Purchased armor, needs reinforcement. (Fiberglass?) Also... the dog needs a suit.

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TuckerDidIt

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There’s a TL;DR at the end. Or skip to the boldfaced bits for where I’m looking for help. I need to make armor for my dog and reinforce and paint armor for myself.

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Yes, you read that right. At Wasabicon 2018 I had the pleasure of meeting Barry Kiker and Kevin, who were there representing the Southern Regiment. I mentioned that my goal is to fabricate/develop a set of armor for myself and for my dog. I will eventually be dressed as Tucker from Red vs Blue while Caboose (Yes, that’s who he is named after.) will be in a set of doggy armor in Caboose’s blue with the distinctive helmet (Black visor)

The goal is to modify a set of lightweight armor, possibly from a kid’s Halloween costume, to fit on my black lab’s harness. For myself, I have purchased the HALO3 “Supreme Edition” Master Chief armor shown here: Halo Master Chief Costume, Adult Standard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DNK198/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_lsq0BbDMD1CKZ

My plan is in several parts. First off, the undersuit for the armor is apparently designed and fitted to a baboon, a professional basketball player, or some strang hybrid of both. Some dude in the comments said he was 5’6” and 140lbs and the suit fit him perfectly. I can’t decide if I want to shake his hand or punch him in his windsock, I’m 5’5” and 156lbs and this thing fits me like a glove— a glove that is twelve sizes too large. So, I’m going to have to take it to a seamstress to have it fitted. While there, I intend to have her put in a fly, because I like to pee, and not on myself.

Second, the interior of the helmet could serve dual duty as a ballroom for talented circusfolk. I have an old motorcycle helmet that I think I’m going to rip the stuffing out of and use to resize the helmet, because the baboon basketball player hybrid also has one big ol’ nugget.

Third, I need to reinforce the plastic of which the armor is constructed. For this I am thinking a fiberglass spray on the interior. However, I have absolutely zero experience with fiberglass, so this is the step I am seeking help with first.

Following a successful fiberglassing or other reinforcement method, I next need to paint the armor to match Tucker’s aqua and add detailing. I have experience painting miniatures, so I think some of the techniques will apply, such as dry brushing, but I definitely need help with this step as well.

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TL;DR: Hi, I’m Derek. I need to reinforce and paint armor for myself and custom fabricate armor for my dog. Pls halp.
 
Hi Tucker. Welcome to the forums! I liked your TL;DR ..did you know that is the name of the achievement for beating the par time on CE level Library? Fun Times. I am a fan of shotgunning flood. Which brings me to my first question. What weapon are you going to wield? And no, we're not giving you the sniper rifle.

I have not heard of fiber glassing spray. Fiber glass I know of comes in Cloth (woven), Mat (pressed together) and slurry (strands suspended in resin). I don't know what the name for the slurry is, but the other two require a liquid to coat them and harden them. Typically used is called fiberglass resin. I don't see how they would put the two together in a spray without special equipment.. Either way, we don't have a lot of tutorials on that topic, but if you youtube search "Boat/car fiberglass repair" you will find lots of helpful videos on working with fiberglass.

I'm not sure how we can help with the painting. I like working with spray paint. Just remember thin coats so that you don't get pools or drips. After it dries you can use the same techniques for models such as black washing and dry brushing. Really not much different, just bigger. Oh and before weathering you can add some decals. (I made a tutorial :) )
 
Hello Derek! Welcome to the 405th! You had a great introduction to the 405th meeting Southern Regiment and brkiker and AugmentedHuman013.

Sean Bradley has a really great tutorial for reinforcing his vac formed ODST kits. I'm not sure if it's posted here but I can chat with him and find out. **EDIT** - chatted with Sean and he says that his tutorial is really old and outdated and he is doing a new one in the spring with some videos etc. Here is the link from him though if you want to check it out. It's the build for the whole ODST but the reinforcing stuff is near the start.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ow2qujm3tnm/ODST_Armor_Kit_Instructionsa.pdf

Also, your post made me laugh out loud a couple of times.
 
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It was great talking to you at the con, and welcome to the forum. I can't wait to see the armor.

