DIY Knee Armor Options?

[Bob A Feet]

Hey everyone,

Next on the list for my Boba build are the shoulder and knee armor pieces. I've got enough 3mm pieces of Sintra that I feel pretty confident on the shoulder armor, but the knee pieces are a different story.

I've got the WOF templates printed to the correct scale and everything, but it just seems like it'll come out... flimsy, at least with 3mm Sintra.

I found a build online where they ditched the original WOF design and built them using PVC pipe, which seems to look pretty good in the end. Another build on here used what looks like 6mm Sintra (I could double up) in combination with wood.

I'm not planning on trooping or anything, but I am concerned with how fragile the knee pieces would be with Sintra. What are you guys using in your DIY knee armor builds?

Thanks!

 

[Fettacini]

I'm no expert in building the knee armor, but I have been building props and using Sinatra for 20" years. I will say that if you get the right shape your looking for, here is my method for reinforcing Sinatra for high stress parts.

One layer of chopped fiberglass sheet on the inside. Use polyester resin ( i use the stuff you get at auto zone alone with fiberglass cloth sheet that I cut with scissors into small irregular patches and just layer on with disposable chips brushes and epoxy).
Once that is dry, I use the 2mm fun foam Eva foam sheet from Walmart, michesls or hobby lobby. I use black, just bc it looks professional. Take the sheet and line the inside of the knee with a single layer, basically fold it and roughly outline the knees around the sheet, use contact cement ( day brand from lowes or home depot) to attach it and then using a sharp knife, trim the excess away.
This means you have a hard layer of fiberglass lending tons of strength that is also bound together and smoothed over with a layer of foam. This will help in case of cracks with sti holding the parts together. That's how I line any fragile or high stress parts.
Hope that helps!

 

[Bob A Feet]

Thanks for the reply Fettacini! (great username BTW)

I thought about doing something with fiberglass, but wouldn't have thought of using 2mm foam as another layer.

I'll have to check what parts I have on hand. If I have fiberglass, I might go the Sintra route. If not, I'll probably get some 3" diameter PVC and do what I've seen others do online. It won't be 100% exact, but plenty good enough for a Halloween costume.

 

[Fettacini]

No worries man and thank you, lol I was surprised that no one took that username yet, I just wanted one that sounded funny lol. I get enough" serious " in my day job so I tend to be a bit whimsical in my hobby lol.

Oh yeah you know I never thought about using pvc.
I got some expanded pvc sheet from ebay a while back, cheap, super strong and you can use pepakura templates to cut out the shape and then use a heat gun to curve it. It curves under heat more evenly than Sinatra and and finished cooled part has the strengrh of solid pvc. Really good stuff.

Come to think of it that's probably what they used to make the "new boba fett" armor in the mandalorian, as it has a uniform thickness all around and comes in 1/8" and 1/4 inch thicknesses. I also use it to make display stands ( I get the black sheet, smooth on both sides on ebay) bc it cuts and snaps cleanly ( score it with a utility blade a few times then snap the piece apart) and can be Chem welded together with plumbers abs glue. Good stuff

 

[TBone]

My original knees were sintra and balsa wood. I trooped in them for 5 or 6 years, never had any issues with cracking or breaking.