I am an armor newbie. Just a few questions.

[FuncootForever]

Well first off, I'll take a second to introduce myself. I am Funcoot, some people call me coot for short. My game of choice, surprisingly is not Halo, but Half-Life 2 series (please do not bring this up). If you wanna talk to me more hit me up on xfire.
Xfire: dirtyherald

Anyways I got a few questions.

1. I plan on using stock card paper for my main structure in all my pieces. Is this an ok choice for a first build?

2. Does stock card have the structural integrity to hold itself together in it's folds for a long period of time. In this case about a week or two?

3. How thick is stock card paper, I never had any. Is it comparable to the thickness of say a birthday card?

4. Will sanding be involved with my paper construction? I do not see how. After I apply resin and fiber glass?

5. Is my size an issue? I am about 5'7 and a half and about 107-115 pounds. Any specific scales anyone recommends?

6. How hard will my first build be? I am sort of concerned. What problems should I expect.

7. How hard is the painting? I honestly have no Idea, I see the quality of some of these suites and nearly **** myself.

8. How long will my first build last. With ok workman ship with fiber glass, and how long without?

9. How do I hold together my papercraft. Glue, Tape? And if so what kind and where can I purchase it?

10. Links to all types of tutorials would be helpful. There seem to be a lot on this forum.

Thanks in advanced guys.

 

[Sikarian]

1. I plan on using stock card paper for my main structure in all my pieces. Is this an ok choice for a first build?
If you mean Cardstock, yeah, that will be fine.
2. Does stock card have the structural integrity to hold itself together in it's folds for a long period of time. In this case about a week or two?
It does, it won't fall apart on you if you glue properly
3. How thick is stock card paper, I never had any. Is it comparable to the thickness of say a birthday card?
Depends, you can buy 65lb, 110lb, etc. I recommend 110, but hell for my helmet I just used some I bought from Hobby Lobby that had no lb listage
4. Will sanding be involved with my paper construction? I do not see how. After I apply resin and fiber glass?
Sanding will come after resin/fiberglass for smoothness and to take out the pointy edges and drips
5. Is my size an issue? I am about 5'7 and a half and about 107-115 pounds. Any specific scales anyone recommends?
Just follow the scaling and you will be fine
6. How hard will my first build be? I am sort of concerned. What problems should I expect.
It's not too challenging, you'll make mistakes so dont expect it to be great the first time
7. How hard is the painting? I honestly have no Idea, I see the quality of some of these suites and nearly **** myself.
It's just a matter of spray painting. You'll learn tactics over time to make it look better, but its not HARD to paint
8. How long will my first build last. With ok workman ship with fiber glass, and how long without?
At least 6 months if properly fiberglasses and used heavily. Should last many years theoretically
9. How do I hold together my papercraft. Glue, Tape? And if so what kind and where can I purchase it?
Glue it with a hot glue gun. Best thing. like $5 for a low heat hot glue gun from walmart plus another $5 for more sticks than you'll ever need
10. Links to all types of tutorials would be helpful. There seem to be a lot on this forum.
Read the stickies at the top of the forum, best help you can find

 

[FuncootForever]

1. I plan on using stock card paper for my main structure in all my pieces. Is this an ok choice for a first build?
If you mean Cardstock, yeah, that will be fine.
2. Does stock card have the structural integrity to hold itself together in it's folds for a long period of time. In this case about a week or two?
It does, it won't fall apart on you if you glue properly
3. How thick is stock card paper, I never had any. Is it comparable to the thickness of say a birthday card?
Depends, you can buy 65lb, 110lb, etc. I recommend 110, but hell for my helmet I just used some I bought from Hobby Lobby that had no lb listage
4. Will sanding be involved with my paper construction? I do not see how. After I apply resin and fiber glass?
Sanding will come after resin/fiberglass for smoothness and to take out the pointy edges and drips
5. Is my size an issue? I am about 5'7 and a half and about 107-115 pounds. Any specific scales anyone recommends?
Just follow the scaling and you will be fine
6. How hard will my first build be? I am sort of concerned. What problems should I expect.
It's not too challenging, you'll make mistakes so dont expect it to be great the first time
7. How hard is the painting? I honestly have no Idea, I see the quality of some of these suites and nearly **** myself.
It's just a matter of spray painting. You'll learn tactics over time to make it look better, but its not HARD to paint
8. How long will my first build last. With ok workman ship with fiber glass, and how long without?
At least 6 months if properly fiberglasses and used heavily. Should last many years theoretically
9. How do I hold together my papercraft. Glue, Tape? And if so what kind and where can I purchase it?
Glue it with a hot glue gun. Best thing. like $5 for a low heat hot glue gun from walmart plus another $5 for more sticks than you'll ever need
10. Links to all types of tutorials would be helpful. There seem to be a lot on this forum.
Read the stickies at the top of the forum, best help you can find

If they had a reputation system, you'd get some.
Thanks man.

But still I would like these re answered by other people, just kind of like a second opinion you'd get from a doctor.

 

[Vexona]

Yup, I totally agree with Sikarian on each and would recommend the same answers.

1. I plan on using stock card paper for my main structure in all my pieces. Is this an ok choice for a first build?
Absolutely.
2. Does stock card have the structural integrity to hold itself together in it's folds for a long period of time. In this case about a week or two?
Definitely, provided you have used a good glue. My Pep suit sat around for about 2 weeks before I resined it.
3. How thick is stock card paper, I never had any. Is it comparable to the thickness of say a birthday card?
Yup it's thick like a b-day or a business card. It'll come in printer paper size in various weights (110 is the heaviest you're liable to see).
4. Will sanding be involved with my paper construction? I do not see how. After I apply resin and fiber glass?
Even nice suits will get little globs of resin in places. It's a messy process.
5. Is my size an issue? I am about 5'7 and a half and about 107-115 pounds. Any specific scales anyone recommends?
Nope, plenty of skinny folks have made theirs successfully. You can look on the Scaling thread for specific ppl's. I'm a 5'6 22 y/o girl and I still got it to work
6. How hard will my first build be? I am sort of concerned. What problems should I expect.
Not difficult but it is time consuming. You will probably print a few things out in the wrong scale.
7. How hard is the painting? I honestly have no Idea, I see the quality of some of these suites and nearly **** myself.
Painting has been my fav part. Just prime it well and plan ahead. Know what layers and techniques you are using beforehand.
8. How long will my first build last. With ok workman ship with fiber glass, and how long without?
If you handle a normal fiberglass suit carefully it'll last a good long time. I plan to keep mine stored for special occasions for many years. An unglassed card stock suit will rip if you move around in it beyond what's needed for sizing.
9. How do I hold together my paper craft. Glue, Tape? And if so what kind and where can I purchase it?
Hot Glue or 'Tacky Glue'. I heard Tacky Glue is nice because it's made for paper. Both should be found at Wal-mart, Michaels, JoAnns, etc.
10. Links to all types of tutorials would be helpful. There seem to be a lot on this forum.
Look at:
Armor Related Videos (especially this painting tut)
All the Pepakura Stickies
and some of the Molded Armor stickies like 'Dual Layer Visor Mini Tut', 'Hall of Honor', 'Off the Shelf Secrets'.

 

[drgon47]

One of the glues I reccomned is book binding glue. Comes in an elmers glue size bottle and drys fairly quickly.

 

[FuncootForever]

One of the glues I reccomned is book binding glue. Comes in an elmers glue size bottle and drys fairly quickly.

Thanks for the tip.


And major thanks to Vexona! I needed those answers, especially that painting tut!