Raider's Shadow Scout Build

[Chef[501st]]

Boots are being done next week, everything else is ready to go.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Awesome! Thanks for the update.

 

Attended an armor party today. Basically sanded for 8 hours, met some troopers that are more than willing to help as well, and finally got going. On a cool note...the biker scouts in attendance were extremely impressed with your armor kit Chef...one even said "jealous." : ) They also didn't seem to think much trimming needed to be done as you did most of it and the armor works well with my size (standard 5'9"/5'10").

 

I did have a question as I am going to meetup with one this week to keep working on it...

 

Paint. The CRL mentions gloss or semi-gloss. You mentioned satin (which I love the look of yours). The satin should have no approval issues?

 

Also regarding painting, on your site you recommend straps after painting...doing the satin...is it still possible to do that after straps? What about the t-bits and greeblies...do those get painted or are they attached as-is after painting?

 

Final question...the side straps on the chest/back armor...elastic or the thicker textile? We started using the thicker textile to make those straps and then I think I read elastic should be used (either on your site or the CRL).

 

Thanks in advance for the input. Hope to have some update pics after this week.

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

What garrison are you going to be a part of? Your gsrrisons gml will make the ultimate decision on approval . Id get on the garrison board and send them a message about satin.

[Chef[501st]]

The paint thing will be dependant on your particular GML. I would discuss it with them first.

 

If you are the first Storm Commando, then I would make a serious recommendation for the use of Satin (Semi-gloss) because I think it looks better and makes them look a lot meaner.

If you are not, then it will probably be pertinent to follow the lead and keep the uniformity within your Garrison.

 

(all of the UKG ones are Satin)

 

Both are fully approvable on the CRL so you 'shouldn't' have issue with either.

 

 

It is possible to paint after you have strapped it up, although it's easier to do it prior to strapping. You may just have to whip some masking tape around the straps or move them out of the way whilst spraying.

 

Greeblies are attached as is. They then provide little tiny bits of contrast on the costume, rather than it looking all 'flat'. Because it's all black, you ideally need little points of contrast, greeblies, helmet snout, bund fabric, suede etc to give the costume some depth.

Remember to paint the chest indent gloss (or mask it off and leave it the gloss of the base armour).

 

 

Side straps... Recent discoveries within the Scout community have revealed that the side straps are webbing, rather than elastic, similar to the stuff used for the drop straps.

Now, using webbing doesn't give you any flexibility (to breathe) across the back/chest.

So I don't affix it to the back. I have the webbing secured on velcro to the chest, and then it goes through the slots on the back plate with a small length of elastic between the two across the back.

This way the straps can have a bit of flex as you breathe and move about, but you still have the correct webbing straps visible.

 

But either webbing or elastic are still clearable on the CRL guidelines, so that's a personal preference thing.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Thanks for advice. I will be in the Tampa (Florida) Garrison. There's only one Shadow Scout in the Tampa Garrison itself...she has gloss armor. I really don't want to do gloss though. Showed Tampa heads a pic of the satin and they loved it. Not sure if they are GMLs (?) though. We'll see what happens. Noob question...what's a GML and how would I find that person lol?

 

Either way, I'm going to paint the armor so this should be the last question on that...do I need to some sanding of the armor with an ultra fine grit prior painting to help paint stick or is that unnecessary?

[Chef[501st]]

The GML (Garrison Member Liaison) is the person who 'clears' your costume before you are allowed to use it. They then do all the necessary admin to the 501st.

 

How you find them?? Well... for mine. I normally just shout something rude and wait for them to pick up on it! I'm sure yours might be different.

 

If they're happy for you to go Satin, then I suggest you do.

 

 

Painting wise. You can just spray as is. It will rub off a little easier, but then that's no bad thing as it shows another bit of weathering contrast as it shows up gloss underneath.

Or you can hit it with a bit of ScotchBrite (like a pan scourer) to just give a fine key to the plastic.

 

Either way works.

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

The gml will be listed on the detachment page on 501st.com. contact information is usually there too. Dont hesitate to just pose the question on your garrison board. Theyll get you in the right direction to your gml.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Getting to the point where pics are coming soon. Met up w/ 2 biker scouts yesterday and we cut all the slots in the armor pieces and attached the tank to the back plate. My next step is to paint...followed by strapping. As they are bikers, they aren't totally familiar w/ the Storm Commando specs so I have a couple more quesions...

