Tips and opinions on 3D printed armor?

[Felipe06]

Hello everyone,

I've been slowly working on prepping my Reach build and had a few questions regarding making a full 3D printed suit. I originally planned on making a vacuum formed suit like my current costume:

buuuut, it'll require a lot of investment that I might not be ready to put in. So while scaling pieces in armorsmith, I was wondering why not maybe just 3D print it?

I've worked with 3D printed objects before, prop weapons, helmets to make molds, but never suit parts to be worn at conventions. I was wondering if anyone could share some pros and cons, tips on printing, prepping and materials, and anything else you can think of. I'm still on the fence about it and was hoping my shedding some light into it I'd get a better idea.

Thank you in advance!

For anyone wondering, I'm essentially aiming to make a Reach version of my current suit:

 

[TurboCharizard]

As someone who has worked on two fully printed suits and has worn one with close to 100 hours of wear time my crib notes of a 3D printed suit are as follows, CplYapFlip can chime in as well.

• They're deceptively light and because of that certain pieces can be floaty if you don't have a snug fit or rigging sorted to prevent rotation or slipping of pieces.
• Overall pieces will have less flex and give than you're used to with formed armour so putting point pressure onto parts through actions such as kneeling might lead to damage.
• Print resolution for the majority of armour parts can be relatively low (0.2mm layer heights) for fast prints on the majority of parts since there's often very little detail that requires anything finer. If there is, split it off and add it on later as a separate assembly which will probably also help when it comes to painting.
• For armour parts that need to be printed in multiple sections, finding flat surfaces for a printbed to work with and join along helps keep geometric accuracy (less cumulative location error closer to the printbed) makes for easier alignment and assembly.
• Pinning joints between printed parts is stronger than just glue joins, every little bit of reinforcement helps.
• Invest in a good detail sander as well as rotary tool and hand sanding equipment. Less elbow grease needed means less sore shoulders and elbows down the line because it's a heck of a lot of sanding.
• Don't be afraid to mix materials. Internal and external epoxies, ribbing or any other methods of strengthening and extending the life of your parts is a good idea.
• Printed parts have the benefit of being quickly and easily replaced. If something breaks or fails catastrophically it's likely less than a weeks worth of work to replace.
• 3D printed armour is like a small animal or child, don't leave it in a hot car in the summer. Bad things happen.
• Adding padding or a method of reducing force of bumps drops and impact to an armour crate helps fend off heartbreak.

 

[G TaS]

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[G TaS]

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[Chooka]

As I am currently in my first 3D build (first build really) I don’t have a ton of tips. But as others have mentioned, there is a lot more Post production with prints. Sand prime sand and sand again. I have played with a mouse sander (iron looking one) and it can really save you a lot of time. I actually printed a few different sanding blocks to help as-well.

 

[MoeSizzlac]

As someone who has worked on two fully printed suits and has worn one with close to 100 hours of wear time my crib notes of a 3D printed suit are as follows, CplYapFlip can chime in as well.

• They're deceptively light and because of that certain pieces can be floaty if you don't have a snug fit or rigging sorted to prevent rotation or slipping of pieces.
• Overall pieces will have less flex and give than you're used to with formed armour so putting point pressure onto parts through actions such as kneeling might lead to damage.
• Print resolution for the majority of armour parts can be relatively low (0.2mm layer heights) for fast prints on the majority of parts since there's often very little detail that requires anything finer. If there is, split it off and add it on later as a separate assembly which will probably also help when it comes to painting.
• For armour parts that need to be printed in multiple sections, finding flat surfaces for a printbed to work with and join along helps keep geometric accuracy (less cumulative location error closer to the printbed) makes for easier alignment and assembly.
• Pinning joints between printed parts is stronger than just glue joins, every little bit of reinforcement helps.
• Invest in a good detail sander as well as rotary tool and hand sanding equipment. Less elbow grease needed means less sore shoulders and elbows down the line because it's a heck of a lot of sanding.
• Don't be afraid to mix materials. Internal and external epoxies, ribbing or any other methods of strengthening and extending the life of your parts is a good idea.
• Printed parts have the benefit of being quickly and easily replaced. If something breaks or fails catastrophically it's likely less than a weeks worth of work to replace.
• 3D printed armour is like a small animal or child, don't leave it in a hot car in the summer. Bad things happen.
• Adding padding or a method of reducing force of bumps drops and impact to an armour crate helps fend off heartbreak.

This list is spot on. If I may also add,
1) Invest in a nice file set for when a tool is too much.
2) When slicing up your project, try to slice along parts where there isn't much detail/activity going on (like a smooth curved surface). I find it easier to mend these when combining your armor parts back together.
3) Everyone has a specific material they like working with. I like ABS for the flexibility, the sanding and the gluing capability over PLA. Yes it may be harder to print but the finishing results are awesome. Also it has a higher melting point so a hot car won't affect it as much but you can still use a head gun to change the shape as needed.
4) Invest in a 3D Print pen. These are fantastic to use in conjunction with glue and basically act as a spot welder for plastic. It's fantastic.

The below is made using glue and 3D pen to spot weld and then fully weld pieces together. On the outside of the pieces being combined, use a straight line of weld from the 3d pen, then sand down the imperfection using a hand file file, then vibration sander to finish. Notice how I split it below the detailed part on a smooth curved plane.

The back I use the same method as the front but then I add a zig zag on top of it like a stitch. The mask on the right is in 6 parts.