Help! Needs Tips About Foam Armor Building!

[Haxzor]

Hi, I'm new to armor making and I'm going to start a foam build (hopefully before Halloween) and I was wondering if anyone had any tips about making a foam helmet? Like what to do and what not to do. Any info is helpful!
Thanks.

 

[Warpath5150]

Same, I would like help on foam armour making, just the basics though

 

[12382]

Umm, in my personal opinion, i don't think that you should make the helmet using foam. if you do, use one with a very low poly count. or one where there are a lot of flat sides but for an overall foam build, the number 1 thing you can do is to plan. planing is the biggest thing. like have the scales already done and see if they fit by making a rough draft using card stock and tape or w/e plus, if you plan to make a whole suit. don't expect 8 sheets to be more than enough. you're going to at least need 12 sheets. Unless you layout everything perfectly. ex: chest+2thighs+cod+1boot= 4 sheets gone. and that's 5/13ths the way thorough. and when putting together folds, make sure you make an angle on the piece so it can have the slope you want it to.

 

[Warpath5150]

So, Only use foam on helmets for flat sided helmets, like EOD?
But for the foam build, would you use pepakura? Or build your own shapes?

 

[Pipinacan]

You use the flat faces on the pepakura model, seperating off a lot of edges and tabs with the join/disjoin tool because since the foam is thicker than paper, there isn't need for edges

 

[Zat German]

Gamemaster has some good tips on making helmets with foam on page 7 of the Foam Armoring thread. You should read the entire thread, it has lots of good info about foam. Check it out:

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/28434-Foam-Armoring

 

[TD2253]

Some members here make their armor out of foam but the helmet is usually a pepakura model. The helmet should be a pepakura model because it is most accurate and it is the centerpiece of your whole suit...it usually makes/break the whole look.

 

[Warpath5150]

Thanks guys

 

[Haxzor]

Thank you guys for all the info. I did make a paper helmet model....and it turned out fine, but it's too big for my head and I spent a lot of time on it. My friend made the same helmet out of foam and he finished it in half the time, I mean it's painted and everything and it also looks better. So I'm thinking that I'll just make the helmet out of foam, see how it looks, and if I like it I'll finish it and if not I'll make another paper one. But thanks again for the info.