 

1) The rivets on the top and bottom of the tank...should they be painted or not?

 

2) The tank is not 100% flush w/ the backplate...they said that's normal (and one of them is the CRL model for the snow scout). I'm assuming that's correct but if you have other input on that, let me know please.

 

3) Since painting is next I've gotten different feedback but I think I want to roll w/ mi maestro Senor De Chef. Just to clarify...no primer necessary (you don't recommend it actually)...just a wet/dry 400 grit and satin black paint.

 

I plan on painting this week and getting to strapping...hope to have everything but the bucket done before Christmas. Thanks!!!

[Chef[501st]]

1: Yup, paint the rivets black. If you forget to do it... a sharpie marker is always a good back-stop.

 

2: There can be a small gap on the tank yes... Depends on how well you've trimmed it up.

 

It is possible to get it pretty tight, but its not critical.

 

 

3: Yup, straight to top coat is fine. I would use a much finer paper though to give the base key. Say 1500-2000 (or find some Scotchbrite). That way you won't get any visible sanding marks in your paint. If you use too coarse a wet/dry you'll be able to see the marks.

 

Fine if you're going to hit it with a primer... not so if you're going straight to paint.

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

*corrected my previous so it properly reads gml

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Man ur tank is much closer to the back plate than what we did. The guys were pretty adamant it wasnt an issue so thats not a really concern. I just know me (and my OCD-like perfection seeking tendencies)...it will bother me till I fix it. I guess Ill have to redo (repurchase) the backplate/tank at some point after approval since this one is already riveted in place.

[Chef[501st]]

Nah, should be easy to do... just re-drill the back plate when it's in the new position. Use a longer shank rivet and a spare bit of plastic on the inside of the back plate to relieve the stress on the backplate itself.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Ugh...I think I may cry.

 

Plastic between the rivet hole and the edge of the armor on the bottom of the tank cracked when trying to remove the rivet. Not a big crack but it def split even though I thought I worked on it slowly (almost 2 hours lol). After that, I'm not touching the top rivet on the tank that goes through the topper piece. I think I'm going to need someone to help me attach the new rivet at the bottom. Did trim some more off the tank and I think it can be reattached slightly more flush...the trick is getting it attached and somehow fixing this crack. Yay.

 

I suck at this.

 

On a positive note, I started painting...tested one of the belt boxes and it looks great.

 

You know Chef...homes in Florida aren't too expensive and I know of some nice ones near my house ; )

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Hang in there. Cracks can be fixed if not too bad just as tivet holes can be filled using acetone, abs glue and spare plastic.

[Chef[501st]]

Everything is repairable dude... Get some close up pictures of it and I shall try to assess it for a remedy.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Well...some pics...first one is just a test photo paint comparing satin to the original gloss.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Here are pics of the tank...one you can see the up close small crack around the rivet hole.

 

The others show where I marked how far I need to bring the tank down so it's more flush, the original placing (notice the large gap) that caused me to remove the rivet, and then what the spacing would look like when I've attached it lower/tighter.

 

I trimmed it some, but I'm a bit shaky on if I should do more to get it more flush or if I'll just make the spacing worse.

 

So my questions...how do I get this reattached since the new rivet hole will overlap with the old one slightly? How can that crack be repaired...glued/sanded/painted or something else?

 

THANKS!!!

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Ok...so I'm having trouble uploading directly here (a limit of some sort maybe...I dunno)...I will upload the pics elsewhere and post the links. Sorry.

[toddo[TX]]

I use Photobucket and then simply paste the IMG codes in each post. It works a treat.

[Chef[501st]]

Same as Todd.

 

Works faultlessly.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Testing if this works...if so...it's a pic of the crack in the tank at the bottom of the rivet hole...

 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Another pic of the tank...here you can see the line I marked where I need to bring the tank down lower/tighter on the back plate. The problem I see is that the old rivet hole in the backplate is going to overlap with a new hole I drill.

[RAIDER[COTG]]

[RAIDER[COTG]]

Here is the original placing of the tank (the guys who helped said it was fine but I want it more flush). Son holding it in place in the reflection lol.

 

[RAIDER[COTG]]

This is what the tank SHOULD look like after I bring it down further and tighter. Not sure I should trim more or not...if that will help the tank fit the mold of the backplate better or just make the gap worse. Not sure what the boy is doing with his face in this one haha.