College Project - Would a suit of armour be a good thing to do?

[Shath]

Right, I have a year long college project to do and I thought doing a suit of armour would be a good thing to do. The only problem is, what method I should use. I'm still new to the armour making scene, but I'm getting better at it. Also, is it a good idea to do this, or will the tutors just laugh in my face?
So I have access to vaccum molding and pepakura, which one would you reccommend to a relative newbie?

If this works, I'll be posting progress on the project.

 

[Hugh Holder]

Well, you may end up getting criticism no matter what you do. That's just the nature of this hobby

I'm not really sure what the specifics of your class are. For instance, what their expectations are for you? If you justify your choice to build armor as simply a way of fabricating design, or simply prop-building you should be good to go.

Vaccum forming/molding is usually used as a way of reproducing an item you have already built. I say if you are only building one set of armor you shouldn't need to go that route. But if you want to try a little bit of everything for experience sake then it isn't a bad idea.

You will be fine just using pepakura to create a base armature. Then your options open up. You can use clay to smooth out details. Or you can use bondo. Depending on how smart you are about putting your pepakura together it may be smooth enough to avoid bondo and clay altogether and you may choose to throw in some craft foam on top for layering (that's what I'm doing)

Good luck with your build

 

[Shath]

I had an idea of hooking up a Nokia N95 to a infra-red camera to get night vision. Would this be possible, and if so, how would I go about doing it?

Also, using a 3D printer to make plugs for moulding.

 

[DonnieDarko]

oh dude! i had that same idea! i was going to hook up a mini screen into my visor in my helmet and some infrared lights on the helmet and get it that way so inside the helmet it would be kind of like a hud!

as far as a project for school i could see it working for building and design and such like hugh said above. but beyond that this could be frowned apon. try seeing what your other class mates are doing too get an inside idea of what to expect from others.

 

[Shath]

Actually, most seem to think it's a cool idea. I was pleasantly surprised.

Anyway. I'll be uploading pictures of the plug when it's finished. Stay tuned.

 

[DonnieDarko]

Looking forward to it. If you figure out a way to help incorporate the hud/night vision let me know id be glad to throw around some ideas

 

[Shath]

I doubt I could get it to work as a HUD, but if I can get a breakthrough on that, I'd be sure to chuck you the plans/how to do it.
In the meantime, I'm looking at making a TACPAD, and using that as my camera screen. Using an old phone for the screen, so if I get hook it up to the camera, I'll be in business.