TD-4395

Allright just finished the thermal det., and the belt.

Did a few searches couldnt find the answers 1. is the plastic portion centered on the canvas belt (length wise) (figured it was but had to ask) 2.my ata belt has 3.5" of plastic extending from either side, sould i trim them down shorter? heres a little pic explaining my question --> [-3.5"-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-3.5"-] Thanks

just found out the harbor freight near me might have a 40" steel ruler(no cork backing) thats 1" wide gonna check tomm.

Ill just pick one of them up and trim it down to 1" thanks for the idea.

Yeah ill just have to check the local metal yard.

I just went and got the tablecloth clips from wallmart and their 1/2" wide . I would just combine 2 but than theyll have an ugly seam.

Just fixed the thigh ammo strip it aint perfect but alot better

heres pics with the non flush thigh ammo belt: all but the belt, helmet, shoes (have them just werent on hand), and therm. det. the snap on the left side of the rear armor popped off just before the pic

which of the 2 scenarios are better: A. the thigh ammo belt is uneven with a little more on one side, but almost flush with the thigh or B. thigh ammo belt is even but theres a gap between the ammo belt and the thigh the holes are drilled so im stuck with these 2 choices. the inside would the side cut short.

i shall be posting pics tomorrow once the glue dries. so far the only pieces that arent to my liking are the thighs. espically the ammo belt, but its on, and thats gotta count for something. lol all is done expect the belt, therm. det., and the helmet.

thats what i figured just wanted to double check before i installed the snaps and rivets. Thanks

1. Do you have paint the rivets on the thigh ammo belt, if so than what paint is best for the split rivets? 2. Do the snaps at the crotch and top right of abb plate face in towards you or out? Ive seen both in pics but just want to make sure im doing it right.

It just seemed like everyone did snaps but im a bit wiery of drilling holes into the abb piece, didnt realize that velcro was acceptable to use ill just use that thnks everyone. I got tons of it left over.

Has anyone tried just using the rare earth magnets for the belt, rather than the snaps? I saw that someone used them on the back if their shims but they flexed too much for the magnets. But i figured the belt at least the plastic part shouldnt flex too much.

So far i have excussively used the setting tool and anvil, i found that the trick is to set the snap on top of a concerete floor and they set real easy.

allright update time: attached all snaps and elastic except the abb to kidney and the ones that wrap around your arm for the shoulder bells. All thats left to do is attach the thigh ammo belt with split rivets, apply split rivets to the abb and kidney armor, attach the male snaps/split rivet to the crotch area, and the one male snap to the top corner of the abb plate, paint the abb buttons. Than the body is all set. I shall be posting pics of the finished body armor hophelly by the end of the week., if not than the following week

It looks perfect. Thanks again cant wait to to see it in person.

thats what i was thinking just wanted a 2nd opnion thanks. yeah i thought i would take the pic with a camera rather than my ipod to get a better pic but i guess it didnt matter

The stores near me didnt have the proper blue for the abb buttons: So i grabbed the two closest colors Which one would be better for the darker set of button colors? (both pics are of same two samples)

testors also has a semi-gloss

yeah im planning on using something similar for my snaps, im going to use the abs cement from the plumming section of homedepot.

i hear ya i was able to use e-6000 over it and the end result isnt too bad. better than i thought it was going to be. Theres just going to be some along the edge of the coverstrip where it bled out here and there.

it was easy to get the parts apart, heres a pic: it was decent looking before i tore them apart, but the cover strip wasnt flush with the armor lol so i took it off which lead to the huge glue mess

I originally went with loctite 2 part epoxy and now am stuck with a glue encrusted mess. Whats the best way to remove it without harming the abs? Im hoping to remove the epoxy clean it up and use the abs weld. Due to frustration with glues. :6:

Allright just fixed the arms to hids the velcro better, finnished the thighs, shins, and attached the shoulder bridges. Nest week hophelly ill get everything in the middle done. The week after that shall be strapping