that might be it. i remember it stopped working after I updated VMW

Okay so I tested it and the latest version of Vic's that doesn't break the suit graphics (at least for me) is
mw-1.11.7.7_mc1.7.10.jar
released 18.8.2018 or 8/18/2018

It's really hard to make 3d models display correctly as armor.

The way armor is rendered on the player hasn't changed since 2016, do you by any chance have other mods installed? And what exactly do you mean by "not render correctly", are there missing parts, errors with the rotations or misplaced texture?

No I know it is I am just letting you know because it was working on an older version.

this is what I meant by the rendering

Do you have any other mods/shaders/texture packs?

i have vics modern warfare in there

Vic's modern warfare is known to cause problems with this mod's custom armor models.

I'd say you should test the armor without Vic's installed, I'm fairly certain that it's the culprit, we've already observed similar issues with gas masks.