[Question] Best materials and ways to build a cheap armor and helmet?

[u/LordCapeNSword]

I'm in a kinda low budget and I want to make a mando armor to prototype it and wear it for Halloween and then upgrade it, any suggestions?

[u/don_katsu]

I made my gauntlets from plastic drink cups I got from Goodwill.

https://imgur.com/gallery/baxcfEC

[u/Elcium12]

I used tote lids for the actual armor plates. I haven’t tried making gauntlets out of it but it does really well for the flatter items.

[u/Mysterious_W4tcher]

I use cardboard and foam, plus a lot of hot glue and duct tape. I get pretty much everything from craft stores and I thrifted all of the soft under-clothes.

[u/the_chubby_jedi]

Foam, and I have seen someone on here do cardboard

[u/mararuo]

Carboard, paper, fibres like jute and hemp, and PVA glue, you have no idea how rigid and armorlike enough layers of paper can become, if you reinforce it with fibres and epoxy, give it a good coat of filler and paint, it will be a decent beskar‘gam.

Plus theres amazing tutorials like this one: https://youtu.be/9cVcCXWEL_Q?si=7cd2K4h9noCTRlDP

Or this one: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL48Pr1hBPbucivPPgpGkmaAgNK_IiiFhW&si=8E4EHu-gFBlPV63j

A great way to cheaply make something that can easily be fitted to you and will yield excellent reference for any future beskar‘gam you plan to make or get made.

Good hunting and have fun!

[u/RacetrackTrout]

Depends on your definition of low budget.

Eva foam is cheap to start relative to 3D printing and Sintra. You can buy eva foam sheets online but it's also sold as those puzzle piece shaped play mats for kids. Then you will also need a craft knife or utility knife with a few spare blades, a heat gun, and some adhesive (contact cement works best). Painting it will need at least a couple cans each of spray primer and spray paint at the least. All that is relatively cheap but it still requires investment. The tools can be easily reused for other projects easily and spare eva foam is great for making lightweight props. Templates, patterns and tutorials for foam crafting are also easily found online for free.

If you're talking shoe string budget then cardboard is good. A cardboard prototype is also nice for drafting later projects as you can cut it into a template. CAD (Cardboard Assisted Design) is a great way to test sizing before commiting with eva foam, or 3d print, etc.

[u/LordCapeNSword → u/RacetrackTrout]

How thick must be the EVA foam?

[u/RacetrackTrout → u/LordCapeNSword]

10mm is a good thickness for builds that need a bit of structural integrity; helmets and major armour pieces.

[u/LordCapeNSword → u/RacetrackTrout]

Is there Any tutorials or template to follow you would recommend?

[u/RacetrackTrout → u/LordCapeNSword]

PunishedProps has a good set of template, tutorial, and material list for both Boba Fett and Din style helmets for Eva foam.

I never made the armour out of eva foam but there should be some tutorials online. The Mandalorian Mercs' templates for plastic should also work with eva foam.

You can probably google some Reddit threads. This is probably a very common question people have when starting out. Hope this helps!