My new METAL armour! *PICS*

[Jango Fett Jr]

I just finished my shoulder bells today, so I thought I should post some pics of my completed vest armour that I finished a little while ago.

Shoulders

Chest, collar, shoulders

The stuff I made it from I got from a company that makes big thick metal doors, the kind you see in schools and office buildings. It comes with two pieces of metal with honeycombed cardboard sandwiched between. It is really nice, heavy duty stuff.

I am currently working on my backplate, codpiece, and kneepads. I'll post progress pics soon.

 

[BountyHunter185]

That's some sweet armor man!
I love metal armor and the real dents and scratches. Almost makes me want to make some...almost.

Can't wait to see the rest of your progress.

 

[drvfett]

Looking good my man. Keep it going.
Cheers,
ST

 

[DL44 Blaster]

The weathering looks great! So beings it is made from door metal does that mean it is steel? If so it must have been a bear to work with.

Steve

 

[Jango Fett Jr]

Suprisingly it was not hard to cut with some regular tin snips. It's not weak, either. It takes some moderate force to shape it, though.

 

[Megalomaniac Mando]

Looks great, Jr. Very nicely done. How are you attaching it?

 

[Jango Fett Jr]

I'm gonna try industrial strength velcro. I tested attaching with holt glue on my other vest, but it was messy and not too strong. I tested it with some industrial strength velcro, and seems to hold just fine. I'll wait till I put it all on my vest to see how it holds.

MMM, I believe you said you used bolts to attatch yours. It looks to late for me to do that, so any other suggestions aside from bolts or IS velcro? I was considering using snaps like SEEKER, but I haven't a clue on how to attach them to the armour. Any adhesives you could suggest (prefereably something I can find at Home Depot or Walmart)?

 

[Jaster Mereel]

Nice job!

What do you plan on doing with the old Bells?

 

[Jango Fett Jr]

Well I was just planning on disposing of them. They aren't very sturdy or accurate. If you are implying that you would like them, I could always just make up another set of my new ones, they didn't take long to make, plus I have lots of extra metal.

 

[BountyHunter185]

Jango_Fett_Jr wrote:
I was considering using snaps like SEEKER, but I haven't a clue on how to attach them to the armour. Any adhesives you could suggest (prefereably something I can find at Home Depot or Walmart)?

This thread has information on attaching the snaps to your armor. They aren't talking about metal armor but I'm sure most of the suggestions could work for metal armor as well.
http://tdh.prop-planet.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4762&forum=9

Also, another method I think would work is magnets.
Hope this helps.

 

[Darth Squeet]

Man, I know that metal armor looks great and all, but I gotta be honest, metal was the first armor I made, too damn heavy!!
I know some of ya can't help but want metal when you see a great set like these... but it's heavy.

 

[Megalomaniac Mando]

Actually, Squeetsy, when I added the bolts to my armor for attaching, it DOUBLED the weight of my armor..........to a whopping 18 ounces . Like the chainsaw juggler said; "It's all in the technique".

Jr., yes, I used bolts. Like they apparently used on the real-deal as per the ESB Collector Mag photo. If you don't mind perhaps re-painting the corners, you can still do it to yours. I also used snaps on my shoulders, and really like this method as well. For attaching either, I made a hole clean through the armor and dented it (similar to countersinking for screw heads in woodwork). This brought the top of the bolt/snap flush with the plane of the armor. Then I spackled it with JB Weld and sanded/primed/painted.

I can't really endorse any type of adhesive for this, as the surface of the metal is not porous and won't grab any type of stickiness effectively. Not for long at least, and it will probably decide it's hung around long enough when you're modelling the suit for a bunch of young hotties at a con or something. You can always try roughing it up a bit with course sandpaper or a dremel, then using adhesive. I did this and used GOOP and industrial velcro on my collar and backplate, since they are "hooked" over my shoulders, then bolted together, and didn't require a super-strong attachment.

 

[Jango Fett Jr]

Squeet, suprisingly that stuff isn't unbearably heavy at all, just the right weight. That, or I'm just so tough and strong that I can handle it.

Thanks very much MMM, I actually might go with the bolts. Don't you have a website that has some pictures of how you did it? I'd just like to see how you did it.

Thanks!

 

[Megalomaniac Mando]

Here you go, buddy.

http://www.geocities.com/emperorofmenifee/ArmorPage3.html


Have fun.

 

[Jango Fett Jr]

That's the one, thanks very much!
It looks so simple, I should be able to pull that off.