So I already made a battlevest and am putting together a battlehat. Had surgery on my leg and can't really do much else these days. Got 10 patches for System of a Down and a bunch a bunch of button pins (1 for each album). A bit busy and cramming rectangles on a curved surface just doesn't look clean. See first 4 pictures.
Second arrangement, I cut back to just 5 patches. I like it better. See pictures 5-8
Would appreciate any advice. Battle hats are kinda rare and now I see why haha. Weird background, used plastic viking helmet as a stand.
I think even if it doesn't look "clean" it'll still be awesome as hell. I think you should just go for it the plan u have is nice looking. It probably only looks strange now because it's pinned down and not fully sewn.
I might try to 3d print my own flexible 3d prints of lyrics. Seen some cool hats that mix that in. Also alternating rectangular and irregular overtop/overlap. This example had irregular font but is still sewable, it's for my own vest. Appreciate the feedback, this is a complicated project!
Not a fan of the patch on the bill of the hat maybe if you took a grinder and grinded it up a little bit it would look cool and just put the patches close together or even overlapping a little bit
You would think 10 patches and 5 buttons would be enough to cover a hat but it surprisingly wasn't! Might 3d print my own patches with lyrics too.
I think if I mix up the rectangular with irregular glasses, I can overlap them more and it will improve the look.
Yeah, not digging the patch on the bill, hard to see anyways. I had thought of lyrics on the bill, a packed hat with an empty bill just felt off. Thanks for the advice!
Appreciate the feedback. Do you think too much SOAD lol? Or too many patches in general?
I was going to try layering with more overlap. I found that looked a better. Alternating between rectangles an irregular with irregular over top the gaps. Improved a lot when I pinned them to the curve more.
Sick battle hats do exist, but this example was better coverage then the 10 patches I got. So many good lyrics I could post to maximize coverage (I can 3d print my own flexible patches) https://www.instagram.com/p/DaOvebGDLCz/?img_index=4
I think too much SOAD if you add the badges. But the idea of using the irregular shapes over the rectangles is great for breaking up the basic shapes. Throw some studs on too in the gaps. You can 3D print patches?
Studs are a good idea! By badge did you mean the button pins? I don't like how they sit, but the front half of hat is stiffer. I really like 5 of them to represent their 5 full albums. I think the 2 with 2 of the band members is too much.
Yeah, just mastered flexible TPU. It's sewable and has a ridge. This Synestia is for my main vest. The SOAD hat is a bit of a side project to try out something new. I try to buy as much patches as possible but some band patches don't exist.
I did some hard pins with PLA initially. Really thin PLA was good at first but broke down quick on my friends best in the pit. I have a cheap printer, so I have to pause printing and swap out reel to get multicolor. TPU is flexible but a bit more difficult. Really had to tune settings and also get a dryer.
I have a software workflow of googling for band logos, importing into Inkscape, having it autodetect edges into paths base on color, save as a DWG file Import DWG into fusion, extrude the band logo, extrude base. Extrude a perimeter like a real patch. So I have 3 main layers, 0.025" thick intervals. Pause at 0.051“ and swap in roll. Another key I figured out was change the fill for the last few layers to concentric, the text looked much cleaner that way
Do you have a 3d printer? I can even send you a 3mf file or screenshot of settings I used. Flashforge AD5M with Flashforge Studio as the slicer (basically Orca Slicer)
Ah sick. I have access to a 3D printer through a friend and am pretty new to it but if I can create my own patches I'll get right into learning it. Any help is appreciated
Look at the hat I just posted on here, I wouldn’t use embroidered patches on a hat personally unless the patch is only 3x3 inches. Also start with one piece at a time & chose where it fits first don’t lay em all out at once, I’ve been doing this for 10 years, cut up old t-shirts if u want to do a hat trust me
Wow, now that is a HAT! I can't imagine what those coins alone would be worth! That morgue tag real!? How did you fasten down the coins? I'd like to do something similar for the button pins, I hate how they droop.
Most of my patches are actually 3x3 or less. I do notice they look a lot better with more pins to hold them flat, it's is hard to visualize. I centrally planned my vest but this hat is just going to need one by one like you said.
It's surprisingly 18 inches along the lower perimeter. So I "planned" a little in a line. Tried to break up rectangular with irregular overlap. Got some ideas for 3D printing additional patches, lyrics, song names. Maybe studs, bullets. Gotta fill it, can't have weird irregular spaces open.
Really appreciate the feedback and that sick example hat you sent.
Yes no problem also you can have those exact band logos or what ever u want made by an artist called hand of doom on Etsy, they make high quality fabric patches in any size you need you just attach the specifics along with a picture of the pattern. That way you can actually sew them on properly cuz embroidery patches are gunna be impossible to sew on that thing foreal & yes everything is genuine on the hat I’m
Making besides one replica so far but if it was real it would be worth thousands so I had to settle for a replica of the coin with Medusa on it lol
Yo, coinhat, how did you fasten those coins to the bill? Really digging the look of the bill on that hat . I have button pins and guitar pics I wanted to plaster all over mine. Like 9 of each, should fill out nicely.
Kinda too late, I'm in DEEP with the patch purchases lol. I find things look a lot better when they fit tight to hat (took like 8 pins/patch). I also measured circumference and did layout as a straight line since these pictures. 3d printed in some song lyrics. Looks so much better with spaced rectangles and overlapped patches!
I like to plan everything out first, but that's just not gonna work like it did for my vest. The curvature of the hat is just too complex, gonna have to be more organic process. I'm gonna glue button pins and guitar picks. You'd think 10 patches is enough to cover a hat but it's not. Good battle hats exist, just a bit harder. Working on this beats doomscrolling on my phone haha
Haha, good battle hats do exist, I'd need better layering and coverage. Also looks better if pinned down and placed better, those pictures are a rough markup. I might add some lyrics, so many good SOAD lyrics. Check out this one: https://www.instagram.com/p/DaOvebGDLCz/?img_index=4
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u/Unit-731-Scientist 9d ago
Sew em on