All Materiels, Required to Make Armor and How Much?

[Seth Knight]

This isn't my first thread (2nd), but I'm pretty much new here. I've seen the safety threads, the materials and safety equipment. I'm planning on making a suit of Halo armor (undecided as of which character yet). Now to my question:

My question, is how much? How much does a usual suit of Master Chief or Noble Six armor take? How much Resin, Fiberglass cloth, and Bondo?

How many Respirator cartridges and filters on average do you use when making a full suit?

How much foam mats do you use to make the inner pats of the thighs? Or for padding inside the helmet?

I'll continue to look for the answers through the threads but it would be very helpful if you could let me know.

If you have any links to sites with good deals to the materials it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Seth_Knight_of_New_Wales

 

[DocDailey]

Seth,

There is not any way close to an easy answer for this. I can tell you that I dropped $400 on all the tools, equipement and resourced I felt I needed to produce my stuff. Now how many pieces could I produce from all that material and use of tools? It's looking like 2 full sets of armour and a crap ton of add ons and other pep work unrelated to Halo.

There are many video tutorials on what kind of stuff you need to get started. Like Backyard Effects:

As far as the how much of stuff you need....It's your own call. Are you planning on making a full suit? Paper or foam? Are you going to stick with it? Do you just want to make a helmet first to see if you like the process?

I needed 500 pieces of 110lb card stock and 1gallon drums of Bondo, and of resin. I haven't gone through more than 350 pages yet, but I have enough to continue on for a while. As far as foam, it depends of the type. I got the floor EVA foam from Lowes for $20 for 4 sheets that are huge. I've only gotten throught 2 sheets and that was with alot of messing up.

If you like I've been planning on making a video tutorial for the 405th covering and explaining this very topic. Let me know if you think there is a need for it.

 

[Revenant1988]

There is no set cost.

The cost is made up of many things that aren't easy to say up front....you will encounter things you didn't expect. The level of detail also makes a difference. I can tell you this: My suit cost me about $1000 to build out of fiberglass and bondo.

This included:
All safety items
All items for pepakura stage,
All items for bracing stage
All items for resin stage
All items for actually glassing
All items for bondo stage
All sanding and detailing stage
All Painting and clear coats
All Under suit materials, electronics, visors, transport cases,foam, strapping/padding

It does NOT include:
The power tools I bought to help me (not REQUIRED to build, but worth it I think)
My time and life missed doing it
Things I could get from friends to help me such as a dedicated work space

 

[ventrue]

That question is hard to answer because, similar to everything else in life, it depends on:

• how economical you are (you can use the minimum amount of resin and fibre required - or drop in 2 cm of Rondo to create a giant brick)
• how good you are (if I remember correctly, you wanted perfection, which may take a few attempts, just like sizing)
• what you already have (tools!)

Where I live, there are huge differences in container sizes. I'd stick with a relatively small sized package of everything at the beginning, this lets you switch tactics and products before you find what you like best.

Respirator cartridges last far longer than you might expect, even when they lie around unused. I have a pair of A2 cartridges that have been unsealed for over a year now, used for only a few hours and lying around most of the time and still work. Particle filters clog up, so their lifetime depends on how much dust you produce.

Questions like the foam-thigh one you can answer for yourself by simply measuring your thighs.

 

[Revenant1988]

This isn't my first thread (2nd), but I'm pretty much new here. I've seen the safety threads, the materials and safety equipment. I'm planning on making a suit of Halo armor (undecided as of which character yet). Now to my question:

My question, is how much? How much does a usual suit of Master Chief or Noble Six armor take? How much Resin, Fiberglass cloth, and Bondo?

On average, a "good" suit will cost you anywhere from $500 to $1500 depending on the detail and time you put into it.
How many Respirator cartridges and filters on average do you use when making a full suit?
Each cartridge usually has a working life of about 8 hours. SO, how many you use depends on how fast you work. Refills are about $20 on average. I went through 4 pairs being safe.

How much foam mats do you use to make the inner pats of the thighs? Or for padding inside the helmet?
Depends on your body size, I'm afraid. You have to find the answer to this yourself.

I'll continue to look for the answers through the threads but it would be very helpful if you could let me know.

If you have any links to sites with good deals to the materials it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

If you go the foam route, Harbor Freight has the cheapest foam. For resin and glass I bought that from walmart 90% of the time. More fancy equipment and details you'll have to look around for, as there is no Halo armor store

Seth_Knight_of_New_Wales

I inserted answers in your quote above.

I should add, some of the cost is high just because of mistakes made along the way. I got the hang of resin and glass pretty quick and didn't waste much at all; however I had a very hard time with bondo and wasted a lot and had to redo some pieces it was so bad.

 

[Seth Knight]

First to say thanks everyone for the replies, I'm a noob in the resin and fiberglass department, you may as well stamp it on my forehead. lol.

My plans for the suit were to be a full pepakura suit, (I think Noble Six) with only foam for the thighs and details, no electronics, unless I decide on them later.

