New Armor Builder

[Aeon]

http://www.indplastic.com/index.cfm?fuseac...amp;product=358

That is the clear plastic. Its the exact one I plan on using to form my visors.

 

[Ironcobra3000]

Thank you so much!!! this stuff is cheap too

 

[Aeon]

You're welcome

 

[Reclaimer]

Thanks from me too. I couldn't find anyone who would sell PETG plastic in small quantities. Hopefully they have the transparent mirror gold. This stuff would be perfect for the EVA helmet.

 

[Aeon]

The plastic is completely clear. They don't carry any gold colored plastics. If you want to achieve that, I would suggest using auto window tinting film.

 

[Silverzippo93]

Will you be using .60 ABS?

 

[Spartan 061]

I cant see the pics. But rfrom what ive read, its awesome
EDIT:Never mind, they work now.

 

[Aeon]

The plastic I'm using will be .060 high impact polystyrene. I've done projects with it in the past for various things and it seems to suit the flexibility range I'm looking for.

Sorry I haven't updated you guys on much. The project went on hiatus due to papers I gotta write for work. I should have something up later next week.

Thanks for all the comments!

-Andy

 

[Nomadic Spoon]

Looks great man, good job!

Glad to see that someone here still has the patience to vacuum form.

Keep us updated.

I have the patience to vacuum-form, the result is worth it.

But the money? I'm lacking. Attempting to find the cheapest route possible, though.

Btw, Aeon, that armor is sick.

 

[Aeon]

Well here's a breakdown of what I spent so far for this project:


Armor mold construction:
Prototyping Cardboard- Free... Contact USPS for a box of shipping boxes.
Mat Boards - $50 (7 sheets @ $7 each from Pearl Paint)
Rigid Expanding Polyurethane Foam (Preferrably Smooth-On's Foam-It series) - $80 for a 1 gallon kit.

Plastics: $70 for 15 sheets of plastic for 1 MC suit.

Vacuum Forming Equipment:
Wooden plastic holding frame: $16
Pegboard: $8
6.5HP Wet Vacuum: Already had one from previous vac projects.
Weather Stripping: $6
Metal hinges and screws: $5

Misc. Stuff:
Gold Window Tint: $24
Hot Glue Gun: $12
Hot Glue: $5 for a pack
Duct Tape: $1 for 60yds
Masking Tape: $1 for 10yds

TOTAL: $278.00

I think it's pretty cheap compared to purchasing an armor set off of ebay or a dealer. The most expensive luxury that you have to consider is just your time. I spent 3 weeks total on constructing this armor already. With another 3 weeks of work, the armor should be completely finished.

There are a few other things I have to purchase later down the road to complete the armor...

Black Plastic Snap Buckles: $2 each (I'm probably going to need around 10 or so.)
Nylon Straps: $3 a yard
Undersuit: (Questionable as of this time.)
Spray Paint/Primer: $5 a can... So depending on the weathering job, I might need about 4 or 5 cans.
Bright White LEDs: $2 a pop on Jameco.com
Gloves/Boots: Winter is coming... There should be a sale on that stuff all around.
Padding for the armor: This is gonna need to be custom made. I'll probably just sew it myself.

So that's about another $45 to $50 more. Not too bad. I'm just looking to stay below the $400 mark.

Overall, I'm aiming to have this all done before Christmas rolls around. Hopefully.

Originally the intention was to build armor just for my buddies and I to go paintballing in... but now I'm thinking of rigging the interiors of the armor with electronics from the old skool laser tag toys. I also wanna install a 2-way radio into each of the helmets so we can communicate with each other while we play. Figure it would be fun to play a real game of Halo for once.

 

[AoBfrost]

0.90 thickness is better, the armor I've seen made from .60 isnt very thick. It will work, but may not withstand damage say if you fell.

 

[Aeon]

I was considering doing a set of armor in .100 gauge (that's nearly an 1/8th of an inch thick!) but I'm going to save that for the paintballing armor. Reason why I chose .060 is because the smaller and finer detailing of the armor won't appear onto the vacuum pulls if I did it in anything thicker than .080 guage. I don't have the vacuum power (its only 6.5HP as opposed to the pressure tanks they use in professional machines.) to pull thicker plastic tight enough over molds this tall. The .060 gauge is just for costuming purposes. I'll eventually do the armor in .100 gauge and I'll be sure to post pics of how it went.

Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[Nomadic Spoon]

That's really actually fairly cheap... I still won't be able to spend that soon though, I'm saving as much money as possible for my trip to greece sometime in the spring. After that I'll be able to start indulging in vacuum-forming; 'til then, Fibreglass and pepakura for the win.

My question for you Aeon, would be as to how you're heating your plastic. I've seen a few different methods.

 

[Aeon]

Usually I use a home oven to heat the plastic... but for this armor, I'm building a custom made oven just for vacuum forming purposes. Check out TK560.com for more info.

 

[Nomadic Spoon]

Usually I use a home oven to heat the plastic... but for this armor, I'm building a custom made oven just for vacuum forming purposes. Check out TK560.com for more info.

Yeah, I've been visiting TK560 an awful lot of late...Oh well. All when I have the money.

On a side note, with the real game of Halo, that's what my friends and I intend to do. They're lurkers on these forums, I'm the only one who actually posts, but yeah. We're getting radios and the like put into our helmets; shouldn't end up being too difficult.

 

[Spartan 118]

DUDE... thats great man KUDOS!

 

[Aeon]

Yeah, I've been visiting TK560 an awful lot of late...Oh well. All when I have the money.

On a side note, with the real game of Halo, that's what my friends and I intend to do. They're lurkers on these forums, I'm the only one who actually posts, but yeah. We're getting radios and the like put into our helmets; shouldn't end up being too difficult.

Haha. If you read my first post, you'd know I'm in the same shoes as you are. Everyone else is making me do the work for them, but they have contributed their share of the money too.

I'm still in process of ordering pieces for my heating oven for the new former, so it's gonna be another couple of weeks before I get anything formed.

-Andy

 

[Nomadic Spoon]

Sweet, let me know how it goes when you get the oven made.

 

[dallis]

alright dude, you convinced me to buy a shitload of matboard , thanks alot , i hope my armour comes out half as good as your prototype nice work