Sixth Army Group

[1stlooey]

I was asked to post a tutorial on how I modify the stock Dragon web suspenders. Here goes.

First, if you're over 40 or otherwise have weak eyes, get yourself one of these:


It's a magnifying lens with a built-in fluorescent light. I absolutely could not do these projects without one.

What you get from DML in the box:


First, bend the big sliding strap buckles. I use a vise grips. Clamp it on with the tip even with the buckles' slots,


and press it against a hard surface until getting a 90 degree bend (or almost).





The jaws of the vise grips slightly mars the surface of the buckle. I don't think this matters much. You can barely see it as it is, and after painting it would only be visible to a forensic expert.


You end up with this:

Definitely a lot better than what you started with.

Now for the tab ends. Get yourself some tea lights:


Take the candle out and save it for romantic evenings.


Cut a strip out, then cut it into 2 squares, as shown. Repeat to create 4 squares.



Using a flat pliers, bend each square in half:



Result:


Squeeze it shut with your fingers:


Now cut it down to size, i.e. length, but not width yet. By folding and cutting it, you guarantee that both front and back will be the same size.



I think I make the tabs too long, in the "vertical" dimension, relative to the 1:1 original. However, you are working at the extremes of the materials, so making the tab any shorter makes it a lot harder to work with.

Now use something pointy to pry the tab back open.



Now for gluing. This is the glue I use. I just grabbed it off the shelf at Michael's, hoping for the best, and it works pretty well. Doesn't have much tack at first, but once it sets up, it's pretty strong. It's also what I use to glue on the CVI lift-the-dot fasteners. Those little buggers don't stay on easy, but after letting the glue set up for a few hours, they don't fall off anymore.


Dab the web strap end in the glue:



Put the tab on the strap:


Squeeze on with your fingers, then with the flat pliers.



Careful. The glue isn't very sticky yet, and the tab will come loose easily at this point. Start again!


Now trim the tab. Always cut keeping the scissors on the right-hand side of the tab. This allows you to sight the blade precisely along the webbing. Cut it off exactly even with the webbing.




Turn it over and do the other side:


The real tab ends are rounded. This is to hard to reproduce in 1/6 scale, so I just clip off the corners with a nail clippers. You don't need to take off much at all!


It should look like this:


Once you've done all four, you're ready to paint.


I use black semi-gloss, as I like the effect. You may prefer to use flat black. I use the finest point brush I own, and I proceed very carefully. I don't feel you need to remove the webbing from the buckles, as long as you're careful.


Result:


Here's the painted buckle. I think you can see that the marring caused by the vise grips really isn't noticeable, even though I've tried to make it show up as much as possible in this photograph.


Well, that's it. Nothing revolutionary, just a series of simple steps. But the difference is amazing once you do it.

[Speerz]

Awesome! This looks so much easier then I thought, maybe something I can do Thanks!

[General Specific]

Great tutorial Looey. That is something I am going to have to try when I give my 101A/B figs a try. THat Goop is excellent for a ton of stuff. I believe it is similar to Shoe Goo (Perhaps less toxic?) but looks to be almost the same. Works great for adhering metal to cloth or plastic DML badges to uniforms. That's what I use anyway.

Thanks for the tutorial.

[Tuche]

Thanks, for the tips!

[Pangaea95]

Awesome, gonna have to give the a shot, the results look excellent

[Emergency Ian]

Thanks Looey!

[hankco1942]

Nice job, I second the recommendation on the magnifier!

You could take those marks off the sides of the buckles with a swipe or 2 of a file.

[JTFazz]

Great tutorial, Ed. Thanks!

Just goes to show you don't have to spend much if any money to get more realistic results.

[DEIIP]

Wow Ed, that is amazing. I tried doing that before, but I guess I was using the wrong tools. Awesome tip on the end tabs though! Thanks for the little tutorial!

[Dougmo]

Thanks, Ed...I'm going to work on those strap buckles - I never noticed the angle on the sides-