Call me crazy, metal scout armor

[PiroSVX]

Figured out a way to extract good .DXF files from the unfolded pepa. Tomorrow I will be sending these to the Waterjet guys.
I will start with the scout helmet, as this, in my mind, on one of the least complex helmets i have seen.
I am going to have them quote the material as 0.040" 5052 aluminum. This should be relatively easy to bend into shape, and still allow me to use the tabs. Material will be easily bonded by roughing the surfaces and using a no buildup adhesive. I will post pertinent pricing details, and if i decide to go forward with it, i will post pictures of the cutting process.

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Watching with interest.

 

[Sentri]

I give you and the other metalworkers a lot of credit. A metal suit, aluminum or not, will still be heavy. That's dedication. I look forward to seeing this progress.

 

[Sturmwulfe]

Definitely looking forward to seeing this!

 

[FlyinPhil]

I am also intrigued. Good luck with this build!

 

[peterthethinker]

Bonding with glue is stong . have you thought of TIG ?


TIG would loook so Cool! if the beads were just right.

And with Al you can anodize it and then scratch off at the edges some Real wear patterns! .

Oh this is gonna be HOT !

 

[PiroSVX]

If I could TIG I would, but saddly that is not in my skill set. I will be making a nest file for the Waterjet guys and hopefully have in for a quote later today.

 

[BuildsByBaz]

If I could TIG I would, but saddly that is not in my skill set. I will be making a nest file for the Waterjet guys and hopefully have in for a quote later today.

Before I started on the steel suit, I went down the avenue of aluminium. I had a TIG welder of 20 years experience warn me that attempting such a project as these cosplay suits was going to be difficult in the extreme for a beginner and that even he would be reluctant to attmpt such a project.

I should have listened because I wasted a lot of time and money trying, only to prove to myself that I am crap at TIG welding.

SB

 

[PiroSVX]

So, update time. Turns out my original files were a pain in the ass to deal with, but they got it sorted out. Major props to them.
The quoter told me that if I wanted to do my own nesting it would save me about 2 hours of cad time from them. Which he said was about 120$ an hour.
SO... Back to cad so I can do my own nesting, he was awesome enough to tell me their recommended spacing between parts, which will help in the long run.
I will keep everyone posted as I continue to progress on this.

 

[DatedRhyme713]

Post following for curiosity XD

 

[PiroSVX]

Update time, sorry its been a while guys. Busy week at work.
So, heard back from the waterjet guys with a rough quote. It would be about 400$ to cut out all of the parts for just the helmet. Saddly this is way out of my budget for a build. They were very excited to look into this as i think a few of them are halo fans as well. The estimator explained it to me that there are too many individual parts, which is why the price is so high. If i could consolidate more of the parts into larger sections i could reduce the cost by a fair bit.
So, i guess i will look into the possibility of making some of the pep sections into larger units.
If anyone has some other ideas of how to reduce part quantity that would be great.

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

What about buying a few parts at a time and building as you can afford? I know it's not the most fun option, but it will give you time to get used to working the metal and you'll be better by the time you can buy the next round of parts! Just a thought..

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Update time, sorry its been a while guys. Busy week at work.
So, heard back from the waterjet guys with a rough quote. It would be about 400$ to cut out all of the parts for just the helmet. Saddly this is way out of my budget for a build. They were very excited to look into this as i think a few of them are halo fans as well. The estimator explained it to me that there are too many individual parts, which is why the price is so high. If i could consolidate more of the parts into larger sections i could reduce the cost by a fair bit.
So, i guess i will look into the possibility of making some of the pep sections into larger units.
If anyone has some other ideas of how to reduce part quantity that would be great.

It's a real shame to see so many folks get inspired by metal builds, only to be pulled up by cost. It happens so much. I have seen plenty of suits started, but very few full suits of any kind actually finished.

Have you tried laser or plasma cutting to see if they are any cheaper?

You can cut aluminium sheet very easily with a band saw or scroll saw, and if it's thin enough, you can use aviation snips. Sure, there's a bit more filing and sanding to get all your cut edges neat, but so what? It's a heck of a lot cheaper.

I hope this doesn't kill it for you. Just think outside the box. "If I can't do it this way, then I'll do it that way."

SB

 

[Lasrig]

I have made some metal armor for a friend before, cut it yourself! It is surprisingly easy to cut even with just a jig saw. Cutting it yourself will reduce cost by a lot more, even if you consider the parts that you mess up.

I don't know if you considered this, but making a pep helmet then attaching metal plates to the outside would probably work great.

Some metalworking tips:
• To bend: score with angle grinder/dremel, heat up the metal, bend into position.

• To attach two pieces together I would recommend using a glue to attach the pieces together initially, then use a soldering iron to make it look like a very small weld.

• To make small pieces: Heat up the metal and use snips to cut, or you can use a dremel with a diamond saw.

 

[PiroSVX]

Might have to consider this. Their min job.charge is 150, which means I could break up the parts into groups to hit that amount. I'll look into that as I work on nesting for the entire suit

 

[R C LAWRENCE]

lols. I'm going with LVL. IIIA kevlar, for my armor. I'm going to make a pepa positive mold and from that, a P.O.P. (((Plaster of Paris)Seems to be in ample abundance in the med bay)XD that's a joke, I don't work for uncle stupid) negative. using that I'll make a ceramic positive cover that with kevlar and resin let it set. put in a kiln at [REDACTED] shop once that cures I'll probably put 15 layers of LVL. IIIA on the inside of that. primer and paint, bolt on attachment straps.and when the war comes....[[[[[REDACTED]]]]]

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

lols. I'm going with LVL. IIIA kevlar, for my armor. I'm going to make a pepa positive mold and from that, a P.O.P. (((Plaster of Paris)Seems to be in ample abundance in the med bay)XD that's a joke, I don't work for uncle stupid) negative. using that I'll make a ceramic positive cover that with kevlar and resin let it set. put in a kiln at [REDACTED] shop once that cures I'll probably put 15 layers of LVL. IIIA on the inside of that. primer and paint, bolt on attachment straps.and when the war comes....[[[[[REDACTED]]]]]

Please do not hijack threads, especially when it's necroposting too. It's just distasteful and rude. Your post also could use better English, that's hard as hell to read..

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Please do not hijack threads, especially when it's necroposting too. It's just distasteful and rude. Your post also could use better English, that's hard as hell to read..

Not really a necro........but I agree w/ Lt Shiny Sides. If your 1st language isn't English......it's fine. If not..........you know what.....if ya don't have anything nice to say don't say anything........so I say nothing.

 

[Lt Shiny Sides]

Not really a necro

Forum policy is 3-4 weeks..

 

[Chernobyl]

Forum policy is 3-4 weeks..

We generally give threads a couple of months' leeway. Regardless - let's try to keep things clean. If the thread creator doesn't respond in a timely fashion, let's simply leave the thread to go inactive.