Tips and Tricks using snaps

[ukscout]

hi all

well ive started over the last 3 evening sewing my snaps on my vest.

My First Attempt.

I sewed on the snaps for my FG armour and noticed when i had finish sewing the snaps on the vest was very ruffled due to the snaps not aligning up well.

So to stop this i did the following.

1. Super Glued my male snaps to the FG armour and left to dry
2. Got some plain A3 paper and drew around my FG armour parts.
3. Cut these out.
4. Placed the paper on the FG armour and press over the male snaps, this will leave a mark/indentation on the paper.
5. Pinned the templates into place on the vest.
6. Then got a extra pin and put it thro. the centre of the female snaps.- (this helps to pin the female snap on the vest)
7. Pinned the female snap onto the paper/thro the vest where the marks/indentations are on the paper.
8. Sew the snaps on takes ages.....
9. Then once all the snaps are sew on carefully remove the paper template.

Doing this will avoid hours of moving the snaps into the correct positon and a ruffled vest when the armour is fixed on.

I hope you can understand this.

cheers

Neil

uk-scout TB7290
www.uk-scout.co.uk
ukbikerscout@hotmail.com

 

[webchief]

Thanks for that advice. Sounds great! I'm getting a new vest and was thinking of going with snaps for the armor.

 

[Loranar Fett]

Awesome idea - thanks for sharing your experience. Great idea

I will remember this when I get to my vest.

Loranar

 

[Jangos kid]

Great tip UK scout!!! Thanx man!!!
Damian

 

[ukscout]

hi guys

Glad to help

Also used snaps on my left FG knee, sewn the female snap on the elastic and superglued the male snap on last night.

Tried the knee out this morning and fits well and didnt pop off.

Just need to slightly tweak my chest armour positions out and start on the collar and back plate this weekend.

cheers

Neil

uk-scout TB7290
www.uk-scout.co.uk
ukbikerscout@hotmail.com

 

[Ruffkintoy]

That sounds like a great way Neil! I was thinking of using snaps on my ESB vest so this helps alot. One question, are you using a certain type of snap? The snaps I am thinking of only have one hole in the center.

 

[OverKill]

Yes,please tell all of us what type you're using bud... After my Ruffkin ESB Gauntlets arrive I will be looking into the soft set of stuff including armor.

Regards,
OK

 

[ukscout]

heres a crude pic of the snap ive used

you can get ones that dont require sewing on just press them togther to fasten.

cheers

Neil

uk-scout TB7290
www.uk-scout.co.uk
ukbikerscout@hotmail.com

 

[OverKill]

Ok is it just me or are snaps basically buttons... Sort like buttons on a shirt or coat.

Would those be as effective?

Regards,
OK

 

[Trooper TK409]

Cool! I'm going to try this tomorrow night on my new vest and post pics.
Thanks Neil!
- Chris

 

[ScaPaCamem]

Hi,
I am making a custom for my fanfilm> First of all where can you get the snaps?

Second of all how would I go about making a vest?

 

[Trooper TK409]

I got snaps at Home Depot in the tool department next to grommets.

An easy way to make a vest is to pin your material to a snug-fitting t-shirt, then turn everything inside out and sew along the edges. Then turn it right-side out. Hem the edges. A pattern for the shoulder caps should be able to found somewhere on the forum.

ScaPaCamem wrote:
Hi,
I am making a custom for my fanfilm> First of all where can you get the snaps?

Second of all how would I go about making a vest?

 

[Jangos kid]

Just wanted to say thanx again for the tips on this method of armour attachment. I just finnished my new vest & and stuck all my armour on. I've used velcro, rivets, and bolts in the past with mixed results, but the snap method is definately the way to go!! Worked great!!!
Damian

 

[Trooper TK409]

I just finished adding snaps to my vest too - worked great!

Here's a few photos:
I traced around my armor on paper and cut it out (marking which side of the paper armor faces out).

Then, I cut some rectangular tabs of plastic (sintra), drilled a hole in one end and stuck the male snap through. For me, the rectangle tab is important, because I superglue the end without the snap (the tab) to the armor.
http://www.tk409.com/images/fett/vest2/7.jpg
http://www.tk409.com/images/fett/vest2/8.jpg

Using a blade, I scored (made several marks) both the armor and the plastic piece in a crosshatch pattern. Then added superglue to the tab, and pressed it onto the armor.
http://www.tk409.com/images/fett/vest2/9.jpg
http://www.tk409.com/images/fett/vest2/10.jpg

Then I used the suggestion above for pressing the paper onto the armor (now with snaps) to make a mark on the paper (to know where the snaps are located.)

I laid the paper out on my vest exactly where I wanted the armor. Then I used a pencil to poke through the paper where the snaps should be located (twist it a couple times to mark the vest).

At the mark, use a big nail to poke a hole through the vest. Then assemble the female snap throught the vest at the hole.
http://www.tk409.com/images/fett/vest2/11.jpg
http://www.tk409.com/images/fett/vest2/12.jpg

 

[OverKill]

Ok Chris, great job on the tutorial... Now the ultimate question is... HOW DOES IT FIT...

Does the armor stand out too much like someone mentioned before or does it fit snug and close to the body, enough so that its not like having a gap between the plating and your body.

Regards,
OK

 

[Trooper TK409]

Well, the puffiness of the vest helps hide the snaps, but I tried it on last night and checked the mirror and it looks good to me. My vacuformed armor has a lip on it though so those without it may need to try smaller snaps that's all.

 

[OverKill]

You're using the vacuformed Sintra yes?

Mind PMing me your source cause after I finish this current order of stuff the armor will be next and I'm looking for durable yet lightweight stuff that doesn't cost a billion canadian dollars.

Regards,
OK

 

[Trooper TK409]

PM sent, contact Todd at sectionx8@yahoo.com

 

[DarthVader1]

I used the heavy duty snap kit (probably the same one that Chris (TK409) used on his armor/vest, but I got it from Walmart in the sewing supplies section.

What I did was to glue the female section of the snaps to the areas needed on the armor. Let it dry for a day or two. Then once the snaps are fixed there, use the vest and apply temporary the armor pieces to the vest, using a pillow as support underneath (to keep the shape of the whole armor...do not do this while in a flat surface, it changes the shape and position of the armor pieces).

While you have the armor, start with the collar armor, and feel the snap from underneath the vest and make a mark on the spot and apply the male snap in the correspondent mark. Leaving the snap attached, continue to find snap number 2 and do the same, and so on until you have all the armor attached.

Thanks BobaFettish for the tips.

Robert