Wearing Foam Armor

thecountofzero

Active Member
This is probably a dumb question, but how do you wear foam armor. I made some shin guards and they were kept on by straps and buckles. But with a lot of armor it is made as a complete piece. For example a lot of the Iron Man suits I see. Do they just slide on? I'd love to see a video of someone putting on their armor.

Thanks!
 
Of the suits that I've seen, they are onlly made to look like one piece. There are straps and buckles throughout the internal structure. Here is a video I found of a person suiting up. Hopefully it can give you some ideas.

 
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A ton of straps and webbing is what you use for an Ironman suit :). The way mine works is, I built the legs and arms to stand up by them selves (joints and all) so I don't have to attach them to my main suit. So the legs and arms just slide on, same with the boots and gloves. Now the torso is where you get into the strapping and webbing. First for the cod/waist piece is built a suspender like setup in it to make sure it stays up. Nothing worse than an Ironman with droopy drawers. These piece go over my shoulders and hold the cod piece up. Next the abs wrap around and buckle in the front for me (the center ab piece covers up the buckles). And then I put on my chest piece which is open on one side so I can slide it over my head and get my arms through it. I then buckle the chest piece together, and the shoulder piece I have attached to the chest piece using straps with buckles so i can remove them for easy storage. That is how I put my suit on and I'm able to do it without any help (all though help is appreciated). My next suit will probably be the same way when I finish building my cardboard/fiberglass version of the Mark VII.
 
A ton of straps and webbing is what you use for an Ironman suit :). The way mine works is, I built the legs and arms to stand up by them selves (joints and all) so I don't have to attach them to my main suit. So the legs and arms just slide on, same with the boots and gloves. Now the torso is where you get into the strapping and webbing. First for the cod/waist piece is built a suspender like setup in it to make sure it stays up. Nothing worse than an Ironman with droopy drawers. These piece go over my shoulders and hold the cod piece up. Next the abs wrap around and buckle in the front for me (the center ab piece covers up the buckles). And then I put on my chest piece which is open on one side so I can slide it over my head and get my arms through it. I then buckle the chest piece together, and the shoulder piece I have attached to the chest piece using straps with buckles so i can remove them for easy storage. That is how I put my suit on and I'm able to do it without any help (all though help is appreciated). My next suit will probably be the same way when I finish building my cardboard/fiberglass version of the Mark VII.

Do you have any pictures you could share? Thanks for the reply.
 
all right I found a pic or two that may help explain how I suit up

Ironman contest image.jpg This one right here you can see the abs how I made a make shift girdle and wrapped them around me, the center ab section is on solid piece that I buckle below the chest and into the waist piece. I plan on making a better version later but this was my first go at making a foam suit :). The arms as you can see have the hinged joints on them and that is what keeps them in place no other strapping on them. The legs are the same as the arms and they stay by themselves.

DSCN3317 (2).jpg Side shot and you can see the hinge on the legs better, I put a round plastic lid between the two foam pieces so they can pivot without tearing themselves apart. The loose strap you see on the cod piece is actually what I use when I connect the suit all together so I can transport it easier. I only have to grab the lower waist piece with the legs on them, the chest piece with the arms, and the helmet and boots easy carry so i can change on the go.

It takes some playing around to figure out exactly how you want to strap your suit and how you want it to look when it hangs on you, play around with it and don't be afraid to cut, or redo anything.

Oh, side note, I made the front cod piece connect to itself with velcro so i can go to the restroom because, when you gotta go, you gotta go :).
 
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