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[CamBedore]

Awesome, nice clean cuts, Metal kits always impress me. Personally I'd use rivets, but I'd use screws instead of actual rivets

I'm thinking of using Chicago screws now same idea as rivets. I'd drill a hole in the metal and glue the female half of the screw on the outside facing in with the head of the screw on the inside of my vest. That way I can remove the plates whenever I want. And there won't be any screw heads facing out so it will just look like rivets. Is that what you were thinking Bass? And thanks for the compliments vod the cuts aren't quite as clean looking once you're up close and personal but I think they still look good enough

[Gnar-Gnar]

Smart thinking.

I'm loving the constant updates... can't wait to see the final product. Watch this closely, I will.

[Aramys Strael]

This is an amazing build!

First: Logo. Logos on armor are discouraged until you get your kill stripes. Well clan and brigade logos anyway. If you wanted to do a Rebel or Imperial sigil then you are free to do so.

Second: Weight belt. I've seen them used. I need to double check that they're still allowable. Personally I don't them being used as they scream earth. It kills the illusion of being a warrior from another galaxy when using off the shelf items like tactical gear, shemaghs and weight belts. I don't like them. I would recommend going with something else. But that is just the opinion of a non voting member of APP TEAM .

Third: Mounting. I've mounted plates with velcros, sew on snaps and chicago screws. I wasn't too keen on the results with the velcro. And must echo the concern regarding the weight of the plates. Plastic doesn't the issues that metal does. For your build , I'd go with the chicago screw method. It's the easiest to utilize for vest maintenance. Just be sure to NOT put screws in dead center of the chest plates! If you do you be teased mercilessly by your peers for having nipples...... trust me on that one.
Also remember that if you do go the chicago screw / rivet method that you weather or paint them, as that is required in CRLs.

This a fantastic build. I'll be keeping an eye on this one. Feel free to hit me up if you get stuck on anything. The door is ALWAYS open.

[CamBedore]

This is an amazing build!

First: Logo. Logos on armor are discouraged until you get your kill stripes. Well clan and brigade logos anyway. If you wanted to do a Rebel or Imperial sigil then you are to do so.

Second: Weight belt. I've seen them used. I need to double check that they're still allowable. Personally I don't them being used as they scream earth. It kills the illusion of being a warrior from another galaxy when using off the shelf items like tactical gear, shemaghs and weight belts. I don't like them. I would recommend going with something else. But that is just the opinion of a non voting member of APP TEAM .

Third: Mounting. I've mounted plates with velcros, sew on snaps and chicago screws. I wasn't too keen on the results with the velcro. And must echo the concern regarding the weight of the plates. Plastic doesn't the issues that metal does. For your build , I'd go with the chicago screw method. It's the easiest to utilize for vest maintenance. Just be sure to NOT put screws in dead center of the chest plates! If you do you be teased mercilessly by your peers for having nipples...... trust me on that one.
Also remember that if you do go the chicago screw / rivet method that you weather or paint them, as that is required in CRLs.

This a fantastic build. I'll be keeping an eye on this one. Feel free to hit me up if you get stuck on anything. The door is ALWAYS open.

Thanks so much for the advice! Thanks for all the compliments too! It means a lot coming from an APP Team member!

[CamBedore]

Did some plate shaping tonight!!! Slowly but surely (don't call me Shirley  ) getting there! Tried to pick up chicago screws to start attaching and couldn't find them in large enough quantities... they only sell them individually and at 60 cents each and needing around 70 of them it adds up quick so I'm hoping to find a box of them somewhere! For now I'm pretty pleased with how the shaping of the plates has gone! The back plate was a pain in the shebs!!! I'm still not fully satisfied with it but until I try to attach it I'm not sure how to test fit it. I also still need to attach the front of my shin plate to the rest of the shin piece which i will do with JB weld. It will all need to be cleaned up a bit since some of the bends needed to be done multiple times so they have waves in the metal but not a bad nights work in my opinion. To get the folds i used a wooden cutting board, My body weight and Brute force to bend the metal by hand which may not be how others have done it but it seemed to work for me haha... I may need a new cutting board now though... MORE UPDATES SOON!

[Aramys Strael]

You're welcome! I'm glad to be of assistance.

Sixty cents per screw? That's insane! Tandy Leather sells various sizes of chicago screws in 10 pc packages, 100 pc packages, too.... I think. But you can check ebay as well. Sometimes they have 100 count boxes of aluminum post screws (same style as chicago, but maybe flat head instead of raised dome style like Tandy's chicago screws) for insanely cheap. The only drawback is that they are cheaply made aluminum screws made in China. Which you may get the occasionally defective screw. But unless its a woefully bad batch you should be ok.

Not sure if there are Tandy Leather stores near you or not, or any leather shop. But I'd look there or on ebay for screws in larger quantity for much cheaper than .60c a screw.

[Tylek Ren]

I order them from Acklands-Grainger, which you have over there, it's about $20/box of 100 sets. Not too bad. It would be cheaper in the states, but alas they charge duty and shipping and most won't ship to Canada, even if they say they will. So yes.

[CamBedore]

SUCCESS!!! My upper body plates minus the back plate have been attached! I ordered a pack of 100 chicago screws of amazon and they worked marvellously so far! Now i just have to glue the screws in place so they don't rattle around. For now though I could not be more pleased! Hopefully I can make it to the armour party this weekend so that I can do some painting! I'm still working out the details and it all depends on the weather, the Coq is a bit of a cruel mistress if she's in the wrong mood haha  I'm also looking into finding a cheap brown pair of overalls for my flight suit I think the brown will bring the kit together a bit better than the grey. If anyone has any ideas where I might find some. I checked marks work wearhouse today with no luck.

(Yes those are First Order PJ pants!)

[CamBedore]

Back plate mounted! Needs a little bit of shaping and filing still but so far so good! In fact all the plates need a little bit of filing so I can stop stabbing myself on the corners of them! 

[Zophar Ptay]

Back plate looks a little big but it could just be the way you are standing.     It might be more conformable to wear if you gave it a bit of a curve possibly.    Glad to see progress!

[Serim Merec]

I think I agree, it's a little too wide. Personally, I would try bending it a bit more on the Z axis and checking again before cutting anything, but I'm pretty sure you're going to want to take a little off the outsides.

[CamBedore]

No REAL new progress... more like a set back!  I have realize that because my vest has a zipper up the back attaching my back plate proves to be quite tricky with the chicago screws... I still need to trim it but I may opt out of the backplate for a cape instead for now, as much as it pains me... hoping to get some paint on soon since the weather is so nice lately!

[GardenGeek]

What I'm doing with mine is attach the top with Chicago screws and then attaching the bottom with webbing clipped into the side of my vest sucks seeing you put so much work into a piece and not being able to make it work.

[CamBedore]

What I'm doing with mine is attach the top with Chicago screws and then attaching the bottom with webbing clipped into the side of my vest sucks seeing you put so much work into a piece and not being able to make it work.

Hmm I'm not quite ready to give up on my backplate. I have to go back to the drawing board! I may go with some sort of easy attach clips on a D ring on the shoulders since they will be covered by a pauldron anyway so they won't show. I really want to have the backplate it's the most important plate! What's the use in having armour if the only part of you you can't defend is unprotected! Do you have pictures of that set up in your WIP GG?

[GardenGeek]

I don't yet, as soon I have pictures I'll send them your way. I just finished (really finished) my vest last night, so it's ready now to attach plates to.