Battle Ready Armor (BRA)....hehe..."bra"...

[tubachris85x]

I decided that a possible paintball armor project may be on the horizon. I feel if this is done, that this can be a turning point for this kind of thing of costuming. A transistion from just-for-show armor (no offense intended) to a workable, practicable armor for a form of combat, in this case, paintball. Doing this will prove its practicality in a reality situation (despite some realistical details that are only available in the star wars universe), rather then just seeing it in the comics or movies.

I thank, and give full credit of future templates to wizardofflight. I have the motivation, the armor tester (me)...dont worry, i'll be wearing a cup:facepalm
All I need now is to figure what I'm gonna make it with. Already ruled out rubber, for the fear of melting like the wicked witch from the wizard of oz. Bucket made armor sounds like a good route, but Im afraid of the bucket material being too flimsy or weak for paintballs. I am open to any suggestions, perhaps I should just buy a bunch of different sheets of stuff, and have someone shoot me with a paintball gun, and I'll choose the one that dosnt hurt as much

Oy, my girlfriend is gonna kill me.....

-tubachris
-lives to play another day

 

[stormtrooperguy]

the heavy duty outdoor barrels should be tough enough for paintball.

 

[themadblimper]

Acrylic or pvc sheeting (not the foamboard sintra) should do well. It forms well at higher temperatures (300 degrees farenheit), and the acrylic is some 200 times stronger than glass. Thats what I was gonna make my armor out of, just because its sturdier and stronger.

 

[tubachris85x]

Acrylic or pvc sheeting (not the foamboard sintra) should do well. It forms well at higher temperatures (300 degrees farenheit), and the acrylic is some 200 times stronger than glass. Thats what I was gonna make my armor out of, just because its sturdier and stronger.

Which would be easier on the budget and forming the armor?

 

[Nocturne]

Why not sintra?

At a fancy dress party not long ago some drunk female throught it'd be fun to kick the armoured guy in the nuts to see if the armour held.

Thankfully my sintra cod took the blow well and I was thankfully unharmed.
So, Sintra should hold up to paintball impacts ok I'd have thought

 

[themadblimper]

They're both about the same price, sintra is a little cheaper. I think that the PVC (which is essentially solid sintra) is easier to form and work with. (Next to sintra, of course.) (To quote SarlaccBits,) you can buy it here: www.usplastic.com I like PVC, its a nice plastic to work with. Hope this helps.

 

[tubachris85x]

The templates are set and ready to be used, courtesy of Wizarofflight. The next step is getting the material. I checked the site, and seemed alot cheaper then I thought it would be. Im still not sure and I need to do some strength tests of the materials, but I cannot waste any money. I searched the home depot and lowes websites, but it never showed up any PVC sheets or sintra. I cant really order offline because, well I don't know about the amor, but Im keeoping my projects discrete until done. I figure I can get away with the paintball armor because you know how mothers arw and not wanting us to get hurt I'll just tell her its for paintball, and it might be cheaper then buying my own. Also she wouldnt really recognize the armor as anything from star wars. Im gonna really try and head over to one of the hardware stores

-tubachris