Armor. How wouldja...?

[kept back]

With Iron Man and now The Dark Knight, I'm feeling a bigger and bigger need to create armor style suits. I'm curious how some of you would go about this. Ready? Set? Now.....GO!

[drmego]

Buy some cheap plastic plates and cups - cut them into flat pieces - soften them up in hot water, then immediately shape them against a mego body or a block of wood
shaped like the armor you want.

It's the poor man's vacu-forming.

[Raydeen1]

There's an excellent tutorial online somewhere. I'll try to find you the link.

[The Bat]

Buy some cheap plastic plates and cups - cut them into flat pieces - soften them up in hot water, then immediately shape them against a mego body or a block of wood
shaped like the armor you want.

It's the poor man's vacu-forming.



Wow....that's really COOL! I've never heard of that!

[SUP-Ronin]

I have been playing with various armor ideas, and picked up some CTVT knights to kitbash. Perhaps you could blend the moldable plastic ideas with some existing armor and get what you're after.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/genin99/Mego%20Stuff/My%20Customs/Knights/GoldKnight2.jpg

Problems - limited mobility, and the armor isn't really any different from lancelot, just painted a different color. Still a good place to start.

I have also shown this one recently but is more modified than my Gold Knight.
It is my Medieval Boba Fett.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/genin99/Mego%20Stuff/My%20Customs/Knights/Fett2.jpg

Maybe these will help give you some ideas.

[kept back]

A wine jug for Tony Stark's crest? Man that is seriously funny. I dig that medieval Fett more and more every time I see him, too.

Getting some ideas I never would have thought of, though. Please keep 'em coming.

[Timothy2251]

How about using craft foam? I'm thinking of using some thin sheets of red craft foam for a possible Iron Man custom down the line, glued to a yellow bodysuit.

ETA: This custom (http://megomuseum.com/community/showthread.php?t=9280&highlight=atlas) gave me the idea. Check out those boots! All craft foam!

[SUP-Ronin]

Yeah the wine jug was totally intentional. :wink: Even though it isn't really supposed to be iron man, just a modified knight varient.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Vacumn-forming is probably the BEST way to do it. Tragicly, I don't have a fomer, and lack the neccessary skills. (A friend of mine from years back used to vaccumn-form Warhammer 40K vehicles. He'd swipe the ads from the inside of the city bus for plastic!)

Craft foam works well. I strated using it after seeing Boss' KISS customs. It works good for heavy kevlar, and well worn armours; since it has a matt look to it.

I've thought about using slush molds, but haven't worked up the nerve to try it yet.

Don C.

[megocrazy]

Rob (Spyweb007) uses craft foam for all sorts of stuff and gets great results. He did Vader and the stormtrooper armor as well as the TMNT figures I posted a few months ago using foam for the shells and they all looked great. You could also use a sculpey rolled thin and molded around a frame to make armor. It would be delicate but fairly inexpensive. Once you complete it it could be cast in resin which would solve that issue.

[SUP-Ronin]

I am curious, craft foam is easier to work with and quicker, but does it hold up well? Seems like after a short time it would fade and/or lose its strength. As in, it would be great for a mock up or prototype but not really for a long term design, or if it was played with much. How does it look after a couple years??

It would be pretty cool if someone would cast some basic armor options that could be modified as needed for various characters like Storm troopers, knights, vader, or Batman. Basics like knee, shin, forarm, chest, back and shoulders. I am not necessarily talking about a different suit for each guy, but some generic pieces that could be sanded or modified into various characters. Has this been done already? If so, by who?

If you look at the right shoulder of the gold knight pictured above, I drilled small holes in order to lace on the armor so it wouldn't have to be glued in place. The same could be done for other pieces as well. Obviously more pieces means more work, but also greater variation in the design options, greater interchangability, and also better mobility for posing. Then you could sell a full set or various pieces as needed. We have enough talented people here that if one person designed something that could be cast, then perhaps someone else could do the casting if need be.?. Just some thoughts.

[gman]

I have been goofing around with this technique.....

RandKL Projects (http://randkl.com/joemodeling/armor.html)

[livnxxxl]

I have been playing with various armor ideas, and picked up some CTVT knights to kitbash. Perhaps you could blend the moldable plastic ideas with some existing armor and get what you're after.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/genin99/Mego%20Stuff/My%20Customs/Knights/GoldKnight2.jpg

Problems - limited mobility, and the armor isn't really any different from lancelot, just painted a different color. Still a good place to start.

I have also shown this one recently but is more modified than my Gold Knight.
It is my Medieval Boba Fett.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f128/genin99/Mego%20Stuff/My%20Customs/Knights/Fett2.jpg

Maybe these will help give you some ideas.


Both look neat. Believe it or not as I was viewing your pictures the song "Bad To The Bone" was playing on the radio in the background. Is that dejavu or what? :cool_y:

[livnxxxl]

You could also use a sculpey rolled thin and molded around a frame to make armor. It would be delicate but fairly inexpensive. Once you complete it it could be cast in resin which would solve that issue.

I have did this with Sculpey without even using a frame. The frame is a good idea as it may help make the Sculpey more stronger and less fragile.

Ironically here is a pix of one I am recently working on. I personally use Scupley lite for some pieces just to cut down on the over all weight as opposed to the heavier Scupley clays. Please keep in mind that this one is still in what I like to call the "rough" stage and is not complete as of yet.

The one thing that one has to be careful of when working with Sculpey is not to leave fingerprints (unless of course you want to for whatever reasons) as it picks up fine detail with ease. If you decide to use the Scupley method you may want to purchase some non finger printed type of gloves. I use latex gloves although some folks may be alergic to latex so use common sense and proceed with caution.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn184/livnxxxl/Mego%20Customs/DSC08687.jpg

I also took the above picture without the flash so the picture will show the details better. I tried it with the flash first and the flash was so bright that the picture was too white. Anyways....just my two cents as usual. :smile:

[Megotu]

You can also sculpt the piece using aluminum foil and dip it in plasti-dip. Dip, trim as needed, dip again. Three to four dips should get you any piece you want.

[ThatBatmanGuy]

Age old trick: to remove fingerprints from the sculpt when sculpting with Scupley use a paint brush dipped in rubbing alcohol. Lightly brush the fingerprints away.

Bob