Cujo's ODST Armor Begins!

[cujo3131]

Thanks guys!

I really appreciate ALL of the kind words. I was thinking along Toa's line that I wanted something that I could get on and off on my own without having to have someone help me dress. Being a Historical Reenactor, It bugs me to have to have someone help me get dressed. Some of those Rev War outfits are just over the top

Anyway... I am Definitely NOT a beanpole Jester :cool

The other thing I was thinking with having the straps on the "hip" of the armor was that I could hide or cover those with the hip plates in the armor. I also didn't want to take the straps THRU the armor cause my fear is that the armor would tear easily.

And lastly... The shoulder "groove plates are EVA on top of black 1/4" foam... BE very careful when bending that to shape... The EVA will want to tear at the "fork" area on the back when trying to bend it to go around the shoulder... I had one of mine tear... I could have hot glued it... but I just cut out another and went that route. On the front I cut that shoulder piece with a 30 degree cut so it fades out at a angle...

Hope all of that makes some sense

Thank you guys... back to school tomorrow for me to teach... but I got a couple
more things rolling in my brain... I'll get them up as soon as I have pics

Cujo3131

 

[rancor1]

This is coming along great man.

 

[Hugh Holder]

I said last night that I would post up images for Hugh on how I did the straps...

Hugh,

Here is a pic of the straps hotglued down... and they are WELL glued!
Below that is a diagram of how I put the straps together....

Great advice and diagram Cujo, thank you for sharing that with us. It really gave me a better idea for setting up the strapping for some of my other armor parts.

 

[lunar lord]

looks good so far

 

[cujo3131]

Ok...finished up the straps inside the shoulder pads tonight....

I live the look and the hook ups....I think I will add a spandex or elastic loop inside the shoulder piece to both keep the pad close to the arm... and so it moves with me....might also be a fastening point for the inner arm plate.

I am a little worried that the shoulder plates might not be wide enough or large enough...

The images I have of Buck, it appears that the shoulder really wraps around and covers a lot of the upper arm.... I look a little exposed in this image....

It's getting there... slowly....

Cujo3131

 

[Road Kill]

Thanks Roadkill!

We are doing our best here.... at some point I'll make some real progress on this build! hahahahahaha

Cujo3131

yah haha! well the shoulders are looking good and it looks like the straps worked out pretty good too

 

[Goosebot 5000]

that looks GREAT!!!! another foam genius!!!

 

[Jesn223]

Great Work Cujo Awesome progres im still recovering from holydays

 

[Bountyknight]

im lovin it

 

[cujo3131]

Thanks Guys....

I appreciate the kind words....

Currently, I am waiting on the 15th to roll up so payday is here and I can buy more materials. Will be looking at getting some more foam, glue sticks, and finally ordering my Styrospray. I am also brainstorming Mickey's backpack at the moment... so lotsa ideas buzzing around... just gotta get more materials....

Will post more updates soon!

BTW.... cleaning up scrap foam last night and I noticed this:

Harbor Freight EVA foam that I purchased was closer to 3/8" then a half.....
Wal-Mart EVA foam seemed thicker at a 1/2" .... don't know if any ever noticed that or not... maybe it's the horrid diamond tread pattern on the walmart stuff... that raised diamond makes some gluing much harder to do....

anyway.... forgive the rambling.....

Cujo3131

 

[Hugh Holder]

The armor is coming along great Cujo. Thanks for the add on FB by the way.

I'm kind of in the same position as you, I'm waiting on some casting materials to show up so I can finish the helmet mould. But like many other SE cities we're caught in the icy weather in Atlanta. I understand that the city is ill prepared for this stuff, but come on! I had to call out of work today like everyone else because there STILL has been no effort to clear the main roads. So I know my materials aren't showing up anytime soon :/

Anyway thanks for the heads up on the EVA foam. I'll be sure to steer away from the wal-mart stuff if I can

Keep up the awesome work!

 

[cujo3131]

Ok PEEPS... Fall in....

Two major pieces on intel for today....

1) I got the official notice today that my first offer ever on a house was accepted! So soon we'll be blowing this popsicle stand for new digs... and a better work area

2) I got the new Styrospray 1000 resin today... and there is a funny story to it....

So our office secretary calls me down to the office and says I have a package! Coolio!
I take off to the office to get it and get back to my classroom and rip into it... and it's filled with FOAM! OH CRAP! I think... it's spilled everywhere and ruined.... I go get a screwdriver and peal some of it back and inside that is another box.... tear that open and sure enough... inside in a zip lock bag is the two cans of product....

Come to find out they developed the spray foam for shipping cause packing peanuts were too expensive... felt like a real homer... oh well... at least I got new product to play with...

I will let everyone know how it works and turns out soon and will post up images as well

Cujo3131

 

[cujo3131]

Ok... double post....but this is a REAL update!

First off... let's talk Styrospray 1000....

