Crack in my FX armor... How do I repair this?

[darthnayce1138]

Hello. A couple years ago I was well on my way to becoming an active member in the 501st and never finished the mods I needed to do to meet the acceptable requirements. I stored my armor away and now I finally really want to complete it. Anyway, I took my armor out and I noticed a crack at the bottom of my thigh piece. Anyone know how to fix such a thing? See pic below. Thanks.

 

Edited August 18, 2012 by darthnayce1138

[theisaac]

zap-a-gap would do the trick. You can pick it up a hobby shops or Trooperbay

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

there are many ways to do it, and many people can add to this idea:

 

soak some fabric in glue attach it to the rear of the crack and cover with white tape, clamp in place

making sure the crack is very faint.

 

you can also try filling it and using putty and repainting the area to cover the gap.

 

some might reccomend abs paste, but you most likely don't have any extra abs to grind up and apply.

[Scootch[TK]]

Yeah, the paste idea is cool, also there's a Weldon #4 product for solvent welding Acrylics. I use it on Styrene and it is very good. The longer you leave it glued and un-disturbed the stronger the bond. Being as that tear is in an inconspicuous place AND of a styrene based material it would be a safe bet. Use blue painter's tape to "pull" everything back into shape after applying solvent to the crack. Try to keep it off your glossy outter armor, and maybe add a small bit of like material inside to bridge the gap. Magnets or clamps will work for the bridge.

You could go bridge only with E-6000 as well. Keep the ideas coming peeps!

That Weldon #4 Solvent is about $5.00 at your local plastics shop.

[Darth Hilarious]

My technique requires that you have spare ABS.

 

What worked for me was attaching a tab of ABS on the inside across the crack (using ABS paste).

Then fill the crack with ABS paste (doesn't need to be perfect).

Then sand back, followed by progressive wet sanding/polishing to get back to a nice finish.

 

I've had a bunch of cracks in my armour I've had to fix because of stupid stunts (the worst was a 2" long L-shpaed split up the middle of my shoulder bell after I attempted to tuck'n'roll in my armour). You'd never know it was ever there now.

 

Also, this technique makes the armour less likely to crack in future (though also much less flexible).

[darthnayce1138]

Cool! Thanks Everyone!!!!

[bobojuice]

For armor cracks like that, I generally use a small piece of abs and glue it on to the back with CA glue. Ends up stronger than it was before.