snaps

has anyone else used snaps to attach their armor to their vest? my armor is plastic and JB weld does not hold the second part of the snap onto the plastic. Anyone else had experience or Ideas?

Attach the snap to some small 1/16" thick pvc squares, then use pvc glue and glue the squares to the back of your armor. They will NEVER come off if you do it right. Your armor is Sintra, correct?

no it's not Sintra I use a thicker plastick than Sintra. It's similar in composition but not as brittle

Originally Posted by skirata

no it's not Sintra I use a thicker plastick than Sintra. It's similar in composition but not as brittle

Do you know what type of plastic it is........? (that would be kinda useful information to know)

not really it's it's tha same type of plastic, a type of abs without the gloss ( which seems to make abs) hard and brittle as well. It they make huge buckets of paint out of. so the oil content is a little higher... i.E. easyier to keep paint. It doesn't sweat oil but is very flexible, durable...It does take velcro really well!!! in fact after 8 hours you darn near have to sand it off..... I haven't tried molding it just yet, like ya can do with sintra because I have no molds but it would be a neat experiment.

Well you can try the method I mentioned, however I can't say for sure it will work. I was under the assumption you were using Sintra, which is basicly expanded PVC and that works awsome. Snaps are kind of a pain in the *** to install so the armor lines up properly, if it's just alittle off your screwed (crooked pieces). Industrial velcro allows you to adjust the placement of you armor pieces so being alittle off is not a big deal. Snaps are cool but alot harder to install IMO.

Also be sure that there is no paint on the plastic surfaces you are joining. I use Devcon Plastic Welder. They usually have it at Walmart.

First be sure that the pieces line up properly to your body.

For mine, I installed snaps to the armor pieces, and then I put a little paint on the ends of each one and pressed it against the vest on my body. It leaves drill spots for the snaps on the vest.

Originally Posted by ShocKWavE

Also be sure that there is no paint on the plastic surfaces you are joining. I use Devcon Plastic Welder. They usually have it at Walmart.

First be sure that the pieces line up properly to your body.

For mine, I installed snaps to the armor pieces, and then I put a little paint on the ends of each one and pressed it against the vest on my body. It leaves drill spots for the snaps on the vest.

YES, That works well also!

I use CA Hotstuff glue on all my styrene flamethrowers, ripcord housings, and d-ring holders...and for basically anything plastic or fiberglass I glue together now-a-days. I used CA glue to attach snaps on my son's styrene armor and my current fiberglass armor and so far only one has come off because I didn't rough up the surface of the styrene good enough.

I'd also recommending laying some 100 or 220 grit sandpaper on a flat surface and scratching up the bottom surface of the snap that you're going to glue that way you give the glue a rough surface to grab on to.

And I second what Shockwave said about Devcon's Plastic Welder. Great stuff and sticks to pretty much anything and has some flexibility to it.

Cruzer

All good advice. I roughed it ( my skirata armor) up and today I am off to see wal mart , or lowes for the glues Thank you guys. Good advice all. mine didn't line up ok anyway but.. yeah I will put the jacket on acually have my son put it on, he is well my personal crash test dummy) paint my snaps then press the armor on in the right spots so the paint tags the back of the armor plates. GREAT tip. I have my snaps in the leather Jacket already so i am loath to pull them out and move them gosh real leather looks cool with Mando armor on it.

I tried the devcon last night. I wanta give it 24 hours but tonight I will see how it holds.

I'm sure you'll be happy with the Devcon Plastic Welder as it lives up to it's name. Just make sure that everything is lined up the way you want it because once the rapidly hardening epoxy sets, it's not coming off. It's worked great thus far on all of my projects but I have trouble working with the fast hardening rate of the epoxy, which is about 5 to 15 minutes, as I don't have the best dexterity in my right hand anymore. Good luck with your snaps!

My armor has a rubber backing to it all, any suggestions about attaching PVC?

These are just about the best snaps to get, they are STRONG. The Wal-Mart snaps pale in comparison...


I then cut a piece of 1/16" ABS plastic, using the extra pieces from the Stormtrooper, and then drill a hold in and hammer in the male snap.


I then score up the armour on the back and sand the area where the snap will be placed, then I use ABS glue to stick the little sucker on.


When the glue dries, I use a piece of charcoal or contate and mark up the end of the snap and stick it on the vest to show where I want it, I then place the female snap where the mark is on the vest and hammer it into place.


Be sure that the glue is 100% dry before you attach the two snaps. Leave the glue out for 1 day. Then you can run around as your Fett

I am not quite sure I understand how you got the female end on your vest GCN.

Ahh okay I see now. Thanks GCN!