The Aliens Legacy :: View topic - Q: "Where can I find Marine armor?"

Oh god, don't buy from Golden Armor. Here's a whole thread devoted to trying to salvage something from that hot mess:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11191&hilit=golden+armor

Chef's is the most accurate plastic armour for sale. I don't know how fast his turnaround time is and you would be paying for international shipping, but the quality is top notch.

I made my own plastic armour, and then my own aluminum armour (with a ton of help from Schotti). There are links in my signature below. Really fun and satisfying projects!

retrogarde wrote:

Any suggestions on where to go to get some basic steps on making my own plastic armor pieces? I could use the sealed foam that I am familiar with, but, with the resin coating the stuff gets flakey when flexed so I need some suggestions on a good plastic alternative. And recommendations on stores near Knoxville, TN to buy the required material.

Author:	SGT_Mills [ Thu Jun 22, 2017 10:56 am ]
Post subject:	Q: "Where can I find Marine armor?"
Ok, so I'm pretty new here but I've been reading through a bunch of posts and I haven't found a direct topic about this yet. If there is, please do forward me over to it! So, I'm in the process of assembling my uniform (which I'll probably post later on for comments and suggestions), but the issue I'm struggling with is that of armor. I've long been under the impression, perhaps due to good advertising or whatnot, that Spat pretty much has the market on USCM armor. I've not found anything else in nearly the same price range for what people say is the same quality. The problem is that his current armor build time is over a year from order placement to shipping. The other option I've seen people go with is scratch built armor, which seems like it would be much trickier but ultimately much more cost effective. Now I'm fairly handy around a workshop, but the idea of building the armor myself seems daunting (especially the helmet), and unless there are templates online that I'm unaware of the idea of the armor turning out symmetrical by my own design is laughable at best. So I pose the question: Is it better to cough up the $700 to Spat and wait my year? Is there another set available in the same ballpark that I'm unaware of? Should I brave the risks of assembling my own? Or does someone have a dinky old spare set of armor that's been sitting in an attic, waiting for a young, plucky youth to discover and have passed on to him by a grizzled yet tender hearted old Marine vet? I open the floor to suggestions.

Author:	Big Stew [ Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:21 am ]
Post subject:
Cheapest option would be pepakura files. The links are on the board some where. USA wise spat is the only maker. In the UK you have terry English the film armour (expect to pay upwards of£2500 for a full set.) there is also chef. Who makes a vac formed set. In German there is schotti who makes a full aluminium set of armour. Terry English is the ultimate obviously but expensive. Chefs armour is more accurate and more modable if you are big than spats but spats is tougher. Both spat and chef make most of the stuff you need to complete a full costume

Author:	punkmarine [ Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:22 am ]
Post subject:
Chef here in the UK - http://www.chefscreations.co.uk/

Author:	knoxvilles_joker [ Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:27 am ]
Post subject:	Re: The question of armor
I got my pieces from guldenarmor.com. I had to cut out sand and paint, but I think what I got turned out ok. I had a fun learning curve figuring out where to cut the slits for the buckle loops but thats it.

Author:	retrogarde [ Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:21 pm ]
Post subject:
Oh god, don't buy from Golden Armor. Here's a whole thread devoted to trying to salvage something from that hot mess: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11191&hilit=golden+armor Chef's is the most accurate plastic armour for sale. I don't know how fast his turnaround time is and you would be paying for international shipping, but the quality is top notch. I made my own plastic armour, and then my own aluminum armour (with a ton of help from Schotti). There are links in my signature below. Really fun and satisfying projects!

The Aliens Legacy http://forum.alienslegacy.com/

Q: "Where can I find Marine armor?" http://forum.alienslegacy.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=16932	Page 1 of 1

Author:	schotti [ Thu Jun 22, 2017 6:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: The question of armor
Glad I could help mate. By the way your small package should be by you soon it's left the sorting station and is in route to you:)

Author:	retrogarde [ Thu Jun 22, 2017 11:45 pm ]
Post subject:
Sweet! Thanks Schotti!

