Congratulations Bcurtis! You look terrific. This is one of the best ESB fetts I've seen in the ten years I've been on this site. You and Rick did an excellent job with the suit and you have just the right height and body type to make it work. I'm very impressed.
Just adding some pics of the current state of the jetpack along with some other photos I haven't posted. We're pretty much at the finish line. There was a snafu with my helmet paint up last night but Rick said it shouldn't take more than a week to finish that. Other than that I just have to take my flight suit back to the tailor to have the waist taken up a little since my thigh pockets are too low. Once that's finished, I'll attach some snaps to the cod and kidney plate and attach them to the flight suit. One upgrade that will be arriving later in the year is a Clothears ESB vest. I want to save up to get the flight suit as well, but that can wait.
I did completely rework/upgrade my Kcr7pr harness. The only thing that I kept was the harness base. I scrapped all of the straps and buckles as well as the mounting bar since all were far too inaccurate. I purchased some seat belt webbing, some aluminum flat bar, and some loops (thanks FMF) and went over to Rick's where we got it all together. I am THRILLED with the upgrade. My JP fits super snug now.
All of the following were taken on a cell phone.
Here's the jetpack as it currently sits. The dental file needs to be added as well as the white dot. Other than that, I think we're going to call this finished. I think Rick did an outstanding job on this.
Here is the foam filled resin Pulce that I got from Mike (Stormrider). This is his photo, but one of the blasters is mine. I'm currently painting it.
Here is the rubber EE-3 that I got from Mike as well. I plan on using this at cons and events where I am not permitted to bring the Hand Schaub. The last photo is it next to my Hand Schaub EE-3. The only upgrade I need to do for this is to get the proper size scope. This is awaiting paint.
Here is my re-worked/upgraded Kcr7pr harness. SO much lighter and more comfortable now, plus a much better fit. Adjustments went from difficult to a breeze. (Don't mind the white thread. I was too impatient to wait for us to go get black)
Here are some photos of my flight suit weathering. I'll have to retouch it after the alterations are made to correct the pocket height.
I will continue to update this as we go. If all goes well, I anticipate having a big update later this week. Thanks for looking guys. As always I welcome any criticisms or feedback that will help to make the whole thing better/more accurate.
Well I picked up my flight suit from the tailor today. After seeing photos of my Fett from Awesome Con last month, I realized that my thigh pockets needed a serious face lift as well as being moved more to the outer center of the thigh. As you can see in the photo from the con below the pockets are almost touching the knee armor. Another thing I wasn't happy with was the detached neck seal method. I found that the skirt part of it tended to creep up from under the vest. I asked my tailor to remove the skirt and sew the neck seal directly to the flight suit. I am really happy with the work he did. I tried to snap some photos tonight (sorry for the awful quality. I had no help and was regulated to using the cell phone in low light conditions) of the changes. I will have to weather and blend the areas where the pockets were moved but that shouldn't be too bad. I feel like I have one more trip to the tailor once I have the entire suit completed. I want to get the soft parts fitting me as best as possible. Anyhow, sorry for the poor quality photos. I'll upload some better ones another day.
Pockets right on top of knees and too far inward.
Dark, grainy pics that show new pocket position (don't mind all the baby stuff in the background).The spacing is much better now imo.
Here's some better lit shots I took when I brought it home. You can really see where I have to apply new weathering and blend.
Not sure if you can tell here or not but the neck seal skirt is working its way out from under the vest. I know I could use velcro or something similar but I prefer it being sewn to the flight suit.
As you can see, it's not done 100% screen accurate but I'm okay with it in this case. Since I had to take the photos myself I couldn't get a profile shot. Oh well, next time.
I can't say how much my tailor has improved the look of my Fett. I encourage anyone to get alterations as it really makes a difference when it comes to making the suit fit you properly. It has done wonders for me. That's it for now. I'll post again when I have my stuff back from Ponte. That should be the final entry in this build. Take care everyone!
Piece by piece. Rick sent some pics of the left shoulder bell. The stencil used for it came from the one and only Lou (thanks bro!). I'll keep adding pics and info as I receive them.
And here's the link for RafelFett's dental expander which doesn't look like it can be printed in metal. That being said check the gallery and see if you need the one with the teeth on the top of the expander or the smooth one. Rafs is smooth and toolguys has the teeth.