ROTJ Scout Trooper WIP

[LuigiFett]

Hi all! I managed to snag a Kropserkel scout trooper helmet kit and figured I'd start a WIP thread to go along with it so I have a place to put all my newbie questions along the way. If I manage to get it together all the way I'll start looking at an armor kit. I feel fairly confident in being able to follow along with his YouTube tutorial, but also want to get input from the detachment here.

A little about me: it's been a goal of mine for a while to get a 501st approved costume and after reading up on pros/cons of the various imperial troops I settled on the ROTJ Scout Trooper, mainly due to the fact that everyone says you can sit in it pretty easily. I also have a fairly gigantic head which scared me away from the SC bucket - hence going for Kropserkel. I took some shots of a few of the pieces (hoping I'm doing the DropBox insert correctly, let me know if any images show up as broken):

The helmet pieces unassembled:

 

The faceplate:

 

Close ups of the area around the lens hole, I'm assuming the pencil marks are where I need to complete the trimming and sanding:

 

And the underside of the faceplate. Again, I'm assuming I need to trim down to the pencil line:

 

The visor - once again I'm planning to trim along the pencil line:

 

And the lower portion of the visor, which looks like it also needs some trimming to give it that rounded edge:

 

The earholes, with the cutout area traced:

 

 

 

And the helmet top, which doesn't appear to need any additional trimming:

 

And a few shots of the snout greeblie. The kit came with the full piece, and also with just the aerator by itself (I'm guessing intended to be affixed over the gray/black decal that came with the kit?) I also can't tell if the lines at the top of the greeblie need to be covered with spot putty and repainted to get rid of them? The CRL images appear to be completely smooth in that area.

 

 

So really the biggest questions I have right now are:

- Do the pencil lines look accurate as far as what I need to trim to get this to an approvable level? Not worried about Lancer right now, I just want to meet the requirements for basic. Especially wondering about how the earholes looks, I really don't want to end up trimming out too much.

- What does the CRL mean when it says, "A return edge is present on the visor"? Is that the part along the outer portion?

- The CRL also states the the "Snout recess is painted black" - does this mean I can get rid of the decal that came with the kit and just mask off/paint with matte black before attaching the greeblie?

- Should I smooth out the (presumably) 3D print lines at the top of the snout greeblie?

I feel like a giant newb asking all these. Appreciate any input the more seasoned members can provide. I'll provide updated images as I go. Thanks for following along and for any advice you can give!

[Chopper]

Hey there Matt--

I noticed that the pull on this part looks looks a bit off, as it looks like there's a dent of some sort on the corner? Maybe it's the angle of the photo? Looks like it's the wearer's lower left portion of the visor shroud?

 

20 hours ago, LuigiFett said:

So really the biggest questions I have right now are:

- Do the pencil lines look accurate as far as what I need to trim to get this to an approvable level? Not worried about Lancer right now, I just want to meet the requirements for basic. Especially wondering about how the earholes looks, I really don't want to end up trimming out too much.

- What does the CRL mean when it says, "A return edge is present on the visor"? Is that the part along the outer portion?

- The CRL also states the the "Snout recess is painted black" - does this mean I can get rid of the decal that came with the kit and just mask off/paint with matte black before attaching the greeblie?

- Should I smooth out the (presumably) 3D print lines at the top of the snout greeblie?

I feel like a giant newb asking all these. Appreciate any input the more seasoned members can provide. I'll provide updated images as I go. Thanks for following along and for any advice you can give!

-Pencil marks look fine, outside of my comment above, which is really about the pull from the mold. You may end up needing to trim a bit more around the eyeslot and earholes, but I'd start with what you've marked right now. Whenever you're trimming, start with less, then carefully trim more in increments. If you take a careful approach, you should be fine.

-The return edge comment in the CRL is talking about the bend in the end of the visor shroud. The Kropserkel helmet has it, so you're fine.

-Yes. Ditch the decal and the right side snout greeblie from your photo. The greeb on the left is the one you want to use.

-You'll need to smooth the print lines on the top of the snout greeb

Let us know if you have any further questions and good luck with your build.

[LuigiFett]

22 hours ago, Chopper said:

Hey there Matt--

I noticed that the pull on this part looks looks a bit off, as it looks like there's a dent of some sort on the corner? Maybe it's the angle of the photo? Looks like it's the wearer's lower left portion of the visor shroud?

I didn't even notice that. It does look asymmetrical between the left and right (that is a shot of the lower left portion of the visor. I took some additional photos to try to show the difference:

Here's a head-on shot, although it's kind of hard to see the difference here:

 

 

Here's the lower right side:

 

And I tried to get close-ups of both sides for comparison:

 

Anything you'd recommend to address the left side dent?

[Aradun]

Those are my pencil lines LOL.

