A.J. Hamler[TK] Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 Thought I'd post this here instead of my build thread in case anyone else can benefit from the answer. I've read throughout the builds that the shoulder bridges are very prone to cracking under use and that many of you reinforce them in some way. Most of the options seem to be some variance of cutting small pieces and gluing them into the recesses on the underside, but I'm thinking of something different but don't know if it's "legal," especially for the higher levels. What I was thinking of doing was gluing a rectangle to the underside of each bridge that was the same size as the overall bridge, and then do my trimming to final width/length as my A.M. kit has lots of extra plastic on the edges all around. Something like this: (This is just taped up w/o glue for the photo, btw.) By gluing it before trimming to width, there would be no visible "seam" whatsoever; it'd be invisible. While the extra layer would indeed increase the thickness, it would be by only the tiniest amount. Doubt you'd be able to tell even if I told you to look for it. By doing it this way, not only would it reinforce the shoulder bridges all the way around and along the overall length, it would give a flat gluing surface for the underside, increasing the holding strength when glued onto the Chest piece. I doubt this would be an issue for Basic approval, but I don't want to mess up L2 and L3. Thoughts? A.J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thumpy~[501st] Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 Hi A. j.., if they don’t chime in, contact the L2/L3 judges to be sure. @justjoseph63 or @ukswrath. They’d be happy to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 Hey AJ, a couple issues I see by adding a "full length" strip is, the front 1" or so may need to be flexible to correctly follow the contour of the chest plate or it won't look correct. The other is concealing the double thickness of plastic so it still looks correct. My suggestion, covers are most prone to cracking in the peak and valley areas, maybe place the the extra material in just that area. That said, this is your armor and you want to protect your investment. So long as the area looks correct from an exterior view of point, have at it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 I don't see a big problem with reinforcing the shoulder bridge, A.J. It is not a CRL requirement, so you would be good to go al the way to L3. BUT.. For aesthetic sake, I would definitely make those seams disappear, (you could file or Dremel them down on the edges). Another thing you will need to consider is the fact that once you glue those together, there will be no way to bend it any farther. You may want to find out the correct angle you want, bend the shim and then glue it at with the correct bend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 3 minutes ago, ukswrath said: Hey AJ, a couple issues I see by adding a "full length" strip is, the front 1" or so may need to be flexible to correctly follow the contour of the chest plate or it won't look correct. The other is concealing the double thickness of plastic so it still looks correct. My suggestion, covers are most prone to cracking in the peak and valley areas, maybe place the the extra material in just that area. That said, this is your armor and you want to protect your investment. So long as the area looks correct from an exterior view of point, have at it You beat me by 15 seconds, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 **As he holsters the smoking gun** 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daetrin[Admin] Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 You're just that good Tony... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Hamler[TK] Posted July 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 "Tony shot first." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank75139[501st] Posted July 21, 2018 Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 Just throwing another option out there. I used a thin metal under the shoulder bridges. It takes all the weight off the bridges and makes them sturdier. Home improvement stores sell aluminum flashing. That’s what I bought, cut it to size, folded it over for extra security, then wrapped it in some cloth. No extra weight, thin enough to be almost invisible, and yet adds a bit of protection by not allowing the bridges to bend into odd positions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Hamler[TK] Posted July 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 3 hours ago, justjoseph63 said: I don't see a big problem with reinforcing the shoulder bridge, A.J. It is not a CRL requirement, so you would be good to go al the way to L3. BUT.. For aesthetic sake, I would definitely make those seams disappear, (you could file or Dremel them down on the edges). Another thing you will need to consider is the fact that once you glue those together, there will be no way to bend it any farther. You may want to find out the correct angle you want, bend the shim and then glue it at with the correct bend. Hiding that seam will be easy, Joseph -- glued up first and clamped securely, it'll just disappear when dry after I trim it to proper width just like a glued woodworking joint that is sanded flush afterward. If I do this, I'll form the shoulder bridge and the reinforcement strip to shape first like you said and then glue it up and clamp it till dry still while in that shape. That's a woodworking technique called "bent lamination," btw. I have no doubt you'll never be able to tell that it's really a two-ply arrangement; in fact, if I hadn't said anything (or if I don't show the underside of the bridges in a future build photo) I doubt anyone would ever have noticed. My only concern was affecting L2 and L3. I still haven't decide if I'll do this or not. The A.M. kit comes with Sandy shoulder bridges as well as the Stunt, so I might do a test run with those first. A.J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukswrath[Staff] Posted July 21, 2018 Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 3 hours ago, Daetrin said: You're just that good Tony... Getting Joseph up to speed lol 47 minutes ago, A.J. Hamler said: "Tony shot first." Quick Draw Mcgraw (for the older gen) lol 37 minutes ago, Frank75139 said: Just throwing another option out there. I used a thin metal under the shoulder bridges. It takes all the weight off the bridges and makes them sturdier. Home improvement stores sell aluminum flashing. That’s what I bought, cut it to size, folded it over for extra security, then wrapped it in some cloth. No extra weight, thin enough to be almost invisible, and yet adds a bit of protection by not allowing the bridges to bend into odd positions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Metal on shoulders eh? Sounds like an FOTK mod . Worked for that costume, who am I to argue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank75139[501st] Posted July 21, 2018 Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 Metal on shoulders eh? Sounds like an FOTK mod . Worked for that costume, who am I to argue. You’d never know unless I said anything, it’s well hidden, and besides isn’t every trooper a variation of the last one, I’m just starting the trend for the FOTKSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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