Fix for cracked AM chest

[71CobraTrooper[TK]]

While doing something I shouldn't have, I caused a hair-line crack in the return edge of my AM 2.0 chest.  It was small but I could tell this would easily get out of control.  Here's what I did after getting some ideas from others here.  It feels very strong now.  I may search out some other similar spots and reinforce where I can.

I glued a small curved piece on the return edge to immediately stop that from moving.  Then glued a long piece across the chest and added a fairly thick piece of ABS on top of that at the center.

[71CobraTrooper[TK]]

It isn't noticeable from the front anymore.  The crack was only in the return edge, not making it to the chest.  The crack went together well and you would have to look very closely to see it.  Hope this helps someone.

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Nice fix!  I think you definitely dodged a bullet on that one...  I have experienced a few small cracks myself, but nothing noticeable.  One of the best tips I learned on here is that any sharp angle (like when I cut out the notches for my kidney armor) are a prime target for splits/cracks, so I rounded out the corner ever so slightly and re-enforced the backside with some spare ABS. 

[Pickles[TK]]

Nice tip!

 

Another reinforcing technique is to sand the area then apply a patch of cotton material (tshirt, etc) that is saturated with E6000.

[TK21029[TK]]

What I would have done is take a soldering iron and just touch the back while holding it right together. Don't worry heating the back will not affect the front and just touch it softly with the small soldering iron tip. It will fuse them together as one and a permanent bond. I did this when adding a shim. I would then have added a strip in the back. Nothing stronger can be done.

 

 

Sent from a galaxy far far away

[hon143]

Some ppl mentioned Sugru for their build.  I was just looking at the product and I think it may be a good way for anyone to reinforce knicks and cracks in their armor.