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How would I go about rounding my Sintra armor a bit more? I just got mine from Egyptbrick on ebay but I need to round a f ew parts to fit me better.
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A lot of people just use hot water in a sink. This has worked well for me. Another method is to use a hair dryer or heat gun. Just make sure you don't get the sentra too hot or it will buble up or burn. Try the hot water method first and if that doesn't work for you, put some gloves on and try the other method. Good luck!
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I used a heat gun, got it at joannes. best $5 bucks I spent.
Bear
Bear
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I just did it using a normal hairdryer and it worked great. That sintra is weeeeird stuff.
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I bought plenty of extra for extra projects, but as long as you cut it right, you'll be ok. If you heat it, bend it, then cool it down and it doesn't look right, just heat it up again, re-bend it, and re-cool it. It's fairly "idiotproof" (I can vouche for that!). 
Here are a few pics of my recently finished right shoulder bell (I posted the paints I used under the merged "paint codes" thread under "ARMOR"). This piece of Sintra took me about 2 minutes to cut with a Dremel (or less), a couple of minutes to sand, about 5 minutes to shape with a Wagner heat gun, then another 5 or 10 minutes scarring and denting it up with a Dremel to get the "battle damage". The rest of my time was spent painting it, and all told, I probably have about 9 coats of paint on it. All of the round "impact points" were made by heating the Sintra, then pushing into it with a dowel slightly smaller in diameter than the depression that I wanted to create. They range between 1/8" and 1/4" deep.
I swear it looks a lot better in person than it does here.
Sintra is your FRIEND!
Here are a few pics of my recently finished right shoulder bell (I posted the paints I used under the merged "paint codes" thread under "ARMOR"). This piece of Sintra took me about 2 minutes to cut with a Dremel (or less), a couple of minutes to sand, about 5 minutes to shape with a Wagner heat gun, then another 5 or 10 minutes scarring and denting it up with a Dremel to get the "battle damage". The rest of my time was spent painting it, and all told, I probably have about 9 coats of paint on it. All of the round "impact points" were made by heating the Sintra, then pushing into it with a dowel slightly smaller in diameter than the depression that I wanted to create. They range between 1/8" and 1/4" deep.
I swear it looks a lot better in person than it does here.
Sintra is your FRIEND!
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I found a better way to cut Sintra last night. I don't know WHY it didn't occur to me sooner. Maybe it's because I use my Dremel for 95% of all my projects, but I didn't even think of using the band saw attachment on our Shop Smith Mark V. DUH!
A band saw gives you a clean cut, unlike a Dremel which cuts and melts your cutting line. The band saw only melts the Sintra if you leave it in one place for a long time. The band saw lets you cut compound curves and angles MUCH more easily than the Dremel will. Of course, the Dremel was about $60, and the Shop Smith... well... we won't go there. :facepalm
Any band saw should give you really great results.
A band saw gives you a clean cut, unlike a Dremel which cuts and melts your cutting line. The band saw only melts the Sintra if you leave it in one place for a long time. The band saw lets you cut compound curves and angles MUCH more easily than the Dremel will. Of course, the Dremel was about $60, and the Shop Smith... well... we won't go there. :facepalm
Any band saw should give you really great results.
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if your in the bay area try Tapp plastic for a 4x8 at about $40
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A scrollsaw might work as well, and it's cheaper than a bandsaw.
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That's a pretty good price. Materiel Graphics (website listed above) sells a 4' x 8' sheet of 3mm for $36.16. You could just about build a Clone Army Gunship with that much Sintra.
I bought 11 smaller sheets of 2mm and 3mm for about $20, and I may have bought too much. At least I'll have some left over for other projects (my wife is making a female Tusken Raider for this Halloween, and then she's working on a female Mandalorian for Celebration 3).
A scroll saw would work, though you have to be careful. A scroll saw has a down stroke and an upstroke. It only cuts on the downstroke, and when it lifts up on the upstroke, if you're not careful, it will try to lift the Sintra up with it (especially smaller thicknessess). A band saw is constantly moving down, so it doesn't lift the piece. That's really the only difference. Both are good for precision cutting.
I bought 11 smaller sheets of 2mm and 3mm for about $20, and I may have bought too much. At least I'll have some left over for other projects (my wife is making a female Tusken Raider for this Halloween, and then she's working on a female Mandalorian for Celebration 3).
A scroll saw would work, though you have to be careful. A scroll saw has a down stroke and an upstroke. It only cuts on the downstroke, and when it lifts up on the upstroke, if you're not careful, it will try to lift the Sintra up with it (especially smaller thicknessess). A band saw is constantly moving down, so it doesn't lift the piece. That's really the only difference. Both are good for precision cutting.
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Try a rotozip with a vinyl bit. If your going to drop alot of money into your costume, might as well get a great tool.
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Sintra
It seems to me, from what I can gather from this board, that Sintra is the best material to make Fett armor from. Where might one obtain Sintra on the Internet? I live in a spot where there isn't a sign shop for atleast a 50 mile radius. Thanks.
It seems to me, from what I can gather from this board, that Sintra is the best material to make Fett armor from. Where might one obtain Sintra on the Internet? I live in a spot where there isn't a sign shop for atleast a 50 mile radius. Thanks.
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sign shops will be too much money go instead to a plastic manufacturer. try looking up Tripps plastic and see if they still sell it.
