[Ben Bouchard]

Just to give myself something new and interesting to work on, I've decided to to have some fun and try making myself a modular stab/cut/impact resistant articulated cuirass. As an initial version I'll be making the plates out of fiberglass, though if it turns out well I might try laminated kevlar down the road. An outer covering will be made out of two kinds of SuperFabric--one designed for lamination that will go over the plates to provide greater wear/abrasion resistance, and another with extra-high cut/slash/puncture resistance to go in between the plates. I did up a cardboard mockup and I have full range of motion while maintaining excellent coverage.

Comments or suggestions welcome. This is a light-hearted project in good fun, but I'd like it to be as effective as possible.

A head-on shot. The lip on the lower plate is a stop-rib to prevent points from sliding upward towards the face.

Showing articulation when rotating the body:

[Paul Hansen]

Looks like an interesting project. I have been thinking about the advantages of modern materials for use in armour lately. Although for swords modern materials still lose to "plain old" carbon steel, I think that modern composites would work really well for a modern version of medieval armour.

Will you laminate around a core? Or just layers of fibreglass?

Do you feel fibreglass is strong enough? What kind of resin do you use? What kind of fibre is this SuperFabric?

Will you also add some kind of shoulder protection?

[Ben Bouchard]

I'll be using the cardboard mockup as a template in cardstock, which I'll mist with water to form into perfect shape then coat with resin to stiffen it. Then I'll build up layers of E glass off of it, with a SuperFabric outer layer. ]Superfabric is an abrasion, puncture, and slash resistant material made from a variety of fabrics with a printed hard epoxy micro-plate pattern: http://superfabric.com/

I'll be using WestSystem epoxy, and if the initial build in fiberglass turns out well (I'll also be making a couple of test plates to push to the breaking point) then I'll give it a go in laminated corrections-grade kevlar.

[Sam Gordon Campbell]

Maybe put some foam (I'm not a fan of the stuff, but it's modern) in it to offer some padding?
This could be quite interesting. I don't know why the military and police (especially police) don't look back occasionally in order to move forward with their personal protection tech!
Wasn't there some Canadian guy who developed "bear armour" with a similar premise in mind?

Military = Mobility.
Police = Staying power.