Gathered together some more things we did on this build.I posted some of them in other discussions in the forum but figured I may as well have them here to.
After reading how people have had trouble with pull back on the collar armor I worked out this solution for us. To correct the discomfort you have to watch out for two things.
The first are the two slits you make for the rails that the lower jet pack hooks ride on...If the slits aren't low enough the weight of the jet pack will hit the bottom of them and pull down on vest and in turn pull back on the collar armor .
It may not be apparent until you troop a while.
The second,and probably the main cause, is the jet pack tilting back on the pack frame. Or to put it another way,when seen from the side,the pack frame isn't vertical.
When you put the straight frame on the convex curve of your upper back and tighten the waist belt.... the bottom of the pack gets pulled into the concave curve of the lower back.Making it tilt back.
To fix this I built a foam pad to fill in the space between the frame and lower back. When the waist belt is tight the jet pack stays vertical. Now the back armor slides between the frame and jetpack and connects without pull back
to the collar armor.
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The 501st CRL states that the straps for the jet pack are white but they are clearly gray in ESB.
I used this spray dye and then wiped them to even the color a bit.
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Another tip that works well is to use a stapler to hold straps or Velcro in position.
When satisfied just squeeze or tap with a hammer to make them tight. Easy removal for adjustment.
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Here I used them for extra hold with sticky back Velcro on the jet pack straps.
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We also added extra shoulder pads for comfort. Found on E-Bay.
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Thought a lot about the best way to connect the kidney and cod armor for easy suiting up.
Again on E-Bay we found this Velcro belt...kind of military or law enforcement grade, but not expensive.
Used nylon nuts and bolts to attach the kidney armor with one permanent costume stud on the cod armor.
Flexible enough to slip on ,tighten belt, then attach other stud. Very quick and solid.
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You're probably looking at the picture and asking "Where's the elastic strap?" It seemed to me that it would be
much easier to suit up by simply sewing the strap, with a little tension, to the flight suit!
Sew it up under the kidney armor, near the waist in back, and forward near the front of the crotch. Faster to dress,- comfortable,- no fear of it coming loose while trooping,-
and no one can tell the difference to look at it. Worked for us.