DIY Plates?

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AshOnSnow

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I want some heavy plates to put in a vest, but I’m just going round in circles racking my brain on how to make them? All the existing plates for airsoft are light foam material. I thought about air drying clay but I think they run the risk of cracking easily. I thought about perhaps thick MDF cut to shape then sanded down for the curve, but I think it would be too lightweight for the volume of the final plates, which will be around 1500cm3 - roughly 1kg for MDF. I thought about making a mould off timber then trying cement, which would push it up to 2.3kg which is closer to target, then wrapping in cloth tape thickly to prevent chips and scuffs?

Commercially available training plates cost anything around £180, ouch!

 
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Mold them in lead (or more accurately white metal) that is used for war games figures.

 
I think there used to be some hollow plastic plates available to fill the space in plate carriers.  It you got a set of these and filled them with sand or similar they might achieve what you are looking for as they are already shaped, and the sand would add weight and a little more rigidity.  If I find where I saw them I will pass on a link.

Additional info

After a quick look back at things I think the plate I was thinking of are the Element Dummy SAPI plates.

Hope this helps.

 
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rocketdogbert said:
Mold them in lead (or more accurately white metal) that is used for war games figures.
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Would think this would be incredibly expensive to do .

what you could do is get hold of a couple of pieces of thin flat plastic ( get something like a cheap storage box to cut up) then cut too shape work out the width you want , use a good few layers of duct tape around the edge , then fill the void with sand and then seal shut with some more duct tape .

 
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Concrete or slate roof tiles, in a hessian bag, etc, if you want to add weight.

Having worn the ceramic plates for real I like not having the actual weight to carry.

 
rocketdogbert said:
Yup, but it would be nice and heavy lol
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I looked at things like layered lead flashing, but the issue with lead is it’s so soft and wouldn’t hold its shape long - it would easily start bending at the sides.

Jedi_Master said:
Concrete or slate roof tiles, in a hessian bag, etc, if you want to add weight.

Having worn the ceramic plates for real I like not having the actual weight to carry.
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Yeah nobody chooses to wear them if they don’t have to, but I want to incorporate these into my fitness workouts. I tried loose lead weights in mag pouches but the weight was too far away from my body and was pulling on the molle webbing too much.

never thought about roof tiles, I wouldn’t want to use slate though, lest I fall over, break off a fragment and impale myself lol

 
Druid799 said:
Would think this would be incredibly expensive to do .

what you could do is get hold of a couple of pieces of thin flat plastic ( get something like a cheap storage box to cut up) then cut too shape work out the width you want , use a good few layers of duct tape around the edge , then fill the void with sand and then seal shut with some more duct tape .
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Tried this, the plastic wouldn’t curve properly and cracked after a few minutes.

 
scalawag said:
I think there used to be some hollow plastic plates available to fill the space in plate carriers.  It you got a set of these and filled them with sand or similar they might achieve what you are looking for as they are already shaped, and the sand would add weight and a little more rigidity.  If I find where I saw them I will pass on a link.

Additional info

After a quick look back at things I think the plate I was thinking of are the Element Dummy SAPI plates.

Hope this helps.
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These look promising, may be able to use a mix of sand and metal powder to achieve the right weight. Out of stock everywhere though, maybe discontinued?

 
How about giving fibreglass a go ?

use kip matt cut to size and shape , then cover the matt in cling film . 

Cover in fibreglass (can get it dirt cheap on fleabay) but leave the bottom edge in covered and while it’s still wet mould to shape . Once dry just pull out the kip matt (cling film stops it sticking to the fibreglass) . Again fill with the sand . And seal with duct tape . 

OR another method you could try is using ready mix cement .

get the cement and make a cardboard shaping form to hold it while it sets .

Line the form with cling film (stop the cardboard getting soggy) once mixed fill the mould .

when set again I’d suggest a few layers of duct tape just hold the shape if it cracks.

Edit , just remembered these ;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/TMC-Plate-Carrier-Water-Storage-Unit-Hydration-Liquid-1-5l-Airsoft-Paintball/2172148945

 
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Druid799 said:
How about giving fibreglass a go ?

use kip matt cut to size and shape , then cover the matt in cling film . 

Cover in fibreglass (can get it dirt cheap on fleabay) but leave the bottom edge in covered and while it’s still wet mould to shape . Once dry just pull out the kip matt (cling film stops it sticking to the fibreglass) . Again fill with the sand . And seal with duct tape . 

OR another method you could try is using ready mix cement .

get the cement and make a cardboard shaping form to hold it while it sets .

Line the form with cling film (stop the cardboard getting soggy) once mixed fill the mould .

when set again I’d suggest a few layers of duct tape just hold the shape if it cracks.
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or could you use some chicken wire in the cement to add strength, a bit like rebar in concrete.

 
scalawag said:
or could you use some chicken wire in the cement to add strength, a bit like rebar in concrete.
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Good idea! I’ve not much experience with cement, have been on the phone to my dad learning about ballast and aggregate - he’s from the North, so he knows about that kind of stuff. 

 
What dads are for ! 

All you'd need do is pick up a bag of ready mix from B&Q and your sorted ! 

 
AshOnSnow said:
I want some heavy plates to put in a vest, but I’m just going round in circles racking my brain on how to make them? All the existing plates for airsoft are light foam material. I thought about air drying clay but I think they run the risk of cracking easily. I thought about perhaps thick MDF cut to shape then sanded down for the curve, but I think it would be too lightweight for the volume of the final plates, which will be around 1500cm3 - roughly 1kg for MDF. I thought about making a mould off timber then trying cement, which would push it up to 2.3kg which is closer to target, then wrapping in cloth tape thickly to prevent chips and scuffs?

Commercially available training plates cost anything around £180, ouch!
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Having worn the real thing for around 8hrs a day over a 6month period, I would say just use plastic to fill the chest and back plates, it's heavy, and no fun to run in! unless you're uber fit.... And I am, and even I struggled in the real sh*t. Seriously! Don't bother, you're not going to lose kudos for not wearing white meta/Lead. 

You will probably ditch it by day 1 of gaming.

 
Try heavy duty rubber matting about 1cm thick, use it in my ciras  vest and works a treat, it's heavy, but when ya get hit it's audible as well. 

 
Ex-Rnuw said:
Having worn the real thing for around 8hrs a day over a 6month period, I would say just use plastic to fill the chest and back plates, it's heavy, and no fun to run in! unless you're uber fit.... And I am, and even I struggled in the real sh*t. Seriously! Don't bother, you're not going to lose kudos for not wearing white meta/Lead. 

You will probably ditch it by day 1 of gaming.
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Actually that’s kind of the point, not so much of an Airsoft realism thing, but a fitness thing - I’m really focusing on my fitness this year and want to incorporate heavy plates for some hard cardio workouts :)

I might take it on a skirmish a couple of games depending on my mood, but it’s not really so much of an Airsoft project as it is a workouts project, hence the extra weight.

 
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AshOnSnow said:
Actually that’s kind of the point, not so much of an Airsoft realism thing, but a fitness thing - I’m really focusing on my fitness this year and want to incorporate heavy plates for some hard cardio workouts :)

I might take it on a skirmish a couple of games depending on my mood, but it’s not really so much of an Airsoft project as it is a workouts project, hence the extra weight.
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Argh. Well if your load carrying at a fitness level then good effort. Remember one thing though, if that's the route you are taking drink lots of fluids. ;)

 
Ex-Rnuw said:
Having worn the real thing for around 8hrs a day over a 6month period, I would say just use plastic to fill the chest and back plates, it's heavy, and no fun to run in! unless you're uber fit.... And I am, and even I struggled in the real sh*t. Seriously! Don't bother, you're not going to lose kudos for not wearing white meta/Lead. 

You will probably ditch it by day 1 of gaming.
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With you all the way matey , after also having to work with this crap on I’m more than happy to wear a carrier with bog all in it these days ! 

 
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