Armor + Helmet Materials

[ShaolinShogun]

I accidentally posted this under Jango Fett thread also, and not sure on how to delete that thread. My apologies for the duplication.

From what I have been able to gather, there are basically 2 types of material used to make the helmets and armor: fiberglass and ABS plastic/resin. Is one really better than the other, such as durability, price, and weight? Should I make my build out of one material entirely, or split it such as helmet from fiberglass and armor from the ABS plastic/resin? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Shaolin Shogun

 

[BobasDent1138]

That's a loaded question. Each material has benefits. When it comes to the final product for the armor, ABS vac formed armor is clean and precise. However if a major repair is needed it's difficult as the plastic flexes. I have fiberglass armor and my plastic parts that I've scratch built from kydex are more comfortable and less daunting to wear as they don't break (watch out for sintra, that can be fragile!) The main benefit to my fiberglass armor is that I can bondo and sand without worrying if it will flex and crack. Helmets you'll only find in fiberglass or polyurethane resin. No plastic there. If you're scratch building your armor, I'd say plastic is easiest. I highly recommend kydex, but sintra is good too and cheaper. If you have more specific questions please feel free to shoot me a PM!
Hope this helps,
-Gav

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A

 

[Bcarp100]

In my experience with clone armor, ABS is pretty solid stuff to work with. As BobadDent1138 said it can be difficult to repair if you manage to break something however, it is pretty tough to break. I never thought of making it out of kydex but I have made a few gun holsters out of kydex and it is really tough material. That might be a really cool option. I would say aside from the helmet I would suggest you avoid a lot of fiberglass. In my experience it is heavy and even harder to fix than ABS I imagine that line of reasoning lies in my inexperience in fiberglass work. With ABS you can take your shavings and small pieces with acetone to make an ABS sludge in small quantities it can be used to make a seamless weld or repair to any ABS. The downside to that is that it must not be used in large quantities/surface area or it can start to have a negative interaction with the surrounding ABS. Also when applied in small quantities I didn't have very many issues with cracking bondo on ABS even with mild flexing. Although, I did not use bondo in any high stress or flex areas, instead I used the sludge in hi stress and flex areas such as the caffs. I have no experience with sintra but I have also heard it is brittle, personally I plan to make the majority of my Fett armor with the trash can method. If you haven't heard of that search trash can armor its a 10 year old thread with over 18 pages of info very interesting read. Any way I hope this helped PM me with any questions!

 

[ShaolinShogun]

Thanks BobasDent1138 and Bcarp100-great suggestions. I don't have any experience with any type of building, but have to start somewhere. I will look for that thread to get more info. Since I'm so inexperienced, I'm afraid I'll end up buying most everything unfortunately, at least and until I gain more knowledge and hands on experience. I will definitely drop a line if/when needed.