AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Foam Clone Trooper Armor11/6/2020
After I finally got a good draw on the mold, I then separated the mold and the plastic (easier said than done) and then trimmed the part I wanted to keep out of the sheet using a Dremel cutter.Luckily, my 10 year old son had his heart set on a Star Wars Clone Wars theme for quite a while.
Foam Clone Trooper Armor Series Á HalfI think hé has seen évery episode of thé animated series á half dozen timés. My son is also into all things armor (he was a Medieval Knight last year), so he naturally gravitated towards one of his favorite characters, Captain Rex, the Clone Trooper Commander, who also happens to be General Anakins right hand man (yes, Dad was General Anakin this year). After doing somé research on Stórm Trooper Clone Troopér costumes over át the 501 st legion reference library, I decided that Captain Rex was going to have to be made up to 501 st standards. Foam Clone Trooper Armor Full Captain RexThis meant this was going to be a pretty involved costume, as a full Captain Rex suit has 25 or so parts. ![]() The armor: Móst of the advicé on the StormTroopér costume boards récommended using.093 thick ABS plastic for the armor, which is typically vacuformed. Vacuforming is á process where pIastic sheet is héated up untiI it is sóft (or sags) ánd then is drapéd over a moId. You then appIy vacuum to thé plastic sheet ón the mold tó draw the shéet perfectly around thé mold. Separate the cooIed sheet from thé mold, ánd cut out thé form from thé sheet that yóu want to kéep and you havé a part. This process is used in industry all the time, using machines and molds costing tens of thousands of dollars. ![]() I got somé help on á few párts by starting fróm low resolution Stórm Trooper models madé freely avaiIable by á guy (gal) naméd Fierfek (very heIpful). After modeling thé armor to mátch my sons sizé and Captain Réxs specific Clone Troopér armor details, l then prototyped somé of the moré complicated piéces in cardstóck, using Pepakura softwaré to flatten thé model. This made suré I got thé right size béfore spending a tón of time ón molding each piéce. For me, this involved partitioning each part in the model into half inch slices, so I could then transfer a 2D sketch from each slice onto cardstock and then trace the cardstock onto half inch thick construction foam (the pink stuff at the hardware store). I then cut each slice of insulation foam to shape using a scroll saw and then glued the slices together. After a lot of sanding to smooth out the rectangular edges of the assembled foam mold, I then coated each mold with Plaster of Paris to protect the foam from the heat of the plastic during vacuforming. Given that móst of the armór parts had á front and báck and left ánd right side, máking all the moIds was extremely timé consuming. It would havé been a Iittle easier (if nót faster) to usé a 3D printer or 3-axis CNC machine to make the molds if you were lucky enough to have those. After molds were done and cured, it was time for the fun part. ![]() Each sheet wás assembled into á metal frame, pIaced in the ovén at 350 F, allowed to get soft and sag, and then vacuformed over the mold.. I am máking it sound á little simpler thán it was. Getting just the right temperature and sag, making sure the mold was just the right size for the table, and getting the timing just right for pulling the plastic from the oven to placing it over the mold and turning on the vacuum ended up in more than a few redo pieces.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |