My Advice For Noobs

[keith hendrix]

True, I agree with what has been written.

Only those who were convinced that build armor from scratch is like playing monopoly may find it discouraging or pessimistic, this is a hobby more difficult and expensive than the average, and only if you really are motivated you can go forward, but is also one of things more exciting, artistic and satisfying I have ever tried.

 

[skunkyswimmer]

i was wondering if anyone knew anything that will work for the glass on the helm insted of a biking helmet sheild

 

[whiteninja1990]

I gotta amen 6. I've been working on my suit for about a year. of course it's probably taking me longer cause I gotta wait till i have the money to buy the next stuff. Also I'm a perfectionist so everything must be just right.

 

[RoxyRoo]

"This isn't appartment friendly, or even wife friendly." Lol!

Luckily my house has a large basement. Even then, me and my friends are keeping everything in a corner, and put everything away in cabinets when we're done.

 

[Joshua Morrison]

lol I have been doing it, in my apartment but I have a balcony so it's nice and breezy out there.

 

[ajgoesunlucky]

Thankz dude!!
Helpfull but not in a "dick" way

 

[noxiousd]

Thanks man, though i am only interested in making Helmets, so any recommendations for a first helmet?

 

[0235]

well, as a noob, i would like to put in another one:

look what is available around you: i went for a 7 mile walk all around where i live, looking in all the shops to see what i could buy there and then, and i found out that from now on i dont need to buy anything online, there are 4 DIY stores where i live, and iron mongers for nuts bolts and anything metal, 3 textile shops, for under armour, strapping etc, and 2 car cantres, where i can buy resin, fibreglass paint even an electrical store so i can add LDEs if i want to. thissaved me alot of time, and even though my feet hurt, i knew exacly what i could get, straight away. so if you feel fit and active, go for a walk, and if you are luck enough to have a walmart, go there and look at EVERYTHING (take a bike if neccecery)

 

[Chantelle]

^ Agreed.

You'll find you have a lot of things at your disposal. I've ended up using a lot of supplies from my old job in dental nursing that I thought would never see the light of day again, and a lot of useful things can be found at Recycled Garbage stores.

Sometimes you'll find things in your house packed away that inspire you to do something you hadn't really thought of. My jetpack ended up having two fans from my old thermal outtake in it, just because I found them, but it made the jetpack look and sound more exciting than the plain old cast ended up being!

 

[Arioch]

^ Agreed.

You'll find you have a lot of things at your disposal. I've ended up using a lot of supplies from my old job in dental nursing that I thought would never see the light of day again, and a lot of useful things can be found at Recycled Garbage stores.

Sometimes you'll find things in your house packed away that inspire you to do something you hadn't really thought of. My jetpack ended up having two fans from my old thermal outtake in it, just because I found them, but it made the jetpack look and sound more exciting than the plain old cast ended up being!

Jetpack!?!?!

Holy hell, PM me with link to pics.. Pep models.. w/e you have! PLEASE??!

I love jetpacks! A Reach one would be excellent, though Boba Fett is awesome as hell too!

You just may be the coolest chick on the whole damn planet.

 

[tsau mia]

My advice: make sure every step is perfect before moving on to the next one. Be a perfectionist. If something is wrong with your pep, nine times out of ten it will not get fixed by the next step. Apply thin coats of resin to avoid warping paper items.

 

[ChicagoSpartan]

Can this be a stickey on every thread please? Unfortunately it's statistically the adults who will read this and younger folks who blast all those 'already answered' questions, but it can't hurt to hope.

 

[roxasbri]

idk, i would say, you could get lucky. i found a whole bunch of sheet metal in a dumpster by my house, and have been building an EVA helmet. using that, a spot welder, about 20 rivets, some scrap foam from an auto upholstry store, and a bit of hot glue, my helmet base is coming along pretty well. the only thing that i will actually have to buy is the perspex im using for the visor, and some EVA foam (like the puzzle floor mats) for detailing. its taken a while, and I have had to redo quite a bit, but it has been very cheap.

 

[Shawn343]

LOL @ the "you WILL screw something up", .....so heres what I did, I made mine all out of paper- printing standard paper, then I came accross this forum and learned to do it right, today I purchased cardstock 500 sheets 8.5 inch by 11inch 110 pounds, time to start over again :-D rather being upset I see it as a learning experience....I took all the anger out on a Chimichanga.

 

[HotTamale]

I totally agree with "You will screw something up". My first helmet, I messed up after i already used fiberglass and used Bondo. I had to start over because trying to fix it just wasted time and resources.

 

[LightningWaffle]

I'd like to add on to the list of places that this is not friendly toward: dorm rooms. I'm lucky enough to have a single-occupancy room in which I can set my various creations (I don't resin, fiberglass, or bondo inside) in their stages of dis-assembly, but it's a mess.

Time consuming is also right. I've recently frozen all of my pep progress to focus on shaping my chest piece, which has just been sanded down for the first time. I can tell you now, it's taking a lot of work to shape it, and I still have several hours' work left to go to even make it look half-decent. I'm nowhere near satisfied with the way it looks right now. I've gone through half a tube of spot filler already trying to correct some Bondo mistakes. You've got to take your time on this stuff. I've definitely screwed stuff up by rushing. I learned the hard way when one of my gauntlets AND the left boot pieces warped during resining/glassing.

Expensive? Heck yes, it is. I've gone through almost $250 in supplies and tools, and I haven't even bought paint yet outside of the primer, nor do I have any accessory items for the armor. I'm a college student with a tight budget, so this really is hard to manage. But I'm seeing the rewards.

Also, whomever posted the comment about not doing the helmet first, you make a VERY excellent point.

That's my two cents.

 

[runcornstuntman]

i dont disagree with the starting off on something that isnt a helmet. its alot of work. but the first thing i pepped up was a helmet, and it was a long way from perfect, but two pepped helmets later i pepped what i feel was a pretty decent hi def helmet and its getting resined up n bondo'd atm.

but when i first started id pepped the entire suit (minus boots) without reading any tutorials with he exception of scaling and the armour crumbled. i went back and re read it all and sure i know my suit will cost more then $500 easily but id prefer quality over a quantity of crap

 

[kelevra16]

Just started my first helmet pep a three days ago and just finished it today, I guess it's beginners luck (or I just paid attention to it really closely and didn't mind burning my fingers) but it turned out "perfect", shape could be fixed with detailing down the line. Should've read this first and started out with something small but the helmet was just too awesome to ignore.

I guess the estimated budget for a "good" build of armor is inevitable but I'm still gonna try and beat it for a pepakura build. Trying to be careful with the next step, I don't mind the harsh learning process (and this will be a harsh learning process) but if I make a mistake, it'll be months before I start again. Not in any rush to complete the whole armor but is a good hobby instead of playing video games all the time.

 

[Deadpool5]

I noticed here they say to use cardstock. I bought myself crastock for a project? ( 65lb to be exact) while resining it, the paper split in half. So what kind of cqrdstock do I use?

 

[HaloGoddess]

I noticed here they say to use cardstock. I bought myself crastock for a project? ( 65lb to be exact) while resining it, the paper split in half. So what kind of cqrdstock do I use?

110lb cardstock. Welcome to the 405th! Make sure you read the rules of the site so next time, you don't necro-post.