Saber Forum

Greetings everyone!

Well, as you know I've been looking at armour pieces a bit of late, though not with the idea of integrating them into my "Arkanus" costume necessarily, and I came across the following;

(http://shop.1stmx.co.uk/ekmps/shops/andyhutch/images/fox-titan-sport-adult-sleeveless-pressure-body-suit-motocross-armour-10812-p.jpg)

I have already sourced arm and leg pieces and wondered what you thought of this for body armour.

I am looking more "Old Republic" Sith Assassin/Ninja type look.

Oh, and if you're wondering, here's the aforementioned arm and leg pieces, hopefully winging their way to me soon!

(http://images.esellerpro.com/2375/I/147/29/quadelbow_zps02f1c852.jpg) (http://images.esellerpro.com/2375/I/147/29/quadknee_zpsc8c54302.jpg)

These look fine. I'd look for some way to cover up or remove any logos and identifying brand icons though, for the sake of costuming reasons.

Yes, that is going to be a monumental pain in the butt, though I shall have to try at least.

I would suggest, since they appear to be imprinted or part of the mold for the molded pieces, filling them in with something like an epoxy mixture, painting over the armor (after you've sanded, primed, etc), and then sealing it with a clear coat.

Yeah, much as I am loathe to try something like that, cos' I know how crap my DIY skills are, there doesn't seem to be much other of a way.

It's actually really easy to do, and practice makes perfect!

-First, use an epoxy mixture to fill in the imprints left by the brand's logo.

-Then, after that sets and dries (give it about 24hrs or so), use a "finer" grained sandpaper and lightly sand the surface of the areas you want painted.
-MAKE SURE TO SEAL OFF THE AREAS YOU DON'T WANT PAINTED! Use painters tape or something!
-In this case, you'll be sanding the plastic armor parts. Remember...lightly sand it! You don't want to destroy the surface, just give it enough texture so the primer can grab hold of it.


-After you've sanded, pick out a primer from a good paint brand. I don't know the recommended brands for Europe, but I'm sure you can find a few. Primers are usually grey or white, but you can use black sometimes. Either way, give the areas you want to paint a couple of coats of primer, letting each layer dry before you apply a new one. I usually give a good three to five layers of primer when I paint. This helps the paint stick to the surface as well. After you've primed the piece, you can sand again, but do so VERY LIGHTLY (Though you might not need to do this, it does help sometimes).

-After you've primed what you want painted, it's time to paint! Pick out a color, any color! You can do different effects by layering paint differently, so I'd suggest maybe doing some online research and you might find something you like (such as some metallic looking armor or something). Either way, however you want your armor to look, you can figure that out. If you're going for a simple color (Black, silver, etc) you can do that as well. It's up to you from this point on. Do the same thing this time around that you did with the primer. A few good layers of paint, letting each one dry after the other. Make sure to take your time, so that your layers aren't all clumpy and the paint layers smoothly.

-After your paint layers have dried and set completely (you can usually primer and paint in the same day, because it should dry quickly depending on the climate and humidity. I forgot to mention, make sure to try to do this in a fairly dry, safe environment with good ventilation. If you can't access a place like this, the outside world is also a good place to start. Make sure to have a tarp and stuff ready for a workspace, and keep your goods sheltered from any inclement weather! ALSO, MAKE SURE TO WEAR A MASK IF YOU NEED TO, OR USE THE PROPER GEAR TO KEEP NOXIOUS FUMES AWAY.),you can apply a clear coat. Again, I don't know what brands they would suggest over in your region, but a clear coat will protect and seal the paint onto the armor for a fairly long amount of time (perfect for costuming and long-time use, years if you treat it well). Apply your clear coat just like you would with paint, layering it gently and smoothly and letting it set/dry with every layer.


-After your clear coat has dried completely, voila! One set of armor!


And just for reference:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Trash-to-Treasure-using-spraypaint-to-refinish-cu/step5/HOW-TO-PROPERLY-APPLY-SPRAYPAINT/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/Trash-to-Treasure-using-spraypaint-to-refinish-cu/step5/HOW-TO-PROPERLY-APPLY-SPRAYPAINT/)

http://www.krylon.com/how-to/safety/spray-painting-best-practices/ (http://www.krylon.com/how-to/safety/spray-painting-best-practices/)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH2B2DNJB74#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH2B2DNJB74#ws)

Looks good!!  This is more or less what I'm planning for my Sith, though I'm using a full upper body armor instead of the 3 separate pieces.  And as has been said, the tough part is covering up or getting rid of the logos. 

Fortunately none "visible" on the body armour, so just need to see how bad the arm and leg armour is with them, and see what can be done.

I just gave you an option on how to do it. XD

True.  Also, depending on what the logo is, you might be able to just modify it a little bit.  For example, if it's a wolf's head, maybe just change it a little instead of removing it. 

Arkanus, can you link the site you're going to buy these from? I'm making some armor from aluminum sheets but I'm also kind of bad at DIY. It's a bit ugly for now. These armor pieces would be good alternatives since I can paint.

The arm and leg pieces are on Ebay. Do a search for "quadrant armour" and you really can't go wrong. BTW, I use the UK version of the site, so you may get even more results in the states!

The other one can be found here; http://shop.1stmx.co.uk/fox-titan-sport-adult-sleeveless-pressure-body-suit-motocross-armour-10812-p.asp?gclid=CM3vxsHW37sCFejpwgodjm0AgA (http://shop.1stmx.co.uk/fox-titan-sport-adult-sleeveless-pressure-body-suit-motocross-armour-10812-p.asp?gclid=CM3vxsHW37sCFejpwgodjm0AgA)

That armour is awesome. Great idea to incorporate into costume

I like the look of this... I will be using it as a mounting base for my costume this year.

(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i260/brutus666/front.jpg)
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i260/brutus666/back.jpg)

Only around $80... not a bad price for a good mounting platform.

http://www.evike.com/products/37709/ (http://www.evike.com/products/37709/)

I'm looking at a full-body version similar to this one. (http://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/thor-impact-rig-armored-shirt)  Probably not that exact one, but something very similar.  Just need to find gloves to match.

(http://images3.revzilla.com/product_images/0026/9983/Impact_Rig_SE_Black_zoom.jpg)

You could also try thermo plastics Like kydex or worbla.

I've looked into those pretty heavily.  If you're willing to do the work, they're good options.  Especially Kydex.   Only reason I'm not going to use it is because it wouldn't be up to snuff for sparring gear unless I spent enough money to make it the same price as just buying gear. 

This is excellent. It has a kind of mando look.