Discussion on Velcro VS. Snaps within the Boba Fett Armor forum, part of the Boba Fett category; Hey all- Im sure this is on here somewhere so...
Hey all- Im sure this is on here somewhere so... forgive me if it is. Anyhow, I know the preferred method to use when placing armor is that of snaps, or so ive heard. Is there anyone that prefers velcro (industrial strength)? It seems that this may make for a very sturdy hold, not to mention easy to adjust and remove. Please post thoughts on this.
Thanks
B
Have you ever tried to sew on sticky-back velcro? Almost all industrial strength velcro is sticky back and very difficult to sew on with either a machine or hand stitching. I only use velcro to hold on my chest diamond as far as armor attachment. I've also heard that the ends of braids can get caught in the velcro loops or that the attaching and detatching of the loops from one another as you bend makes your costume kind of noisy.
Great insite apolifka..thanks bud!
Magnets...
Hey redkray...never even thought of magnets?! If you have done this w/ your great set-up, please do post photos!
The other thing I can say about velcro is that I have experienced condensation/sweat going through to the armor and causing the valcro to come off of the armor. REDKRAY I think is on to something. The magnets wouldn't allow for a significant amount of adjusting, but more than snaps would allow. I'm assuming some very heavy duty earth magnets.
Great input guys! Thanks
I'll be posting up pics very soon in my (still to be finished) build thread. I'm upgrading my chest set, collar and cod to all my V2 stuff so I'll be redoing those, so be on the lookout!
Awesome bud.....will be looking fwd!
B
I can't use magnets because half the time I'm wearing my suit, I am DJing and scared to death of erasing laptop hard drive with magnets (which I know it's shielded against, but it's how I pay my mortgage, so I don't wanna lose anything). I have a combination of velcro and snaps. I buy double the velcro: industrial stick on hooks for the armor and sew on loops for the vest. All the corners are snaps with the velcro in between and the more tricky places. Shoulders are just velcro, never had a problem with my horsehair braids getting caught in there.
I have to do a lot more because I still don't have a real flak vest. I'm on my second "t-shirt vest" which is super inaccurate, but a lot cheaper (just hem up the bottom and sleeves, then cut the back and re-close with snaps). It's light and stretchy material, so keeping the armor where it needs to be takes a lot of attachments and some support on the inside. One day I'll get a real vest, but this thing is hot enough with a t-shirt over the flightsuit. Also, that's still below "build a jetpack" on my to-do list.
Ok heres my 2 pennies worth...magnets stick to other magnets and metal when you want to wash your vest, its going to get stuck to itself and make for a somewhat PITA...which is why i chose snaps the first time around. Nuts and bolts is the actual preferred way from the actual suit. You can use velcro and have no issues with braids sweat thickness of the velcro ect...if you get the velcro that does NOT have the sticky backing its made for sewing onto military uniforms and such....use the soft side from that...then take the industrial stuff the hook part and stick that to the plates...add glue around the edges to seal it (something we do with munitions items that fly around on Jets at mach) That will work fine and hold onto the vest. My NVG battery pack stays put with that velcro on my helmet just fine. The plastic plates have no issues. Now as far as snaps go...they work like screws not to bad attaching em, placement isnt east but its doable. Velcro is the easiest way though
If you want to wash your vest you just take everything off. Since the magnets are holding to themselves through the fabric, there's not much to mess with, you would simply take them off. It would take like 2 minutes to take it all apart to throw the vest in the washer.
I added these pieces to keep the plates/magnets from grabbing onto each other. I didn't have to glue them or anything at all to the magnets and it keeps all the plates nice and stiff and in place...works great
The edges were filed and ground down so they're not sharp anymore, just didn't take pics
Last edited by redkraytdragon; 02-03-2012 at 06:10 AM.
I went with the nut and bolt method. Its sounds uncomfortable, but once you cut the bolts down you cant tell that they are there. I chose not to use Velcro as I was paranoid it could come undone to easy. The nut and bolt method really does secure the armor to the vest and its easy to take off. Although I used snaps on the collar and groin armor.
Daz put up an excellent tutorial that helped me out a lot. Its also screen accurate as well
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f25/a...utorial-20322/
Welsh
Not permanently in the vest but under it I LIKE IT
my issue with velcro is the noise when you move. you get that velcro crinkle sound.
i did nuts and bolts for mine.
I'm in the process of adding snaps to mine. I've never trusted velcro, and I don't like that sound it makes like Brian says. Also, my heavier BM armour could use some reliable support to stay on there.
I have velcro on my aluminium armour. Doesn't make a sound when I move and holds everything in place for hours at a time. My armour is probably just as heavy or heavier than anything else out there and I've never had anything even look like coming off.
It also means that if the time ever came for me to sell my gear, the velcro could be unstitched from the vest and would leave no holes or marks for the next person to have to change.
I could also replace my armour with another set in the future and not have to worry about lining up the snaps.
Thanks to everyone for the excellent input, experience and acute insite as it was all extremely helpful. I ended up using snaps along w/ one strip of velcro on each piece. When I do my BF I will most likely go the same route. After doing my sons set-up and my jango I feel fairly comfortable w/ this method. Let me know what you guys think.
Thanks again
B
Last edited by dynamic1; 02-04-2012 at 12:02 AM.
I feel pretty dumb, but is there a step by step direction anywhere on how to get your snaps properly aligned with your armor? My vest is starting to look like swiss cheese with all the holes I'm making/removing with these snaps because I just can't seem to get them lined up properly
Hey verbal- What I did w/ the jango was (with the help from obro) glued the female end of the snaps onto the armor. Once dried, I chalked the snaps and (with the vest on and in front of a mirror) lined up the collar onto the vest first, pressed firmly and vuallah there are your markers. Definatley begin w/ the collar as its easy to line everything up from there. Hope this helps.
B
thanks dynamicI'll try that. I think I was making this more difficult than I had to for myself. Hopefully, I can get some time this weekend. What kind of glue did you use?
Hey Verbal- No prob man..Yes, its a bit stressfull at first but then it becomes routine. You know, I have this hot glue that seems to be super strong as I havent had any prob w/ it. Also, I dont plan on trooping in 100 degree weather for hours on end so I think I can get away w/ itOriginally Posted by Verbal21
thanks dynamic. Anyways, I have had epoxy break on me so I believe the flexibility of the hot glue seems to do the job. I did rough the armor up a bit where I glue the snaps which allows it to adhese nice and firm.
B
Here's a method I've been using for years with great success. You'll need a good amount of leather boot lacing so buy it in a spool. Next purchase a 24" x 24" section of scrap leather rawhide. Cut the rawhide into 1 1/4" squares then punch 2 holes into each rawhide square side-by-side using a small hole punch and hammer. Do this over a scrap piece of wood so not to dull your hole punch tool. Once you've got all your rawhide squares cut and punched put them aside and get your spool of leather boot lace. Cut the boot lace into 10" lengths. You'll need about 2-3 dozen lengths for the job. Now we have to center and mark your body armor on your vest! Trace all your body armor onto construction paper and cut each one out to make a stencil. Mark your connection spots on each paper stencil with a pencil then punch a hole over your marks with a paper hole punch. After you've marked and punched all the holes in your paper armor stencils simply tape them to your flak vest. Do this while the flak vest is on the mannequin and not on a flat surface. Once the paper stencils have been centered take a pencil and mark the punched holes of your stencils onto your flak vest. Remove your paper stencils and remove your flak vest from the mannequin. Now here's where your personal preference comes into play... You can either simply punch holes into your flak vest over your pencil marks with a sharp pencil or xacto knife whatever or you can do the more laborious task of movie accuracy and place brass grommets over every marked hole using a grommet tool? I prefer the grommets myself. Now go to your real body armor...Take the same paper stencil and mark the backside of your body armor with a pencil then texture the area with some sandpaper. Using fiberglass resin with a thickening agent, Bondo or resin paste etc. bond each and every leather boot lace folded at it's center to each pencil mark on your body armor. Once this is completed and allowed to cure insert each leather lace one at a time through it's proper grommet hole located on the flak vest. Take your pre-cut leather squares with the 2 holes punched and fish the laces into each hole of the leather square pulling the armor firmly against the flak vest and tie the leather laces into a knot right up against the leather square like you would a button & thread. Repeat this with all other laces and squares and you'll have a secure setting that is both comfortable and practical. In my opinion this what they did with the movie version. Hope this helps.
Christian
Last edited by Man of War Studios; 02-13-2012 at 03:59 PM.
Hey MOW- Great method...can you post some pics? I gotta check this out bud. : )
B
When I get to doing this on my Supertrooper flak vest I'll be sure and do a photo tutorial. Good idea
Hey Redkraytdragon! What brand of earth magnet would you recomend (I really like you method. It looks sturdy from the pics and doesn't require modification to the vest.)? Also, would the earth magnets affect the LED display (if one were to have that in their costume) in the breast plate?
PS. How durable would you say the magnet attachment method is? good for just walking around, or can you also get away with running or doing more physically taxing activities while trooping?
I am currently in the middle of attaching my armor, and I've gotta say... the snaps are turning out great. They're very sturdy, strong, and they are capable of pulling the armor in pretty tight. I'm using Dritz 5/8" heavy duty snaps on 3mm Sintra. To pull the armor in close, I sanded out a recessed area (about halfway thru the Sintra) for each snap, then filled it with JB Weld. Pressed the snap into the weld and sanded out any areas around it.
The collar was a pain to line up, but the shoulders and chest pieces have been fairly easy. Highly recommend the recessed snaps (or bolts, they're pretty much the same IMHO after some testing on scrap)
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