Slacker Posted January 17, 2011 Author Report Posted January 17, 2011 (edited) I will head out to the fabric store and start stocking up on straps and pick up some industrial velcro at Home Depot. FYI, I've used almost 2 yards of 2" black elastic and 2 yards of 3/4" black elastic (with the mistakes, etc). That was the one thing I never could find in the threads, so hope that helps on your trip. I used more 2" than some probably because I used it to make a belt and garters to hold up my thigh parts. It's very comfortable, I got the idea from this thread (except I bought a 2" buckle set for it: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=293 Edited January 17, 2011 by Slacker Quote
generalFROSTY Posted January 18, 2011 Report Posted January 18, 2011 Thanks for all your great progress photos and input. My armor has yet to arrive yet - any day now though - but I did get my canvas belt in the mail, so at least I have ONE part of my armor I am really undecided on what kind of system I will use, but honestly I may end up using industrial velcro for everything as it is realatively easier to get together. I have to bring my Dremmel home from my fathers workshop since I am able to work on it more at home than up there....REALLY looking forward to this. When I start my thread up, PLEASE chime in frequently as per my posts with any suggestions you may have. Thanks again! Quote
Slacker Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Posted January 24, 2011 Worked on finishing up my armor this weekend. There is a lot of small things to do to complete it and get everything comfortable. I plan to wear it next weekend, I'll post some pics. Still don't have my hand plates, probably will use the flexible ones but I'm about tapped out spending money on this project. I need a blaster too, and figure I'll do a pipe build or buy one built. No pics for this post, didn't have anybody to take them! Quote
RogueTrooper[TK] Posted January 24, 2011 Report Posted January 24, 2011 Hey Mike, looking forward to seeing your finished suit. BTW, If you are needing a tutorial + downloadable templates for your E11 pipe build, here is the link to it over on the Blaster Builder Club: http://www.imperial-fleet.com/BBC/community/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2 Quote
sixxgunn13 Posted January 24, 2011 Report Posted January 24, 2011 Hey Slacker, Great build! I was wondering if you could share the measurements for the brackets and how you constructed one. Also what are the lengths for the strapping. Thx Arnold Quote
Slacker Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Posted January 25, 2011 Hey Slacker, Great build! I was wondering if you could share the measurements for the brackets and how you constructed one. Also what are the lengths for the strapping. Thx Arnold I can do that. I'll do a photo shoot of making a bracket, it's easy. Quote
Slacker Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) Ok, this is how I made my own brackets. I must say I got my inspiration from the ones "Stukatrooper" sells. I just didn't have the time to wait for them as I was ready NOW. First, I went to WalMart and bought the 3 pack of wire whisks. I used 1 to make my kit, my wife took one from me, and I have 1 left over for the next set of armor. In the first pic, you can see the packaged whisk, then how I pulled the collar up so I could snip off the longest section of wire possible, and lastly the cut wire (I've made one bracket from this piece already). To make these, I used a pair of needle nose pliers. These are a cheap pair, it doesn't take much. You want a set that are a little rounded outside. The next step- take the wire from the end. Don't try to trim the wire to length, you don't need to. Just use the long section to do this. Grab the end of the wire and wrap it around the pliers tip as shown. It will leave you with a round "screw hole" end. Next, grab the wire further forward- use the edge of the pliers to make the bend square, just pull the wire up until you get the angle at 90 degrees. This bend is the side of the bracket- I didn't really measure for the distance from the hole to the bend, that is something you can just guess at. Each of my brackets is probably a little different from the other, but it doesn't matter in the end. Next, just grab the wire and fold it again to make the next 90 degree angle. For the length of the bracket end, use a piece of your elastic. It should be about the same width- if it's a little more it won't harm anything, but try to get it fairly close. These will work even if they aren't perfect, and they are hand made: Follow the same procedure for the other side. I use the width of the pliers as my measurement for the height and it worked great. For the longer brackets, I just extended them out and made all 3 the same, which was about 1 inch. Once you get the rounded screw hole done, snip the wire with wire snips. After you are finished making the bracket, you can easily tweak it to make it straight. I used the screw I was going to attach it with to size the holes properly, as seen below. In fact, I had to make my brackets bend inward a bit to make them fit exactly right- it takes a little time to get the knack of it, but once you do get the hang of it you can make a bracket quickly. Here is a shot of the finished bracket next to a ruler. When I installed the brackets I set them in place on the armor and marked the holes with a pencil before I drilled. Each bracket was different, but the holes were drilled for each one, and if it was a little off you can easily adjust the bracket with pliers. ADDED: My elastic bands are sewn into a loop. I made the strip of elastic about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long and then sewed the ends together. Then, I just flipped it inside out. I then slipped it over the bracket and bolted the bracket on. So you want your elastic to be a sewn loop like this: For placement, I studied photos of others posted here on the forum and mimic ed them. This was the most helpful photo from Troopermaster ( http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=13182&st=60&p=164156&hl=dscf1104&fromsearch=1entry164156 ): If you don't want to make them, Stukatrooper sells them pre-made with instructions: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=12511&st=0 Hope I get across how to make this with this post. Edited January 25, 2011 by Slacker Quote
sixxgunn13 Posted January 25, 2011 Report Posted January 25, 2011 Hey Slacker, THANK YOU This is the type of forum that makes one feel like family! I will go out to buy a few to make for my suit. Oh I for got to ask, how many do I make and what are their locations. I guess I better do a search first... Again thank you! Arnold Quote
pandatrooper[TK] Posted January 25, 2011 Report Posted January 25, 2011 Nice work Mike. Expect to see this in an upcoming newsletter. Quote
NoVATie[Admin] Posted January 25, 2011 Report Posted January 25, 2011 Is the elastic sewn to itself to close the loop around the wires? That's the one part I could never figure out from the pictures. Quote
Slacker Posted January 25, 2011 Author Report Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) I'm just trying to give back, and happy to have something to help other troopers. Without this forum I would have been struggling to even trim my armor! As to questions: My elastic bands are sewn into a loop. I made the strip of elastic about 2 1/2 to 3 inches long and then sewed the ends together. Then, I just flipped it inside out. I then slipped it over the bracket and bolted the bracket on. So you want your elastic to be a sewn loop like this: For placement, I studied photos of others posted here on the forum and mimic ed them. This was the most helpful photo from Troopermaster ( http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=13182&st=60&p=164156&hl=dscf1104&fromsearch=1entry164156 ): If you don't want to make them, Stukatrooper sells them pre-made with instructions: http://forum.whitearmor.net/index.php?showtopic=12511&st=0 I've added these photos to the post with the tutorial to keep it in one place. Edited January 25, 2011 by Slacker Quote
sixxgunn13 Posted January 28, 2011 Report Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) Hi Slacker, I was wondering how did you pop open up the handle of the whisk, *edit* I bought a sightly different whisk and also what is the height of the longer brackets? thx Arnold Edited January 28, 2011 by sixxgunn13 Quote
Slacker Posted January 28, 2011 Author Report Posted January 28, 2011 (edited) Hi Slacker, I was wondering how did you pop open up the handle of the whisk, *edit* I bought a sightly different whisk and also what is the height of the longer brackets? thx Arnold You can just snip off the loops without doing what I did, I'm just a cheap bastard and wanted to get every inch I could out of it! On the longer brackets, I just did it by eyeball, but about 1 to 1 1/8 inches tall I'd say. Edited January 28, 2011 by Slacker Quote
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