azash
New Member
I'll preface this by noting that this is more of a reminder for me than it is anything serious, but after much squinting at pepakura models and forum-trawling (with a healthy amount of search-button mishaps interspersed throughout), I've come to conclude something like the following:
Pepakura is a somewhat tedious, extraordinarily involved process that (typically) produces excellent end-products. The main difficulty lies in the manual labor on a small scale- cutting and gluing the small bits of cardstock.
Furthermore, the process of resin/bondo/fiberglassing the work pieces has the potential to ruin the pepped model if you goof and forget to seal it or work too quickly. It's also toxic material if you aren't equipped properly (as far as safety equipment is concerned).
On the other end of the spectrum, CNC-based production is significantly less manual labor (at first glance) and is fine if you've got access to the machinery and are skilled with separating the portions to be molded such that they are possible with CNC equipment.
A six-axis mill would be fantastic, but the price of a mill is only offset by other work you could do on it- the market for custom-machined parts is significantly larger than the market for precision-milled costume/prop gear.
Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot that bridges the labor/skill spectrum.
If something like this is doable, then pepakura reference materials combined with cheaply available foam pieces (like what's available here or from Harbor Freight, Walmart, or similar) would likely produce something workable.
The foam is pliable and easy to work with insofar as cutting the initial pieces is concerned- I'm worried primarily about the adhesive potential of glue and the like, and what might happen if too much stress is applied to the end-products. One newton in the wrong direction might result in a catastrophic failure.
To combat this, making the armor sturdier with something like spray-on truck bed liner seems plausible enough to me as a cost-effective solution.
The foam base would be ruggedly constructed, and all detail work would need to be done on the base (until the result is "satisfactory"). After initial construction, the spray-on liner would be used to coat the entire surface of the armor (inside and out), creating a reinforcing layer, sealing the foam, and providing a relatively resistant outer coating.
And that just about covers everything except the helmet. I'm thinking that something like the clay-sculpting followed by silicon mold-casting would probably work quite well, the end product being cast from ABS plastic or another, similar material.
As far as finish is concerned, I'm thinking that matte black with chromed accents and a reflective red visor would be (if non-canon) an effective end-result. I haven't seen many red visors, but I'm taking stylistic cues from Utupau Shadow Troopers, courtesy of the 501st.
From what I understand, integrating a small fan would help in preventing fogging and would also aid in keeping the helmet cool- so one such fan, wired to a nine-volt battery inside the helmet sounds reasonable enough.
If I'm feeling extra-smooth, Some red (or white) LEDs projecting across plexiglass strips would probably result in the desired effect.
Communication (and awareness) are both key in this build, so something like two embedded mikes on the outside of the helmet wired to speakers on the inside of the helmet would provide binaural hearing. Operate this in tandem with a DP/DT switch that enables a mic wired to cheek-based speakers and you've got full-blown two-way communication.
I will admit that such complexity is probably not the most rugged- but it's food for thought.
As for the red visor, I'm thinking that cutting two visors to shape (one for normal use and a spare in case of accident(s)) would yield the desired result. I haven't found a stock visor for sale that comes in the color I'd like, so I'm thinking that taking the visors to one of the many window-tinting facilities around the city and asking for an application of a reflective red film-tint would achieve the desired result.
Edit: More reading yields the possibility of vacuum-forming this sort of material...
As for what I'm building, I'm thinking something like this:
What do y'all think?
For what it's worth, I've never pepped or built anything on this scale, and this would be my first project of the sort. Please be gentle with the scathing criticism.
Pepakura is a somewhat tedious, extraordinarily involved process that (typically) produces excellent end-products. The main difficulty lies in the manual labor on a small scale- cutting and gluing the small bits of cardstock.
Furthermore, the process of resin/bondo/fiberglassing the work pieces has the potential to ruin the pepped model if you goof and forget to seal it or work too quickly. It's also toxic material if you aren't equipped properly (as far as safety equipment is concerned).
On the other end of the spectrum, CNC-based production is significantly less manual labor (at first glance) and is fine if you've got access to the machinery and are skilled with separating the portions to be molded such that they are possible with CNC equipment.
A six-axis mill would be fantastic, but the price of a mill is only offset by other work you could do on it- the market for custom-machined parts is significantly larger than the market for precision-milled costume/prop gear.
Somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot that bridges the labor/skill spectrum.
If something like this is doable, then pepakura reference materials combined with cheaply available foam pieces (like what's available here or from Harbor Freight, Walmart, or similar) would likely produce something workable.
The foam is pliable and easy to work with insofar as cutting the initial pieces is concerned- I'm worried primarily about the adhesive potential of glue and the like, and what might happen if too much stress is applied to the end-products. One newton in the wrong direction might result in a catastrophic failure.
To combat this, making the armor sturdier with something like spray-on truck bed liner seems plausible enough to me as a cost-effective solution.
The foam base would be ruggedly constructed, and all detail work would need to be done on the base (until the result is "satisfactory"). After initial construction, the spray-on liner would be used to coat the entire surface of the armor (inside and out), creating a reinforcing layer, sealing the foam, and providing a relatively resistant outer coating.
And that just about covers everything except the helmet. I'm thinking that something like the clay-sculpting followed by silicon mold-casting would probably work quite well, the end product being cast from ABS plastic or another, similar material.
As far as finish is concerned, I'm thinking that matte black with chromed accents and a reflective red visor would be (if non-canon) an effective end-result. I haven't seen many red visors, but I'm taking stylistic cues from Utupau Shadow Troopers, courtesy of the 501st.
From what I understand, integrating a small fan would help in preventing fogging and would also aid in keeping the helmet cool- so one such fan, wired to a nine-volt battery inside the helmet sounds reasonable enough.
If I'm feeling extra-smooth, Some red (or white) LEDs projecting across plexiglass strips would probably result in the desired effect.
Communication (and awareness) are both key in this build, so something like two embedded mikes on the outside of the helmet wired to speakers on the inside of the helmet would provide binaural hearing. Operate this in tandem with a DP/DT switch that enables a mic wired to cheek-based speakers and you've got full-blown two-way communication.
I will admit that such complexity is probably not the most rugged- but it's food for thought.
As for the red visor, I'm thinking that cutting two visors to shape (one for normal use and a spare in case of accident(s)) would yield the desired result. I haven't found a stock visor for sale that comes in the color I'd like, so I'm thinking that taking the visors to one of the many window-tinting facilities around the city and asking for an application of a reflective red film-tint would achieve the desired result.
Edit: More reading yields the possibility of vacuum-forming this sort of material...
As for what I'm building, I'm thinking something like this:
What do y'all think?
For what it's worth, I've never pepped or built anything on this scale, and this would be my first project of the sort. Please be gentle with the scathing criticism.
