Chef

Yeah, Welding visors are measured in 'Shades', with 1 being lightest, and 12 being darkest. careful trial and error has determined 5 to be about the best for trooping. Dark enough so people can't see in, but light enough so you can make sure you don't stand on little 'Johnny'.

I think the question needs to be posed as.... Are you going with a "movie style" or "Animated/Comic" style type swamp trooper? And this probably needs to be run past Izzi, to see where the new CRL type stuff is heading. It's in it's early stages yet, so don't be offended if you don't get much of an answer. If it's the former, I'd say.... Movie Style 1: Grey 2: one will be sufficient 3: Keep it as per the original CRL 4: With Dogbone, and Holster Animated style. 1: Blue 2: one on EACH SIDE 3: Modded to match SWG screen shots 4:No Dogbone or Holster.

Nah... it's all good bro. One of the best looking Storm Commando's I've seen in a long while. Is the chest indent still grey or is it the same black as the helmet detailing? I can't quite tell. Probably the lighting. I'm only nit-picking. But like you say, if it's going to be right, you might as well do it right!

Looking sharp there trooper. Congratulations on your clearance. *cough... belt rivet... cough*

DLT-19's are basically MG-34/42's. I don't how it works over in the states regarding de-act's, but that's one possibility. There are plenty of makers of resin casts, such as hyperfirm, I'm sure someone stateside can point you in the direction of more. If you make anything your GML will have to 'clear' it before you can use it. Some people have used the Nerf CS6 long rifle as a basis for their Verpine builds, and they look pretty sweet.

Yup, Jim's on the money with this one. The Scout long rifle has been established as the E-11s, A modified version of the standard Blastech E-11, which sacrificed capacity for long range power. This is commonly pictured as the DLT-19 with a scope on the top. Some of us have made a custom E11s based on the basic E11, but tying in some of the details from the DLT-19. Although as the background information for the Storm Commando's is that they are trained in all manner of weaponry, from the standard galactic issue through to the more 'exotic'. So if your local GML allows it, then the choice is yours as to what you field.

I use something similar to this.... http://www.ebay.co.u...b#ht_500wt_1144 It's cheap, and you can get at least two lenses out of the one shield. I have a template if you need one. I'm sure you can find an equivalent over your side of the pond. Just make sure it's Shade 5 or darker.

"don't kick the tiny scout...." Just a few observations. Painting the accents flat black works a treat. good job. Pouches are on the wrong sides. The diagonals need to be on the outsides. For me, the pouches are a little big for your frame. I assume you've used the 7"x 7"x 2" template. I scaled mine down a little to 7x6x1.5 to suit me. I still think mine are a little big, but it will be an update I'll do in time. I don't think it should affect your clearance at all. I'd paint all your rivets black. I'd paint the Thermal Det tube black too. I'd paint the red and white highlights on the tank topper black. and for a sense of completeness and seeing as it's cheap. I'd get a Det Greeblie from Don Jarr on eBay and update it to the new version. Beyond that... looking real neat there. I like that you've put in the belt clips behind the Thermal Det, got the two straps on the Knees and cut the boot soles. Jolly good show.

How about having a standard smoked lens with a red acetate sheet over the top?? That way you get the red colouring, but still have the darkness that you can't see into.

Keep your head down and your eyes peeled over there buddy. And yes, once your costume is cleared, that's when you get your designation. You can even choose (well, any five digit one).

email sent buddy.

I agree.... As I mentioned over in your Swampy thread, the trouble with expanded universe stuff is that different artists draw different interpretations. This causes an absolute nightmare in terms of reference material for us. We had a similar argument with the Snow Scout. It was decided that the best course of action was to choose one and stick to that one as best as we could. Purely because consistency amongst our own costumes was more likely to lead to some new Source material being based upon them, rather than the artist just thinking something up. Yes... it's cause and effect.... but hey. It gets what we want. So yes, you have the choice. WEG or WOC. Personally, I can see why the WEG one wins over, mainly because there is more of a 360" all round depiction. I get this... it's more of a complete reference. But that's all the fun!!! I will get around to the Sea Trooper at some point.... Got my Snow Scout to finish off first though.

Welcome aboard Michael. The world is your mollusc of choice when it comes to Scout variants. The Standard Scout has recently undergone a few changes and can now carry the long E11s, so there is now a definitive Imperial Scout Sniper. Then there is the Creme de la Creme, the Storm Commando. Also known as Shadow Scouts, BlackHats or just Shadows. The best trained and most dangerous of the Imperial troops. These are probably the easiest of the Scouts to complete, because information exists and all the bits are available. Then you've got the more specialised Snow Scout, Swamp Trooper, Sea Scout and Forest Trooper. All of these are currently in the sort of 'experimental' phase so I would steer a little clear of these until you've really got the costuming bug and are ready for a challenge. But either way, you've come to the right place. If you want any help, just shout up. I do have a Tutorial, a detail reference guide if you will for the Scout. But it can be equally applied to the Storm Commando. I can email it to you. It's a bit of a massive file though and it has to go in two parts. (need to resize the picture files...).

