Chargrilled

Progress has slowed slightly, although today I sent Mike of LS payment for my suit and confirmed the details with him, also sent him PM07's picture as a reference. Jason of IGS has telemetry boxes on the way and is touching up his IAT mold. Also ordered my DH-17 which will be sent to Burkbench who can make a custom holster to match the unique ones in the art. Main issue at the minute is the patches from WTF. Made a post in the Facebook group enquiring about lead times, just waiting for a response Slowly but surely.

Already got myself some Commuter boots, I was just commenting on the difficulty of finding them and asking about the holster. Thanks anyway Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

The Commuter boots are fantastic but unfortunately they appear to be quite hard to find. eBay/Amazon/similar sites draw blanks at the minute sadly. It seems I was exceptionally lucky to find a pair in my size. On the topic of holsters, I'm talking with Burkbench about having a holster made that matches the images I posted above to fit a DH-17, which I should be ordering soon. I'm thinking that I should have the holster made in black leather then spray it with the Montana Gold so that it matches the boots and other components rather than try to source a matching green leather, which I imagine would be very difficult. Thoughts/issues with this idea?

Montana Gold Olive Green

They are Hunters Bay Commuter Boots. Never sprayed anything before, but I think they turned out alright Ronan originally found the boots and I grabbed a pair on eBay.

On the topic of painting items, I can attest to the usefulness of the Montana Gold olive green. Just a few minutes ago I sprayed the Commuter ankle boots (credit to Ronan) using the Montana Gold. Thought I'd post here to see what people think, as I know quite a few people might not have seen my build thread. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

The boots are now painted, and personally I think they look great and very close to the reference images. Thoughts? Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

That's fair, I understand your reasoning. I still think that the points regarding the holsters might be good for some Level 2 requirements, similar to the olive green boots. If so I might look at having one made to go with a DH-17

Can't say for sure as I haven't really paid this much attention to specific sidearms before, but I'm convinced the cross-draw Trooper is packing a DL-18. If we're right then this might be the first confirmed instance; has to start somewhere I suppose I looked them up and like the DH-17 and E-11 they're manufactured by BlasTech, a major supplier for the Empire, so I think it's quite a reasonable explanation.

Wasn't my intent to raise the question of which side to wear the holster on, as the references show it can be worn on either side It was more about wearing the holster and blaster backwards in the cross-draw style. Cool to see that everyone seems agreed that this would be acceptable. Also Josh I agree with your assessment that the blaster in the reference I included above is a DL-18. As you pointed out the grip is far too curved and far too fat, and the stock/receiver far too short, for it to be an E-11 or DH-17. I also noticed that the bottom face of the grip also appears to be flat like a DL-18, while the same areas on the E-11 and DH-17 are significantly angled. As well as this I took a closer look, and I believe the holster worn by the DL-18/cross-draw Trooper is the same one worn by the Dress Army Officers/Staff Officers, showing that at the very least they carry very similarly shaped blasters. With both of these points in mind it's very easy to picture a mix of both DL-18s and DH-17s among both Troopers and Officers. For example: Officer Holster The front face is flat and covers the entire length of the blaster. The back face is shaped to match the blaster, and most likely features a cutout that means the handle of the blaster is not covered. The back face also appears to taper to a curve that meets the front face and covers the tip of the blaster, meaning that the barrel does not protrude from the holster. The top is flat and features a flap closure secured by a single snap. The outside face which faces the Officer's arm is also flat with the exception of the flap. Trooper Holster Same flat top with flap closure and same shaping in place on the back edge. Also shows that the back edge, at least on Troopers, does indeed have the cutout for the handle. The only difference appears to be the colour of the leather. DL-18 Trooper DH-17 Trooper Seems that Troopers wear either a black or green holster, on the left or right, facing forwards or backwards, and made of leather or nylon. Talk about spoilt for choice lol. I think it would be great to have the DL-18 as an extra option for a sidearm. Also as far as I can tell, we now have about as much evidence for Troopers carrying DL-18s as we do for them carrying DH-17s, so why not more pew-pew? Someone please let me know if I seem like I'm starting to ramble

Another question I thought I should ask: I'm sure most people know that ANH E-11s have to be worn on the left side due to the magazine sticking out. Due to the placement of my pouches on my belt, there's no space on the left side for my E-11 holster, so I did some experimenting with wearing the holster backwards on the right side, so that the E-11 can be accessed in a cross-draw fashion. In my opinion this looks pretty good, and is actually much easier than trying to draw the E-11 on the left side, even with my left-handedness. The reference below also shows that some Army Troopers do wear their holsters in this fashion. I feel that even with an ESB E-11 I would still prefer wearing it like this. What are people's thoughts on having this as an extra option for those who go with a holster and blaster? (if it isn't already, lol)

Delay on spraying the boots as I sprained my ankle Friday. Will hopefully be able to get them sprayed next weekend.

