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[mobcake]

Hello! This is the first time that I've built a Mando (or any costuming in general). As of now I am working on the vest, chest armor, and back armor. I'm juggling school and work at the moment so I try to get as much done whenever I can. So for the flak vest I am making and sewing it myself. I have the material and I have it mostly cut to size, the only thing that I need to do for it now is make any size adjustments, attach my armor, and then sew up the sides. For the armor I have all of the chest, stomach, back, and collar plates made out of sheet metal. I also have thicker metal (about 2 millimeters thick) that I have made chest and stomach plates out of but I lack enough of it to make the rest out of so I'm a bit worried about consistency for that. I also have a lot of Sintra so I may make the armor out of that instead depending on how it turns out. But this is what I have so far. Please leave any comments, concerns, or bits of advice that you may have. I want this to look as good as I can so please tell me anything that you think I can improve upon or do differently. I will be posting pictures and updates of my progress anytime I make any. Thanks!

I'm thinking of this as a concept for colors



Here is the vest that I've made. I do know that I still have to size it better and make some finishing cuts 



Here is the vest with the armor that I have so far on it 



Here is the backplate that I have taped on so I could get a feel for the weight. I still have to fold the edges to fit my body (Some edges look really unclean but that is because the paper template underneath it is sticking out a bit) 

 

I should be able to get some pictures with me wearing the armor up by tonight or definitely within the next two days. Once I have those I will post them

[Maljohn Han'Tor]

I'm afraid that none of your pictures came through.

[mobcake]

Yeah I have no idea what I'm doing wrong either. I've followed the given instructions exactly on how to post them and I still am not sure. I'm going to maybe try a different website besides PhotoBucket. If you have any advice I'd be more than happy to hear it 

[Maljohn Han'Tor]

upload your picture to photobucket, once it's there, go to your library, click on the picture.  to the right should be a couple of window options.  Click on the "Direct" window.  A yellow bar should flash, saying "copied".

Go to your Mercs post. put your cursor where you want the picture.  click on the icon under the "B" (looks like a photograph)
Something resembling this should appear where your cursor was:
[ img ] [ /img ]
Place your cursor beween the center brackets, & right click.  Click "paste" on the menu that pops up.  ...& that SHOULD do it.

Hope that helps.

[mobcake]

Thank you!!!! Previously I was just copying the link straight from the URL bar. The "direct" button advice really helped

[Maljohn Han'Tor]

Thank you!!!! Previously I was just copying the link straight from the URL bar. The "direct" button advice really helped

Glad to help.

[Oryon]

To me that metal looks too thin. How the edges are after you cut it, they're warped. You'll have to be careful not to take any hits from much in that or it'll dent really easily. Shaping may be easier with the thinner metals, but they don't keep the shape very well.

[mobcake]

That's definitely a problem that I'm going to have to address. I have an excess of sintra and I think I'm going to make the armor out of that. However, I do have the thick metal but only the chest and stomach plates so i'm not sure about consistency for that. I'll be able to make those sintra plates hopefully within the week and get some pics of those up here

[Oryon]

That's definitely a problem that I'm going to have to address. I have an excess of sintra and I think I'm going to make the armor out of that. However, I do have the thick metal but only the chest and stomach plates so i'm not sure about consistency for that. I'll be able to make those sintra plates hopefully within the week and get some pics of those up here

Slap the thin metal on top of the sintra, badda boom: easy metal plates

[Ninjapacman]

The plating looks very nice already, and I like the color scheme.  Would it not be better to paint the armor before attaching it to the vest, though?   It might save a little bit of trouble.

[mobcake]

The plating looks very nice already, and I like the color scheme.  Would it not be better to paint the armor before attaching it to the vest, though?   It might save a little bit of trouble.

