Hello everyone. My name is Jon and I've been an Aliens fan since my youth. I remember the younger years back when I played the heck out of my Aliens and Predator toys. Now that I've been an adult for 11 years, I've finally decided to work on constructing a colonial marine persona for conventions and Halloween. After all, someone has gotta win that first place in Halloween costume contests. So far I'm torn between buying armor from spatcave and buying from goldenarmor. What I'm hoping to find is an active group of USCMs local to California in hopes of getting to know those who share this interest and hopefully attend cons alongside them. Well, that's me in a nut shell.

hi and welcome, and to be the first of many to say it, avoid goldenarmour ! go for Spat, Chef or terry English armour

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Pt. Graham "gunny" Green
A07/TQ2.0.12129E1
UKCM 501st Regt. 1st Batt. The Bucketheads

>DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM GOLDENARMOR!!!<

Oh and welcome!

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AKA: Simon

Thank you for the tips. I suppose that I may go with Spat. I was considering Chef for a bit, but his armor seems fitted for the more slender framed individual. That's a concern of mine with Spat as well. I wear an XL (American standard sizing) and that size is very fitting and XXL is just "perfect" by most, but too loose as I prefer well fitted shirts unless I'm feeling bloated or something, plus I am 6 foot 1 tall with broad shoulders. Would it be safe to assume that Spat is a safe bet? Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thank you. Side note: this was my first post in the forums and I completely intended this to be posted as a means of introducing myself, so if anyone feels the need to reroute this to the "introduce yourself" string, I would completely understand.

Spat's is smaller than Chefs, Chefs comes a little bigger and you trim it to fit better. I believe Spat's is moulded from a set of Dietrich armour (don't quote me on that!)

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AKA: Simon

Welcome bud, you're in good company

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All right, sweethearts, what are you waiting for? Breakfast in bed? Another glorious day in the Corps! A day in the Marine Corps is like a day on the farm. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade! I LOVE the Corps!

Oh? I hadn't known this. What does Chef charge for his armor? Hopefully less than Spat. I couldn't seem to find a price on it when searching online. UPDATE: scratch that, I found it. Where does Chef ship out of?

He ships from England,just Send him a PM he is a good chap and his stuff is verry good.

Neil

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Cpl N.Storey A12/TQ2.0.02132E1
MARINE RAIDER

Chef is your man, can't recommend him enough.

We're very fortunate to have a couple of great vendors for this hobby right now. Chef and Spat are both very approachable and have great reps.

Goldenarmor on the other hand will sell you a steaming pile. There are some great threads on here of folks who have managed to salvage *something* from his product, but you can save yourself the headache!

Welcome aboard Marine!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Thank you. Chef seems to be a better fit, but Spat seems the better price after calculating the conversion to American currency and the price for shipping over seas. I'm just hoping his (spat) armor will fit a 48-50 chest size for a 6 foot 1 inch tall guy. The downside is that there just doesn't seem to be a way to find a CA marine with Spat armor to permit me to examine the armor.

Both Spat and Chef are very good options.
I would be surprised if we do not have members in California.
If a picture would help just say so or even better contact Spat (user name Spatman) directly.

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Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

Spat is on here send him a PM, look in the members list for spatman, If memory serves me correct he is number 21

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SSgt Kris "Bloodsucker" Kobus, VAS.
A09/TQ2.0.12136E1

Is the Charter still online? That would give you a list of all the Marines in Cali.

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

I can't seem to find the charter. Would it be acceptable if I were to post request for a California USCM to contact me? What I'm hoping for is to find someone who owns the armor to allow me to take measurements of the armor, examine the armor to take note of the curves and angles and possible try it on to determine if there may be a need to alter Spat armor if I were to go through him (Spatcave). The last could be skipped as some may find that odd, I suppose. I really would prefer an in person examination of the armor prior to dedicating 500+ dollars to armor that may not fit properly. Make sense?

At the moment no as we are revamping and rebuilding

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SSgt Kris "Bloodsucker" Kobus, VAS.
A09/TQ2.0.12136E1