For a body cast, you can papier-mâché yourself let dry, cut yourself out, then fiberglass the inside. You’ll have a reusable, hollow and accurate cast.
@@Zuluknob Since the rest of the cow is not hollow maybe a donut would be more precise. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ymF1bp-qrjU.html
When cuting composites with an oscilating saw try cooling the blade with water. I use a spraybottle window cleaner. So you dont dull the blade as quick. Just keep the blade and the cut moist. As a bonus you dont get toxic tumes from burned epoxy and also less fibre particles get in the air.
If your dressmaking involves multiple trips to the hardware store, there's definitely something going right in your life! I'd love to see the finished skirt! ❤
I don't know why I never realized before how awesome a collab between you guys could be. Would be pretty impractical I suppose, what with the thousands of miles between you two.
Okay, so the thumbnail and everything else makes a TON more sense after watching the video - I totally came in with a judgy "well it's kind of short and odd to be a ballgown" and after watching it all I'm like "wow she had to deal with a lot, it came out great!" XD Definitely finish the dress! I did see the shooting video too which was awesome!
You could just make a thick under layer of a different dress and place the Kevlar as shielding on top. I reckon a white under later would contrast really well with the black shielding
"Because of my poor form-making skills came out WAY more scantily clad than intended" - Guess that explains female armour in video games! It's just Xyla as the smith.
Would you like to change the back of the picture nicely, I'll delete the back of your picture nicely, you hired me background removal: file format is png, jpeg, psd • Model photo background removal • Pure white background • Remove background • Pencil sketch art you can hire me
One of the things I enjoy about watching your videos is that you freely admit when you make mistakes, but then explain how you resolve the problem. This is something I constantly tell my students -- mistakes and errors are a big part of the learning and making process. Thank you! And this is a fabulous project!
Exactly one of my favorite things about Xyla's videos. Doesn't feel like she smooths the edges over for the video and instead gives a realistic representation of diy, and makes it all feel far more approachable and doable yourselves. I show all of her video to my little cousins who always wanna do craft stuff after we watch it and a big part of that is her accessibility.
Agreed. Would love to see it done in the right shape, so you could actually comfortably wear it the way it was originally intended. And if that happens, I think that video also needs to include an actual test of its "bullet-proof-ness", not of the dress itself (that would be a shame), just an extra panel made for the purpose.
I didn't know that the niche of making clothing out of stuff that clothing really shouldn't be made out of needed to be filled but damn Xyla you are killing it! First the cedar strip corset and now a carbon fiber dress? I can only imagine what you are gonna come up with next!
I love how you adapted it into something still usable. A potential solution for the form issue would probably be to inlay chicken wire during the duct tape stage with gaps in the wire on the right and left sides to cut it off. That may not totally solve it, but it should give a much closer form by preventing to foam from expanding indiscriminately.
Paramedic's Bandage shears (10 bucks on Amazon) will cut through duct tape, chicken wire, plaster bandages, just about anything. Priceless for crafters, cosplayers, any workshop, and should be in all first aid kits.
@@cmdrsocks Exactly. Plaster and gauze have been used to take molds for centuries. As a famous engineer told me, there's no point in reinventing a solution to a problem that others have already solved. That's where engineering diverges from art.
@@annodomini2012 Best bit is there are 2 of them per thigh - the deep and superficial ones. Either one of which will make you bleed out in a couple minutes or so.
@@annodomini2012 Actually since an organ is a collection of different tissues, the femoral artery is technically an organ, just like the aorta is an organ too.
Helpful conduit tip from an electrician: next time you want to shove a piece of conduit through something, cut the end at a sharp angle first. We do that all the time to make holes through drywall that are just the right size, or don't have a hole saw.
Xyla I am going say that its not bulletproof as Kevlar infused with resin will change the structure of the material. Ideally for this to work in theory is to make the shell out of carbon fiber then sew and install the Kevlar as padding. Molding could have done in plaster parts for a reverse mold which then could have fiberglass mold made from that. Then add some layers of felt or a thickening sheet so that the mold can accommodate the Kevlar padding.