I was hoping to spend roughly $150-$220, but it looks like I was disillusioned, but we'll see how much I pay in the end. I'll follow your guys' advice and only get enough bondo and resin to get me started, then get the rest if I get the hang of it.

To DocDailey, I think it would be really helpful for a tutorial, if it's about the amounts used and the list of materials, there's a tutorial out there with roughly the items required, but no amounts as to resin and bondo. About the backyard fx, that was the video I saw that got me all into this pepakura/405th thing in the first place, I really don't know how they came up with the $100 amount (well, minus designer, and probably already had the tools needed).

I have in mind to list the items I buy as I buy them (I'll be doing it relatively quick I want to be done no later than October 20-ish.) with links to the sites I got them off, let me know if that would be wise.

Thanks once more! Seth.

 

[DocDailey]

Seth,

Good idea on actually accounting for your materials as you buy them. I've talked to a friend of mine and we are going to shoot a video for this thread's topics. It might take a week, but it'll get done. I also am looking to do other videos to condense and consolidate alot of great info other 405th members have put out there over the years. Yes I'll give credit and if I learn how to edit the videos well enough I'll splice in their parts....with their permission of course.

All in all, start with the helmet. That is the quickest, easiest way to get started and if you don't want to do any more....at least you have a badass piece of art to put on a shelf.

Good luck.

 

[Seth Knight]

Your video would be a lot of help for a lot of noob's just getting started with making pep armor. I'm planning on buying the respirator with some replacement cartridges and filters. It'll all be online, so I'll be able to post links. I'm scaling a noble six now, I'll have it done this afternoon, then I'll get to shopping.

Good luck with the video Doc, it'll be a very helpful thread, especially if you can combine most of the threads on the subject.

Seth.

 

[Seth Knight]

*Post Reserved For Further additions*

First and foremost this is thread about the items I will be purchasing for my suit. There is threads on the same topic in the noob stickies list. WHICH I HIGHLY ADVISE READING! They can be extremely helpful!

I hope to accurately record my purchases, with links to all of the sites I bought the items off from. I encourage other users who don't mind sharing their knowledge to do the same, but it's all voluntarily.
Notes: I haven't added the shipping, it'll vary where you live, as well as your methods, when you want it, etc.
Now to the list:

Item: Half Face Organic Vapor Respirator. NOTE: this link was found in one of the safety guide threads in the Stickies. (I'll add the user who found this when I find out)
Website: Amazon
Link: http://www.amazon.com/3M-R6311-Low-Maintenance-Half-Mask-Respirator/dp/B0009F5KDS
List Price: $34.85
Deal (Not guaranteed): $28.50 Free shipping (View websites for details)
Notes: This is a large sized Respirator, what I gathered this type is suited for fiberglass work and the like.

Item: Organic Vapor Replacement Cartridges
Website: Amazon
Link: http://www.amazon.com/3M-R6001-Orga...8&qid=1343234503&sr=1-1&keywords=3m+cartridge
List Price: $15.06
Deals (not guaranteed): $8.97 (see website for details)
Notes: These are just replacement cartridges.

Item: Particulate Filter 10 pack
Website: Amazon
Link: http://www.amazon.com/3M-R5P71-Part...=1-1&keywords=3M+R5P71+Particulate+Filter+P95
List Price: $17.50
Deals (not guaranteed) $15.96
Notes: I've found a better product, ships from within the USA

Item: Fiberglass Cloth
Website: Amazon
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Bondo-498-Square-Fiberglass-Cloth/dp/B0024GR5WY/ref=lh_ni_t
List Price: $64.99
Deals: ($35.63)
Notes: 32 square feet of cloth, woven fiberglass strands

Item: Bondo
Website: Amazon
Link: sorry, can't find the link again, just search amazon and you'll find some.
List Price: $17.99
Deals: $14.00
Notes: this is a quart, four quarts= 1 gallon, don't know if this is the most economical way to go

Item: Safety goggles
Website: Lowe's
Link: http://www.lowes.com/pd_79788-98-91...L=?Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&facetInfo=
List Price: $2.97
Deals: (none)
Notes: Any safety goggles will do, I'm just posting where I'm getting one. I'll be getting mine from the store.

Item: Sandpaper
Website: Lowe's
Link: http://www.lowes.com/pd_246163-98-4...and+use+sandpaper&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=
List Price: $3.47
Deals: (none)
Notes: 5 pack 120 grit.

Item: 3m dust filter 10 pack
Website: Lowe's
Link: http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1
List Price: $19.95
Deals: none
Notes: or you can buy just a single one for 4



I'm sorry for letting this thread die, but it seemed like a wasted effort to keep this running when I was the only one posting. If you are reading this then I hope this has helped you in someway. Most of the things required for this method of costuming can be found in walmart, menards, and lowe's. The specialty things you'll have to find on your own, mostly on the internet.

Seth_Knight_of_New_Wales