Hiya Darla;
Just playing 'catch-up' right now. So far, good thread and details you provided. I was always curious about the bra and its construction, now I know how poorly made they are. From the DHGate pictures, I questioned several vendors about that super thin tab that holds the chains to the cups and got no responses of any value. Good luck welding such thin stuff! Even beefing up those tabs with new pieces made of 20 or 18 gauge will be problematic on the thinness of the cup material, I would think.
Great idea on using thicker stock for the backing plate. Had I access to such and the tooling, I would have done exactly as you mention. But...I suffer for lack of tools.
The patterns the Chinese use are basically all variants on same theme pattern. The most notable differences is the waistband lock. Some go cheap and use post and pot metal (zinc diecast I think) shackleguard, and some use the horizontal 3-hole pattern in waistband tabs and single hole front shield top to the Burg Wachter locking block with pin design. The Burg Wachter is a better lockset, but heavier and prone to wear as Lizza found out. Since I did not piddle with mine, it is in good condition.
Please do not confuse my review of belts. I reviewed a Chinese Florentine style, which looks very similar to the Darla review that came with the bra. The other review I did was on a solid rear strap Chinese belt that has the waistband locking system of Darla's review. So you see, these belts interchange freely the waistband main locking system.
The lower secondary shield lock with shackleguard and post are pretty much standard on all those Chinese belts. I hate them. I rivet the secondary or put a computer case radial lock on them.
Thank you for this review, Darla. It answered many questions I had regarding those bras. I think I will save my money and not buy one of those of Chinese chastity bras now.