Inexpensive armor?

Question

I'm looking for a website that sells inexpensive armor for costumes, LARP, etc. (but something that looks real, not plastic).

Answer 1

Well, there's a few ways to go about armor. If you're only using it for looks, not for actual protection, it's alot easier and cheaper to make. Stormtrooper armor is usually made with fiberglass or vacu-forming, which is tough to get right. There's a useful tutorial using foam and sheets of plastic to make metal-looking armor here: http://amethyst-angel.com/armormaking.html If you use her method, remember to completely cover the foam with something before spray painting it. Spray paint (as well as anything that comes from a spray can) melts foam and releases toxic fumes.

Another method would be to find some paper tape (the kind used to seal boxes) at a place like Office Depot. To make a breastplate, you put on a T-shirt that you don't mind cutting up, then get a friend to wet the tape and start wrapping it around you, making a breast-back plate shape (you can cut it out a bit later). After you get a good, hard shell, get your friend to cut the shirt off of you, either by going up the back, or by cutting the sides and the top. You can sand paper tape so it's smooth and will take metallic paint well and look like metal. You can also put a material called Bondo over it, to make it ultra metal smooth. You can find Bondo at a hardware store like Lowe's, so ask one of the people there. There's instructions on how to mix Bondo here: http://teamexcessboost.tripod.com/id75.htm You'll need alot of Bondo to cover armor pieces. Remember to cover the entire thing in Bondo, not just the outside, and Bondo it before you put any decorations or straps on it. Also, do this outside because Bondo smells bad and is toxic.

Bondo dries hard and then has to be wet-sanded to smoothness. Wet sanding isn't as hard as it seems, it requires a vessel large enough to dip the plates in, and wet-sanding sandpaper. You can find this at Wal-Mart or Lowe's. It will say it's for wet sanding on the package. You dip the plate in, and then sand it with the paper, dipping it in water when it becomes difficult to sand. After it's sanded so it feels like plastic, you can paint it with metallic paint.

If this is all too much, you can try looking on E-bay under "cosplay", and you can usually find people who are willing to commission you some armor. It'll be cheaper than buying metal, but more expensive than making it yourself. You're playing for materials and work hours when you commission something.

Answer 2

They only way to get cheap metalwork, is to do it yourself. That stuff is time consuming like nobody's business so people want to be compensated for that.

For instance, that chain shirt you see at any Ren Fair that sells for about $1k? Yeah, it has about $100-150 worth of metal. Assuming it's stainless.

To learn:
www.mailleartisans.org
To order supplies:
www.theringlord.com

Actually, the Ring Lord has completed maille clothing too. Pretty cheap. $250-300 plus shipping.

Answer 3

What about checking into costume rental places near you. The one near me rents and sells costumes.

Answer 4

Hahaha... nerd.