Armor Material?

D

Darthmagpie

New Hunter
Hello all, I am new here and have been gathing info to start a ESB Fett and thanks to the fantastic info here, I am half way through my helmet. I would like to start my armor. I have decided to not use sintra or fiberglass. I am looking for something more rigid than sintra but can be hand munipulated unlike fiberglass. I was wondering if anyone has worked with POLYSTYRENE. It seems to have good properties. I think a good thickness is 3/16" for the armor and you can get a 3 x 6 foot sheet for $50, which makes it cost effective as well. I did my searches but there isn't much info here on the material. Any info or experiences appreciated. Thanks, Ben
 
Styrene is not very good for hand molding because when you heat it up the ends curls. I have no idea how you would put the rounded shapes of the chest in it from heat by hand it would be almost impossible. It is really used souly for vaccum forming. Still I guess you could try. sintra is about the best bet imo though , or aluminum, both of those materials are easy to work with.
 
I'd go with sintra, honestly. When it's not heated, it's perfectly rigid. In my experience, it's more rigid and more durable than polystyrene. Sintra can be shaped with a hair dryer or heat gun (use a respirator), or by dipping it in boiling water. Polystyrene cannot be shaped using those methods. You'd need a vacuum forming table and armor molds (usually sculpted out of clay) to make armor out of polystyrene. That would be more effort than its worth, in my opinion, unless you were planning on making several casts of your armor.

Hope this helps! :)
 
Definitely Sintra. It's easy to work with...pretty much can be shaped any way you need it to be....and inexpensive. I can get a 4 x 8 foot sheet for under $40 Canadian. The fumes are a little nasty, and you have to be careful to not overheat it or it will change the surface (which is why it's a good idea to heat from the underside). But it primes and paints like a dream and is easy to sand. And it takes incredible amounts of abuse...I've only managed to break a piece off once and it was because I heated it too long and damaged it. It glues to itself easily with PVC to ABS glue found in the plumbing section. Easy-peasy and looks great when finished. I love the stuff!
 
Hey guys.. admittedly very new to the whole costume-making thing, but am very interested in learning more about everything that goes into it. I have been wanting to to a Boba Fett costume for years now, but gave up on it a while back after my dad passed away. Recently, I have been getting up the urge to try my hand at it after meeting some very interesting people at a few shows and conventions.

I am currenly reading up on as much as I can with the "how-to's" and various other tutorials - and would actually love to try my hand at a Jango Fett costume sometime in the near future. I was wondering how much you charged for the set you were offering, BigaboyFett? I am very interested in creating a suit, but would love to have something 'physical' to help use as a guide. If you can, please email me back or reply to this thread . I greatly appreciate it.
 
Hey guys, I have a resource for multiple kinds of molding materials. The main company is called Douglas and Sturgess. They are based out of Richmond, CA their web address is artstuf.com (only one f) They have different kind of material for forming armor of masks and such as well as molding compounds. They have a material called proto plast which is a thermoplastic. It comes in 1/16". 3/32", 1/8" and 3/16" thickness as well as perforated and tubes. They also have other sheet products too like a fishnet type mesh impregnated with thermoplastic. Check out their site. If you have any ?s PM me. :)
 
Thanks guys you have convinced me to use Sintra. Locally I can get 3mm and 5mm. Of course 4mm is what I wanted to use. What do you guys think, I think 3mm just doesn't represent enoef thickness for armor. Is there a best guess on the movie thickness? Thanks, Ben
 
You can look in the Jango forum for info that may help you with making other Fett armor. With help in using Sintra, you should contact SEEKER. SEEKER is a very nice guy and works Wonders with Sintra. I know he uses easy methods to manipulate it that need no special equipment and can be found in your home. You may neede to purchase a heat gun.
 
Hey Geo,

Do they have Plastacine? Smooth, easy to carve plastic in block form? I am looking for something that does not require a lot of machine work to shape. LMK.

John


Geo wrote:
Hey guys, I have a resource for multiple kinds of molding materials. The main company is called Douglas and Sturgess. They are based out of Richmond, CA their web address is artstuf.com (only one f) They have different kind of material for forming armor of masks and such as well as molding compounds. They have a material called proto plast which is a thermoplastic. It comes in 1/16". 3/32", 1/8" and 3/16" thickness as well as perforated and tubes. They also have other sheet products too like a fishnet type mesh impregnated with thermoplastic. Check out their site. If you have any ?s PM me. :)
Click to expand...
 
I have discovered 2 things. Number 1...Plasticine is a clay that is made of a polymer that stays pliable while kept cool and contained. It can be shaped like clay...then baked to harden. Which changes it's properties so that it can be sanded, shaved, drilled and dremelled. Number 2...TheDentedHelmet is not a good place to buy a 1980 Camaro Z-28 with T-Tops!


Geo wrote:
John, I'll have to check tomorrow in there catalog that I have at work, You could try their web address... http://www.artstuf.com (one "f" in the address)

Geo
Click to expand...
 
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