That's what I'm going to do. I just have them placed down to get a sizing idea for it. But as soon as I have the plates complete and I'm sure that it's what I want to do I'll paint them then attach them. Hopefully it won't take too long for me to do this depending on work and school

[mobcake]

Slap the thin metal on top of the sintra, badda boom: easy metal plates

That is a beautiful idea, lol. Just a bit worried about making sure the edges fit flat against the sintra so there aren't bumps. Definitely something I can experiment on

[Echo Darklighter]

That is a beautiful idea, lol. Just a bit worried about making sure the edges fit flat against the sintra so there aren't bumps. Definitely something I can experiment on

Actually, no, don't do that.  Like, ever.  That's a horrible idea, and I'm pretty sure he was joking.

Do either-or.  If you can swing real metal armor, do it.  If you can swing sintra, do it.  Do not attempt to overlay the plates like that, mainly because it's kinda completely pointless, and I have serious doubts that it'll work without causing damage to the Sintra plates (in order to curl those steel plates in, you're gonna need to give it a few solid thwacks with a hammer, and sintra wasn't made for that kind of abuse).

If you want metal plates (I always advocate steel plates over sintra, for a variety of reasons), pick up a used car hood from a collision shop and cut them out.  If you can cut your plates out of the sheet metal you're using with a pair of tin snips (it looks like you did, here), it's not gonna be thick enough to be usable.

How thick is that, anyway?  At a glance, based on the cut marks along the edges, it looks around 26 gauge.  How easily can you bend it with your hands?

[mobcake]

I wasn't going to overlay. But thank you for the advice though, it really helps, especially with a first timer like myself. But the overlapping for me is to thrifty and like you said pretty pointless. I'll put in the money and the time to make sure it looks awesome and passes the application. But the metal is extremely thin, and you guessed correctly on the shears. It's practically paper. The car hood idea is actually really awesome and I definitely love steel over sintra. The only reason I got sintra is because my lack of metal working skills but through some practice i've become confident enough to make some decent plates. I'm definitely going to look into the car hood idea tonight and pretty much scrap the sheet metal i've been using. The only small issue I have with the thicker metal is that I can really only cut it with a table saw (it's the only thing I have that can cut metal) and it doesn't do curves or the indent on the chest plates where the diamond would fall into place since the blade is prettt long. However, I am going to get a dremel soon. Would you say that a dremel would do the job for the metal used on a car hood?

[Echo Darklighter]

I wasn't going to overlay. But thank you for the advice though, it really helps, especially with a first timer like myself. But the overlapping for me is to thrifty and like you said pretty pointless. I'll put in the money and the time to make sure it looks awesome and passes the application. But the metal is extremely thin, and you guessed correctly on the shears. It's practically paper. The car hood idea is actually really awesome and I definitely love steel over sintra. The only reason I got sintra is because my lack of metal working skills but through some practice i've become confident enough to make some decent plates. I'm definitely going to look into the car hood idea tonight and pretty much scrap the sheet metal i've been using. The only small issue I have with the thicker metal is that I can really only cut it with a table saw (it's the only thing I have that can cut metal) and it doesn't do curves or the indent on the chest plates where the diamond would fall into place since the blade is prettt long. However, I am going to get a dremel soon. Would you say that a dremel would do the job for the metal used on a car hood?

Metal's what I do, vod.  Both of my in-use kits are steel.

Getting the Dremel is a great idea.  Using a Dremel on a car hood is a bit like using a BB gun to try and break down a wall, though- it might eventually work, but it's not a great idea.  I use a 4 1/2" angle grinder with a cutting wheel.  It'll go right through it.  You might want to pick up some scrap steel to practice on, though; they're pretty simple to use, but getting good with one requires a steady hand and some practice.  Still, it's by far your best option, and available for relatively cheap (a decent one runs about $40 at Harbor Freight Tools, or online).  The other option, if money is no issue, is a plasma cutter, but unless you have an unshakeable hand, I wouldn't recommend it.

Another big tip- don't cut the plates directly on the line.  Leave yourself a good inch or two excess on the outside, and dial it in more precisely (or cut the excess into tabs and fold them over to give the plates the illusion of thickness).  This will require a small table vice and a decent ball peen hammer.

