Thoughts on Halo Armor for Paintball or Airsoft

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Nintendude

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Ok I hve read the discussions on paintball and airsoft and using Halo pepakura armor or casted armor for these kind of events, and I have to give my thoughts on the matter. I honestly don't see a problem with it, most airsoft people go out into the field with a tactical vest, a Swat helmet, gloves, army bdu's and play shoot each other with plastic pellets. Now you look at Spartan pep armor and it's been fiberglassed, resined, bondoed, and painted. you are pretty much wearing the durability of that swat helmet that other airsoft people use except the protection is all over your body. Now these are plastic pellets travelling at about 200FPS. They will do some cosmetic damage to the armor which to effect you can repair, but it is still a bad idea I think if you spend up to or over 3 months of work working on a suit, just to go out and put holes into it. Now as for paintball that's another story, if you want to spend a lot of time making a suit spending a lot of time painting it then go out and get hit with more paint colors that's your thing but expect to get the suit you spent a lot of time working on damaged just as badly as going out and doing airsoft. In the long run the people that want to make Halo armor for airsoft if you want to dedicate your time and energy to make a suit just to damage it all to hell go for it. As for the people who say this is danger to safety I don't see any problem there I went out in pep spartan armor when I had my suit and all I had was cosmetic damage that I could just spackle bndo on it sand it and good as new. But I did'nt have any cuts or anything like that to myself. Now what are other peoples opinion on this matter?
 
I feel the same way pretty much.

But it mostly comes down to how durable the suit is made. If a suit is just resin, then it will fall apart instantly, but if a suit is at least a quarter of an inch thick of fiberglass, then it will be very durable.

I helmet is one of those things where there is a high risk for injury. As long as you use a polycarbonate visor, it will not break, but it would have to be attached very well, so that it won't break off of the helmet on impact.

I guess if you want to risk ruining your suit, then you can play in it, but the weight will make it very hard to play in.
 
Now as for EVA Foam armor I would probably go for that over pep armor if someone was to use it for airsoft or paintball. You could keep the grey color of the foam and if you got hit by a paintball you could just wash it off.
 
I pretty much agree with Nintendude,

The amount of cosmetic damage done to your armor will be significant and honestly who would want to ruin all the effort it takes to make said armor. As far as safety is concerned, I have gone out on paintball fields with bare skin exposed, and come off the field just fine. I think the true issue here is the fact that face protection needs to be adequate in order to play either of these sports. If you read the instructions on paintball and airsoft gear they always stress facial protection (not so much body).

In all I suppose the others are right. If you wana ruin your armor go for it, but just make sure all vital areas of your body are covered. Otherwise go out and have fun shooting the you know what out of eachother, because thats the fun part.
 
The only problem with the foam and paintball, is that the balls might bounce. Most places won't allow you to wear stuff that causes bounces (unless it is actually a real paintball product).
 
The only problem with the foam and paintball, is that the balls might bounce. Most places won't allow you to wear stuff that causes bounces (unless it is actually a real paintball product).

We use the eva foam mats to make suits & stuff for our role players. The paintballs don't bounce from what i see every game we do.
 
I've done airsoft and paintball with no shirt before ( could'nt find it ) but I just painted my upper in camo colors since the pants were cam bdu's my whole family was military, I have two brothers that ones a military sniper the other is a green beret so you won't see me unless I want you to see me, in that tournament I was never seen or hit. But back on subject, as for EVA foam it would depend on the thickness of the paintball walls of the ball, some balls are thicker than others, wow this is starting to sound weird. But depending on that will depend if it splats or not and also depends on the range and speed of the ball.
 
I have been doing A LOT of research, development, and testing on this subject for the last several months. Here's what I have got so far.

Most paintball chest protectors on the market are an EVA foam with Terry Cloth sewn over it. That makes decent undersuit armor.

In regards to hard armor, i.e. shoulder pauldrons, shin guards, chest pieces, etc., after a lot of research, I have decided that Kydex plastic is the best option. Kydex is a plastic that is used to make gun holsters and knife sheaths (I use it to make holsters on the side). Its waterproof, scratch resistant, and is remarkably impact resistant. I have been working on kydex ODST armor recently and after screwing up a shoulder piece that I had formed, I took it out back and shot it point blank with a paintball gun. Then for good measure, I emptied the rest of my hopper on it. The result? Not a scratch. As a plus, it comes in lots of different colors and styles (several camo textures also). Find Kydex here.

http://www.interstateplastics.com/s...261302-4p&searchtext=kydex&2=Search+%3E%A0%A0

I have not yet tested any materials for the helmet. Paintball masks are made of injection molded polyethelene, but injection molders are an expensive proposition. Basically, you are looking for anything that has high impact-resistance. I am planning on casting my ODST helmet with TASK® 12 Series Liquid Plastic, which is supposedly indestructible. We shall see because I plan to put it to the test.. I will let you know whether it holds up to a paintball or not. Find TASK plastics here.

http://www.smooth-on.com/TASK=-Series-Liq/c1157/index.html

Visors will be the most important part of this project because they protect the most important part of your body. Most are made of Polycarbonate. I use the Lexan brand. Find it here.

http://www.interstateplastics.com/Clear-Polycarb-Sheet-POLCE-ST.php

As I come closer to having working paintball armor, I will create a thread in Creation Discussion.
 