Bear
Bear
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I would think even if you found a place on the Internet that shipping would be outrageous on a 4' X 8' piece. I guess you could have it pre-cut but there is almost always a surcharge if they cut it so I don't think that would help offset the shipping cost. I would recommend going to a hardware store or some kind of manufacturing shop in town and see if they can order it for you. If it is not easily accessible, it might be just as cheap to buy some preformed armor off of someone as well.....Good luck!
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I'd recommend contacting the manufacturer by email or phone -- they can tell you where the closest distributor in your area is.
http://www.alusuisse-comp.com/
Follow the "contact us" link. And good luck!
http://www.alusuisse-comp.com/
Follow the "contact us" link. And good luck!
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If you sent an email, good luck I still heard nothing. I just called them and asked for the closest dealer to me.
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I wouldn't say it is the BEST, but it is definately the EASIEST and probably the most cost effective way to go. What's the best? Aluminum and fiberglass (IMO), neither of which are easy to work with nor cost effective, but man do they make for some awesome armor.
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I used sheet steel, I got it from Menards thick enough that it would not bend unless you hit it with a hammer. I was able to cut it with a jig saw that had a metal cutting bit. Why steel, well I wanted to solder snaps onto it and I thought I coulden't solder onto aluminum.....so I used steel. I coulden't leave it flat so I pounded out the pectoral pieces a little to round them out. I have plenty of tools (jig saws, files, bench grinder, drill press, propane torches, ball peen hammers....) so using steel wasn't a struggle. But from what I have seen on the board Sintra works well. It is easy to work with, you could cut out pretty much all your armor in a few days, and if you mess up.... you can start over without having spent too much time on the first attempt.
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I went to a plastics place yesterday where they sell 4x8' sheets for $24. The only thing is that the place had a $35 minimum purchase policy. They guy took me into the back where they kept everything and gave me a 4x4' sheet for free!!!
This sintra stuff is a miracle! It's easy to cut (with a dremel and cutting wheel), it sands sooooo easily, and it's very easy to shape. Thanks for all of the info guys!
Later,
Tater
This sintra stuff is a miracle! It's easy to cut (with a dremel and cutting wheel), it sands sooooo easily, and it's very easy to shape. Thanks for all of the info guys!
Later,
Tater
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I bought my Sintra here: http://www.matgraph.com/products_main_temp.html
They sell it in 4 X 8 foot sheets for signs, and ship by truck freight. It was too pricey THAT way, so I found a nice alternative.
They also sell CUT pieces here: http://www.matgraph.com/servlet/SelectCircle
Select "Rectangle" (it defaults to "Circle"), type in your desired width x length dimensions, then select your material from the pull down menu.
They have Sintra in 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 10mm, 13mm, & 19mm thicknesses, in varying colors. I bought several sheets of light gray 3mm Sintra for my armor, then 2mm white Sintra for some of my "accessories".
For reference, a 12" X 12" sheet of 3mm light gray Sintra is around $1.17. I found out on checkout that if you want a sheet over 30" X 30", your shipping is astronomical, so try to stay at 30" X 30" or LESS for each sheet. Also, they charge $30.00 per ORDER to cut Sintra to size.
It seems like a lot, but the Sintra is REALLY inexpensive, and so is the shipping. They're in Chicago, and I got my order in 3 days. I ended up with eight 12" X 12" sheets of light gray 3mm Sintra, one 30" X 30" sheet of white 2mm Sintra, one 18" X 18" sheet of light gray 3mm Sintra, and one 24" X 24" sheet of light gray 3mm Sintra, plus shipping AND the $30.00 cutting fee for about $50.00. I'll have enough left over to use for other costumes.
By the way, they also sell ALUMINUM, STEEL, and Plexiglas.
Hope this helps!
They sell it in 4 X 8 foot sheets for signs, and ship by truck freight. It was too pricey THAT way, so I found a nice alternative.
They also sell CUT pieces here: http://www.matgraph.com/servlet/SelectCircle
Select "Rectangle" (it defaults to "Circle"), type in your desired width x length dimensions, then select your material from the pull down menu.
They have Sintra in 1mm, 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 10mm, 13mm, & 19mm thicknesses, in varying colors. I bought several sheets of light gray 3mm Sintra for my armor, then 2mm white Sintra for some of my "accessories".
For reference, a 12" X 12" sheet of 3mm light gray Sintra is around $1.17. I found out on checkout that if you want a sheet over 30" X 30", your shipping is astronomical, so try to stay at 30" X 30" or LESS for each sheet. Also, they charge $30.00 per ORDER to cut Sintra to size.
It seems like a lot, but the Sintra is REALLY inexpensive, and so is the shipping. They're in Chicago, and I got my order in 3 days. I ended up with eight 12" X 12" sheets of light gray 3mm Sintra, one 30" X 30" sheet of white 2mm Sintra, one 18" X 18" sheet of light gray 3mm Sintra, and one 24" X 24" sheet of light gray 3mm Sintra, plus shipping AND the $30.00 cutting fee for about $50.00. I'll have enough left over to use for other costumes.
By the way, they also sell ALUMINUM, STEEL, and Plexiglas.
Hope this helps!
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Thanks for the pointer! Even with the $30 setup fee, when you count it against the whole cost of doing a costume it seems quite reasonable.
The total I got for 8 18"x18" pieces, 4 24"x28" pieces, and one 36"x24" piece was $74 (that was $60 material + setup & $14 shipping via ground to California).
Excellent!
The total I got for 8 18"x18" pieces, 4 24"x28" pieces, and one 36"x24" piece was $74 (that was $60 material + setup & $14 shipping via ground to California).
Excellent!
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