Foam, Latex Or Resin?

[XilianX2010]

I am aware of 3 ways to make armor for your suit.

Cut and glue/clip together foamie paper and paint it. Seem's the cheapest way.

Or scuplt it out of clay, mold it, then either pour latex or use resin. But which is the best way?

What's the armor made out of that the professtionals use? Never really found out.

I have little foam paper left, and might have to get more. I only plan buying raw gaunlets with blades. These are what I plan on doing:

Shoulder armor (2)
Thigh armor (2)
Belt armor - center piece and back piece (Probably that out of cloth)
Leg armor (2)
Chest armor (P1 similarity, not AVP armor)

I have no idea how i could pull this off with foam paper, but is there actually another way? I can't ever muster up enough money for molding supplies for resin or latex, so is they another possibilty? If foamie is the cheapiest, easiest way to go I'll do it, but any alternate solutions?

 

[Philby]

sounds like since you want a budget build you should go with foamies,....making latex pulls is a tad cheaper than resin but because the price of molds is WAY different,......

resin comes out of silicone molds ( pricey )
latex come from ultracal-30 molds ,....
you can make resin molds and pull latex but it takes forever to cure ,....
you can do alot of cool stuff with foamies and they can be however you want,....and it's the cheaper route,....just sayin ,.. =)

 

[wonko]

So far I've done all my armor out of foamies, foam core, poster board, and sintra. If your willing to take your time, you can make anything out of foam (here's my backpack http://www.thehunterslair.com/topic/29201-backpack-done/). Foam isn't as durable as the other 2 methods you mentioned, but is easy to repair or replace should the need arise. As far as what the pros did...the armor was molded into the suits and painted accordingly. One method that I'm begining to explore is fiberglass. Cheap, easy, and much more durable than foam or resin. Hope this helps.

Brian

 

[XilianX2010]

Thanks guys! Well I'll take my time on the fomies then! Never done it vefore so it may not be the best XD
The foamie i use use is colored foam paper from Micaels. Will that work or do you guys use a different foamie?

 

[Badgerhunter27]

put a couple coats of plasti-dip spray over the foam as a base coat this will give it a nice black base and also make it more durable, then just add the silver coats and weathering and your good to go.

 

[XilianX2010]

put a couple coats of plasti-dip spray over the foam as a base coat this will give it a nice black base and also make it more durable, then just add the silver coats and weathering and your good to go.

Thank you

 

[Lflank]

Thanks guys! Well I'll take my time on the fomies then! Never done it vefore so it may not be the best XD
The foamie i use use is colored foam paper from Micaels. Will that work or do you guys use a different foamie?

I use the 2mm foamie sheets from Michael's too, because I can get it in big rolls, cheap.

If you coat the finished piece with a couple layers of watered-down elmers glue, it seals the foamie so the paint won't soak in, and also stiffens it and toughens it up a bit. It also helps with durability if you use watered-down elmers to glue a layer of lightweight cotton muslin cloth onto the back side of the armor pieces.

And I also use the 4mm foamies from Michaels (they only come in smaller sheets, though) for detailing.

I use a heat gun from Home Depot (it looks like a little hair dryer) to soften and shape the foamie.

Foamies are incredibly versatile stuff. With enough foamies and enough glue, you can make absolutely anything (my dream project is a fullscale X-Wing Fighter made from foamies).

 

[Andre de Jong]

If you go for Foamies and you want to paint it, go for PVA-glue instad plastidip.

 

[Double H]

If you go for Foamies and you want to paint it, go for PVA-glue instad plastidip.

PVA is the what's used to seal the foamies so as to give them more protection from damage and cracking/peeling paint etc essentially giving them longer life before needing to repair. Personally to me it makes no difference they peel and chip regardless with wear.

Plasti dip is the band of paint used to spray over the foamies. Also know as plasti kote in the uk and Europe.

 

[XilianX2010]

Thanks guys for all these tips! I still have questions, hope not bothersome

Do youvpaint with an airbrush? Or prefer mixing paint with brushes and just dabbing it on?

Also what is PVA-glue and plasti-dip?

I have bo knowledge of this, but want to know the correct way so I don't screw it up.

 

[Lflank]

Also what is PVA-glue and plasti-dip?

PVA is plain old ordinary elmers white school glue. Mix it 50/50 with water.

Plasti-dip is a kind of liquid-rubber stuff.

EDIT: The PVA glue is to seal the foamie and toughen it. To glue the pieces together, I use a hot-glue gun.

 

[XilianX2010]

PVA is plain old ordinary elmers white school glue. Mix it 50/50 with water.

Plasti-dip is a kind of liquid-rubber stuff.

Ah so when I'm done painting i just seal it with PVA (elmers glue/water)? Wow easy enough!

Now i just have to cut and form the armor pieces...this will be fun XD

 

[Robiwon]

Seal your foamies with the PVA before painting. The PVA coating will keep the paint from soaking into the foam. This is a test thigh piece I made last year experimenting with foamies. I brushed it with watered down Elmers glue. It was then painted with a Pactra metallic spray paint, weathered with acrylics.

 

[XilianX2010]

Seal your foamies with the PVA before painting. The PVA coating will keep the paint from soaking into the foam. This is a test thigh piece I made last year experimenting with foamies. I brushed it with watered down Elmers glue. It was then painted with a Pactra metallic spray paint, weathered with acrylics.

Thank you very much! Looks great, I'll give it a go :3

 

[Lflank]

Ah so when I'm done painting i just seal it with PVA (elmers glue/water)? Wow easy enough!

No no no---you seal the foamie BEFORE you paint it. The foamie is like a sponge, and by itself it will suck up most of the paint. So coating it with a few coats of watered-down PVA seals all the pores and makes it impermeable, so the paint will not soak in.

 

[XilianX2010]

No no no---you seal the foamie BEFORE you paint it. The foamie is like a sponge, and by itself it will suck up most of the paint. So coating it with a few coats of watered-down PVA seals all the pores and makes it impermeable, so the paint will not soak in.

Hahaha thanks, someone pointed it out. Thanks

 

[Lflank]

his is a test thigh piece I made last year experimenting with foamies. I brushed it with watered down Elmers glue. It was then painted with a Pactra metallic spray paint, weathered with acrylics.

I'm curious---did you reinforce the back of that piece with fabric or no? My experience has been that the muslin/glue trick isn't really needed for small pieces, but is a good way to reinforce and stiffen bigger pieces like torso armor. I'm curious about what others are doing.

 

[wonko]

Any large pieces I do I back up with sintra or polystyrene It will hold it's shape longer/better than just heat forming the foam (in my experience). I've also backed up foam with tissue paper saturated in PVA (2-3 layers) with good results. Next time around I'm going to do it all in fiber glass cloth/mat. Durable and light weight, and almost as cheap as the PVA/foam route if you buy in bulk.

Brian

 

[Robiwon]

Lflank, I did not back that piece with anything. When I do get around to doing armor it will be with foamies backed with thin sheet styrene for large and probably cloth for smaller parts. Not sure yet.