[Is it accurate /required?]

1 hour ago, Vanedor said:

But I certainely never mentioned to them that I was a woman! Odd.. but thanks, that tend to confirm to me that it's not something standard that ought to be there.

 

When you order the uniform, one of the drop-downs you choose is whether it's for a man or a woman.   If you ordered it, you specified.  If someone else bought it, who knows?

[Need help with boot question]

Spanish style tops is definitely still ok.

 

I'm not sure about the stretch panel.  Others will need to weigh in on that.  I'd tentatively guess ok, at least for basic, but I'm not sure about higher levels.  Need someone with authority to weigh in.

[Officer belt finishing]

7 hours ago, Toran said:

While we're on the subject of positioning the belt:
Top or bottom belt margin on uniform line, or centered over it?

 

Positioned over your belly button, and concealing the seam.  Whereever that puts it.

[Is it accurate /required?]

I see the photo no problem.  That looks to me like a bust dart, added to account for the shaping for a woman's bosom.  Was this tunic made for a woman originally?

[Officer belt finishing]

6 hours ago, Toran said:

I've been wondering about using the exact same tactic on my Line Officer. Not sure if that will let me go L3 with it though...

 

It's a normal tactic.  The Velcro is under the belt, so it's never seen.  Won't affect L3 at all, in fact it can help if it assists making your costume look better while wearing it.  Just make sure you can't SEE the Velcro, and it's all good.

[Tailor in los angeles area]

Well, that's exactly what Jeff did for my tunic and pants, and my wife's.

[Imperial Officer Riding Boots]

Todd's Costumes (Han Solo boots are the same thing)

 

Hessen Antiques

 

Also actual equestrian supply shops generally carry them, too, although they usually have the less-accurate (but still approvable to level 3) Spanish tops.

[Tailor in los angeles area]

What specifically are you having done?  My tailor is in Burbank, and he did a great job tweaking the fit of the tunic for both my wife and I.  (The CosplaySky tunics weren't a perfect fit, even with custom sizing... not a surprise, but still)

 

http://renaissancedancewear.com/

 

Call and ask for Jeff Shoenberg.  Tell him Kalani sent you.

[Belt Box Measurements]

While I don't have my boxes handy to measure, I would guess (from memory) that 1" is correct.  They're not that deep.

 

I'm reasonably sure Philo lists the dimensions of his boxes somewhere in his sales thread.  They're pretty much considered the go-to boxes for accuracy, so he likely has it right.

[Officer belt finishing]

5 hours ago, lorddread said:

Greetings,
BELT QUESTION:
I have a black leather belt, and a WHITE grand Admiral....what can i do to keep the BLACK DYE 

from rubbing off on to the WHITE? 

 

Resolene, based on this thread:

 

 

[Planning a Merr Sonn Power 5 Build, Will this kit work?]

Great!  Be sure to post pics.

[What do you wear underneath Imperial Staff Officer?]

9 hours ago, Hawk said:

I wear my moisture wicking, athletic IOC Pullover Jersey.

 

And the next run of these will be...

 

[Are these boots acceptable?]

^^ Agreed, you can't have that extra stitch line across the top.

[What do you wear underneath Imperial Staff Officer?]

It's never actually too cold in SoCal, else I might wear the same sort of underarmor layer I wear under my stormtrooper armor.  So instead I wear a t shirt.  Sometimes star wars related, other times simply a normal white undershirt like I'd wear under a dress shirt.

[Planning a Merr Sonn Power 5 Build, Will this kit work?]

I'm heading out for a troop in about 10 minutes, but next time I have a chance, I'll poke around and see if I can find the thread I'm thinking of.  I do remember the guy was asking if a nice looking metal (cheap) airsoft he found was any good, and there was a discussion and some links traded, and I'm pretty sure I posted in the thread at some point, if that helps any.

 

Meanwhile, happy hunting!

[Are these boots acceptable?]

While actual quality cannot be determined from the photos, by appearance, they look like good leather Jack boot replicas.  Perfect for level 1 and 2.  They lack the top adjustment strap, so they would not pass level 3.

[Planning a Merr Sonn Power 5 Build, Will this kit work?]