On the airsoft topic I think it may hold up for backyard airsoft depending on what you used to harden it and how much was used. Bondo would definitely crack. However when me and my friends go to the fields to play we are using guns that shoot 350 feet per second or higher and at close range is strong enough to punch holes in my vest (http://www.airsoftpost.com/product_info.php?cPath=30_165&products_id=28901) which I think is pretty durable. As for EVA I think the pellets would get stuck in it, resulting in lots of holes, and also you probably wouldn't be able to tell if you were out. Aside from the issue of damaging the armor I think safety is a large issue as well. Visors may crack and if your helmet isn't very very strong you risk pieces of it flying into your face and head, not only the visor but fiberglass and resin bits too. There's also the movement issues where you can;t breathe as well and you move slower. Heavy plastic armor may hold up but the paint would get ruined and you'd still have problems with hit detection and movement. I think the only option may be just crappy painted pep armor that was made quickly, it would be decimated but I guess you would still look cool, I mean you can't really see detail while you're running all over the place. Still though, pepping is time consuming, and I don't think it would be worth it.

TL;DR Not worth the time of making it just to get it ruined real quick.

Edit: I must say however, seeing your armor explode into clouds of bondo with bits of stuff flying everywhere (In slow motion of course! :p) with each hit does seem a pretty epic way to go down.
 
I forgot to mention something about the Kydex. I have a prototype ODST shoulder made of Kydex. I reinforced it with fiberglass (although the kydex is extremely impact resistant, it still bends slightly without support). The finished model is about half to 3/4x lighter than the pepped/bondoed model. Seriously, this thing has no weight to it. If heat is a huge concern, drill small holes. If done correctly and in good patterns, it can actually add to the armor. With an ODST rig though (I am using the Reach design), heat shouldn't be anymore of a concern than standard U.S. soldier gear (with the exception of the helmet).
 
There are some leagues that have a limit at 150 fps and as for how hard they can hit, just flick yourself as hard as you can. The only thing is missing are good looking halo universe weaponry.
 
Darkrider if you think that is cool you should see what a 50 caliber sniper round looks like going through a pepakura object. It just pretty much explodes.
 
Darkrider if you think that is cool you should see what a 50 caliber sniper round looks like going through a pepakura object. It just pretty much explodes.

Video nao! lol. I just thought it would be cool to see Master Chief's armor get holes blown into it as he goes down like a boss. :)
 
I must say however, seeing your armor explode into clouds of bondo with bits of stuff flying everywhere (In slow motion of course! :p) with each hit does seem a pretty epic way to go down.

That would make an awesome video. Master Chief against an army of paintballers. If I ever feel like making a cheap suit, I will retire it that way.
 
I can tell you this much, I own and operate a paintball field, and my insurance will not let any player step onto our paintball fields without wearing paintball approved goggles, I cannot allow someone on the fields who has modified the goggle part in any way the goggle part must fit snug and not allow a paintball to enter around where the goggles meet your face, so if anyone showed up with a halo helmet or any pep'd helmet, I could not let them on my fields and they would have to use a nasty rental mask, now if you built it around the goggles itself then maybe , but if your playing renegade ball in someones woods or backyard thats up to you, but your eyes are not worth loosing to airsoft or paintball, if you want to wear armor be my guest, it actually would be cool to see, only problem is that with all the weight and lack of movement you will be the first one tired out, as for foam it promotes bounces so you could probably get away with it as a chest protecter but anywhere else and everyone is going to say your wearing a cheater suit and probably wouldn't play against you
 
I can tell you this much, I own and operate a paintball field, and my insurance will not let any player step onto our paintball fields without wearing paintball approved goggles, I cannot allow someone on the fields who has modified the goggle part in any way the goggle part must fit snug and not allow a paintball to enter around where the goggles meet your face, so if anyone showed up with a halo helmet or any pep'd helmet, I could not let them on my fields and they would have to use a nasty rental mask, now if you built it around the goggles itself then maybe , but if your playing renegade ball in someones woods or backyard thats up to you, but your eyes are not worth loosing to airsoft or paintball, if you want to wear armor be my guest, it actually would be cool to see, only problem is that with all the weight and lack of movement you will be the first one tired out, as for foam it promotes bounces so you could probably get away with it as a chest protecter but anywhere else and everyone is going to say your wearing a cheater suit and probably wouldn't play against you

Don't you have your players sign a waiver saying "I understand paintball is a dangerous sport and I will not sue if I am hurt, blah, blah, blah...?" That should protect you from any liability. I am no lawyer, but I bet there is a way to prevent idiots from suing you if they decide to make subpar armor.
 
Yah we have all of the waivers and legal stuff but we are still required to provide a safe place to play paintball, also if someone were to get injured because I myself or any employee allowed that person to play knowing that the helmet was not astm paintball approved goggles not only would we loose our insurace that person could possibly sue us for allowing them to play with unapproved equipment, armor is fine its the helmet or eye protection used that is the concern, trust me loosing a eye because you want to wear a pep'd, casted helmet etc. is just not worth it, even for you guys who play on your own private fields just be safe is all I can say
 
I didn't even think of insurance. You have a point there. Must find a way to certify helmets. I see what I will be researching tonight.
 
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