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[OriKad]

It was asked in a friend's build thread that I do a tutorial on how to make these, so here one is.  First, I'll show the build, and then, sometime later, I'll put together some printable templates for you to download.  Before I begin, I want to get a caveat or two out of the way:

Armor made entirely of unaltered craft foam is not allowed as per current guidelines.  While craft foam makes a good, cheap, and workable base, it would have to be resin-coated before it would pass for approval, at which time it would be considered fiberglass armor.

However, an accent piece, like say, an ARC trooper pauldron, made of craft foam, when added to trashcan/sintra/metal plates is generally allowable, as I understand the rules.  Your mileage may vary.

You may note during the build that I'm showing two different colors.  That's because I was making two interchangeable shoulders at once.

And finally: I didn't wip the mantle.  The mantle is made by exactly the same process as the shoulder, so it would be ultimately extraneous to do both.  All necessary parts will be included in the printable templates.

Next post begins the wip, which will be split into two posts.

[OriKad]

Starting at the end:  This is the final version of the pauldron that Shan uses for her V1 kit.  If you find pictures of her in one of our invasion reports or pic dumps in the Mav Oya'la board, you'll see that it covers the whole area that a collar would otherwise cover.  In the course of the tutorial I'll be running through the construction of a new left shoulder piece.


And these are the parts laid out flat.  The mantle is made of a separate front and rear piece, which secure on the right side.  In this case, I used hooks and eyes, but magnets, snaps, zippers, velcro, or whatever other method you'd prefer could be used.  Craft foam takes glue nicely, and can be sewn through for velcro.


The larger left side ARC/327th style base shoulder pieces.  I got two out of a single sheet of 30cm x 45cm craft foam, but that's for a slightly scaled down version for a small woman.  For a male you'd probably get 1:1 at that sheet size.


The raised, colored pieces.  These were drawn on by tracing the base shoulder piece.  Do not cut on the lines.  Also, I cut with a utility knife.  Scissors would also do the trick.


As you see here, if you draw the colored piece pattern using the base shoulder piece, you should cut about 3/16" inside the lines.


And once cut, lay them out on the base to make sure they line up correctly.  If they don't, you can still trim more.  Ultimately you should be looking to get exact symmetry.


And when all the colored pieces are cut, in comes the glue.  I used 3m Super 77 spray glue, because it's strong and goes on evenly.  You could use contact cement, wood glue, or whatever.  Superglue sets too fast and thick gel-based glues like E6000 are hard to spread evenly.


More in a minute.

[OriKad]

Doing one piece at a time, spray the glue on the back of the colored pieces.  It helps to use newspaper so whatever you spray on doesn't get sticky.  With 3m Super 77 you have to get it right the first time, because it's got that much tooth.  It helps to line up the outside edge and roll the piece down.  Craft foam is porous, so you have no worries about bubbles.  Also, use a fresh piece of newspaper for each piece so you don't get the spray overage on the front of the pieces.


When the piece is rolled on and even, apply even pressure to get it to start to set up right.  It may want to curl up on you, but the glue actually sets slowly enough that it's not a problem.


Repeat the previous step on the other side.  You do the outside pieces first so if you have them just a little off, you can use the center piece's placement to make it look more straight.


And there.  All the gluing is done.  You may note that the edges are curling a little, like I said earlier.  The glue is still tacky at this point, so they'll stick right down again.


Now, you need to apply even pressure to the whole surface.  I used a scrap piece of plastic sign and an old much-used shelf.


Clamp it, stand on it, put a weight on it, whatever.  You only need heavy pressure for a couple minutes.  After that, the weight of the board will be enough.


And we're done.  You can put the pieces together however you like.  I used chicago screws.


Final thoughts:  I find craft foam to be ideal for this because it's light, flexible, easy to work with, but still firm enough to hold its shape.  You could just as easily substitute sintra and leather.. or leather and leather.. or whatever materials you like as long as the adhesive you use is appropriate for that material.  As always, have fun building.

Templates will come sometime later or tomorrow.

[GreatSkyRiver Falco]

wow, that was quick!

thanks ori!

[Kora]

Oh craft foam, how awesome it is. That is pretty slick looking.

[Dragon Sunkiller]

Awesome! I'm incorporating this into my armor now!

[Dar'manda]

Is this still permissible for CRLs? Or would you have to impregnate the foam with something to keep it rigid? Just last I heard craft foam alone wasn't kosher..

However, the style is pretty awesome man! Can't wait for those templates! I'll for sure be making some out of leather and sintra!

[Hondo Karr]

Well, it's a secondary accent piece... it's not the bulk of the armor... ie the torso and leg plates. It's an accet piece which is usually made from soft materials such as pleather anyway so, it shouldn't be an issue.

