Security Armor Wip (Formerly Mark 6 Wip)

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GMer56

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As my previous Mark VI armor was an exercise in cheapness, I have decided to try and make some (quasi) professional-looking armor, so I can run around during a festival my town puts on every June, representing my school's LAN club, as I am the official mascot.



I plan on spending most of my money on "bondo" ,which I'll try applying directly to my pepped piece, but maybe a bit of "rustoleum" first to protect the paper...



Yes, that means I won't be working on my Forerunner Costume for a while :(

I'll get back to it though, don't worry :)



By the way, next fall I will going to Daniel Webster College in Nashua, New Hampshire (for "Gaming, Simulation, and Robotics"). Anyone from around there?



I'll post progress pics of my armor pieces as soon as I build them! ;)



*edit*

I won't add bondo to pep pieces, as paper is floppy, I'll just add bondo to my cardboard armor, pics of which can be found here.
 
Since the forum reboot I decided not to post my progress pics immediately, but to do them in waves with a duration a week or so :)



Here is my helmet with bondo on it. I've decided to save that for last so I don't keep oogling at it.



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There was a delay in building this, as the tub of bondo I purchased had the hardener jacked from it, so I had to return it to the store. They were out of light bondo body filler, so I got the gold body filler, which-as I found out- is actually a gold color, and not just a figure of speech (or marketing).



Here is a thigh piece from many angles



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Bicep piece from many angles



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Last Monday I also began work on my under armor, I'll possibly put a layer of caulking on the inside so it doesn't wrinkle like it is shown.



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I almost forgot to show everyone my under armor reference pic :)

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lookin good! I'll be checkin back for some updates!



- I hope your gonna add some detail with a dremmel cause that would really enhance your work!
 
Da Phox said:
lookin good! I'll be checkin back for some updates!



- I hope your gonna add some detail with a dremmel cause that would really enhance your work!



Of course I will, I'll also be using some flour-water mixture as spot putty, so it is smooth as a grunt's bottom! Bad analogie? :)
 
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GMer56 said:
Of course I will, I'll also be using some flour-water mixture as spot putty, so it is smooth as a grunt's bottom! Bad analogie? :)

ive never heard of useing water and flour as spot putty
 
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soul products said:
ive never heard of useing water and flour as spot putty

Well, if you mix it in a 1:1 ratio of flour to water, you can get the equivalent of very sticky bread dough, that is able to be spread and sanded when it dries (which itself takes about a day, depending on the amount). The bondo will make up most of the strength, the flour mixture is just for aesthetics.
 
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Does anyone have some uber-secrets to making bondo totally smooth?

Spot putty? More bondo? Smoothing it out as it dries?
 
GMer56 said:
Does anyone have some uber-secrets to making bondo totally smooth?

Spot putty? More bondo? Smoothing it out as it dries?





SAND PAPER



Just give it a light sanding all over the piece
 
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I'm wondering, how would you put the lights in the armour places without making little torches out of them. would you cover the area in perspex or something and have the LED underneath?
 
The trick to smooth bondo is thin layers. Many thin layers. Sand as you go and use high grade bondo, the professional stuff, its not a big jump in price, like an extra $2 a quart. It is much easier to sand. MUCH easier to sand! Start with something like 60 grit, work it down till it is mostly smooth, go to 80 grit, sand it down, 100, 150, 200, etc. There is a great tutorial on how to detail with bondo, if I remember right, it was done by JediStumpy. it gives some good advice. Once you get down to the finer grits, like 150 and 200 etc, you can wet sand to get it really really smooth.
 
Brandon McClain said:
The trick to smooth bondo is thin layers. Many thin layers. Sand as you go and use high grade bondo, the professional stuff, its not a big jump in price, like an extra $2 a quart. It is much easier to sand. MUCH easier to sand! Start with something like 60 grit, work it down till it is mostly smooth, go to 80 grit, sand it down, 100, 150, 200, etc. There is a great tutorial on how to detail with bondo, if I remember right, it was done by JediStumpy. it gives some good advice. Once you get down to the finer grits, like 150 and 200 etc, you can wet sand to get it really really smooth.

I remember I was using 320 grit (or something like that) on an electric sander - which is older than me- and some parts of my armor was unbelievably smooth. The sandpaper was also cheap and all of the sand came off, too :eek Should have started with a lighter grade :rolleyes

Thankfully, the bondo will be more for looks than support. I may end up spraying some great stuff inside to support it though. Every time I sand, usually the bondo cracks along a seam somewhere (hot glue bends you know). I'll try going in smaller layers, especially on my other parts.



k11yle said:
over all,me and every one else recomends pepakura

I don't want to use fiberglass resin, I'd prefer to leave that to the professionals and those with larger budgets... and besides, I have cardboard armor just sitting around, doesn't make sense to me to start over when I have something partially finished already. I did use pepakura parts as reference for building my cardboard base, though :D



sunstrider said:
I'm wondering, how would you put the lights in the armour places without making little torches out of them. would you cover the area in perspex or something and have the LED underneath?



Possibly I'll make a little cavern and line it with aluminum foil (shiny!), and place the led so it is next to the hole, and put some plastic over the hole (binder dividers). LEDs are no problem for me, I got about 10 from some $1 touch-lights, and 12 from Hannafords touchlights they were selling for $1 (they were cleaning out their back room)



I may get some more bondoing and stuff done today, wish me luck!
 
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Hello, I've finally taken time away from my playstation emulator, schoolwork (not really), listening to Trocadero, fixing Xbox 360 RROD, and all that other fun stuff a guy like me with no life would do to work on my armor.

In an effort to conserve my rapidly depleting bondo, I've decided to use filler for the body filler :eek

That's right. I'm applying a filler before the autobody filler ^^

Anyway, as the policy is "pics or it didn't happen":



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Behold! The disgusting application of 2 parts flour and 1 part water. Its more appetizing than you think, my cat finds it delicious, as he started licking the forearm Caught the little rascal red handed -well, maybe not so little, as he is as tall as the piece, and not quite right in the head. (don't ask)



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Anyway, here is my left, quasi finished thigh piece. Perhaps a little bondo application by hand will help with the lumpiness.



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I'm going to cheat a little with my armor.

I just got some expanding foam insulation today. Lets see how well it makes molds, shall we?

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Rawr! Messy room!

More pics coming within the next week or so, I have sooo much stuff to do :(
 
That expanding foam is great for blocking out a construction, but I'm not sure how useful it would be for a mould. They tend to develop a lot of cavities during the curing process, which would be replicated and inverted on your cast. Perhaps if you used something to add a skin to the surface of the mould like plaster or cling film?
 
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