Author:	knoxvilles_joker [ Fri Jun 23, 2017 1:58 am ]
Post subject:	Re:
retrogarde wrote: Oh god, don't buy from Golden Armor. Here's a whole thread devoted to trying to salvage something from that hot mess: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11191&hilit=golden+armor Chef's is the most accurate plastic armour for sale. I don't know how fast his turnaround time is and you would be paying for international shipping, but the quality is top notch. I made my own plastic armour, and then my own aluminum armour (with a ton of help from Schotti). There are links in my signature below. Really fun and satisfying projects! ah, explains why I am missing one of the helmet lobster armor pieces... The pieces are vacuum formed ABS plastic. It is a different process to make and form. Unfortunately they went the easy way with forming the pieces by grouping multiples together (making it a pain to trim out some pieces.) As that process is radically different from things you could do yourself the learning curve is too great on a DIY setup to allow for any screw ups. I think the quality issues are due to bad forms. The thing with art is you get it close to what you want and incorporate the screw ups in to the final piece to make a more convincing piece. So you got low quality, with some tweaks you can make it high quality with battle damage, or field repairs from battle damage. To a true artist quality is never a problem and every mistake is an opportunity... That said I will not dispute you claims as with the facts presented they do still stand as valid.

Author:	SGT_Mills [ Fri Jun 23, 2017 6:15 pm ]
Post subject:
Oh wow! That's an incredible piece of kit! I am thoroughly impressed.

Author:	Russ Krook III [ Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:14 pm ]
Post subject:
Yeah, that's some fine work there!

Author:	retrogarde [ Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:31 pm ]
Post subject:
Yeah, Schotti is bringing his "A Game" for sure!

Author:	knoxvilles_joker [ Thu Jul 06, 2017 11:56 am ]
Post subject:	Re:
retrogarde wrote: Oh god, don't buy from Golden Armor. Here's a whole thread devoted to trying to salvage something from that hot mess: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11191&hilit=golden+armor Chef's is the most accurate plastic armour for sale. I don't know how fast his turnaround time is and you would be paying for international shipping, but the quality is top notch. I made my own plastic armour, and then my own aluminum armour (with a ton of help from Schotti). There are links in my signature below. Really fun and satisfying projects! Any suggestions on where to go to get some basic steps on making my own plastic armor pieces? I could use the sealed foam that I am familiar with, but, with the resin coating the stuff gets flakey when flexed so I need some suggestions on a good plastic alternative. And recommendations on stores near Knoxville, TN to buy the required material.

Author:	bigbisont [ Thu Jul 06, 2017 1:14 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Re:
knoxvilles_joker wrote: retrogarde wrote: Oh god, don't buy from Golden Armor. Here's a whole thread devoted to trying to salvage something from that hot mess: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11191&hilit=golden+armor Chef's is the most accurate plastic armour for sale. I don't know how fast his turnaround time is and you would be paying for international shipping, but the quality is top notch. I made my own plastic armour, and then my own aluminum armour (with a ton of help from Schotti). There are links in my signature below. Really fun and satisfying projects! Any suggestions on where to go to get some basic steps on making my own plastic armor pieces? I could use the sealed foam that I am familiar with, but, with the resin coating the stuff gets flakey when flexed so I need some suggestions on a good plastic alternative. And recommendations on stores near Knoxville, TN to buy the required material. Lowes, Homedepot, family dollar/dollar general etc. I also made my own plastic armor. I used mostly flower pots, garbage cans, and pvc pipe. As far as tools go, you will need a cheap heat gun, some tin snips, some cheap clamps, and a drill. Basic stuff like construction adhesive pop rivets and bondo go a long way in finishing looks. I did "pepekura" the main breastplate, but I don't think that is truly required. I found a flower pot with a decent shape to it later that I used on my son's armor. See below viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11787&hilit=flower+pot+pep+armor I then built another set of plastic "flower pot" armor for my son using refined techniques I learned from my own adventure. I was actually so pleased with the flower pot I found to use in the body that I bought a couple sizes for use as he grows. I got an 'adult' sized one just in case I need to slap something together in a pinch. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14864&hilit=son%27s+armor I also then made my own metal armor. Various hammers and an anvil are all I added to the tool repertoire there. Not fast and not easy, but can be done. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15636&hilit=big+one+metal+armor

Author:	grayanderson [ Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:53 am ]
Post subject:
So, Schotti...dare I ask what your price range is? Or would we be talking about the mortgaging of one's first born?;-)

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Author:	retrogarde [ Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:01 am ]
Post subject:
Hey Grayanderson, If you don't have PX access yet then send Schotti a PM for his price list. We can't discuss sales stuff on the main page of the forum. Schotti's rates are really reasonable though. I am a very happy customer of his!