In regards to the pouches, is it presumed that these should look like they're full of stuff for an 'in-use' appearance? I was thinking of picking up 2 thermal detonators (the sphere kind seen in RoTJ and Battlefront etc., 1 for each front handcuff pouch), but wanted to hear opinions on having thermal detonators as IATs. I would assume that as frontline Troops and the backbone of the Imperial Army, they would generally carry 1+ of these for use in assaults & maneuvers, in the same vain of the USMC's famous axiom of "Every Marine is a Rifleman". If it made sense for any non-TK Imperial costume to have thermal detonators, Army Troopers would be at the top of the list. Also, they're awesome. Could make for some good photo ops while Trooping, and a fun prop/display piece when not. I'm not proposing we add them to the CRL, seeing as there are no references and they serve mainly to fill out the pouches. Even if we did, of course this would be completely optional, because they are weapons, which are always optional. Also seeing as you can stuff the pouches with pretty much whatever you want I'm not sure if this question needed to be asked, but as it's also a prop that Troopers might want to take out of the pouch and use I just wanted to ask everyone. Thoughts?

Looks fantastic!

Bought them after I saw your thread, thanks for finding these Ronan Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

More progress! Been a good week. Final pouch arrived, completing the belt: And the goggles were delivered at the same time: And some pictures of the finished belt and harness together. Harness still needs final adjustment for fit and the excess webbing cutting off, but so far I think it's looking good: Patches for the jumpsuit sleeves have been ordered from WTF and will be shipped directly to Mike of LS for fabricating the suit! Getting there!

A lot of good progress made today with the arrival of 3 items in the space of a few hours (what are the odds?) Boots look good, and will scrub up nicely with a coat of olive green paint. With the legs of the jumpsuit bloused over by some trouser twists the zipper should be nearly invisible: Very pleased with the look of the belt with 3 of the 4 pouches attached. MA33 should be arriving very soon to complete this section of the costume: Handmade harness from Matt also came. Love it, just needs properly adjusting and the excess cutting off when I have time: Very excited!

Sounds good to me, will probably leave them black. Can of Montana Gold Olive Green arrived Friday ready to spray the boots when they show up. Condor MA33, belt, googles and harness should be arriving by the end of next week.

Quick update: Ordered a harness from Matt, the Hunters Bay boots, and a pair of UVEX Futura Black Body goggles. Will be picking up a can of Montana Gold Olive Green to spray the boots (and maybe the frame of the goggles). Just the helmet and jumpsuit to sort. Helmet should be fairly easy, just the jumpsuit I'm a little dubious about committing to as it will easily be the most expensive item. That being said however, Mike (Loanstar) is extremely helpful and quick to communicate, so I'm sure if any minor alterations were made to the CRL he'd be more than happy to do them for me.

Me too. Just waiting for a few pics of the prospective jumpsuit to get one commissioned. Also found a pair of L2 boots (Hunters Bay from Ronan's thread), but waiting on pulling the trigger until I'm sure they're accepted. Also found a store in the UK that sells Montana Gold Olive Green to spray the boots. Let me know!

Thanks for the recommendation Chris, my eBay-bought pair arrived today and they're great Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Hi all, Love the Army Trooper so I've started assembling components for the new Trooper CRL that's going to be going live. I know it's not completely final yet but I couldn't resist, so I've only picked up parts that seem to be agreed upon, for example there doesn't seem to be much debate about the olive gloves, the style of pouches, and the belt. Currently talking with Matt Nelson about getting a L2 harness, and with Jason of Intergalactic Supply about his upcoming IAT helmets. Also on order is a Condor MA33 and a Condor PB 2" belt with OD green buckle Gloves - Olive green leather, ex-French Army: Pouches - 2x M47 handcuff pouch and a first response kit very similar to the "additional pouch" image: