stormtrooper & paintball

am frequent paintballer who enjoys sw. in attempt to combine the two asking to find out what kind of plastic i could use to make trooper armour that could withstand paintball round. ABS is most likely out.

 

Interesting idea, but you'd have to convince field owners (assuming you play on a commercial field) that your costume armor would be safe, particularly the helmet area covering the face.
I played many years ago.

I think you should find out what JT USA uses to make their motocross and/or paintball chest armor and helmets.
It's probably polyethylene, polypropylene, meaning vinly, nylon, polyester or even pvc. There are many types of plastic and you can have two items made of PVC, but they will feel very different.

Sorry, I don't have any information for you.
I do know none of it is made of fiberglass.

 

Use sintra. It's also really easy to form. It just needs heat. Sintra is basically ABS in sheets. I know you said ABS is out, but actually it's in, since it is very durable.

 

[image=http://www.dmzpaintball.8m.com/images/~ce65.jpg]

One of the local paintball fields here makes his own for game use.

No its not even remotely accurate but its 90% there, and its obvious what its supposed to be. Jerry the owner has been kind enough to loan out the costumes for our charity events on several locations.

 

^ Cool!

 

As a hardcore tournament paintball player, I would say it would be very tough to get a smart paintball field to let you wear a stormie helmet on the course. You'll most likely have to test it and show them that it will work. I would say to fit the inside of the mask with the primary safety parts i.e. ear/temple peices, and having a full lense on the inside.

As for lenses, I'll agree with one of the above statements: go with JT. Their products are superior. I personally have a Flex 7 IZE.

Remember!: Just like in regular gear mantenence, always replace a lense at least each year, and/or if your lense gets hit at point blank.

Good luck!

-saber holder

 

Well, I've heard enough Halloween horror stories about people hitting or grabbing Stormtrooper "armor" and having it broken to figure that ABS wouldn't work for armor that would take some abuse.

Your vision would also be severely limited by the helmet. You would have almost no peripheral vision at all.

Stormtrooper armor also makes it near impossible to sit down, bend down, kneel, or walk up stairs. You would be limited to standing without making some major mods to the armor.

You would also be bright white and would be a favorite target of other paint ballers.

Bear in mind that your average armor kit is $600, and that's for unassembled armor. Most of my Trooper friends here in Nashville have been around $1000 into their suits.

It's a great idea, but it's kind of impractical. If you spent all that time, money, and effort making your own armor you probably won't want to risk damaging it or destroying it in a paintball game, especially since it would severely restrict your vision and movement.

Like an earlier poster mentioned, Scout Trooper armor would probably be better for this sort of thing.

 

.093 guage ABS formed on a professional level machine that does not stretch the plastic thin in areas can withstand a good bit of abuse from a paintmarkers 290FPS round. Airsoft Rifles shooting at 400FPS has been know to go through .093 guage ABS though. Those hard little BB's are viscious.

I've been playing Paintball since the late 80's with a variety of vacuumformed armor: styrene, sintra and ABS. ABS is by far the better plastic to use. It flexes alot more than Sintra or Styrene. Kydex would probably be the ultimate choice, but cost keeps the average fan from building that kind of armor.

Toren is right about the Scout Costume being the better choice for maneuverability. All that cloth helps you movee around easier. FYI - I custom fit a pair of JT goggles into a DP scout helmet about 2 years ago and that covered the eye protection issues.

Snowtrooper is next in line for comfort factor, and the Rebel Endor Commando is by far the best Star Wars costume for paintballing.

-sc

 

thanks for the suggestions

 

how about making a trooper look-a-like suit with white leather patches or soemthing?instead of the hard plastic take a black paintball suit and have white leahter patches sewn on in the shapes of the trooper armor.it wont be accurate but hey ,its paintball.then perhaps getting a trooper helmet and doing some work on it to make paintball lenses go into it.make them removeable so you can replace them as needed.could be fun,but toren is right ,every other dude is gonna be gunnin' for ya!

 

I would think Fett armor would be a pretty god choice for paintballing. It's flexible, enough cloth to allow you to move. It's got the green and grey colors to help you blend in a little better. The T visor gives you decent visibility.

 

who would want to wreck their fett armor tho?

 

I sure as hell wouldn't!

 

oh I'm not saying I would wear my Fett armor to play...at least not until I upgrade to better parts at some point!

Doug