Foam Pipboy 3000 (from Fallout) Tutorial

That's interesting; I was planning on adding the lights and battery last, after I painted it. (so as to avoid paint on the lights).

The instructions also weren't quite clear to me on how to put the batteries and lights in.
 
That's interesting; I was planning on adding the lights and battery last, after I painted it. (so as to avoid paint on the lights).

The instructions also weren't quite clear to me on how to put the batteries and lights in.

Either way - it's doable... it's just a matter of being careful.
If you do it after painting - you have to be careful not to damage the paintjob.
If you do it before painting - you have to be careful not to paint the LEDs.

I just prefer masking the LED and LED holder when painting ... instead of taking the chance to damage the paintjob which means you have to paint again :)
 
Neat idea. I will deifinitely try it. Incidentally, I am actually trying to figure out how you attached it to a bracer so you could stick an Iphone in. I know you explained it in the forum, but it still isn't clear to me.
 
Here's a new explanation - maybe this one is going to be a bit clearer :)

First, the iphone goes in through the bracer.
The hole for the screen is smaller than the actual iphone (so the only the screen and a part of the Home button shows)... so that's why it goes in from underneath.

So here are the steps... once you have both parts (computer and bracer) made
1- You'll have to carve away some of the foam from the bottom of the computer part so that it fits at the right angle when it sits on the bracer.

You have to be careful when carving away the foam - the bracer is usually not a cylinder (meaning that you have the same diameter on both side)... it should look more like a truncated cone. This means that for the computer part to be "leveled" you should carve out less foam from the side of the computer part that is closer to your wrist (and more from the one that is closer to your elbow).

2- Once you've craved the foam from the computer part - you should have a clear idea where the computer will sit on the bracer. You should mark the spot where the screen line up on the bracer.

3- Once this spot is marked - you can cut it out of the bracer.
This is going to be the hole in the bracer you'll squeeze your iphone through.

Make sure it's big enough for the iphone, but not too big... the computer part of the pipboy should be able to cover this hole completely once it's glued to the bracer.

4- Do a test fit... so the screens from the computer part lines up with the hole you've just cut in the bracer... and if everything looks right - glue the 2 pieces together with hot glue.
 
Either way - it's doable... it's just a matter of being careful.
If you do it after painting - you have to be careful not to damage the paintjob.
If you do it before painting - you have to be careful not to paint the LEDs.

I just prefer masking the LED and LED holder when painting ... instead of taking the chance to damage the paintjob which means you have to paint again :)

Went to another radio shack and found a whole other box of goods, ended up getting a 4 AA battery box with a switch, so I've taken a break from the crafting and been playing with LEDs the last few nights. Make sure you put a resistor on your bare LED, if not it will burn out in like 5 seconds. For a dollar more Radio Shack sells some cool LEDs that come with holders and built in resistors that look very similar to the button lights on the pipboy. I'm thinking of wiring mine first and then just taping over the actual light and holders while I do the priming/painting. Figured if a little paint gets on the wires, no biggie.
 
I was mostly curious about how to make the foam bend so I can make bracers. But googling suggets I can either boil it (in a plastic bag) or get a heat gun.
 
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I was mostly curious about how to make the foam bend so I can make bracers. But googling suggets I can either boil it (in a plastic bag) or get a heat gun.

Did you carve out the back to fit your arm?

I've been toying with a few ideas on this too. I'm thinking for the version I'm working on I'm going to use a tight kneepad (as the bracer) and Velcro (the way I'm setting up the battery will make it hard to get to if I glue it). It won't look as flashy as having an actual bracer tho.
 
See I don't quite get the "carve out the back to fit your arm." It fits my arm fine now!

What I am trying to figure out is where to store the battery pack.

Edit: Ah, now that I'm putting it together I see what you mean.
 
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See I don't quite get the "carve out the back to fit your arm." It fits my arm fine now!

What I am trying to figure out is where to store the battery pack.

Edit: Ah, now that I'm putting it together I see what you mean.

Cool, how's it coming together? I'm just about done with mine, I am still going to do a few things with my screen area but for the most part it's about 99% finished:

In Pic 2 I was trying to show off the LED lights, sorry for the blurry shot.
 
I've seen a lot of things made from a lot of random materials here, to the point where I had almost thought I'd seen it all. Your pipboy is the first time I've said "you made that out of WHAT? you're kidding me!" in a long time. Impressive build, very well done sir, and I tip my hat to you.

would you happen to have a pic of the flexbond can so I know what I'm looking for? I had never heard of it before.
 
Rosco-Flexbond.jpg


this costume of my Crash test Dummy ( Kit Kat Commercial ) was made entirely of Foam and Flexbond ( same process of the Sam's Pipboy 3000 ) ;)

P8120161.jpg
 
Super! I am so much gonna try this!

If you have started this ignore but if not I suggest Elmer's Rubber cement to glue the layers together...I found that using hot glue made it awful to shape afterwards. And You WILL need to shape it a little...If you have a band saw or scroll saw your in luck...If not sand paper worked well on the parts that were not hot glued. Not sure what to coat it with as I went the Plasti Dip route....It looks ok but not great.

pipboy 3000 build - a set on Flickr

Here is the flicker link. Some notes and such on the build...All Props To Fullmetalsam for inspiring this build.
 
Thanks for the tutorial, the pipboy is the prop I signed up here for information about. Just started cutting the foam today so I'll post pics if I can get it built properly.
 
I know you have probably already seen mine over at Thewastelandoutpost, but I thought I would post it here as well. The only thing I did different was instead of the bracer, I combined it with my T45 left forearm. It didnt come out how I really wanted, but I was still fresh at prop making. Maybe a Version 2 is in order?
Picture210.jpg
 
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