As mentioned, Sean's guide to reinforcing armor is excellent. It's the same I used to reinforce my armor. One thing I would add, once you're done adding the fiberglass is to line in with some headliner foam. It's a thin foam cloth that will add padding to the inside of your armor and prevent fiberglass from scratching you.

You can check out here:


You'll need to get a respirator for organic fumes before you start, but that and the fiberglass and resin can easily be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot.
 
Hi Tucker. Welcome to the forums! I liked your TL;DR ..did you know that is the name of the achievement for beating the par time on CE level Library?

Er... what?

Fun Times. I am a fan of shotgunning flood. Which brings me to my first question. What weapon are you going to wield? And no, we're not giving you the sniper rifle.

I already have the energy sword. I’ll be working on my armor first before I install white and blue LEDs to give it some pop. In some of the later RvB Tucker also has a pistol on his hip, and I have a M6 Blaster I’ll be reworking to make it more realistic before I attach it to the armor, probably with hard drive magnets. I might add some stuff later as well. I have an email out to a prop company in Houston that makes HALO props to see if they can make a 1/3 to 1/4 size battle rifle I can attach to Caboose's armor, because he needs to have Freckles with him.

I have not heard of fiber glassing spray.

Probably because that isn't at all how it works and my ignorance is the key factor here. It's okay. I'm incredibly good looking. If I were smart, too, it just wouldn't be fair.


[/QUOTE]

Thank you. I'll take a look at it when I get home from the gym in a couple hours.


Hello Derek! Welcome to the 405th! You had a great introduction to the 405th meeting Southern Regiment and brkiker and AugmentedHuman013.

Sean Bradley has a really great tutorial for reinforcing his vac formed ODST kits. I'm not sure if it's posted here but I can chat with him and find out. **EDIT** - chatted with Sean and he says that his tutorial is really old and outdated and he is doing a new one in the spring with some videos etc. Here is the link from him though if you want to check it out. It's the build for the whole ODST but the reinforcing stuff is near the start.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ow2qujm3tnm/ODST_Armor_Kit_Instructionsa.pdf

Also, your post made me laugh out loud a couple of times.

I grabbed a bottle of the foam "crack sealer" at Lowe's this weekend. I've been waiting for a Dremel to come in so I could cut the back of the handplates off the gloves and use that to reinforce them. I want to make sure that they are light enough to not batter small children (Unless they need it. I'm all for 1950's parenting methodology.) From the way I've worked with that stuff in the past, It might do well for reinforcing some of the pieces. My apartment doesn't really have a lot of space to do fiberglassing, although I could probably use one of the bays at work on the weekends or after hours.

I was also able to get the styrofoam insert out of an old motorcycle helmet. It fits my oddly-shaped skull rather well. So, I now need to figure out whether I should cut the helmet and risk a visible seam, or cut the insert and risk it not holding together when it's epoxied into place. I think cutting the insert has the lowest risk.

It was great talking to you at the con, and welcome to the forum. I can't wait to see the armor.

As mentioned, Sean's guide to reinforcing armor is excellent. It's the same I used to reinforce my armor. One thing I would add, once you're done adding the fiberglass is to line in with some headliner foam. It's a thin foam cloth that will add padding to the inside of your armor and prevent fiberglass from scratching you.

You can check out here:


You'll need to get a respirator for organic fumes before you start, but that and the fiberglass and resin can easily be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Hey, Barry. As mentioned above, I'm not sure about the fiberglassing because of a limited workspace, but I can probably make something work. I'm doing a test later tonight with crack sealer foam on an old piece of Tupperware to see how it holds, what its tensile strength is, and whether its going to flake or come apart. I don't think that stuff holds paint worth a crap, though, so I don't think I can use it anywhere where it might be visible.

Thanks for the replies, guys. Sorry it took a bit to respond. I only got one email notification. (Also, my iPad hates this forum. I had to get out my laptop like some kind of animal.)
 
Thread update:

Used the spray foam on the gloves today and it worked great! I’ll have a how-to and pics in a day or so. (I want to finish trimming the foam after it finishes curing.)
 
Hey there TuckerDidIt this is Kevin. Nice to see you on here. Dont hesitate to message me if you need any quick questions answered I'll help in any way possible.
 
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