Me also.... I hate the term shadow scout. I think what you have done is what all good pioneers should do. It is hard work sourcing reference material, and finding these little details is what makes the costume complete. You speak of almost CRL's, I think they do work, but like everything in the SW universe it is always an evolving entity. They are made with the information at the time, but as new source material is found or created, details emerge (as you have found), and thus the costume changes subtly. This is what makes them great. There are a number of issues with this evolving state and there are a number of schools of thought with regards to how to deal with it all, but that is ultimately an issue for those in charge. The Swampy is a Scout variant. Just the same as the Storm Commando, the Snow Scout, the Sea Trooper and the mythical Forest Trooper. I love them all.... When I have time, I am going to make each and every one of them. I'll push to get some form of CRL for each, but if that's not possible then I'll make them for my own pleasure because they are just too cool. (we have this theory that if you made one, some SW Artist will see it and do a picture of it, then suddenly the reference material exists.... making it clearable!!) So with it being a Scout variant, you do have a real credible argument that they should carry across some inherited features that tie all of them together. I think this is logical and creates a more believable costume in the finish. But on the other hand, you have the irrefutable reference material. They may well be 'skin' mistakes when they were programmed, but they exist. So you have just as credible an argument to go with exactly what you see. There is talk of a canon/animated style double ranked CRL system being banded around at the moment, and to be honest this would be a perfect example of why that system would be great. You could have a more 'real world - canon' based Swampy, that echoes the Biker Scout in its detail composition. And the Animated based Swampy that perfectly reflects the SWG detailing complete with all of the perceived 'inaccuracies'. Again, this is something for the head-shed to finalise. This is the one major issue with everything Spec Ops. We exist in the Expanded Universe of Star Wars. And as such there is much wider scope for variation and interpretation. This causes joy and headache in equal measures. It's an unfortunate lot, and one that we must be content with as we forge our path down the road to the best costumes. Keep the faith!

Alex. At the moment, you are that shining light when it comes to the Swampy. Other people are not overly concerned about it because they are not doing the costume...... BUT YOU ARE!!! You're putting in a great deal of effort into the detail and to be honest, that's priceless. To abandon it just because someone hasn't given you a response is being a little unfair to yourself. I understand your frustration. Believe me I do. When I was championing the Storm Commando over in the UKG some years back, I just kept on getting stone-walled, because they weren't interested. Eventually I beat them into submission with a raft of reference material and sheer dogged determination. And we are now at the accepted standard we see now. SO.... it is going to be a bit of a slog, there will be some ambivalence about it, you won't always get a response that you want to hear or agree with... BUT.... You must keep pressing on with it, mainly for yourself, but for all those other potential swampies out there who will come after you.

Cheers chaps... To be honest, getting stuff over here generally comes from the states anyway. And Specialist stuff like this is even harder to get. Yes, we can get SDS stuff, but it's sometimes cheaper to just get a different kit from the states. He's quite expensive. His is an ANH kit (just for reference).

Hola chaps... one for those in the know. I know such a question is somewhat frowned upon, but I'm going to ask it anyway. If the answer can be passed via a PM (if inappropriate for the boards), I'd be most grateful. One of the newbs to the UK Garrison has his heart set upon wearing the black stuff. I just need to point him in the direction of the current suppliers. So who's making what at the moment?? cheers Rob.

Izzi... I took some time scouring the reference material we have in this section (I don't know of any others elsewhere), and to be honest, the detail shots are not really all that good. If we can get some good close up grabs of the various parts of the costume and add them to the reference material, that would probably be the most beneficial thing to people making this costume. I am not a fan of using very vague references to create a CRL from, mainly because if you suddenly stick one made to this vagueness next to something that does contain more detail (tank topper, stripes etc), it suddenly becomes very apparent. A similar argument happened with the Snow Scout. I'd argue that the colour is green from the reference material we have in the Ref thread, but then I am not the one making the CRL's and as has been stated before. Not the one aking the decisions, so grey it is. Maybe a better close up of this part may clear the situation up. I don't know whether SWG is still going, so it may or may not be possible to obtain better images. The fish hooks.... It may well turn out that they have modelled it with one on both sides. I can't quite make one out on the right, it's not clear, but there may be something. Getting away from the helmet... you'll notice that the vent/rank stripes on the tank-hump are also on the wrong side to that of the screen used Scouts and comic reference Storm Commandos. Coincidence?? or just one of the programmers looking at a flipped screen grab (of which there are many). Now, please understand, I'm not trying to cause argument, or have a go personally or anything like that. So please don't take it as such, the written word can be taken so incorrectly. I am merely pointing out what I see as a contentious issue with the reference material for this costume and I am sure we'd all like to make these things as clear cut for the individuals as possible.