Looks like you bought that bucket off of a buddy of mine in my garrison who was working on a shadow scout. I was preparing to help him build the helmet, but then he managed to get his hands on a finished helmet instead.

Just note that the cut out around the top of the visor will likely need to be adjusted so that you can open the visor up over the dome. I did not mark pencil lines on the top part of the visor because everything needs to be assembled to know where and how much needs to be cut.

[LuigiFett]

16 hours ago, Aradun said:

Those are my pencil lines LOL.

Haha! I wasn't sure if Kropserkel did them or if they were added after. Good to know! Once I get the excess trimmed and somewhat sanded I'll try to do preliminary assembly to see what adjustments the visor will need.

I was able to take the Dremel to some of the parts this weekend. Here's the progress on the face plate (along with my attempt to mask off the snout area for some paint, I managed to dig out a roll of Tamiya masking from the boxes in my garage):

 

 

 

I'm finding that taking frequent breaks from sanding is allowing me to come back and see the little rough areas that need touching up easier. Looking at it now makes me think the wearer's left side needs just a little more taken off. I have the worst sense of symmetry and am probably being overly cautious with how slowly I'm sanding everything to avoid getting a lopsided result (as you can tell from the still-visible pencil lines )

And because I found my masking tape and felt impatient I went ahead and tried to get the snout area ready for some paint:

 

I'm torn on whether to just do spray paint or pull out the airbrush and hit it with some Humbrol matte black that I still have. Any advice on that from the more seasoned troopers?

I'm hoping to have progress photos on the other pieces a little later in the week!

[Chopper]

Matte black is the color to use. Most people use spray paints,  but either spray paint or an airbrush should work fine. Go with whichever one you feel most comfortable using. 

[Aradun]

Nice work Matt!  Slow use of the Dremel and frequent breaks are the way to go.  As Chopper already noted, you can always take more off, but you can't put it back once removed.  Great progress!

[LuigiFett]

Got a few additional things done today!

For the snout area, I finished the preliminary masking with some painter's tape and plastic wrap (the painter's tape is popping up a little here, but I did smooth it down prior to hitting in with the paint):

 

And I decided I was feeling too lazy to clean up the airbrush so went some plain matte black Rustoleum:

And the finished product. There are a few angles to the curved part, I've never been great at masking those:

 

I also coated the top of the snout greeblie with some Bondo spot putty to try to get rid of the 3D print lines. 

 

After sanding and hitting it with some flat gray spray paint the lines are still there, but much less noticeable. I'm hoping one more round will eliminate them completely:

 

And the greeblie against the snout area of the faceplate. It does make the angles of the curved area much more noticeable, I'm thinking I may try to re-mask and get a smoother curve there.

[LuigiFett]

While I was waiting for the greeblie paint to dry I figured I'd pull out the heat gun and try forming the lens. Apologies, I forgot to get a shot of the rectangular piece as it came with the kit. Surprisingly, the cutting disc on the Dremel was all I needed to get the lens to the shape needed (it was already traced out on the protective film) and with relatively smooth edges:

Luckily I already had a heat gun from when I put together my ESB Boba Fett bucket  Following Kropserkel's YouTube walkthrough, I managed to get the curvature just about right:

 

Hoping tomorrow I'll get a chance to finish sanding the edges of the eyehole. I'm getting antsy wanting to see the whole thing assembled, but I'm also trying not to let my impatience get the best of me and end up with a bunch of unfinished pieces riveted together!

 

[Chopper]

You can use a toothpick dipped in 90% iso alcohol to clean up the black curved portion on the snout.

[LuigiFett]

The alcohol and toothpick trick worked wonders! I think it's some kind of Sith power.

But now I'm wondering if the top of the snout recess needs a little more black. I don't see anything in the CRL, is there any guidance on how much black should show on the edges around the greeblie?

I also made some progress on the back and top of the helmet. Following the YouTube tutorial, I got the decals on the rear portion:

 

Then proceeded to attach the back and top using 3/8" aluminum rivets:

 

 

Hoping that I got the alignment fairly close. I tried to get the same amount showing on each side. You can also see where I attached the black screens behind the earholes using the soft part of some industrial strength adhesive Velcro:

 

 

And the outer view:

 

I noticed that the basic CRL says "Earholes are cut out -- mesh or paint is not acceptable" - Does the screen with the Kropserkel kit count as mesh? Or will I be OK leaving as is?

Currently working on trimming the faceplate and visor down a little to fit the rest of the helmet - hopefully I'll have pictures later this week. Thanks again for all the help and advice!!

[Chopper]

Yes, you should remove the mesh from the ear holes. Get some black gaffer tape and put it inside the ears to black out the visible portion on the inside.

The Scoutopedia has some good example images of the black snout area that you can use for comparison.

