Help! Modifying Armor

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Eldwain

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Ok so I finished up my first suit of armor about a month ago (EVA), it turned out pretty good but now that it is finished I notice a lot of things with it that i'm not happy about. During the process of building your first suit you learn a lot, and I want to apply those things to the armor. I know I could always just take this knowledge and start a new suit but i'm wondering how hard it would be to modify my existing suit.
Nothing major i'm just wondering if there is any big reason I couldn't do this. I want to completely repaint the whole thing, change out and reposition the straps, and add a large amount of extra detail foam to most of the armor. For example I want to add some very detailed foam buckles to the strapping on the upper chest piece. I just want to make this suit ass good as I can get it before I start on the next one.
I was just wondering if doing any of these things would "ruin" my armor? Is there any reason I cant glue some more foam on and repaint it? Let me know what experiences you have had modifying your armor. Thanks for the help.

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Hey there eldwain, so re painting wouldn't be hard, are the straps glued on tho the armor pieces? if so then depending on what they are glued with you stand taking a bit of the foam with the removal of the straps. when adding details if you add onto the armor like the chest plate for example then glue on the piece you are going to add then re paint after, so for the buckles add them to new straps and set the straps
 
Awesome thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. All of the straps are hot glued in or on the underside of the armor. So I could take the them off and reposition them fairly easily then.
 
On my odst build i used the wrong paint, by accident, (bought the wrong shade and some pieces were painted with a darker shade because of it) so i let the paint dry, reprimed, and then repainted it. A few things on my piece did not go right (from failed stencils to paint bubbling) priming before a repaint has worked every time on all 3 of my cosplays. If you are going to paint over a strap then put painters tape over it.

If the strap is not on the visable part of your cosplay (like inside your armor) then it is ok to remove it (very carefully!). If you pull to hard you can crack, bend, etc... The piece, so be careful. If the strap is on the outside (like on your cod piece), i would see if i can work around it. i have never successfully removed something hotglued to foam with out it taking some of the foam with it. So if you are going to remove something visable then plan on glueing something over the spot.

Hope this helps, nice build! Good luck!!!
 
Yes it does help so much, thank you! Most of the strapping is moving from the inside to the outside so I'll make sure I remove them, then paint, then reattach. Thanks again.
 
yeah, sometimes i have gotten very lucky and was able to take off straps without removing some of the foam. taking away is easy adding on can be hard so use caution, also magnets are your friend
 
add a helmet with removable stuff stuck as sniper googles tac light and com pack
ok, so bit of a hold up, I've mad the helmet and i'm liking how it looks. I don't want to add attachments, but im not sure if i should permanently attach them or make them removable. I would make them removable but im not sure how to do that without adding giant pieces of Velcro to the sides. How would you attach them in a way so that when they aren't attached the helmet still looks nice?

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Rare earth magnets are always an option, but unless you have a decent amount of separation between two mounting points, your attachment might have a chance of popping off. Personally I would make a couple small holes (3/16" or less) and embed some bolts into the attachment (or nuts, your choice on the way it threads together) and use some large washers on the inside of the helmet to prevent them from pulling through, as it appears your helmet is foam. Then you could make some small plugs to go in the holes when you want to go without attachments. It would still be slightly noticeable, but far better than chunks of velcro strewn about!
 
Sounds like a plan, Thanks. Yeah, i just didn't want to glue 6 square inches of Velcro all over the thing. But making small holes that you can plug up definitely sounds like a good idea. Phrasing, BOOM!
 
Alright! I cranked out some sniper goggles and tac light. They turned out well and are attached with screw so if I want i can just unscrew them. And I was able to place the holes for the screws in non obvious places so when they are out you cant even tell.
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Thanks, I really appreciate that. I like to think im a fast builder, but it might just be I have too much time on my hands. Lol.
 
Thanks, I really appreciate that. I like to think im a fast builder, but it might just be I have too much time on my hands. Lol.
You may just be a quick builder. However having consecutive free time really does help. (My recon helmet made great progress until work decided to put us back on 5/8s.)
 
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