Fom looking at the reference material I'd say the following. Yes the fish hook is wrong. That style of hook is a by-product of the Rubies scout lid. They incorrectly made their lid with that design hook upon it and subsequent producers of decals have just added it on to their sheet. It is neither correct for the scouts or storm commandos, and whilst the reference material for the swampy is a little shy on the detail, I suggest that you use the other more square one. An interesting point to note is that in the game screen grabs the hook appears on the right side, and not on the left ( or at least it's not as noticeable on the left), which is the exact opposite to the scouts and storm commandos, which are left and not right. The trapezoids on the back do need to be black, you can't tell if they have any green lines in them, but from a personal point of view, to bring in some consistency with the other established costumes, I'd stick some on. So black background traps with green lines.. The visor bolts also need to be green, rather than grey. They are a definitely different shades of green to the main bucket but they a not grey. That's my take on it. Cheers Rob.

Rest assured Zach, I can always be on hand to provide the obvious answer! To be honest, it's a doddle. Just mask off the rest of the lid with a stack of news paper or masking sheet (if you've got it lying about), and some decent masking tape, so you don't accidentally get over-spray on the rest of your bucket. Lightly dust over the snout bit with your desired colour. If you're planning on getting Mike's decals, then I suggest getting either a Gloss or Satin black paint to match the decals. Rock and roll!

paint it...

I had been refraining from posting Jim.... I just seem to upset people of late with regards to my interpretation of the CRL's so I was keeping my gob shut. But you asked. The Party Line. It's fine. You can't go wrong with an MLC lid, everything is where is should be, and it conforms to the CRL's. My views. I think the grey is too light. In the words of the book, there are 50 shades of grey ( if you haven't had this phenomena yet over your side of the pond, don't worry, it's like some sort of soft porn for women. Actually it's crap, and I wouldn't bother), and I don't think the CRL should be that broad based. The reference pics do show a contrast on the snout, but it's more of a gun metal, dark grey than the light grey that you have currently. Plus the snout is all one colour, with the faucet part (see, I can even do Americanisms too, we call it a tap over here!) being a different colour to the rest of the snout, I think you are detracting from the reference pics, and there are no real markings visible on the lid in the reference material, but I think adding them in is good. What I would do.... And please remember this is just me being the extreme anal retentive I have become, so there is no need to take any notice of what I say, as the lid will be perfectly fine with the CRL's as it is. I would change the snout, bolts etc to a darker shade of grey, possibly even gun metal or true gloss black to bring it closer to the reference material and still have the contrast I like on what would otherwise be a very bland looking helmet indeed. I'd swap out the decals for a set from Mike at TrooperBay. His two tone satin/gloss ones are good value at $10 or so and the quality of them is just astronomical. Please don't feel offended or indeed compelled to take on board any of my words at all... It's just me being an abrasive Limey., and it's nearly midnight here, so I'm probably being a bit cranky.

For the cost of about $10, Mike at TrooperBay will do a really snazzy set of satin/gloss combination decals for the Shadow Scout bucket. He did mine ( i requested the two tone satin / gloss as a special order ) and they are just excellent.

The KS kit is always big.... and if you are smaller in stature, then that will only exacerbate its enormity. I'd say it does look a little big, but it's not me clearing it, it's your GML. It's probably due to the fabric. I have some where in certain lights it looks purple (mainly in pictures), whereas its definitely black in the flesh. You should be able to get some soak in dye. something like this.... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DYLON-HAND-DYE-50G-24-COLOURS-AVAILABLE-OR-500G-DYLON-SALT-GREAT-VALUE-/170720691108?pt=UK_Crafts_Fabric_Textiles_SM&var=&hash=item27bfbf03a4#ht_1160wt_1144 Or what ever you can get over your side of the pond. Boiling water, bit of salt. Bung the cummerbund in and leave for an hour. Rinse and wash... done. Black as the inside of your hat! As for the rest of it. I'd say you could do with pulling up your chest plate a little. The pouches seem to be trapped under the chest. And I'd pull your drop boxes up a touch (they should lie about 2-3" below the belt line). But just me being picky. Why don't you make your own boots?? The tutorial is easy to follow and they are good thing to have a bash at. They'll work out a damned sight cheaper than buying anything. Your base boot will cost about £20 (or $), vinyl will be about $6 for a metre, which is all you'll need and then it's about a metre of velcro and a tube of glue.

Due to it being a computer generated image, I don't think it holds the details. If you look at the screen images and reference material, you can see the thigh straps, or something akin to it. The don't appear to have the patch and butt flap. But to generate consistency with the other costumes, I think you could argue that they probably might have had them. Will they be assumed to exist... Pass.... who knows. All I can say is that they have been added in as part of the Specialist Programme for Storm Commandos. So it's quite possible as the precedent has already been set. And you have the added issue of, what if someone does some more artwork/reference material and they are added in there. Then they do become required, and you then have to add them in anyway.