First armor fitting - need feedback

photo (10).JPG My first fitting with my homemade armor. Whattya think? Too big?

photo (10).JPG
 
The armor does look a little big and could help with some reshaping with a heat gun to curve better with your chest.
 
Yes, it looks a bit big on you, especially that you haven't put the collar plate on, which has almost no room there. Did you used the WOF large templates? You should try the medium templates to see if it fits you better. You can trace the medium size template on the current shape to not waste material. Keep us posted with your progress!
 
Thanks everyone. I did use the WoF templates, but I must have suffered a printer error. Subsequent reprints have been more accurate sizes. I also spent a solid hour or two on the belt sander grinding it down and getting covered in white plastic dust. (good times) I will post updated pics when I do a bit more shaping.
 
Yeah, a good place to start is get the collar and backplate figured out and then add the chest plates. The collar defines where the chest plates sit and the backplate can change how the collar sits. So it sometimes works better to do these two pieces first and then move to the chest and belly plates. Not as fancy and showy as the chest but the end results can be much better.
 
Yeah, a good place to start is get the collar and backplate figured out and then add the chest plates. The collar defines where the chest plates sit and the backplate can change how the collar sits. So it sometimes works better to do these two pieces first and then move to the chest and belly plates. Not as fancy and showy as the chest but the end results can be much better.
Ugh. I was dreading having to do the back plate since I'm hand shaping it and that is one of the largest pieces.
 
Decided to go with RF's templates for the back and collar pieces. Hopefully it will integrate with the WoF chest pieces. Any advice on hand shaping the back piece would be greatly appreciated.
 
This is killing me. Clearly it needs to bend in two different directions, both horizontally and vertically. When I bend it horizontally, it straightens out vertically. When I bend it vertically it straightens out horizontally. I didn't seem to have this problem so much on the smaller chest pieces. Anybody know how to do this without a form to bend it over?
 
Having a buck to form over really helps. Even a crude buck will help out greatly. You can also make a template out of wood or layers of reinforced cardboard (fiberglass resin) to sandwich the part in between. That way, once it is warmed up, you can press the part between the buck and the template and let it cool to hold its shape. You can also look at making strategic cuts in the sintra to relieve the pressure and then gluing the parts together (pepakura technique). Once glued the cut can be backed with fiberglass mat and then the edge smoothed out and covered with bondo to make it disappear. Both methods take time but not much money. If you have not downloaded Pep Designer and the Fett Pep files I would suggest doing this to get the feel for how the part needs to bend and twist to get the compound curves. Good luck! I built my first two suits in Sintra. It can be done. It just takes a learning curve to get the feel for how the material behaves.
 
You can also cover the duct tape dummy with a damp towel. This will help cool the template down and protect the dummy. The relief cuts really help with the backplate to get the compound curves.
 
Updated fitting. I'm still struggling with the back plate, but it is coming around. I did try the towel over the dummy and that had some success. I also made some relief cuts which helped. I'm using temporary magnets to hold everything in place in the picture.

Whattya think?

photo (14).JPG

- - - Updated - - -

BTW, I think the vest is a little long and I still need to do a bit more shaping.
 
The space between the chest and collar looks good. The real collar plate tends to sit at an angle, while the rest of the chest sits a little flatter against the chest. Looks good!

Can you get just a little more curve on the ab plate? I do have to agree on shortening the flak vest a touch. It all looks really good! Looking forward to more!
 
Hey man, Looking better.
Not sure if you're worrying about them yet but I think your placement of you shoulder plates may be a bit high - as a general rule of thumb the 'elbow or angle' on the plate edge lines up with the bottom of the sleeve on your flak vest. I hope that makes sense see picture to help
Boba-Fett-Costume-Empire-Strikes-Back-03.jpg
 
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