I thought so too. part of the bulletproof effect is absorbing energy by stretching the fibers. But it still looks awesome and I still want to see it get shot.
Just found this Maker in early 2024 & I find myself so engrossed and entertained, and (being truthful) truly Inspired, I often forget to click the 'Like' button...
Just watched OG's Danger Show - with the behind the scenes of your collab with Taofledermaus. That looks to be a fun episode. Looking forward to it. I've never thought about how someone would go about making Kevlar fashion before. This was quite a fun makers show. Nice. even if it didn't turn out exactly as desired. :) Good stuff.
I'd love to see a version with the fibreglass skirt, but the way that this skirt moves in the final sequences is awesome. It would have been such a different visual "feel" to the original vision.
That is the best ball gown I've seen ever! Lesson learned. I've been doing epoxy jigs and molds for 15 years. Always make a hard negative mold, then do a positive mold from the negative. You started right with the wrapping, but could have used plaster or maybe cheap hardware store drywall compound with latex additives to keep it less brittle. I have found a 50/50 mix of concrete bonding agent and water for the liquid, and then use that 50/50 liquid to mix with quick dry drywall powder is a great mold plaster. It's a cheap semi flex (doesn't crack as much) mud. There are other mixes that I know of too.
reminds me of two other videos I've seen of people making molds. One was The Modern Rogue where they used plaster impregnated cloth, similar to what doctors use to make a cast for a broken arm. The other was The King of Random where they used just enough water to make the plaster a paste, then added shards of Manilla rope as reinforcement.
I suspect you may be about to get an influx of viewers, this video's been featured in Tom Scott's weekly newsletter and frankly this is fascinating. Definitely going through the rest of your channel after this, creative projects are always interesting for me since I'm useless with this kind of thing myself.
I would love to see a version two of this or a finished as envisioned. Getting to see how your approach changes based on what you've learned would be really cool :)
Same! I want to see this style with the full ballgown skirt, maybe some extra panels to give it a real secure fit. Ooh! Transparent fiberglass roses on the bodice! (I'm just daydreaming now, but I would love to see the planned skirt.)
thank you! as a huge 2a supporter i am really happy you went forward with this experiment and actually went out to shoot to test your build! great attempt and love the idea! i would love to see a try number 2! now that you understand the ballistics a little more maybe you could successfully meet your goal! Remember that while you thought that a thigh hit is not lethal, it is absolutely a lethal hit. you hit one of the arteries that go through your leg and it is game over. Try a long dress build? Fully in support of your idea i love it!
When getting measured for medieval armour nowadays a lot of blacksmiths use plaster casts because they match your dimention and your shape. Also, it would be cool if you made a set of full plate out of this material.
I would imagine this material choice to work better against bladed weapons than against projectiles of guns. (I highly doubt this would stop a bullet as it negates the working principle of "Kevlar wests".)
A full suit of "plate" wouldn't be practical for anything (though it would look great). But a few "plate" pieces - shinguards, forearm guards, etc - could be useful. Probably won't stop a bullet but probably would deflect a knife. Plus they'd be lightweight and not trigger metal detectors.
@@firefly6396 Sorry english isn't my first language, so i am not sure what you mean with _resonated_. As far as i learned, the stopping of handgun rounds by materials like kevlar, silk... is done by them being able to move while being interwoven. So if you laminate it with resin, the whole moving that decelerates the projoctile is not going to happen.
57 year old engineer and never thought I'd enjoy watching a dress being made. Great vid and very instructional. I wondered about the mold deformation when you were pouring the foam. Not sure if it would be worth trying but I'm thinking you might essentially create a body cast around yourself with plaster and cheese cloth, split it to get out, then pour your foam in that. I was also thinking this might be less constricting than layers of tape which can get tight with successive wraps.