However, I would certainly use the craft foam as the base for ease and cost but, if I were building one, I'd use sintra or storage bin or something for the plating on it.

[OriKad]

I was just typing that answer.  Actually, I find craft foam is good for the plates too for two reasons:

1. Exact color and texture match to the more flexible base piece for where it's all black. (Right shoulder and mantle)
2. Craft foam comes in lots of colors for the left shoulder piece.  No painting needed.

Plus, once it's two layers of craft foam, it's a lot more rigid.  Shan's all craft foam pauldron has held up with no problems at all after about a year of trooping and it ending up on the bottom of the pile of armor in the trunk.

Not that I'm saying you shouldn't make the plates out of sintra, just that those are the pros of all craft foam for this particular piece.

Anyway, I have the templates done for the shoulder pieces:
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad120/MikeBullian/rightshoulder.jpg
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad120/MikeBullian/leftshoulder.jpg

[GreatSkyRiver Falco]

the second pic jumped ship!

[OriKad]

It'd certainly help if I didn't typo the URL, huh?

[Ohl'd Vart]

Ori...did Drake bug you to make a tutorial like this? He's had me drafting pauldron patterns in AutoCad all weekend....
Rob

[Dar'manda]

Ori...did Drake bug you to make a tutorial like this? He's had me drafting pauldron patterns in AutoCad all weekend....
Rob

It's good for ya! Gets the mental gears goin and clears the cobwebs outta that attic ye call a head

Seriously considering trying this for an 'accent' piece to pop on and off on occasion.

[Ohl'd Vart]

It's good for ya! Gets the mental gears goin and clears the cobwebs outta that attic ye call a head

That's the truth....you oughtta see all the Acad project I've got going at once...10 at last count!
Rob

[OriKad]

Ouch... That's a lot of projects.  As for why I did the wip:  I built one for my wife a long long time ago, and recently helped a clanmate with the same, plus we were upgrading my wife's shoulder, so why not WIP it (WIP it good) in the meantime.

And now that I've thankfully NOT been selected as a juror on a triple homicide trial, I can template out the mantle.  Expect that probably tomorrow.

[TheMandoMan]

I'm definitely making one of these.     Nice work brotha! 

Now if only we could get those Legacy armor templates posted... 

[No'saj Huune]

Very cool, my 10yr old was asking me to do this for his armor and now I know how.  Much thanks from the both of us! 

[Ohl'd Vart]

Here's a snap of the one I'm doing, base on some scaled pics sent by a CT.net friend of Drake's....



I'm having to scale it down to fit his frame ('cause he's a skinny fart).... I'm not exactly sure about the "end plate" geometries, since I don't have any flat photos of them....if you don't mind, Ori, I may cop your designs....
Rob

[Ajax Kaal]

Thank you very much for posting this as I've been needing to make a mantle and pauldrons for my collar armor as the neck piece doesn't work well for me. This is awesome!

I will watch this for the mantle template as well and can't wait to make my own from this.

Thanks again.

Ajax

[OriKad]

Go ahead and use mine, Rob.  Keep an eye out for the mantle later today,  since the thing most people get wrong the first time out is that it's NOT a flat disk, rather it has to follow the slope of shoulders.

[Kel Toi]

Brilliant work vod , i hope to give one a go .

[OriKad]

Got the mantle templates done!

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad120/MikeBullian/mantlefront.jpg
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad120/MikeBullian/mantleback.jpg

Remember to reference that 1 inch square when printing, and if you want to fiddle with overlaps and where it secures, just lay the template pieces out in different configurations.

Shan's secures at the right shoulder under the shoulder piece and is sewn together at the left with separate front and back pieces.

And now that all the templates are there: I make no guarantees of screen accuracy, but I DO guarantee relative comfort.

[Drake]

Looks good.

Yes, my father has aided me in my endeavor, yet I am the one building it.

I am using vinyl for the mantle, and 2mm sintra for the plates. (by plates I mean both the mantle plates, as well as the pauldron itself)

How big is your neck hole? I think we finally settled on 7 inches in diameter, but it looks as though the helmet will not cover the hole very well, and the collar plate will show through the hole...

That foam idea is one I will use. (As the pauldron plates have to be... plated..)
When you paint it, does it have a cloudy look to it? (Screen accurate Episode III pauldrons have a cloudy look to the colored plates, look at Cmdr. Bly for reference)

-- Drake

[OriKad]

The neck hole is based on a 16" shirt collar (that's a circumference measurement) thus it's longer front to back than it is side to side.

Cloudy is a weathering effect, and none of these are painted.  I did all of mine in just the colors the craft foam came in.  You could get cloudy by stippling with diluted black or brown acrylic paint on a large brush or by gentle misting with an airbrush.

If you need to fiddle with the fit, just print the templates at a different DPI setting.

[Drake]

Thanks brother.

-- Drake