Foam vs fiber

[Runkrod]

Hey gang,
Built a Halo 3 foam armor many years ago and while here in zombie-apocalypse lockdown and thinking of a new build (halo 4 style). Havent been on this site in quite a while so am having a time sorting through the. ariousbthreads and posts. But I'm having trouble getting a sense of where people are working these days, foam or fiber. Seems I see current/new builds with both so was curious what the latest thoughts and opinions are. I was going to build with foam but have done fiber before (which is why I'm leaning toward foam ). My last build was done when foam was just becoming a thing, so now just looking for opinions (foam for armor, pep for helmets, etc.)

 

[The Wolf]

I would say this:
Pepakura Pros: More details ( I think), don't need a lot of fancy tools,

Pepakura/fiberglass cons: very time consuming, can warp, fiberglass is a little pricy sometimes (got 1 liter of bondo, and fiber for $15), lots of sanding I think, and you also feel very miserable if you size something wrong.
Most of that is from research, and personal expeirences.

 

[The Wolf]

Foam pros: Quicker than pep/cardstock, final product is lighter than fiberglass,

Foam cons: Need fancy tools if this is your first time doing it, have to fill seams, some paint's can melt styrofoam for weapon building

 

[Coreforge]

Foam is lighter and more flexible, so it might be more comfortable. With pep I think it's easier to get more details, but you can also get an incredible amount of detail with foam. Fiberglass is heavier and not flexible, so it might be less comfortable to wear, but it feels more like armor. You could also 3D print. You can get quite some details that way, but it requires a lot of post processing to get rid of the layer lines, and you might loose some detail there, but that depends a lot on the printer and your filling and sanding. In the end, it comes down to personal preference. I did fiber for the helmet and foam for the rest of my still unfinished suit. One thing to consider as well is painting. Since the foam is flexible, you need a slightly flexible paint. There are many options for that though. If you have the tools, you could also use sheet metal, but that gets heavier than fiber, and you have to measure pretty much everything to not bend it all wrong.

 

[he4thbar]

It seems Foam and 3d print are the new competitors. I did a pep helmet for my ODST, but my armor was all foam. All I can say based on my new build (power armor) that I will never go back to pep, if you are patient you can make foam look amazing. just really need a cutting matt, utility/break off blades and card stock for tracing. and of course something to connect them.

 

[FunFrostbite]

Hey gang,
Built a Halo 3 foam armor many years ago and while here in zombie-apocalypse lockdown and thinking of a new build (halo 4 style). Havent been on this site in quite a while so am having a time sorting through the. ariousbthreads and posts. But I'm having trouble getting a sense of where people are working these days, foam or fiber. Seems I see current/new builds with both so was curious what the latest thoughts and opinions are. I was going to build with foam but have done fiber before (which is why I'm leaning toward foam ). My last build was done when foam was just becoming a thing, so now just looking for opinions (foam for armor, pep for helmets, etc.)

So I am attempting to do a slush cast for my arbiter project and heard about how smooth on has good products for that. If you would like a strong and lightweight armor, maybe slush casting would work well for you. The mold process might take a while, but after that everything is easy and quick. And the nice thing is that if you mess up on a piece, (casting, too thick or thin etc.) you can just cast it again in 30 minutes. Highly recommend this process. (But take note that it might cost a little bit more than foam or fiber) so this is just a recommendation

 

[RandomRanger]

As far as I can tell, you can achieve the same tier of results with both foam and fiber, it really just matters what you prefer to work with. For example, in this photo moderndaymarc made his armor with fiberglass (left) and I made mine with foam (right).

Personally, I prefer to work with foam, so that's what I'll stick with. Additionally, I believe foam is more comfortable to wear and can be made more durable when reinforced.