Fallout Raider - Painspike Armor (WIP)

My little group of costuming friends is really into Fallout. 4 out of 6 of us now have costumes... my boyfriend and I being the ones without. So, we're both working on those and hope to have them done in time for a convention at the beginning of March.

He's doing an NCR Ranger. I don't think there will be any WIP pics, but who knows. Maybe I'll try to snag a few.

I'm doing a raider. And this is the armor I'm attempting to imitate:



Yes, the slightly ridiculous painspike armor. Partly because I like the armor (spikes!), partly because I think the boob strainers are freaking hilarious.

This is a challenging costume for me, because 1) pretty much everything is construction/home improvement materials and I can barely work a drill, and 2) I really need to lose some weight and tone up to look halfway decent in this. The latter is the worrisome part, because I have 3 weeks and I know I can't make much progress in that time. So, uh.. I dunno. Maybe I can wrap some athletic tape around my abdomen, or wear some mesh? *shrug*

This post is quite lengthy so I'll start another one with some progress pics. Which probably aren't all that impressive to you talented folks here, but I'm totally out of my element working with the materials for this costume so I'm kinda proud of myself.

I'm glad someone is finally doing it! That is the most ridiculous "armor" ever. If you are worried about the stomach area maybe you could find some piece of junk to make armor out of. Realistically no one with any sense would wear that for protection. Maybe you could use something like a street sign that was bent into a curve to sit under the strainers?

Normally with armor I'd probably try to use foam or maybe Worbla (which I have and need to do something with!), but I wanted to stay true to the spirit of a post-apocalyptic costume and use actual pieces of metal and tire and other random bits I could theoretically find lying around.

I thought about using car mats for the thigh armor, but instead I decided to go with aluminum with a rubber backing, which my boyfriend was able to get from work. We tried Liquid Nails to hold them together, but the rubber didn't like it, so we ended up riveting the pieces together instead.

Here's one of the thigh pieces, mostly riveted as well as dented and weathered a bit:



The only thing I decided to "cheat on" (i.e. make) were the spikes. As much as I'd love to have a bunch of nails and screws and bolts sticking out of the armor, that's not entirely acceptable or appropriate for con-going. And I didn't want to use punk/goth/biker spikes because those don't seem very accurate to me.

I wanted the spikes to be flexible, so if they get hit they won't just break off, but I couldn't find any rubber spikes online, and I didn't want to deal with urethane and mold making. So I tried making them out of caulk, thanks to a thread I found on here. It's kind of hard to work with, and most of my spikes didn't turn out very pretty, but considering the costume they're for, it probably doesn't matter all that much...



All the pieces are cut out and riveted, so now I'm working on adding straps, and then I'll add the spikes.

Here's a piece that's almost done:



It needs better weathering, then a clear coat. I might also add some elastic under the belt straps, because I'm not sure it's gonna want to stay in place on my arm.

This piece is ready to be spike-ified:



The nice thing about this costume is that no matter how sloppy and messy my work is, it really just makes it better. For instance, the Liquid Nails oozed out all over the rubber, but now it kind of looks like dried mud, so no problem there.

Sluis Van Shipyards said:

I'm glad someone is finally doing it! That is the most ridiculous "armor" ever. If you are worried about the stomach area maybe you could find some piece of junk to make armor out of. Realistically no one with any sense would wear that for protection. Maybe you could use something like a street sign that was bent into a curve to sit under the strainers?

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haha, it's just so ridiculous, I couldn't resist! I'll have to do some thinking on the stomach issue. Maybe I'll get lucky and slim down enough to feel comfortable in it, but just in case I need some kind of backup plan. I'll be pissed if I'm the only one of our group without a Fallout costume, especially after I've spent so much time on it.

One thing you might consider as a back up plan would be to get a flesh coloured body suit from a dance supply shop. Then you can put a thin muscle suit underneath or paint muscle shading on the outside. The build looks great so far. Keep up the good work.

Hilarious!! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your progress as well as the final result! Good luck!

You know after all these years I never realized those were strainers. I'm ashamed as i'm a huge fallout fan. I remember back in the day when the raiders all wore the same leather armor because of the constraints of the computers lol.

Wes R said:

You know after all these years I never realized those were strainers. I'm ashamed as i'm a huge fallout fan. I remember back in the day when the raiders all wore the same leather armor because of the constraints of the computers lol.

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Yeah, you can totally see through them in some shots. Sometimes there are tape "pasties." Sometimes there's nothing. I will be lining mine. :lol

So... any suggestions as to what to do for the crotch piece?

It's a vintage jockstrap, which I haven't been able to find anywhere. I don't really want to make a fake one out of foam - I'd rather just make it less game accurate and use some random object, or maybe make it out of the metal and rubber I've used for the other armor (minus the spikes... lol).

I did have the idea of using a piece out of a baseball glove, which I think looks kind of neat. But it doesn't come up high enough, i.e. it's too low to attach to the belt, so I think I may have to scrap that idea.



It's kind of a silly piece for a lady, but.. it's there. Though I guess they do have stuff like that for women: http://www.ebay.com/itm/adidas-Ladies-Groin-Protector-/130747945858. That could maybe work, with a paint job and some weathering...

Edit: Okay, figures I post this and then find something that might work (and it's cheap and Amazon Prime eligible!): http://www.amazon.com/Shock-Doctor-Womens-Pelvic-Protector/dp/B00181EP9M/

I love it! No worries about getting in shape! Just be smart about it. Can't wait to see this done!

Interesting concept. But those spikes seem so fragile!

Looks impressive

Jonathan86 said:

Interesting concept. But those spikes seem so fragile!

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The spikes themselves are pretty durable, since they're made out of silicone caulk and it's flexible (though the paint cracks if you bend them too far). My main problem is getting them to stay on the armor. I've been using E-6000 glue; occasionally one will get knocked off if it wasn't glued down well enough, but unless you sit there and really try to break one off, they tend to stay put.

Here's a pic of the forearm armor, now with spikes (minus a few that have since been added):



Overall I like it, but I hate that the rivets + the washers make it seem so busy. But it's raider armor, so whatever, right? It's not supposed to be pretty.

Great work! Keep going!

Used some Sophisticated Finishes Instant Rust plus dark blue acrylic (idea from Volpin Props) to make my armor rusty. I got a little carried away with it around the spikes and rivets, though, so I'll need to make it look a bit more realistic.



Edit: Well, my friend just notified me that this type of metal wouldn't actually have that bluing effect when rusting, so... great. Tried to do something cool, and did it wrong. :facepalm Not sure if I care enough to fix it.

Well, got the women's pelvic protector in and don't think it'll work - it doesn't come up high enough to be attached to the belt. I may still use it and add some rubber or foam behind it. Or I might just make the piece out of rubber+metal to match the rest of the armor. Not really sure how I want to go about it.

What convention are you going to? Be careful because sometimes certain cons are weird about sharp things on costumes or props.... what are the spikes made out of? So far though great job on the costume!

NinjaShani said:

What convention are you going to? Be careful because sometimes certain cons are weird about sharp things on costumes or props.... what are the spikes made out of? So far though great job on the costume!

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Thanks! I'll be test running it at a small con here in Tennessee in a few weeks, but I plan to take it to more cons this year, including Dragon*Con. The spikes are completely safe, though - they're made of silicone caulk, so they're nice and rubbery.

Armor is all rusted and bloodied up...







I think it may be a bit too rusty, but... *shrug*

And here is the lovely strainer bra, in all its impractical glory...



Just need to replace the clasp in the middle with some leather, apply some rust in a couple of spots, and glue in the liners (which I made out of Worbla).

That looks great!!!