right knee ammo plate broke... fixed it

[Eric]

ok so i've been meaning to upload these pics for about a week now, figured well with my knee surgery i'll have time. lol. between me being lazy and going out and doing stuff i shouldn't (painful yet fun. lol) i'm finally getting around to this.

 

ok so i was finishing my AM build and the ammo belt for the right knee wasn't working with me too well. i think it should be slightly redesigned, but w/e it looks good just a little tricky for me i guess. anyways it was put on with a glue gun and i was going to come back with some e-6000 in spots, but before i could it was coming off, so we had to redo it (midri helped with a good portion of my suit) anyways between two of the blocks (i dont know what to call them... ) there was a week spot in the plastic and it snapped in two. i held composure but deep down wanted to cry haha. anyways, midri came up with the idea of cutting them into individual parts and using fabric between them to reglue them, and they'd fit better around the thigh guard.

 

kinda glad it happened because i think it came out great. little bonding time with a dremel and patience and here we are, so i took a few pics along the way. figured in case this happens to anyone else, it'll help them and they wont have to worry about just replacing the part. for the white fabric i used some extra white elastic, stips just a little shorter than the part, and used them sideways, so that they would't actually stretch. here's the results

 

btw i can't take much credit for the salvaging of it, it was mainly all midri's ideas, i was just the guy doing the actual work. lol.

 

 

i hope these might help someone who might have the same problem. or if you're just having issues putting it on, i'd say do this maybe. turns out nice.

 

basically to split them apart the little "crack" line, or w/e you want to call it, the little dip in between the blocks to give the look of separation... to do this, just take an exacto and make a good cut along that line. dont worry if you make it perfectly straight, close is good enough. then naturally bend them until they snap. use your dremel and then some fine sand paper to round and straighten out the edges and corners. then take some white elastic and cut it to where its just a little shorter than the plastic. line the edges with hot glue from a glue gun and hold it in place. dont worry it seals nice and it's not too hot to burn you provided you dont get it directly on your skin, even then it's not too bad. but as long as you have the elastic between your fingers and the glue, you're fine. then after doing this enough times, you're done. doesnt take too long. anyways, hope this might come in handy. ask any questions or give any thoughts. i hope i explained it right. lol.

[Quebectrooper]

looks good.

[ObiHahn[TK]]

This looks like an okay fix if the part is broken. But I prefer the seamless, on-screen look if possible.

Why not get a replacement part?

[Chunk[501st]]

Thats a good trick. One I'll keep in mind as I'm about to finish my theighs today or tomrrow.

[pandatrooper[TK]]

That's a Clever fix Eric.

 

This method would have prevented any damage and created a more even bend / look.

 

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Edited December 5, 2020 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020

[ObiHahn[TK]]

On 4/15/2010 at 1:47 AM, pandatrooper said:

This method would have prevented any damage and created a more even bend / look.

 

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Very clever, Terry - I love that method!

Edited December 5, 2020 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020

[Eric]

yeah seamless would be good and the heat gun trick looks great. but, didnt think i needed to do that at first and then the part snapped. so since it was already broken... break it the rest of the way. lol. besides its an AM suit... fanscupt partially anyways why not add a lil scupting to a personal touch? 

 

screen accurate is great, but im not going for 100% on my next suit i will though 

[MiDri]

On 4/15/2010 at 2:34 AM, Eric said:

yeah seamless would be good and the heat gun trick looks great. but, didnt think i needed to do that at first and then the part snapped. so since it was already broken... break it the rest of the way. lol. besides its an AM suit... fanscupt partially anyways why not add a lil scupting to a personal touch? 

 

screen accurate is great, but im not going for 100% on my next suit i will though 

 

The AM knee belt does not lend well to the heat gun trick, it's just not long enough...

[Chunk[501st]]

Both are good ideas. I like the cut & elastic a lil better. I'll probably go with this method for my knee. The ammmo belt I'll have to work on. Maybe the heat gun for the larger belt. I'll let you know what I choose when I come to that

[pandatrooper[TK]]

I'll try it tonight on my AM kit and see if I can manage it.

[Eric]

On 4/15/2010 at 3:48 AM, Chunk said:

Both are good ideas. I like the cut & elastic a lil better. I'll probably go with this method for my knee. The ammmo belt I'll have to work on. Maybe the heat gun for the larger belt. I'll let you know what I choose when I come to that

 

for my belt i had no issues... the heat gun trick looks great, but i didnt do anything like that. it might be best to use that trick, but though its a little tricky trying to find a good placement and all that, mine came out fine just bolting it the my armor. just in case you might not be good with a heat gun. but that did come out nice panda... 

[blueboxer[501st]]

That's a neat idea... glad you were able to make it work out. FWIW I just used a hair dryer on my AM ammo belt... I was able to shape it just fine.

[Eric]

That's a neat idea... glad you were able to make it work out. FWIW I just used a hair dryer on my AM ammo belt... I was able to shape it just fine.

 

congrats

[HPDblues[TK]]

Wow!

 

That's amazing.

 

Good job.

 

T

[Eric]

lol. thanks

[Wildabeast[TK]]

This is a great mod......