Stormtrooper - Chest
Assembly: To assemble the chest piece, you will need a rivet gun and rivets, the soft or loop side of some Industrial Velcro, some black webbing, industrial snaps and a insertion buckle.
Should Strap Reinforcement: My armor is new so I haven't experienced this personally, but I have read that some troopers have experienced a problem with their shoulder straps breaking over time with stress. To combat this problem, reinforce the strap by covering the underside with the soft/loop side of some Industrial Velcro before riveting to the chest.
Shoulder Straps/Chest Plate Attachment: I attached my should straps to my chest and back via rivets. Rivet guns cost about $16 dollars and you can even buy white rivets to match your armor. I suggest you also buy a box of washer that will fit the rivets and use them on the rivets like you would on a bolt.
To attach my chest plate and should strap I measured an 1 1/2" overlap because I felt that looked appropriate. I measured to find the center of the should strap where I wanted to put the front rivets and marked it for drilling. I used a pick or sharp object to put a small piot hole so I wouldn't mess it up with the drill. Drill the hole and then measure and line up the shoulder strap on the chest plate and then mark the chest plate and drill it seperately.
Shoulder Straps/Back Plate Attachment: To attach the back plate, you will have to determine how much space you need to get your head through the opening. You may have a lot of overlap on the back depending on your build. I suggest taking plenty of time on this so you can do it evenly on both sides.
Pulling the sides together: You will want to attach the sides of your chest/back armor. I suggest purchasing some black webbing from Hancocks and 2 black insertion buckles (see picture). Sew the buckle onto the webbing. Rivet the webbing, using a washer between the rivet and the webbing, to a small piece of styrene. Cut the hole in the styrene so it perfectly fits the rivet. Put a sanding bit on your dremel and shave the tip of the rivet till it is flush with the styrene and pvc glue it to the armor.
