Does armour need to be "boxed"?

[relaxis]

Hi, I was wondering, when creating armour in pepakura, do you create the armour as one sheet of paper (the paper is the inside and outside face) or kind of "box" the armour so that the inside of the armour is hollow?

Let me clarify, for a chest piece I am 3d modelling, I am thinking of filling the hollow cavity inside the armour with hardening expandable foam, then resin and putty on the outside.

 

[blue2k]

Not quite sure what you are asking here, but most pep pieces are hollow (not including the strengthening braces on some pieces). If you fill the middle (void) of the piece with expanding foam, then how would you wear it? Unless this is to create a master for a moulding process?

 

[BMP Props]

Read my thread, ChefBZD's reach Spartan build, I like the foam insulation, but only for open sided armor pieces. I would definitely not recommend it for the torso. I am posting from my phone right now, so I'm not gonna type the whole explanation...just read my thread. Hope you find it helpful. Good luck.

 

[relaxis]

Sorry, hard to explain, the armour ive designed has an inner and outer wall, the cavity between these walls is what I want to fill with expanding foam.

Here's an image of the model, you'll see what I mean -

http://postimage.org/image/efc4rmjpn/

Hi, how exactly did you create the supports for the piece? After seeing a few videos of expanding foam it seems that it would warp like mad, is there a way to reinforce the armour to prevent that?

 

[drack]

There is no need for the inner wall in your design. Once the resin and bondo are on they will form the armours thickness.

 

[ViperB77]

There is no need for the inner wall in your design. Once the resin and bondo are on they will form the armours thickness.

/agree.

Check out my build too, I started a while back, but I have lots of early development shots.

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/37682-I-got-this...-I-m-gonna-try-SCIENCE!

 

[Promethean Angel]

I've actually built up about a quarter inch with a few layers of fiberglass and bondo or smoothcast. It really takes care of itsself. Then you can add the eva foam or whatever route you choose to the inside for padding. It gains plenty of mass and thickness with conventional methods. Let one of us know if you run into trouble or have more questions.

 

[relaxis]

thanks guys. I live in Luxembourg so the brand names you guys use arent the same and many of the products just arent available. I got polyester resin and putty from the autorrpair shop, but there were so many to choose from in different mixes, one was polyester and fibre glass mix, another was fine putty... fibre glass mat is expensive, 8 euro for a square metre, fleece for 5 euros...

I do have a question, for that painted car body look or metallic finish, is that the spray paint or something else?