A) In the image above you can see the product that I received. It is a 2 part formula mixed at a 1:1 ratio. Part A is Coca-Cola colored catalyst with Part B being a milky thick mixture. Due to the nature of the polymer, I STRONGLY SUGGEST that you stir part B thoroughly as some seperation may occur... and the mix works best with B thoroughly mixed.....

B) Here we see my test ODST shoulder with one coat of the mixture on it. Note the run to the edges... Coat was applied with a simple foam BRUSH.... a foam trim roller might have done a much better job... this stuff is going to have go on THIN and your going to have to be patient with it or its going to be RUN CITY! Also note... this is ONLY 1 coat.

C) It took overnight for the polymer to completely set... It had a VERY high gloss finish. It did appear to fill in some cracks and pits in the foam... Upon flexing the foam,
I did get some crease lines... but no "Tearing" in the coat of polymer. Again remember, this is only 1 coat. Also of note... it was -6 degrees here yesterday... there was
very lil humidity in the air... and my classroom was only about 65 degrees most of the day. This stuff (as I was told by their VP) does better in warm temps and uses moisture
in the air when curing... I was pretty impressed by the first coat none the less....

Ok... so let's look at a few other things....

1) Yeah why not? This stuff works for foam... and I had seen it on plywood... so I thought... what the hell, try it. Here is my Kirrou Test Helmet with Styrospray applied. I noticed right away that in some places it still looked "wet" but it was definitely dry. In some places, I got blotches... looking shiny here and there, while it looked like it had soaked into the paper in other places. The cardstock had taken a kinda semi-transparent "wet t-shirt" appearance... Did not appear to be a lot heavier then before... and the panels of the cardstock were still flexible

2) You can see the shiny smoothness, and the blotchiness too. Keep in mind... just like the foam in the image before, this is only 1 thin coat with a foam brush. I will definitely try to add a few more coats to this... see if we can build a "Shell" of polymer and see how the cardstock holds up....

3) Now besides the Halo projects, I also use rigid foam boards for kitcar projects... so I hit some of this up with Styrospray... this was the best result... it filled the pores in the rigid foam....made a almost glassy coating... a couple more coats like that and minimal sanding and it would be GLASS-like.... NICE!

4) This stuff goes a LONG way... so mix it in VERY small batches at a time. I had about a 1/4 cup of polymer left over yesterday... I didn't want to jump the gun and use it on my ARMOR until I had time to try it out... so I left it. Son of a gun... instead of it hardening and being completely wasted... it "skinned" and the surface dried. I peeled that back with a toothpick and underneath was the rest of the polymer... Still viable and useable!!!

I put on a another coat on everything.... and I'll recheck the results on Monday...

That's the progress report so far... and I'll kepp you posted as I go...

Cujo3131

 

[cujo3131]

Sorry....posted this at midnight last night.... so I am going to bump for those who might have missed it....

Cujo3131

 

[Hugh Holder]

Congrats on the house Cujo!

That stuff seems pretty cool. It sounds like it works similar to Plasti-dip. That's crazy that they fill their boxes with foam, haha. Anything to save a buck I guess. Where did you order it from?

 

[cujo3131]

Contact:

David Boddie (or staff)

Industrial Polymers Corporation
Houston TX 77047

1-800-766-3832

2qts of polymer ran me $40 delivered to WI


Cujo3131

 

[TD2253]

Ok... double post....but this is a REAL update!

This stuff goes a LONG way... so mix it in VERY small batches at a time. I had about a 1/4 cup of polymer left over yesterday... I didn't want to jump the gun and use it on my ARMOR until I had time to try it out... so I left it. Son of a gun... instead of it hardening and being completely wasted... it "skinned" and the surface dried. I peeled that back with a toothpick and underneath was the rest of the polymer... Still viable and useable!!!

Cujo3131

Nice progress on your ODST Cujo! StyroSpray 1000 can still be used even after it's mixed for another 24 to 72 hours as long as it's stored in an airtight container. I'm still not done sculpting details in my foam armor but I will use StyroSpray when I am finished with it. Looking forward to more postings of your progress!

 

[cujo3131]

Nice progress on your ODST Cujo! StyroSpray 1000 can still be used even after it's mixed for another 24 to 72 hours as long as it's stored in an airtight container. I'm still not done sculpting details in my foam armor but I will use StyroSpray when I am finished with it. Looking forward to more postings of your progress!

TD2253,

We are going thru a freezer cycle here in Wisconsin... should be about 3 degrees tomorrow... so we'll se if my classroom is warm enough to spray tomorrow...
If it is warm enough, I may mix a VERY small portion and see how if flows in my airbrush.... maybe put a coat on my foam AR rifle....

As always, will keep everyone posted!

Cujo3131

 

[cujo3131]

Uploaded a Video

Ok 405th friends... here is my first attempt at a video...

no laughing... let me know if it helps!

Thanks!

Cujo3131

 

[Hugh Holder]

Great stuff Cujo. Lots of good information and options to consider.

Do you know what you are going to use to harden the pep parts after the styro spray?