I can follow the plaster and cheesecloth idea, but unless it was done with multiple layers, wouldn't it just burst under pressure from the expanding foam. Would reinforcing this with fibreglass layers work, or would you prefer some other medium to solidify the front and back moulds? I'm here after watching The OG's Danger Show. OG has filmed with Taofledermaus for years and has just done a behind the scenes filming of Xyla shooting the dress/corset or whatever it is. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kAZi5blgI0E.html
@@COIcultist Thanks for the link. I love watching people approach firearms in a responsible manner. Looks like they had fun. Sure you could add fiberglass to the mold and it might even be a good idea if you wanted to get multiple uses out of it. Making a plaster cast includes numerous wraps or layers which to you your point will make the form structurally solid. Done properly, you shouldn't need to reinforce it.
The plaster and cheesecloth idea is a good one, but there may be an alternative if you can resolve one problem. The model stands, wearing a tight think bodysuit. Fill a pair of trashbags with the same foam, and sandwich the model in between. Once the foam cures, the bags should be easy to pull off the model. There is the problem that the foam generates lots of heat, hence the bodysuit.
Not that this helps you for this project, and you probably already have heard it, but typically what you'd do if you're going to back fill the duct tape with expanding foam is to make a plaster bandage shell on your body before taking off the duct tape. That way when you put it all back together, the plaster bandages will hold the shape and prevent the foam from distorting everything. Oh... yeah, kevlar and carbon fiber suck to work with. ;)
Cutting the plaster cast can be tricky. another way to prevent the circle expansion is to get a measure of the front to back clearance (marks on a wall) and placing the duct tape form between boards set to that width. It may cause some side expansion but should keep it from circling out.
Making the form rigid is key! Even if you have to make a form _over_ the form... Kevlar sucks to cut, but the cheap Dremel brand carbide universal blades work great on carbon fiber, steel or any other abrasive material.
@@helgrenze yes and no, if you use the same style of cast bandage as used when setting a broken bone, that stuff cuts VERY easily with the oscilating tool! Not only that, you can control the depth of the cut readily enough, AND most oswcilating multitool cutters won't cut the person inside. (depends on the user and blade type)
@@helgrenze True enough, but she appears to be proficient enough in using the cutter and I'm sure she could experiment with the blades she can get hold of to find what works best
It still looks fantastic in the end; I like that you used the lower pieces to make like a Roman legionnaire style set of armor strips. Awesome lemonade from the original lemon of expanding foam!
As a long-time car guy, I have loved the look of glossy carbon fiber for years. I'm used to seeing it on hoods, roofs, and spoilers, but this is amazing too. SEMA is coming up in Las Vegas, I bet there are some Carbon Fiber parts manufacturers that would love to have something like this in their booth at the SEMA show this year!
I would love to see how you would create a ridgid skirt for this bodice keeping it to the mass of a moderate ballgown. And I would also be curious how much mobility you would have had if your form had not bloated with the foam. From an armourer's perspective, I probably would have pulled the top of the bodice up to the collarbone to protect the sternum (arms require a lot of space for flexibility, especially for some dancing, so it probably wouldn't want to be a full breastplate). The seams are always weak spots in armour and a common technique is to just use many layered scales/lames/pieces, which I might also recommend at the flare of the skirt and around the side panels. Deadlines are annoying, but I would like to see you try this again perhaps.
Years ago I worked on a production of The Importance of Being Earnest where the costumes we're structured as proper Victorian clothing but made out of transparent material so you could see the architecture of it all. (Like if you stripped away the personality layers of the characters you would find them very shallow. ) For the plastic dresses each seam was covered in clear, water proof tape. The clear plastic men's jackets had seams covered in silver electrical tape. The corsets used heavy nylon cable ties for the boneing. For hoop skirts it was wire, delicate fabric, and a lot of hours hand sewing for three college credits. The whole thing was amazing. The pictures are probably still online. University of Alaska Fairbanks 2000 or 2001.
I was thinking cutting the front vertically down the middle, then epoxying it back together with more layers of kevlar and carbon fiber to flatten it a little. Still looks awesome though!
Stunning result! I definitely want to see this thing get shot because I feel like all the benefits of kevlar must get lost or diminished once it gets locked up by the epoxy. So if you do shoot it, it would be nice to see a comparison to an untreated layering of kevalr and carbon fiber.
You think there might be spalling from the epoxy? Bullet hits one side, and the shock travels through the epoxy to the other? It's also awfully thin, I suspect it will only stop the lower end pistol rounds. fn 5.7 I would expect will pen it.
