Doggydoc[Staff] Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 On 12/30/2025 at 4:52 PM, evnltr said: I'm struggling with the Han snap and my options. I'm on the fence for both options. I'll think about those some more. It feels like the cut would be the easiest for me, but then I'd be .5" off balance from the other side and those rivets are in the right spot there. So I can't really take from it to balance the cut. I'm come back to this one. If I may offer some advice, If you cut the ab plate to get the Han snap in the right position, then the length of the edge that meets with the kidney plate will be longer as there is a bit of a taper to the side of the ab plate. This may affect how the kidney and ab plates line up which could have some bearing on your Level 3 approval. CRL L3: "Ideally there no gap between the abdomen and kidney armor. Abdominal and Kidney Plate align horizontally at top. I also had to move the Han snap on my approval. It was not hard to do, provided you have some scrap ABS to make the paste. The colour may not match exactly, but it will not be very noticeable. Quote
Chemi[Staff] Posted January 3 Report Posted January 3 En 30/12/2025 a las 22:52, evnltr dijo: I'm struggling with the Han snap and my options. I'm on the fence for both options. I'll think about those some more. It feels like the cut would be the easiest for me, but then I'd be .5" off balance from the other side and those rivets are in the right spot there. So I can't really take from it to balance the cut. I'm come back to this one. We include the Han snap position only as a recommendation. It does not prevent you from reaching level 3. Han snap position isn't too bad, but because of so much return edge, it makes it seem that way... Perhaps removing only part of the return edge (a small part) will be enough. If you prefer, you can remove the rivet, fill the hole with ABS, Sugru, etc., and then place the new rivet closer to the edge. If you choose this option, be careful when drilling the rivet. Do it carefully to avoid overheating the area, because it could "deform" the surrounding plastic. Quote
evnltr[TK] Posted January 3 Author Report Posted January 3 Thank you both for the recommendations. I'm going to ponder my options some more on the Han snap. I'm leaning towards removing part of the return edge first before cutting more off or re-drilling the snap. In the meantime, I worked on the V-tabs this week. I made the cuts for the pieces. I went with close to 3"x1" pieces. I made three of them so I could afford to mess up on one. I made the cuts and then did the heat bends to first make the "U" shape. After the U shapes were made, I then used heat to bend the V portion. I messed up the first tab by bending too much, but I learned and was able to make the v portion better on the second attempt. I painted the inside of the V black and then used E-6000 to mount them to the inside of the posterior plate. I was careful with clamping this time! Next, I will do a partial kit up to check the 3 dressing issues that I had: Calf alignment, posterior plate alignment, and positioning of the thin white elastic that holds down the shoulder straps. Pics coming for those with questions. I'll come back to the Han snap after these are done. 3 1 Quote
evnltr[TK] Posted January 12 Author Report Posted January 12 (edited) I was preparing to do a minor suit up for some dressing issues and wanted to revisit one of the items in my list - the white elastic bands over the shoulder bars. It looks like RS Props used 5/16-inch elastic on my kit. I've got new white elastic coming that is the same size just in case. I have both 1/4-inch elastic and 1/8-inch elastic. The 1/4 inch is a little too wide and the 1/8 inch is too thin. The 5/16 inch that RS uses looks like it's just right. Here's my questions. 1. Is 3/16-inch the right width for white elastic bands? I didn't know if there was any discussed specific width mentioned anywhere. 2. The RS elastic has had a couple of years on it and a couple of outdoor troops. So, it's a little off color now. Is that an issue? You can see the color difference between white the new white looks like compared to what is currently on the shoulder pieces. If it is better to have the new white, I'll use the 5/16-inch elastic once it arrives later this week. 3. I think I saw some application pics that some folks had the elastic go over part of the back plate as you can see in the image below. The other side it just goes over the white elastic under the shoulder pieces. Based on the CRL, it looks like it is fine to have it over the white elastic, and it doesn't have to go over part of the back plate. Or am I off on that? Thanks for any thoughts on these pieces. I may be over thinking these, but I feel better for asking. :) Edited January 14 by evnltr Quote
Doggydoc[Staff] Posted January 12 Report Posted January 12 I think the thinner elastic does look a bit better. If you ordered it, I would change it. With respect to the elastic being over part of the back plate, t he Screen shots show it there. 1 Quote
evnltr[TK] Posted January 14 Author Report Posted January 14 (edited) OK thanks for the feedback on that one. I will swap the old 3/16" elastic with a newer one when it arrives. I'll have it go over the back plate piece like the screen shot. Edited January 14 by evnltr 1 Quote
evnltr[TK] Posted January 30 Author Report Posted January 30 I've had some work deadlines keep me from doing the armor stuff but had a moment here to show my gloves. The hand plates are now sewn to the gloves on all points. These look ok? I'm waiting on my new white 3/16" elastic to arrive to put on the shoulder bridges. I ordered the wrong size previously and had to re-order. At least I'm fully stocked with a variety of thin white elastic in different sizes.... Once that's in, I'll post some pics to check a couple of the alignment items mentioned previously. So moving along. Quote
evnltr[TK] Posted February 9 Author Report Posted February 9 I have some more updates to post here over the coming days. After making a couple of terrible fraction measuring mistakes of my own accord, I finally got in the right sized 3/16 white elastic to replace the more discolored ones I had on. Here is the white elastic on the right and left shoulder bridges. 2 Quote
evnltr[TK] Posted March 8 Author Report Posted March 8 This is a check for shoulder bells. I sewed the button in on the elastic straps and sewed the snap closer to the shoulder bell. Each by about 1". This brought the shoulders closer to the chest/back armor now. Is this gap better for centurion? Quote
evnltr[TK] Posted March 8 Author Report Posted March 8 Here's the dressing issue I'm struggling with. The calf alignment. (Ignore the bad belt and thigh parts in the pic. I bumped into the couch during the pics and Alyssa didn't notice those while aiming for the calf pieces.) When I put the calves on, even when I hook them and make sure the hooks are in place, the calves slide up about an inch each. How to get around it? Use some velcro to keep it up in place? I feel like I don't need to cut them as you can see if I don't have them on and hold them the way they are supposed to look, they might be the right cut. Maybe? Quote
Chemi[Staff] Posted March 8 Report Posted March 8 Try Velcro, I think that's the easiest solution... 1 Quote
Chemi[Staff] Posted March 8 Report Posted March 8 hace 4 minutos, gmrhodes13 dijo: I think it's more a problem of "misalignment" than of keeping the shins in place. Anyway, nice trick! Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted March 8 Report Posted March 8 You could add a small piece of material inside on the side that is overlapped, it will stop the shin from going any further Your real issue appears to be the alignment of your coverstrips to the shins, they don't appear centered yet the top of your shins are. Quote
evnltr[TK] Posted March 30 Author Report Posted March 30 Sorry for the delay on checking on my own thread. My working world has been so crazy, I've lost my free time lately and may have to find another streak when I can work on all of this, but I did have a nice round this winter of making progress. Yep, it's a misalignment issue. I'm still not sure I understand how to adjust for it. Glen, I think you are right on the cover strips on the back. I'm just not sure how to fix it. Chemi's velcro suggestion is what I am going to try first. That is probably the easiest and shouldn't risk damage. I am curious, about your material in your shot to keep the shin from going any further. I'm not sure I understand it from that shot. My issue is that it feels like with my misalignment, I need the shin to shift up on one side. But I'm not sure. The problem is with both shins so whatever I do I'll have to do to both. Quote
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