Metal armor is a labor of love.  It can take a bit of work and know-how to properly shape, but it'll survive trauma and life a hundred times better than Sintra or most other composites.  Take your time and get comfortable, and don't be afraid to ask for help.

[mobcake]

A plasma cutter. Now that sounds...out of budget. But Thank you! Definitely gonna get that angle grinder. It looks like exactly what I need. And i perfectly agree with the metal statement. I love using metal a lot and even it takes extra time and money I think it's completely worth doing. At least for me. Again, thanks! Can't wait to post some more pics of my progress

[Echo Darklighter]

A plasma cutter. Now that sounds...out of budget. But Thank you! Definitely gonna get that angle grinder. It looks like exactly what I need. And i perfectly agree with the metal statement. I love using metal a lot and even it takes extra time and money I think it's completely worth doing. At least for me. Again, thanks! Can't wait to post some more pics of my progress

Any time, vod.  I love the prospect of adding more Mercs to the Great Metal Master Race.

[mobcake]

Here's the concept for the colors and symbols of my buy'ce. I'm not sure about the triangles on my visors. I like them because they add originality to it but I'm not sure about it for the application and because I might like the normal look better. Also, I'm thinking of changing my color scheme up a bit to add a bit more color. The original black and red that I used held meaning to me as I went by the Mando color meanings. However, I'm not sure if that's how I want my armor to look. But no matter what, I'm going to be adding more than just a basic paint job



Also, I just got the pics of the thicker metal that I talked about in the first post! Like I had originally said, I wasn't able to get enough of this metal (almost 2 millimeters thick) to make any more than what I have shown. However, I do plan on getting more metal of this thickness or more. I have the plates taped onto my vest. From what I can see I might have to make them conform to my body a bit better and I do realize that the right plate (my right) the edges are rounded in the diamond area. I'm not exactly how to fix that without creating too large of a gap. And this paint is definitely not permanent, just the paint the metal had originally. Please leave any comments, concerns, or advice that you have on them. Thanks!

[Echo Darklighter]

You need to start with your collar plate, vod.  Without it, you'll botch the placement of the rest of your plates.

[mobcake]

Just got the collar made and taped onto my vest. Also going to remake the vest today. Just got more material for it and plan on hopefully finishing it all today, depending on my patience level with hand sewing as I do not have a sewing machine, lol. But if there's a will there's a way and hopefully I can get some pics of that up on here soon.

Here are some pics of the collar on all my armor for sizing purposes. As before, the paint is completely temporary and will be sanded off as soon as I have the exact plates that I'm going to use as I'm most likely going to use different plates

[Jondo Rhenhar]

What r u using to shape the metal

[mobcake]

This is going to sound really bad but it's what I've got, lol. So I have a lot of tools that I've inherited from my father, yet not an anvil or anything that I could really use as such. But what I do have is a large and heavy industrial working bench with a tabletop vice-grip. So I secured a spare tow hitch ball with the vice and there you have it. I use the tow hitch as my anvil. It has its problems, mainly the flat part at the top of the sphere, but I can work around it. I've thought about investing in more efficient methods but I'd rather put my money towards the more vital pieces such as the helmet, vest, and possibly boots.

[Oryon]

I currently use that same setup for shaping the dome on my helmet. I recommend setting the ball at an angle so there's a round surface at the top and the flat surface is further out of the way. It gives you more room to work with.

[mobcake]

I've thought about that but I was worried about the tow hitch constantly shifting since it's at an angle. But that idea came to mind after I had done all the necessary shaping for what I have so far and I haven't tried it yet. Really glad to know that it works though and thank you for the advice

[Jondo Rhenhar]

I know u said u were working on a budget so just thought I'd throw in a suggestion...I use an old 16 Lb. Shotput I found on Craig's list for $20...I cut a piece of 6" pvc to be about 4" long and set the shotput in there to keep it from rolling around...I did most of my shaping on that and it works GREAT! I did also get myself a piece of railroad rail I found on Craig's list too but I've used the shotput the most...if u can find something like that and can afford it it might make your life a little easier and it yields awesome results