Cheap Armor Method

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Migrate from As You Wish

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I stopped by Ace Hardware today and saw these sheet metal gutter thingies that were somewhat rounded but overall smooth. I 12 of them at $2.99 each and found that they worked great! All I did was unroll them a bit and flatten them, outline the shape I wanted in marker, then cut it out with some scissors (it's pretty thin, but thick enough). The coolest thing was that it's already silver! I just scuffed the pieces up a bit, rounded them to the desired shape after cutting them out and they work really nice. It's really nice for making Jango armor as well because it's really rounded and easy to bend for the shin guards. I'll try getting pics up sometime tomarrow.
 
Sounds like it would have sharp edges once you've cut it. I can get a 4'x8' sheet of Sintra for $25. I prefer that stuff.
 
The edges are a little sharp, but I've sanded them down a bit. I'd get Sintra, but I've never worked with it before and I have no idea how to work with it. Besides, I wanted to use real metal for that real shine. ^_^
 
I'm making my armor out of the same kind of metal, but I'm folding one piece over a second one to get a double thickness, which allows it to be formed to the right shape and be very strong. One advantage that I like about using this steel sheeting to make the armor is that you can attach it with some "rare earth" magnets sewn into the cloth under the armor. That give a perfectly flush appearance with no straps showing.
 
I would love to see pictures of any of the metal armor you guys are doing! It sound interesting.

For those of you using Sentra, do you cut out the pattern and then bend it to give it a curve or are you vacuforming it?
 
You can heat it up in the oven and bend it over a large sonnet tube to get the genaral shape. Use a heat gun to make the compound curves by hand.
 
If you cut the pieces about an 1/8" or 1/4" bigger, you could fold that extra over and avoid the sharp edge. I made my armor from some old ductwork. It's light and real metal. Works great.
 
What about folding it over the already formed sintra. I haven't tried it but I think it would give a lot of strength to the armor so it wouldn't dent if you gave it a knock (if you're doing Jango).
 
I'm almost done with my armor, so I'll try to post some pictures this weekend, with at least the parts that I have done. I also might be willing to trade a complete set for either a Don Post helmet and gauntlets, or a jet pack (either style).
 
By the way, if anyone is wondering, I'm using one of the Frito-Lay life size standups as my reference (although I'm having to scale most stuff down a little since I'm only 5'3" and it appears that Temura Morrison is about 5'7" or so). Funny thing is, I actually ended up making my chest armor a little on the bigger size than shown on the standup, it just didn't look quite right to me the size that it is on there.
 
Is anyone doing the rubber armor option? I know it was mentioned on another thread about the stunt guy using a rubber version. I am not sure if it would look all that great but it would be good for mobility.
 
OK, here are some pics of my armor (so far). I don't have the codpiece or the thigh or shin armor done yet, but the rest is there (including the belt loop that will get mounted on the codpiece). Some of the pieces are still a little rough, but I'll be sanding them and weathering them some soon, then I'll post more pics.

armor1.jpg

armor2.jpg

armor3.jpg

armor4.jpg

armor5.jpg

armor6.jpg
 
well, at the moment, I'm changing my site over to a different host, so it'll be a day or two before the DNS updates correctly. you can also go to my Yahoo Pictures page to look at them... http://photos.yahoo.com/jango_fetts_clone

====edit====

nevermind, the DNS transfer happened rather quickly, so my pics are showing up now.
 
That's incredable!! The armor looks great. I've been looking for a way to do a Jango on a budget. Thanks to you I think I've found out how.

Thanks

Tysen
 
That is a fantastic suit of armor!!!! Bravo to you!

I have a couple of questions for ya:

What is the relative thickness of the metal flashing you used?

What tools did you use to achieve the curves etc.?

My Fiance' is interested in becoming a Mandalorian and this idea is going to save me and her so much time and money!!!!
Thank you!!!

Cometbunny
 
Went to Home Depot today for lightsaber parts and I ran into this stuff. Turns out its vent pipe (or tube, I forget which), but it's not sealed to form a cylinder like a pipe or tube is. Instead, it comes in a floppy sort of open cylinder kinda shape (brilliant description, I know). It's thin, but is stiff enough that it would probably be fine if you double-layered it.
 
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