@@GeraldMMonroe More that if the epoxy is holding the fibers ion place, they can't bunch up around the impactor like they do with free (to move) cloth, nor stretch... it will make the kevlar much less effective. However. It will be nicely abrasion resistant in epoxy :) its not like everything is worse, just some aspects.
It looks so clean. Got a feeling this is the type of content that Jill Bearup and Abby Cox might be interested in. And please show if it's bullet proof.
To add a counterpoint, show it even if it *isn't* bulletproof I'm wondering how it would look when worn *after* being shot. It might crack in interesting patterns!
Would love to see you finish it! And shoot it! Also I would really love it if you could do a refinement of your floatation foam method for dress form making; I've seen people try and make it work right but I feel like some experimentation with methods on that could really make diy dressforms even better... cause obviously they're rather finnicky and people tend to deal with it rather than do another....
Just a thought here, but if the problem is that there is not enough constraint to keep it from going all "round" maybe do some sort of clamp to maintain the front to back distance which would force the foam to kick out to the sides properly... maybe do a quick plaster tape cast of the front and 'spine' and measure the distance with a set of bar clamps that you can reset to the same dimension after removal?
@@edwardpaulsen1074 ooh yeah the plaster cast part might really make it work right; it might have juuust enough rigidity for the foam to not round it out as it expands.
1) Nice choice for the song, at the end. 2) I am rather curious to see what happens he skirt would look like. 3) Of course shoot it! 4) if you do similar builds in the future, consider LED lights (because they're cool). Loved the video!
Very cool! Way to adapt and overcome Xyla. Yes definitely finish that dream and SHOOT THAT THING! That has to be the endgame for a "Bulletproof Ball Gown"
For what you had to work with and your very tight time line - Great result and always enjoy learning with you - The comments your work generates just add to the experience.
This turned out FANTASTIC! I see what you meant about being particular with the stich direction on the different pieces, and it works great. Definitely should finish the skirt, and of course you have to test the bulletproof claim!!!
Pro Tips: IF you were to try this again.... First: Wrap (yourself) the object being modeled with low density foam first, taking care to follow the object's shape as closely as possible. This gives the form some "crush" space for shrinkage. Second: Use rigid "ribs" made to fit the model to hold the shape of the mold while you poor the foam. Third: Use plastic to make dividers to place inside the mold, so that once the foam has set, you can just pull the mold apart at the seams created by the dividers. (p.s. You are SO PRETTY! and smart... Imajusayin)
Awesome build! If I recall from Mythbusters, when they were making ballistics gel models of the various cast members, they would silicone the body and then cover it with heaps of plaster impregnated bandages. Not sure whether you could use that straight as your positive mould? Either way, thanks for the warning on working with kevlar, it seems like a complete bastard.
I've done this for a rough head cast. The big advantage is maintaining proportions through rigidity, so yes, the plaster bandage approach does work. And in this case you do not need silicone... that's only necessary for fine detail. Use petroleum jelly as a release agent.
Plaster bandages work well as a negative form but usually it doesn’t shape up nicely on the outside, so I don’t think it’s viable as a straight positive form. By the way; be sure to cover everything in a generous layer of release agent or you’ll end up stuck inside the form. That’s particularly important if you’re casting hairy subjects!
@@KarryKarryKarry Yes, hair stuck in plaster can be unpleasant. And you're right, this can only be used for negative casts, you would have to fill it with some kind of foam, as Xyla did in the video. The only way the duck tape method works is if you build a frame to maintain proportions at hip, shoulder, etc.
That looks fantastic! I would love to see the finished product, and ALSO to see the tested "bullet proof" claim. Instead of shooting the corset straight up though, perhaps do some panels of the same materials/thickness? No need for finishing details since it's not to look pretty, just get shot, and a simple shape so hopefully it would take a lot less time. Then it would be possible to try multiple different calibers on fresh panels and also keep your sweet ass corset!
I doubt this would stop anything more than a .22 maybe a .38. There are several videos online testing this. That is still way more than any other clothing besides actual armor.
