Attaching Armour : Tutorial

[mixmastermace]

What about those of us that don't have resin copies of our armor lying around?

How do you mark the holes in that case? Or do you just make paper/cardboard copies?

 

[younginfett]

looks nice Daz i used the good ol snap method and that worked well but this is great

 

[mandosoldier]

How would I make resin copies? anyway to do it with stuff around the house?

Just finished attaching my chest armour to the vest. i used steel eyelets, as can be seen on the ILM props. i bought the eyelets from a 'Hobbycraft' store, they are very easy to attach, everything is included in the pack except a hammer.

You can trace around your own armour onto cardboard for a template, but make sure that you keep the same curvature or the holes in your jacket won't line up with the bolts on your armour when finished.

Just a note: If you wish to troop in your armour you will need to cut off any excess bolt when finished (a dremel will do the job), get the bolt as short as possible so it won't dig into you.

 

[never ending fett]

How do you go about this with the collar and back armor bolts? What I mean is do you have a seperate attachment point for the collar armor to the vest that is different from where the collar and back armor connect with the "keyboard key" bolts/studs. And following this same train of thought, when you are attching the backplate you can't really use this method can you? How could you screw it on once the vest is on you? Would you just use velcro or snaps then on the back along with the bolts/studs?

I hope I made this clear...not sure how best to ask this...i'll wait to attach the collar and back until I get that all figured out i guess.

 

[mandosoldier]

the collar should overlap with the backplate, therefore you can make the studs into bolts themselves. This way you can bold on the cape and have a hinge like atachment, the rest of it is snaps or velcro.

 

[Ribdo]

My attachment issues have been solved

 

[Ronin677]

umm....I think i will use this method to attach my brand *NEW* BM armour

 

[Aaron]

What sort of epoxy filler did you use?

 

[LadySewforus]

I have a question.

Do you find that the vest material holds up ok to the stress of the eyelets?

Do you think that a reinforcement in the area of the eyelet would be helpful?

Could you please send a diagram to me of where you place the eyelets.

I am considering adding reinforcement to my vests, before they are sewn together.

Do you think that the location of the eyelets would be about the same for everyone?

What I am think of is placing a reinforcing patch, on the inside of the vest, that would be under the locations of where the eyelet will go.

So, if the eyelet will be withing a 2 inch radius, I could add this to the vest and the actual eyelet, could be adjusted to the individual the the reinforcing fabric would still be in a good place to do the job.

Everyone........please let me know your opinions.

Thanks!

 

[bobamaker]

What sort of epoxy filler did you use?

I use an automotive epoxy filler.

DAZ

 

[bobamaker]

The jacket is certainly strong emough to hold the armour, I didn't need to reinforce at all.

You can see where I attached the bolts on my photos, they are indicated by the holes on the template armour. For the shoulders I used one on each side and one at the top (3 for each).

I think that the location of the eyelets will work for all makes of armour.

Hope this helps
DAZ

I have a question.

Do you find that the vest material holds up ok to the stress of the eyelets?

Do you think that a reinforcement in the area of the eyelet would be helpful?

Could you please send a diagram to me of where you place the eyelets.

I am considering adding reinforcement to my vests, before they are sewn together.

Do you think that the location of the eyelets would be about the same for everyone?

What I am think of is placing a reinforcing patch, on the inside of the vest, that would be under the locations of where the eyelet will go.

So, if the eyelet will be withing a 2 inch radius, I could add this to the vest and the actual eyelet, could be adjusted to the individual the the reinforcing fabric would still be in a good place to do the job.

Everyone........please let me know your opinions.

Thanks!

 

[LadySewforus]

It sounds like reinforcement would not be needed.

Thanks!

 

[Ronin677]

I use an automotive epoxy filler.

DAZ

Daz,

what brand did you use? I was thinking of using 2 part epoxy resins but i am sure they won't be strong enough.

 

[HeadlessHunter]

I would suggest Isopon P38, ive used it in the past alot, great stuff, stinks though

 

[GCNgamer128]

What about using JB Weld?

 

[thundrkiss]

Help ,
where can I find the eyelets at ? I've looked everywhere and all the ones I can find are too large for the job.....

 

[never ending fett]

I got mine at Jo-Anne's

 

[Murphoid]

Help ,
where can I find the eyelets at ? I've looked everywhere and all the ones I can find are too large for the job.....

If they haven't stopped carrying fabric and crafts (like many around the country have:rolleyes) your local Wal*Mart should have the right sized eyelets. If not, they may have what you need at a camping supply, as they are often used to repair tents.

 

[GrottyFurball]

I find them at the hardware store

 

[Slave I]

I used a similar method on my first set of armor. I put the bolts on first, though, and chalked the tips to mark the fabric while the vest was on my mannquin. I think I did one piece at a time to ensure the chalk didn't come off in the handling. It's been years, so my memory is a little fuzzy on that.

On the inside of the vest, I had a plastic sheet insert that basically acted as a big washer with holes for all the bolts. The plastic sections, cut to fit each section of armor, sandwiched the vest.

On the new setup I'm working on, I was hoping to try the craft push pins, with the metal pinch clip on the other side (not sure of the exact name for those). Wondering how well they will hold up the weight of fiberglass armor, but I have a bunch of them. They would elimate some of the work if all you have to do is push the pins through the fabric, and it would also allow for ease in upgrading or changing armor while keeping the vest intact. Don't know if this will work or not, but I'll be trying it soon.