 

[LuigiFett]

I've been slacking on updates. Honestly, I've been terrified to post anything since I feel like Ralph Wiggum dressing up as Idaho when I see how good the other WIP threads look. I also caved and picked up a Studio Creations armor kit, so playing with that has been taking up a lot of my time too. As it turns out, Kurt told me that in the excitement of May 4th he inadvertently put a helmet kit in with my armor, and it turns out it was a lot easier to align things with that one than with the Kropserkel kit. So I focused on SC, and set KS to the side for now. I'll eventually come back to it, but here's what I have on SC so far:

 

 

 

The lens that came with SC was green, so I ended up swapping out for the black KS lens. It luckily only need a couple of tweaks with the heat gun to get a good fit in the visor, and I was able to set it pretty solidly with E6000 on the sides. You can see I need to clean up the lines on the snout recess, adjust the gap on the left side of the visor, and put some black gaffer tape over the earholes, but I'm happy with the progress so far. 

I was wondering - the bolts that came with the kit are metallic. I may eventually try to swap out with the concave 3M ones, but are these good enough for basic approval?

Edit: Can't believe I forgot that Lisa was Florida and Ralph was Idaho. Either way, they're both me compared to everyone else in the detachment!!

[LuigiFett]

I've also made progress on the belt, thermal detonator, and chest/back/shoulder bells:

The unprepped belt and drop boxes with lines marked out for strapping:

 

 

 

And the completed belt, with strapping and closure (plus leftover pencil marks on the nylon from measuring):

 

 

 

 

And here it is, slightly crooked, with my (currently) unmodified RedKap coveralls:

Once I have someone to help me get take pictures I can hopefully get some where it's straight.

[LuigiFett]

I've also started getting the chest/back/shoulder bells together. Following the Pathfinder tutorial on YouTube got me to here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been having trouble getting the elastic bridge to stick over the gap (I've tried SuperGlue and E6000 Fabrifuse). Are there any brands that work better than others for keeping the elastic stuck on the ABS while still keeping it flexible enough to stay intact when putting the armor on?

And the chest/shoulders with the RedKaps:

 

Not sure if it's the way I'm standing, but the left shoulder bell seems to be just a little low. I also haven't taken in the seams on the arms yet, so there's a lot of excess fabric that may be messing up the placement. I have almost exactly a 6 inch gap between the chest and belt, which seems like it will work for an 8 inch bund and 6 inch pouches? I'll be trying to follow the tutorial in the soft goods forum to make them myself - we'll see how that goes!

[LuigiFett]

And the final piece I've got ready to go is the thermal detonator:

I used E6000 to attach the greeblies and the end caps, and wood screws to hold the brackets on:

 

I have the biceps, forearms, and knees all strapped, but it turns out I'm scrawnier than I realized and will probably need either some padding under them or maybe some Velcro to hold them in place. I ordered my suede from Tandy leather, so once that gets here I'll try to measure out the riding patches and butt flap so I can just put them on as I'm doing the other alterations to the coveralls. I'll try my best to get more updates in here soon. Thanks for following along!

[Aradun]

Outstanding! Excellent work on the armor so far. I think your build is right up there with the best of them when it come to final look!

For your shoulder bell, I’m thinking it’s the angle of the photo, but if not, a slight tightening of the zip tie should even things out.

For the fabric that covers the shoulder bridge, if elastic isn’t doing the trick, you can use white cotton webbing, which is a bit thicker and might provide a better bond for the glue.

Keep up the great work and don’t be afraid to hit the armory team up with any questions along the way. We’re happy to help.

[LuigiFett]

Thanks! It's a huge relief to hear that from someone who knows what they're doing.

I picked up some 1/2" cotton webbing today for the shoulder seams and will give that a try tonight. I also picked up a walking foot for my sewing machine and am planning to try my luck with the cummerbund tonight.

That does remind me of one other question I had - measuring just under my chest with the coveralls I'm right at 41" around, and about 37" around at my waist. I'm kind of guessing that the vest will add another inch or so, but should I just make the cummberbund a rectangle with a final length/width of 42ish" (plus 2" more for the velcro) or is is better to taper it a little toward the bottom since my waist is a little narrower?

[Aradun]

Keep it rectangular. No taper. First, it will give you a little wiggle room for “growth” and second, wearing it over your suit and vest eats up more space than you’d think. Make sure to follow the tutorial and you’ll be good as gold.

https://forum.501stpathfinders.com/topic/23966-rotj-scout-cummerbund-tutorial/

[LuigiFett]

That did the trick. It was surprisingly easy to stitch everything together. I did have to stitch the batting to the hem allowance to help me with pulling everything right side out, but it didn't seem to add too much unnecessary bulk to it:

 

A couple of lines on my ribs are little more curved than I'd like, but from a distance it doesn't seem too noticeable:

The corner on the lower end of the loop Velcro also came out a little more rounded than the top? Is this something I should try to take apart and address?

