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 Starting my Armor Concepts

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Starting my Armor Concepts
« on: Apr 18, 2019, 11:58 PM »
Hello all,

So I am a brand new member and from what I've read this is the place to get started.  My very rough plan is to have a friend 3d Print the armor panels and possibly the helmet and I will do all the sanding and paint to make sure that it is at the quality and standards of MMCC. I have actually played in the Fantasy Flight Role-playing game this past year and was able to make a Mandalorian character. I feel in love with the character that I had made and would really like to create his armor. From what I can tell he would have a Medium Armor build with a Modern Helmet. My friend that owns the 3d Printer has a lot of experience making star wars props and makes helmets all the time but never a mandalorian helmet or armor.

So I suppose my real question is are there any fellow members out there with current files for a modern Helmet and medium armor for a 3d printer or know where I can find one? I haven't really started thinking of a back up plan if I can find any templates for the 3d printer, but figured I would go with making the plates from Sintra.

Here is the Concept art that I found and edited from a somewhere on the internet.


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TheTKO


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #1 on: Apr 19, 2019, 06:42 AM »
I wouldn´t print the armor. Its easier to make out of Sintra, and you can make it fit perfectly to your body.

The concept looks good so far,
maybe some accents with some kind of other color could look good.
Otherwise you can think about adding some patterns for getting more structure than only green !

Straka Zulu


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #2 on: Apr 19, 2019, 12:28 PM »
3d printed armor is a bit of a pain, but it is possible.  It would be easier if done in Sintra, like TKO said.

What might help is if you were to print out the paper templates, here, and see which size works best for you.

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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #3 on: Apr 19, 2019, 02:27 PM »
So I am very new to crafting this stuff. Do you normally just take the paper templates print them out, place them over the Sintra then cut it out?

I know its most likely self explanatory I just want to make sure I get it as accurate on the first try and learn from there. I will definitely take TKO's advice and add some more color and designs to the armor, possibly some recesses on the chest plates or something similar to a post that I found on some armor on the Mandalorian Mercs Pintrest account.

Is there a preferred place to acquire Sintra to build? If so I would appreciate any direction on where to buy. I'm not so worried about price but I would like to save some money on my first kit then go big on a 2nd or 3rd Mk of armor.

« Last Edit: Apr 19, 2019, 03:41 PM by Skyzan Gilgos » Logged

Straka Zulu


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #4 on: Apr 19, 2019, 04:55 PM »
To answer the last one first, look for a sign shop in your area. Sometimes they will have scraps that they can sell you or give to you. If one is not nearby, check Home Depot or Amazon. You're looking for expanded PVC foam board. Sintra is a brand name.

For the templates, you want to cut them out and tape them to yourself to make sure you have the right size. Post some pictures here, and we can tell you for certain. The sizing is kinda finicky,  as they are made a bit generic, and people come in a wide range of sizes.

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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #5 on: Apr 22, 2019, 01:19 PM »
Here is what I have done with the Jango Fett 5' 6" templates. I do believe that I just didn't have strong enough tape to hold the shin pieces down, and the only other thing I think is questionable is the collar piece. It may be a little too big.


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TheTKO


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #6 on: Apr 22, 2019, 06:13 PM »
Chest and Collar are too big i guess. Your shins need to be more down, so that the knees dont touch shins and thights

Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #7 on: Apr 23, 2019, 02:43 PM »
Alright I will point out the templates for someone in the 5'3" range for the chest and collar and adjust the shins for the knees. Thank you for your help!

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Falke


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #8 on: Apr 23, 2019, 05:39 PM »
I'd recommend moving the Cod and tighs a bit upwards, otherwise they will get into conflict with your knees. And I agree your torso plates are too big, the collar and chests are too wide, which will be a pain for your mobility and the ab plates ends to low, so there isn't enough space left for the waist items. So taking a smaller size will help you a lot.

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Slade Kel


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #9 on: Apr 23, 2019, 08:13 PM »
Don't toss the 5'6" templates before trying out the 5'3", as those may end up too small. As Straka said, the templates are generic and people are varied :P. I, for example, need the length of the 5'6" templates but need to narrow them a bit. You need enough space to have an inch between collar and chest plates, another inch between chest and ab plates. The space between the chest plates, and between them and the diamond, should be about half an inch.

Your lower body armor seems to be a  good fit, but like Falke and TKO said the positioning will need to be fixed. Cod and thighs need to move up about two inches (the top of the cod piece has to be hidden beneath your waist items, either sash, girth belt or ammo belt), and the shins and boot armor need to move down a similar amount. The shins should be an inch or so above your ankle and the boot plates about half an inch to an inch below the shins. That spacing will give you enough space for knees to squeeze in there :D. There should be about two inches between thigh and knee, two more between knee and shin.

 Also, and this seems a little counter-intuitive, but the scoops on the thighs actually going on the outside! I wore mine wrong for years before Mandalore corrected me.

