Armour Material?

[Sneblot]

Has there ever been an attempt to make a suit lets say a mark VI out of carbon fibre?? I read the thread about a suite made from aluminium. I just want to know if anyone has thought about doing so as I think the pattern you get from carbon fibre would make the suite have a nice finish to it. I have also read the thread about carbon fibre reinforcement but I what I mean is actually using it to build the entire suite not just provide projectile protection.

I mean surely it would just be like fibre glassing the inside but with carbon fire on the out side and if you used small enough pieces you could still get the detail in??

I mean please correct me if I'm way off the mark.

 

[lostdude]

A quick search on google reveals that carbon fiber runs from $150-300 a square yard. Thats right, square yard. That right there makes it out of the question for my budget. Best of luck should you choose to take this endevour.

 

[mroreo123]

I believe you'd have the same major problem with doing the whole suit in carbon fiber as you would with just using it for reinforcement: It'd be insanely expensive. Unless you mean make it look like carbon fiber on the outside.

 

[Sneblot]

Yer I know its a bit pricey and if I where to make a suite out of it it would most defiantly be one in the distant future due to money and also experience. Yer the whole suite lol.

 

[abrant3]

Carbon fiber would be ideal for these types of suits we're making. Basically, you would apply it the same way you would fiberglass cloth. Carbon fiber is a woven material that is slightly more rigid than fiberglass, but 50 times stronger; it stops bullets for crying out loud.

I know it's been used to make certain musical stringed instruments like cellos and violins, so it's very moldable, but I think it's fairly expensive. Plus, once you find a seller, the only option you have would be to buy it in bulk rolls.

The up side is that you could almost go to war with the suit on. With just one layer of carbon fiber, you could play intense paintball/airsoft, maybe even hockey or football! But I digress.

 

[Bigalt424]

The whole suit out of carbon fiber? The undersuit would be made well out of it, but its just too pricey.

 

[mroreo123]

I agree that it would look pretty sweet in terms of the external appearance, though. Perhaps if you researched into other materials that replicate the same look but without the strength-to-weight ratio that makes carbon fiber so expensive.

 

[ampix0]

Carbon fiber is a relatively new product and VERY strong. no need to pay for all that extra

 

[eggfooyoung]

Carbon fiber, very strong, and fairly expensive. I believe we have a thread about this. Gotta use the Search button though.

 

[UNSC Leatherneck]

I think the thread on this got buried. Carbon fiber really isn't that new, it's been in use in aerospace for decades. The main advantage of carbon fiber lies in its strength-to-weight ratio. Unfortunately you pay for this advantage. Carbon fiber is ery expensive, especially given the recent shortages due to increasing aerospace use. As for the durability, a lot of that lies in the fabrication methods. Design and build the armor right, and yes, you may see some enhanced durability. Get it wrong and you're left with a brittle expensive piece that is no better than fiberglass. To get it right you're looking at the more expensive epoxy resins, vacuum bagging, careful control of the layup schedule and fanatical attention to resin:fiber ratio. IMO, skip the carbon fiber and stick with fiberglass. In this application it's not really worth the expense and the trouble.


EDIT: As another note, the typical material used for ballistic protection is kevlar as opposed to carbon fiber. In that application Kevlar is used both in composite panel form and in a woven fabric form. For protection from anything above handgun rounds either metal plate or boron-carbide ceramic plate is used.

 

[DYSTORTED INC]

ya know, i think i'll give it a try. I'll have to see how this year's sales go but if it goes to plan i could have about $600 k in a years time...fingers freaking crossed. "please don't back out". Big name clients. But i just did a little research and have figured out how to do cf armour and cf reinforced undersuit. Can't tell ya how, "its a secret, sshh." : ) Wish me luck on the sale, and then we'll see how the rest turns out. If all goes well, this could be historic...at least in the 405th.

 

[CPU64]

Carbon fiber for armor would only look as cool as everything else made with it, if fairly expensive building techniques are used. You can't just layer strips of it and expect results like we see on hoods and bike frames.
Like mentioned before, this stuff needs to be resined through vacuum systems to make the resin and the cloth to be as smooth as possible, That gives the neat one piece pattern. Bit if its to be painted, there's no need to use it in place of fiberglass.

 

[DYSTORTED INC]

as it will be, but the reason to use cf instead of fiberglass is so it will be 50-100 times more durable. I know alot of cars and other cosmetic use cf but that stuff is relatively light weight cf. I'm talking about using 19oz weight cf, the heavy duty stuff. Using it to make the armour and then to reinforce the undersuit entirely meanwhile with cf ergonomic inserts to add the accented areas.

 

[Bigalt424]

Then you could take bullets with that armor

 

[DYSTORTED INC]

pretty much. lol. probably not but damn close.

 

[Bigalt424]

pretty much. lol. probably not but damn close.

Lets head down to the shooting range and find out
That would make some B.A. paintball or airsoft armor.

 

[DYSTORTED INC]

Yeah, the team would crap their pants if i showed up at the next tourney in that.

 

[DYSTORTED INC]

Working on some concepts as we speak.

 

[Sneblot]

I hope you get that sale Dystrorted cause it would look wicked to see some WIP photos. Just to clear things up about the other thread I did search to check out weather or not something simular had been posted but could not find any.

 

[Sean Bradley]

The armor would look the same as armor that isn't made with carbon fiber. Except that it will cost a great deal more and that you'll be telling everyone 'it's made of carbon fiber, it might theoretically stop bullets maybe!" until you go crazy and decide to try to prove it to someone.

We've always had this policy here when we hear members talking about doing this stuff. It goes a little something like this:

This website and it's administrators do not recommend or endorse the use of costume armor for Paintball, Airsoft, or any other such athletic or ballistic activities.

Please exercise good judgement and consult a good psychiatrist/physician before engaging in any strenuous activity in homemade supersoldier costumes that could result in bodily harm and legal prosecution.

In short; play at your own risk, don't say we didn't warn you.

Just had to say it. I'm kinda like obligated to do so.