Soft Parts Costume adaptations

[QueenBHartigan]

Hey everyone, it’s me again after a year long hiatus!

For those of you that know me personally, know about my back problem and have seen what it does to me. Chip and my commando both really aggravate my condition, and leave me in a real bad state after a con. It’s a combination of joint hyper mobility and mild scoliosis in my legs and lower spine.

As a suggestion from Spark Armory and my partner recently, I’ve been investigating how to make my armour a lot more friendly with my pre-existing condition.

And we came to the use of an equine body protector. The thinking behind it is that the vest itself takes all the weight. It’s lightweight as is, but it takes a toll on me after a while.

We removed my shoulders from my armour, and adapted the shoulders and back (lined with memory foam shaped to my back) to be attached to the vest. Extending the straps on the vest’s shoulders and gluing down the buckles to the vest. Then we took in the upper back, and the plan now is to create a connection point for it to sit flush.

What about the front? The beauty of that is that now the front buckles sit smoothtly on the shoulders with no gapping!

Accuracy is always great, but sometimes an issue is so prevalent that it needs addressing and accommodating. It now fills out my chest better, so that it doesn’t look so oversized.

 

[Coyote505]

Hey everyone, it’s me again after a year long hiatus!

For those of you that know me personally, know about my back problem and have seen what it does to me. Chip and my commando both really aggravate my condition, and leave me in a real bad state after a con. It’s a combination of joint hyper mobility and mild scoliosis in my legs and lower spine.

As a suggestion from Spark Armory and my partner recently, I’ve been investigating how to make my armour a lot more friendly with my pre-existing condition.

And we came to the use of an equine body protector. The thinking behind it is that the vest itself takes all the weight. It’s lightweight as is, but it takes a toll on me after a while.

We removed my shoulders from my armour, and adapted the shoulders and back (lined with memory foam shaped to my back) to be attached to the vest. Extending the straps on the vest’s shoulders and gluing down the buckles to the vest. Then we took in the upper back, and the plan now is to create a connection point for it to sit flush.

What about the front? The beauty of that is that now the front buckles sit smoothtly on the shoulders with no gapping!

Accuracy is always great, but sometimes an issue is so prevalent that it needs addressing and accommodating. It now fills out my chest better, so that it doesn’t look so oversized.

Even if you sacrificed some accuracy, it still looks absolutely fantastic! Personally, I think those modifications make it more unique and interesting.

 

[QueenBHartigan]

UPDATE:

My partner and I got the new rig finally sorted. After a few hours of rejigging the foam in the vest (effectively halving it) and doing some detail sewing, I’m immensely happy with the result!

 

[QueenBHartigan]

UPDATE:

Solving multiple problems in one,

I can sit in the armour now!

I also did some tweaks to the abs, so that they now sit more flush with my body!

 

[QueenBHartigan]

UPDATE:

I’m currently tweaking my belt rig to be wider, in doing so I’m also going back and fixing some minor inaccuracies I had. Like the butt plate actually hanging off the back instead of the belt. The hips need to be altered to hang either off the side plates, or off the riding vest itself; but that’s tonight’s problem.

 

[QueenBHartigan]

UPDATE:

I’m currently tweaking my belt rig to be wider, in doing so I’m also going back and fixing some minor inaccuracies I had. Like the butt plate actually hanging off the back instead of the belt. The hips need to be altered to hang either off the side plates, or off the riding vest itself; but that’s tonight’s problem.

 

[QueenBHartigan]

UPDATE:

Here’s the end of that process.

With the thighs and buckle now on a larger belt, I moved the hip plates to now actually cover my hips by hanging from the riding vest, and attaching what I thought was a butt plate to the lower back of the back armour.

 

[QueenBHartigan]

UPDATE… AGAIN.

I’ve upgraded the knife! My combat knife now technically isn’t a knife, rather a sheath attached to a handle!

While it looks the part, it’s just one solid piece that sits on my chest. It’s lost functionality in place of accuracy, and I’ll take that happily!