For more detailed information and our tutorial lists, you can check out The War College, and of course post any questions you come up with and one or more of us will be happy to chime in!

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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #10 on: Apr 29, 2019, 01:36 PM »
So here is the picture with the 5'3" Jango templates on my chest and the 5'6" templates on my shins, thighs, cod, and shoulders.

How am I looking so far?


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Jal Korvo


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #11 on: Apr 29, 2019, 05:06 PM »
Chest plate sizing looks better than the previous pictures but you'll want to pull your collar up. It should rest about where your t-shirt collar sits. "Almost choking you." Then from there, you can work your way down, making sure you have a thumb's width or about an inch of space between the collar/chest and the chest/ab.

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Slade Kel


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #12 on: Apr 29, 2019, 06:16 PM »
Yeah, spacing (tape :P) aside, the torso plates look pretty good for size. The cod and shins look on point as well, though the thighs look like they're a little too big. I've seen this problem often in the past; I don't know if it's just a matter of the scale being wrong on the 5'6" templates for thighs or what. I usually trim about 1/4-1/2 inch all the way around the thighs and find them to fit just fine after that.

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QMU 72| M.A.B.E.L. 77| Cabur Akaata 144
Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #13 on: May 02, 2019, 02:48 PM »
Ordered a few sheets of about 5mm thick sheets of Sintra that should arrive tomorrow. If all goes well I'll be cutting out the armor panels.

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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #14 on: May 03, 2019, 01:01 PM »
Well I've run into a snag. It seems that I have bought foam core board with verycthin sheets on the outsides, instead of the intended PVC board. I bought this set of 15 boards from Amazon and thankfully will be able to return them. Can anyone give me a link to what they use for PVC board as I just want to be sure that I'm getting the right thing this time.

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Slade Kel


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #15 on: May 03, 2019, 11:30 PM »
You want expanded pvc sheets, like this on Amazon, or this. Additionally, check your local Home Depot for PVC sheets. You'll want .118" for 3mm or .236" for 6mm if you find it at Home depot, a 2'x4' will run you $30-40 there, but save you shipping, and will be in the building materials section.

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QMU 72| M.A.B.E.L. 77| Cabur Akaata 144
Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #16 on: May 08, 2019, 08:46 AM »
So I have acquired PVC expanded cell foam board and have started to trace my templates and cut out the armor panels. Is this the moment where I start a new thread on the Armor construction page?

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Slade Kel


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #17 on: May 08, 2019, 11:09 AM »
Yep, once you move from concept to building, armor construction is the place you want to go.

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Fenris Claddanna


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #18 on: May 08, 2019, 11:30 AM »
You can also request that this thread be moved over so everything is still in one place.

On topic, I look forward to seeing this come to life. You have a solid concept, vod  :porg2:

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Oyacyir mav, ash'amur pirusti

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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #19 on: May 08, 2019, 07:36 PM »
As far as painting goes my original paint scheme has changed. I believe my plan is to prime in black and make most of the armor a charcoal grey with dark green accents. Overall design I am kinda still lost. But i have settled on those colors.
Are there any pointers on weathering? I think that I'm going to try and use a liquid latex and do multiple layers of paint. And then use the weather techniques on the Mandalorian mercs YouTube channel to dirty the armor up but any other tips I can get will be gladly appreciated.

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Fenris Claddanna


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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #20 on: May 09, 2019, 10:12 AM »
Rather than using liquid latex, I'd suggest using toothpaste or shaving gel. It'll rinse off a bit cleaner, and it is also cheaper.

Another technique you can use to simulate fine scratches on your armour(especially if you do a metallic underlayer) is to use a wire tile brush or bbq brush gently dragged across the armour in a logical direction for those scrapes(ie: mostly horizontal for branch and brush scrapes), and you'll get some nice details there.

Something else I do is very carefully hit the edges of the plates with the metallic undercoat colour on a sponge brush where plates would naturally scrape together. Rather than trying to get an even line, I just kinda let it do whatever to give it that natural weathering look.

Other techniques for weathering depend on the type of weathering you're looking for. Blaster scoring is going to mostly be in the black to dark grey range and higher up on the body; environmental is mostly going to be in the brown to tan range, and potentially some umbers depending on the specific environment, and more heavy lower down on the legs.

A really good place to start for weathering is thinking about what your Mando does for a living and what kind of environment they generally operate in. From your colour scheme, I would guess urban ops, so the weathering would trend more towards scrapes, soot, and blaster scoring, rather than mud.

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Oyacyir mav, ash'amur pirusti

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Re: Starting my Armor Concepts
« Reply #21 on: May 09, 2019, 10:30 AM »
Rather than using liquid latex, I'd suggest using toothpaste or shaving gel. It'll rinse off a bit cleaner, and it is also cheaper.
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