Alright. How are you guys? Im using that *cough* satanic beast of a program *cough* pepakura, and im sure these questions have been done before, and if i didnt end up seeing them, i am sorry, im doing 2 sets of armor plus reading about it here.
Question 1: So, we all know that scaling is a big thing with printing off the "net" shapes of say, the helmet. We are supposed to change around the printing settings, but here is my question. At the beginning of this tut, there is a list of the pieces, in the pepakura extention, that basically takes parts of the armor, and breaks em down for us to use. I love it. Its amazing. I started, early in the day, with the help of my girlfriend, to make a tape/plastic wrap mould of my hand, forearm, and shoulder. i didnt do the elbow. Parts of the body that bend arent covered by armor anyways. I made the mould of my right arm, so i found it fitting to print off the right bracer/right hand glove, on regular printer paper *wanted to test the scale* and to my delight, it fits perfectly, im telling you, i would love to find pants that fit as snug as that, which means, its a definate hurrah.
so i figured, next, to test the accuracy of the scaling, i printed off the backpack. needless to day, 3 hours of cutting, folding, and glue sticking it mostly together in 2 parts, it doesnt look to scale. Im about 5'11", 6 feet tall ish, and am slightly larger in the middle, im 235 lbs. Im a bigger fellow, but, the backpack and chestplate will literally fit my kids that i babysit for, *we tried it earlier when i got paid*, so my question is, is there any way to know if it will be to scale before i print the pieces off? or, are they already and im an idiot and cant follow instructions?
Question 2: Cardboard Armor
Ok, now, the idea of cardboard armor seems somewhat... , and i mean no offence, but almost cheesy. I see some of these photo's on the net, and yes, while i know that they are proffesionals, or at least seasoned at the crafting of thier armor, but, everytime i picture my armor in my mind, i keep thinking of a really square, rigid, almost bleh. I mean, its cardboard. Its cheap, easy to come by, and usually free if you know where to look, but, it doesnt hold colors well, if you crease the wrong section, it will always bend there for the rest of time, and the only true way to color cardboard is to get, as i have seen people being truely inventive and used masking tape, and colored it that way, or, use a light grey primer first, then use the color you want, lightly, and finish with a coat of sealant (im sure there is another word, im still tired as i write this).
Im somewhat poor, i have access to a credit card, but it would take awhile to pay it off, and, in the city that i live in, Mat Board isnt readily available. I found some light, rigid board at staples, but, for a sheet of white: 3' by 4' is close on 5 dollars, im not sure if that is cheap, or somewhat pricey. Also, all my friends look at me like ive lost my mind, when i say that i want to use fiberglass cloth on it. some say that, if its wet, it will make the cardboard soggy, and it will look like crap. The rest say im insane for wanting to go near fiberglass. I dont know why. Any suggestions on something else?
Question 3: My Mask
Ok, this being one of the key defining characteristics of the armor, the mask allows for attitude, as well as helps show how hard people worked on thier armor. So, instead of using just matboard, i have paintball mask,
that i have in my possession. I was thinking, that, it has ventalation sections, but doesnt have much room for fans, or air flow, especially if i cover it up with sections of helmet plating. Any suggestions? Should i even use this mask? Myself, it looks similar in most respects, i know it fits me like a glove, the visor comes off, as does that small grey square on the front near the mouth portion. It also has a chin strap, and a support brace for the back of your head so it doesnt bounce around as much as others. Its a foggless mask, which means it doesnt get foggy from your breathing. And, if i really. really wanted to, i can remove the googles to add my own visor.
any suggestions?
