Shoulder Bell too Narrow....

[Ragtooth]

Hello All

 

My shoulder bell is too narrow and doesn't allow for it to come closer to the chest amor thus it is pulling on the shoulder strap and there is a larger than ideal gap.

 

What are some techniques to make it wider?  I could obviously bust out my heat gun but that's a lot of area to heat.  Hot water maybe?

 

Much appreciated

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[magni[TK]]

It looks like it has a return edge that keeps it off the bicep. You could trim that down and that should help bell move in. How about a picture of the return edge so we can see how much you have.

[Ragtooth]

Thats brilliant because I always thought that the bicep was too tight as well. Is this too much return edge?

 

thanks. 

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

4 minutes ago, Ragtooth said:

Thats brilliant because I always thought that the bicep was too tight as well. Is this too much return edge?

 

Can you show the return edge on the bottom of the shoulder bell

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Doesn't look as if there's much, (if any) left.  I would steer clear of a heat gun unless you have experience using one, as those can reach temperatures of 1200 degrees and turn ABS into molten plastic faster than you think.  I would go with the boiling water bath method to widen them a bit.  It takes more time but you have more control.

[Ragtooth]

Doesn'tlook like there's any return edge on the shoulder.l bell itself. 

 

[Ragtooth]

I guess what I'll do is take off a bit of the bicep return edge and see what that does to the shoulder bell fitment. The bicep armor feels to tight anyways so that may relieve a bit of that issue. 

 

If that doesn't work, I'll go boiling water with the shoulder bell. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

On 9/18/2017 at 7:23 PM, Ragtooth said:

Doesn'tlook like there's any return edge on the shoulder.l bell itself. 

 

Was hoping to see how much return edge you had on the bottom, as this can also make the shoulder pull away if there is too much material left

 

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Edited April 26, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[Ragtooth]

On 9/18/2017 at 7:32 PM, gmrhodes13 said:

Was hoping to see how much return edge you had on the bottom, as this can also make the shoulder pull away if there is too much material left

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Understood!  I do know that there is an edge on that lower portion but since it is outside of the bicep armor I didn't think it affected the fit much. 

Edited April 26, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link removed no longer working

[magni[TK]]

It sure does affect the fit. The idea of a return edge is to create illusion of thickness. Some places need it but that's a spot you could lose it. The only return edge I kept on mine was in the center raised area and that was trimmed to just overlap seam in bicep. Definitely put heatgun down. Too hot too fast. Waterbath is more controllable. You'll get it. Once you do you can shorten strap on top to pull them in closer.

[Rob .T .[TK]]

To me the main problem looks like the strap to join the shoulder bell to your shoulder bridges is far too long . The bell should practically touch the shoulder bridge , this would help your problem no end.


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[Pretzel]

I concur with Rob, try shortening your strap connector from the bell to bridge. That may fix the issue. Mine were wide until I shortened them. But, I also upgraded my kit to a kit that is better for my build. 

[Ragtooth]

Pretty obvious question but is the "bridge" the elastic strap that connects to the two shoulder sections together? If so, the strap connector from the shoulder bell is already pulling the elastic bridge out from underneath the plastic shoulder straps (the corrugated straps, sorry I'm just leaning the nomenclature).  I don't think that it's merely an issue with bringing the shoulder bells closer via the strap connector but the issue is more that it I can't physically bring the should bell closer because it's too narrow.  

 

Just look at mine (above) vs. the pic of Imperial Attache's above.  The later's look so much wider that mine.

 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Correct the bridges is between the front and back of the shoulders.

 

Just thought I should mention there are a couple of different elastics, a general thin elastic and a more robust industrial thicker elastic. You really want to use the thicker type so it is harder to stretch.

[troopermaster]

The main reason most armours suffer this gap between the bells and chest plates is because the biceps are pulling on them. The LFL armour did not have any strapping between the biceps and bells so there was no pulling on the bells. The only time they were connected was when the actors taped together using white tape over the lower strap on the bells and stuck to the biceps.

 

Another reason this occurs is most people cut their bells straight - meaning if the bells were laid flat they would make complete contact with the surface. The LFL bells were trimmed in a curved shape so they follow the contour of the chest and back plates. When laid flat, the top end does not touch the surface because of the curved shape.

 

Looking at your photo it looks as though your bicep armour is too tight, pulling on the bells. The biceps should be loose and able to slide over your arm freely. The straps between the bells and biceps will need to be lengthened and the top strap with the snap needs to be shortened.

 

Edited September 20, 2017 by troopermaster