Shoulder strap issue

[Darth Havoc[TK]]

I need some advise on an issue I just had with the plastic (abs) shoulder bridges. My bridge cracked due to stress from it being pulled down where it connects to the back armor. Any suggestions ??? Untried to re-enforece it with abs pieces but it failed. Sorry but I don't have pics for a reference.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Several things you could try, glue a strip of abs behind, use ABS paste or even fibreglass resin and matting from behind the crack to stop it splitting further.

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Well, the thing that surprises me is the fact the soulder bridges shouldn't have any stress to endure. They should be glued on the chest plate, and then just left free-floating at the back. The fabric shoulder bridge is more than enough to secure the shoulder connection between the chest and back plates.

Edited November 1, 2015 by The5thHorseman

[Sly11[Admin]]

Mine cracked too, probably from packing and transporting my kit around more than anything.

I simply used some 1mm ABS, cut it to the same width as the existing bridges, glued it to the back of the chest plate and heat bent it to fit the contour and curve of the bridge, and Zappa gapped it to the back.

They are now more ridged and won't crack again.

 

 

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[Darth Havoc[TK]]

Thanks for the responses. I'm puzzled as to why myself Germain. Here are a couple of possibilities. My kit was out stored in garage and it was cold past couple of days. It seems like my back plate shifted up with a move and pushed the bridge up, cracking it at the point where it is glued to the chest plate. Hope that make sense. I also have a strap from the chest to the ab to keep it from moving up. I may remove it to take the stress off. I'll try and snap a pic. Andrew, thanks for the info on the fix. I'll start on that this week.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Darth Havoc

[aliens8us]

I'm glad to see this discussion, although not about your shoulder strap breaking. My left shoulder strap snapped in the same area. I'm pretty sure it's the same reason; being in storage in a case during transport. I thought it was because of my radio pack (I'm also a HWT). I'll be picking up some ABS paste from Lowe's and applying that before I replace it with a new one

 

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[DroidHunter]

You can also contact the seller for a replacement set. If you used e6000 to bind it to the chest, you can pop the broken sucker off and replace it. New set of bridges shouldn't run much. Heck, somebody here might even have a spare or two.

 

 

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[aliens8us]

I've contacted Mark from Authentic props afew times already and I have to wait until he gets another batch of ABS to make Stormtrooper kits. Anyways, I ended up picking up Fiberpipe tape, which claims to be 100x stronger than Duct tape, instead of the ABS paste. Once I apply the tape and wrap the shoulder strap, will harden, and allow me to paint it white. I'll post my review status later

 

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