Chef

unfortunately.... He's a big lad and that's an SC chest plate... Probably the biggest one available! As discussed via PM, I would work on bringing that chest plate down a touch, and then bring up the belt to close up the gap between the pouches and the top of the belt. That will minimise the visual impact of the chest plate being a bit small on your frame and even up the spacings. It looks small because of the gap below the pouches. Close that, and everything will look more in proportion. When you add in the suede patches and thigh straps, this will reduce the bagginess of your flight suit around the thighs.

I'd attach the straps to the convenient bar (or what appears to be one) close to the back plate in the area of the circle. Take the strap over the shoulder (dotted line) and then you've got a couple of options for attaching at the bottom. (arrowed). Another convenient bar (might be a bit high) That nifty bolt, great for bolting strap eyes or D clips to. Or the metal bit that seems to go up inside the back plate.

I would try to make the backplate and tanks wearable like a backpack with shoulder straps that sit under the chest plate. Completely eliminating the need for the chest plate to bear any weight of the pack at all. There does look to be some convenient places to route the inner straps, and the bolts on the back of the shoulders look like the chest plate can easily be joined (with the aid of an assistant) to the backplate. So you would get the back/tank on nice and comfortable, then affix the chest to that rig.

It's good to know we have the same metre rule.

Get the chest sitting right, then stick some webbing between the chest and back plates. When they're hanging right, make up the cloth covers to go over the joins. For the joins under the arms I use the same material as you would for the drop box straps. Put velcro on the ends so they can attach to the chest plate. Run it through the back plate holes and have a tiny bit of elastic connecting them together on the inside of the back. This allows it to have a bit of flex.

Morning Mark. I'll have you covered here, and over on the G boards.

I think that all of them that I have kicking about.

No, this is one of my own buckets, it's a split half type like the original, the seam line is right down the centre of the helmet,

I'm a satin man too... you know what I mean!

Keep those pics coming!

The main reason for removing the old FX bucket is because it is massively oversizes (approx 10% bigger). It's really noticeable when put next to one of the correct size, and makes you look like a 'bobble head' if you're even vaguely smaller than 6' tall and reasonably heavily set. I had one originally and being a 'big bloke' I just about pulled it off, but it was enormous compared to everyone else's. I believe that the original style FX armour sets are still 'clearable' and I assume that most of the existing sets of 'Magma' armour are derived from these moulds. I don't think there needs be a distinction (barring the helmet) at this stage, and as and when people's costumes change hands, the issues that arise from this can be dealt with at the time. This sort of situation has been playing out for a while now with the standard TK and seems to have gone without too much of a hitch.

That looks like a re-cast of the MG/Mystery/Atin kit. I say re-cast because I'm pretty certain he never made it in black (could be wrong). The bits you've labelled in pink are the Thermal Detonator and End caps. Should you build it?? Entirely up to you. Personally, I don't think that kit is up to scratch. There's just so much that is 'wrong' with it in terms of shape and detailing. I believe they are still currently clearable.

No toe, fo sho'

Sorry Todd, missed this one. It's some careful shaping of the cod section is what does it. Rather than the usual 'triangle', and using foam inside rather than wadding.

Just remember... the only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask!

Hi Bud... Sorry for the delay. Kids seem to suck time away better than any black hole! Yeah the list seems OK... Although there are other suppliers of stuff (but the list is a little limited), and if you're feeling a little creative you can make 'most' of the soft parts yourself and save yourself a bucket load of cash. I'll send you a PM with the details of various people that can do the soft parts etc... But I can always assist with patterns and advice if you fancy having a go at these yourself. Boots... Again, these can be made to the tutorial and the results are much better than any 'Off the shelf" item. Gloves, those links might be a bit old now. I think the only person at the moment making decent Scout gloves are WampaWear. Most flight suits can be based off a set of coveralls. I think you chaps in the states use a brand called RedKap?? You've a PM inbound.... If you need any further assistance, just drop a message in here. Cheers Rob.

I'll reply to this later on, I'm just about to start the school run, so it'll be a few hours before I've finished up the evening "childcare' routine.

It's perfectly serviceable yes. Jeff is a good bloke with good customer service. I'll let others chime in with recommendations as well.

There are a couple of routes. You can find a vendor who makes the armour in black (probably the best route in my opinion because it requires less 'maintenance' work), but that limits your options a little bit because only a couple of people do the Scout armour in Black (and RS aren't one of them, they don't do Scouts!). Or you can get a set of standard Scout armour in white and paint it black. This is probably the easier route on 'sourcing' the armour itself, but is the harder route in terms of the costume itself because you'll end up painting it (well... personally they should all be painted) and any scratches will need painting again to stop the white showing underneath. And there will be a lot of scratches! Either way is just as acceptable as the other, but white armour painted black WILL require a lot more remedial work to keep looking good.

Knowing the LMO process, I would advise that people try to stick to one consistent reference. Using the WEG pictures is likely to produce the best results when it comes to a final submission. The last thing you'll want is the LMO's knocking it back because it isn't consistent with the references, especially after you'll have put in a stack of hard work.

For the chest plate bund connection I've used a couple of press studs / poppers. You can just as easily use velcro. Once this is done and your bund is in the correct place, you can look at getting the pouches secured. The pouches should sit directly beneath your chest plate and you should be able to see all the ribs between the two pouches. Also the belt should sit at the bottom of the bund. Here's a little graphic with lines on to show where they SHOULD sit *roughly*. Don't have them close together like in the picture. Here's one of the belt (ignore the camo trousers!). Keep the boxes quite high and make sure they are level. If you need any more help, just shout up. Also you might want to bring your chest plate down a little, the weight of the back plate / hump is making it ride up (fairly normal) so just pull it forward/down so it sits level at the side straps.

This is Spec Ops bro.... Go Hard or Go Home! We know your bits will be up to standard. Let's get them hanging right on you and you'll sail through. Your GML shouldn't have any issues.

That is in absolutely NO doubt. If you get any problems, just point your GML in here.

What argument... They are Storm Commandos. That picture highlights a real good point. That rifle in particular looks very similar to an M14 (with a few subtle changes). Which is the same period rifle as the Sterling, MG42 (or later Yugo M53), AR15's and the such like. So it's not 'too modern' at all. It's just not 'significantly different' to hide its origins. Just as an example... And not Starwars, but the principle is the same. M1A1 Thompson and SPAS12 combo (not forgetting the 870 internals). MG42.

Sorry bud... I've been mass busy with other stuff going on. Where possible, I would try and emulate what already exists in the SW universe. So keeping to the AR15 (armalite range), Sterling, MG34/42, StG44, with Broom Handle Mauser and Ruger Mk1's would be a real good start. Out of the ones you have in the pictures... I would say the centre left of the top picture is the one I would say is most 'ripe' for conversion.