Cristian and it took about 3 months.  

He's had shipping issues in the past but from what I understand he uses more reliable shippers now.  Still, things take a long time travelling internationally and in my experience items coming from South America take longer than just about anywhere else.  

The only one you would get them super fast is if you made them yourself.  

I wasn’t expecting it to be done that fast and that’s part of the reason why I was messaging him to see if the ETA was still the same but I think he thought that it was a deal breaker for me to not have it done by next week so that could have been why he refunded. Anyways, I’m just going to assume it is a miscommunication issue and reorder through him. I’m not necessarily in a rush to get them so he can take his time, my main concern originally was the goods showing up when I’m out of town and not having anyone home to receive them. 

[Lucasfan7]

So my crow props boots came in and I’m beyond pumped. I love the way they are assembled, how they fit my foot and especially the soles.
I think there is room for modification though, or maybe it’s just my OCD but tell me what you think.
1-The bone that goes over the bridge is really loose so it flaps out which I don’t think is necessary since you can still get your feet in and out of the boot if it was glued down like I believe the originals were so I am thinking of just running some shoe goo under the bone are it contacts the boot to keep it flat. I feel like that alone completely improves the overall look.
2-I also plan to remove the strap on the Inside because I have a different method I used on my last pair that I plan to do again and these fit so snug on my calf that the extra strap material was causing it to fit really tight.
3-I’m not 100% on this but there seems to be material at the heel section of the boot that goes about 1/4” too low and makes it look baggy. In the MOTM pics it looks like there is quite a bit less because it pulls up higher than there do when bent.
4-I’m having a similar problem with the material strap on the toe, it looks like there is just a bit too much material, it covers up half of the sole and in my opinion, that’s the coolest part of these boots.
I will post some pics in a min that shows the area I’m talking about.



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[Lucasfan7]

Here I’m pointing to the loose bone and in the last picture I am holding it down as if it was glued


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[Lucasfan7]

Here is the baggy heel and bigger looking strap in the front, it’s mainly the heel that bugs me though


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[Aradun]

Tacking down the dog bone with some glue will greatly improve the overall look. I’m not sure how the CP boots are constructed but can you lift the entire tube up and then glue the bottom edge to the heel so it stays at the height you want? If not, can the excess be trimmed?

As for the toe, that’s the one thing that bugs me about these boots. You might be able to trim the excess material overlapping the sole with an x-acto knife.

They do look good and you can’t beat the sole!

[Chopper]

That toe strip is pretty firmly glued on, at least it was for the pair he sent me. I can't see it getting trimmed easily without mangling the overall look.

Does the leather on the heel overlap the back of the sole when you're wearing them, or just when they're loose on the floor?

You could use some shoe goo or barge cement to glue the sides of the leather dogbone down. You shouldn't need a lot of glue to do so -- just try to put something in the shaft of the boot to keep it oriented upright, so it doesn't sag backwards.

[Lucasfan7]

8 hours ago, AradunFF said:

Tacking down the dog bone with some glue will greatly improve the overall look. I’m not sure how the CP boots are constructed but can you lift the entire tube up and then glue the bottom edge to the heel so it stays at the height you want? If not, can the excess be trimmed?

As for the toe, that’s the one thing that bugs me about these boots. You might be able to trim the excess material overlapping the sole with an x-acto knife.

They do look good and you can’t beat the sole!

Yeah it’s just a pit too much on the heel, it’s not a deal breaker. I’m going to save that part for last cause It might not bother me too much once the rest of it is cleaned up

[Lucasfan7]

1 hour ago, Chopper said:

That toe strip is pretty firmly glued on, at least it was for the pair he sent me. I can't see it getting trimmed easily without mangling the overall look.

Does the leather on the heel overlap the back of the sole when you're wearing them, or just when they're loose on the floor?

You could use some shoe goo or barge cement to glue the sides of the leather dogbone down. You shouldn't need a lot of glue to do so -- just try to put something in the shaft of the boot to keep it oriented upright, so it doesn't sag backwards.

I think you are right on the toe strip, which might be a good thing since the main reason I wanted to buy boots like this was for the durability. The boots are for sure durable. That glue he uses is strong. I’m going to save the toe for last and hope cleaning up the rest of the boot settles my OCD.

In the first few pictures I posted you can see me wearing them and it’s overlapping. 
My wife and i were messing with the Velcro in the back of the boot and realized that if it’s tighter on the heel then the overall look improves and the baggie look cleans up so we are going to work on that.

is barge cement stronger than shoe goo? I’m not too familiar with it

[Chopper]

Barge cement is what shoe repair places use and is a very strong type of contact cement. If you haven't used it before, I'd experiment with some scrap leather first. Shoe Goo will probably work though.

[Lucasfan7]

42 minutes ago, Chopper said:

Barge cement is what shoe repair places use and is a very strong type of contact cement. If you haven't used it before, I'd experiment with some scrap leather first. Shoe Goo will probably work though.

Ok cool, thank you. Is there a certain brand you prefer? 

[DarthSnark]

8 hours ago, Lucasfan7 said:

Ok cool, thank you. Is there a certain brand you prefer? 

Barge is the brand I believe. You can get other "off brand" contact cements at the hardware store but I've heard many people prefer the Barge for its strength (I've used the off brand but it was for a different application). 

[Chopper]

This type should work for you: https://www.amazon.com/Barge-All-Purpose-Cement-Rubber-Leather/dp/B00B5XDPLC/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=barge+cement&qid=1612395503&sr=8-4

As with anything, test first!

[Lucasfan7]

7 hours ago, DarthSnark said:

Barge is the brand I believe. You can get other "off brand" contact cements at the hardware store but I've heard many people prefer the Barge for its strength (I've used the off brand but it was for a different application). 

Awesome, thank you