I would skip that airsoft gun, based on the first review:

 

"This is most certainly NOT a 1:1 replica. Despite the information on the description, and the box itself.  See photo attached.  If you're looking for this for a DL-44 Blaster prop, RUN away from this item. A full size C96 Mauser is 13". Not 9."

 

You'll want a full size 1:1 replica, like a Denix or just a different airsoft mauser.  There have been a few threads here on IOC in the past 6 months listing a few eBay vendors that were selling full scale airsofts.

 

You might also just check with the Etsy vendor to see what they say about a recommended pistol base.  They might have some specific models in mind that work especially well with the scale of their greeblies.  Otherwise, you'll have to buy one, cross your fingers, and hope it works out.  Fortunately it's not horribly expensive, so a second try won't necessarily cost a fortune.

 

As for the Etsy kit itself, it appears to be decent, from the photos, but there's no way to truly know until you're holding the parts in your hand and start working with how they fit on YOUR blaster.  I used 3D parts in mine, which I printed myself using models from various free sources around the web, and I'm quite happy with how it came out.

 

For paint, there are a couple of philosophies, and it partially depends on how much work you want to put into it.  Some people like to start right off with a flat black paint (Krylon or similar paint that adheres to plastic), and others like to put down a base of silver first, theory being any scratches to the upper black surface might expose the silver and look more like real wear and tear.  Of course, the base pistol is mostly metal anyway, so I'm not sure how necessary that is for that part, but you might try that with the plastic greeblies.

 

Once they're painted and dried, you can glue them on (or glue them on first and coat the whole thing with one coat of paint... depends on which look you prefer).  My personal preference is for E6000 over superglue (aka CA glue) or epoxy, because it holds very strongly (as do the other two of course), but, with a little determined effort, you actually can remove parts if you decide to you want to upgrade to a metal kit or simply build the base gun into a different blaster down the road, (or should you need to replace a damaged plastic part), without risking damage to the whole thing.

 

Once you have a base layer of black down (painting the grips is optional, btw... you can stick with wood tones or go all black, both have been seen so both are acceptable), then just normal weathering and aging techniques would apply, if needed.  I didn't really feel mine needed much aging, and of course it will get some on it's own as time passes.

 

My MSP5 was built on a Denix base:

 

 

[Yet another boots thread]

21 minutes ago, Keever said:

I always prefer buying local, but sometimes budget and/or availability get in the way. 

What options are recommended?

 

The three online options I see recommended most often are Hessen Antiques and Todd's Costumes (the Solo Boots) for the most accurate boots with the flat tops, or Riders Mall for the (still) Level 3 approveable Spanish tops.

 

I'd definitely check local equestrians shop, and you can check Etsy and eBay to see if you get lucky with used boots, too.

[Yet another boots thread]

Jackboots are not correct (or approvable) for a Staff Officer.

 

It would be nice if IB would start making the Officer Boots again.  They used to.

 

Sorry I don't have any CA-specific boot sources for you, assuming you're looking to buy local.  There are a number of options online, of course.

[Imperial Officer ID Sewing Tutorial]

Hey Hawk, how goes progress on the rest of the tutorial?  One of these days I kinda want to try to make my own (esp if I do a Staff Officer), and see how if compares to my CosplaySky uniform.

[Belt Box Measurements]

29 minutes ago, Dousi71 said:

Which I'm guessing is just sheet aluminum that was shaped/bent from the looks of it.

 

Yes, exactly.

[Asking for high resolution pictures]

For the best photos, take a look in the Imperialist and Executor application threads.

[Belt Box Measurements]

15 minutes ago, Dousi71 said:

Just out of curiosity, do these have to be made out of metal or can they be 3d printed?

 

I've seen silver-painted plastic boxes (which is basically what 3D printing will get you), but I don't know if they're still approvable or not.  I can tell you they don't look very good compared to actual metal boxes.

[Imperial Officer Phrases]

Don't think I won't use that excuse.

[Imperial Officer Phrases]

Nicely done, Matt!

 

I guess I'll have to find a different excuse for a Star Wars marathon now. LOL