 

(for comparison, here's the bottom corner)

 

I also folded about an inch too much excess fabric under on the hook side, so it doesn't completely wrap around my hefty belly. I'll just stitch rip everything and redo it with that little extra bit added on. The whole process was so much easier than I expected, I'm really not too worried about the idea of having to do a whole new one from scratch - the fabric wasn't even that expensive.

I did have one other question - because the sewing has been so much fun to learn, I went out and found a pattern for a raglan t-shirt that I think I can modify into a vest, but the CRL seems very vague about what it's made of, only saying "black, matte finish, heavy weight cotton". The images in the CRL make it look like the vest itself is more of a twill fabric, while the sleeves look a little lighter (maybe sateen or nylon)? Is there any standard as far as the composition of the sleeves vs. the vest? And the CRL also just says the "Sleeves are padded and ribbed" - I'm assuming the vest itself shouldn't need any padding?

Thanks for all the guidance!!

[BikerScout007]

Okay a couple of things:

I think your stitch on the bund closure looks just fine.  Looks cleaner than mine lol

The reason why we don't specify fabrics for the vest is because we don't know them.  The "Costumes" book was very clear about some soft goods, but not all of them.  We only get specific when we know for sure.  We can look at something and say "yeah, that's twill or that's a smooth, non-textured fabric" but we don't call for exact material when we don't know.  Remember the vest in the CRL is still fan-made at the end of the day, so it was just as much a guess as anything else.

Look at production photos in the Scoutopedia if you want things to look at:

https://www.501stpathfinders.com/scoutopedia.php

Yes, the vest doesn't need padding, just the sleeves so the ribbing stand out!

[LuigiFett]

Sounds good! I'll probably wander around Joann for a while and see if anything jumps out at me. 

For the pouches, I only see that Lancer level specifies a heavy canvas for the material. I'll probably try to find something like that for them, but would basic approval still be possible if I use the same cotton linen as I did for the bund? And I've seen talk about "tea baths" - does that just mean I stitch them together with a white fabric and then dunk them in warm water with some black tea bags/leaves? My straps are white, so I don't want to get too crazy with the pouches. 

I'll be back to ask more about the codpiece when I get there, I'm sure I'll have lots of questions about that too

[BikerScout007]

If your straps are white, the pouches stay white

Canvas or duck cloth -- that stuff is usually pretty cheap and is much more robust than the cotton used for the bund.  If you use that for the pouches, they may come out a bit shapeless.  

[LuigiFett]

I spent the last couple of weeks sewing, and after a broken sewing machine needle and more stich ripping than I care to recount I came up with a passable flak vest plus a couple of pouches:

 

I tried to do the vest raglan-style, but the pattern I followed was one where the sleeves end up making a portion of the collar (apologies for the kitty fur, I didn't lint roll before I took these):

Is that still good enough for basic approval? The vest does like to shift a little bit when I put it under the armor, but I think some velcro on the coveralls should keep it in place. I'll try to get some pictures of it under the shoulder bells at some point this week - there's maybe 1/2" of sleeve extending beyond the bottom of the bells which I hope meets the "sleeves end just below the bottom edge of the shoulder armor" requirement.

The pouches did seem to come out OK, but there's still about an inch gap when I close the flaps:

I'll probably try reducing the amount of craft foam I have crammed in there, but if I still have a gap I'll just redo the accordion-fold attachment to the back of the pouch to lower the flap enough to get to the bottom of the pouch. I did want to ask about the part of the CRL that says "Pouches have appearance of being affixed to the cummerbund by the attachment tabs as per the originals" - I know it's a Lancer level requirement, but does that mean that I should sew the pouches to the bund to get that appearance? Or does it mean I should put Velcro on the attachment tabs/bund top and use that to secure them? If that's the case, would the attachment tabs connect to the front of the bund or is it better to fold them over the top of the bund with the Velcro attaching behind?

Once I have the pouches oriented and secured decently I'll start looking at marking up my coveralls to attach some Velcro patches for the arm and knee armor pieces, along with an attempt at getting some suede riding patches cut and sewn. I'll have plenty more questions at that point - thanks again for the guidance!

[Chopper]

I think your flak vest is fine, at least based on how it looks in the photo. A lot will depend on how it looks when it's worn.

For the pouches, the front flap should be re-done so that it fully closes. It looks like you have some extra material that's sewn onto the back side, so that might give you the extra length you need.

The text in the CRL that says, "Pouches have appearance of being affixed to the cummerbund by the attachment tabs as per the originals" means that the pouches are attached via the tabs. We don't care how they're attached. They can be sewn or you can use velcro. But the attachment point has to be the tabs.