The dress is actually really gorgeous, and you look fantastic in it! I'd love to see what you could do after you've learned from this first one and you weren't time limited.
I definitely, want to see you shoot it & maybe a 2.0 build maybe? Excellent job narrating it's very easy to follow, a lot of YTr's speed their way & don't watch pace while explaining. New fan here!
The best way to cut cured carbon fiber is with diamond cut-off disc, it would be best for you to use 1" dremel size for the projects you regularly make but they come in sizes to fit most grinders as well if you ever decide to make a large project out of carbon fiber.
Water and diamonds are magic for kevlar. Either a diamond cutoff wheel, ceramic saw, or oscillating blade. Water keeps it cool at stops the epoxy from burning.
As soon as you started pouring the foam into the unrestrained mould i knew you were going to have that problem. your front to back dimensions are much smaller than your side to side dimensions. Consider plaster bandages instead of duct tape for your initial form, and then reinforce it before the foam pour. More work but more likely to be a true form. Love the shiny final look, great work!
I'd love to see you try this project again, but with a proper body cast mold to give you a dimensionally correct dummy to work from. Alginate, plaster, and boom. A hard hollow shell of yourself that can stand up to the pressures of expanding foam. Life casting is so cool, and there is so much neat chemistry and science involved.
Pro tip, wet sanding will amaze you. There are also sand papers thst work specifically with carbon fiber and fiber glass. Emery cloth is great and a lot less likely to clog, the stuff that looks like screen mesh.
In the future, you could probably have affixed that conduit to a drill temporarily, and notched the end slightly to make some rudimentary teeth, to get it through that foam
Depends on the size of conduit and how one would attach that to a drill. Most conduit is 3/4 to 1in, and both are certain to be far larger than the 1/2in common on most drill chucks. Yes there are ways to make it work, and it's not a bad idea, just wanted to throw a few.more things out there for anyone else that's considering doing something similar.
So beautiful!! I love this so much! Definitely finish the skirt and shoot the bodice! Also check out Morgan Donner on RU-vid. She made a dress form by plastering herself instead of using duct tape and then she used foam to fill it and it worked quite well! So if you ever want to do something like this again definitely check out her video for getting a good body form in foam 😅
"No vital organs in the middle of the thigh" Well kinda depends on how you look at it. There's no "big" internal organs, but there is say, femoral artery there, which, when severed, can kill you very much dead.
Your determination to figure out all the details that it takes to do your projects and get past the problems always amazes me. Another cool project, Xyla!
@@csours it’s pretty much how modern bullet proof stuff works besides solid metal. Bullet proof glass works similarly with multiple alternating layers of softer and harder material. When the bullet passes through the different mediums it looses energy pushing the different materials out of the way. Same with Kevlar.
Going to say nope. Army combat helmets have been made out of resin laminated Kevlar strips for the last 40 years. I have personally witnessed them stop handgun rounds at close range, and rifle rounds at distance. Albeit the helmets are much thicker, something like 14-18 layers. My level 3A body armor is 7 layers of alternating fine and course weave I think.
This was incredibly creative how you made this ball gown work wonderfully for you, when you realized that the original mold was not the right fit. It's not at all surprising that fashion design is among your many talents.
Wow. I would never have guessed that corset thingy was carbon fiber Kevlar. Respect for your creativity and mad engineering skills. Oh, that song at the end, with the auto tune crap, not so much.
A semitransparent skirt *with LEDs for dramatic effect* would be amazing. Well done, and bravo for encouraging young women everywhere to get involved with the arts and sciences! Girls totally CAN do science, and shouldn't be afraid or discouraged! 👍 18:56 "also, a big thank you to boatal tote" ? Haha
Boning is something more specific it is the incorporation of strips of rigid material into otherwise flexible fabric to give it structure and shape the material in the desired way as such it would not be relevant to an already rigid garment. The term comes from the fact that originally whalebone was used for this purpose. These days of course whaling is not permitted so modern reproduction boned corsets tend to either use stainless steel which isn't quite as good at getting the balance between rigidity and flexibility quite right, or synthetic whalebone which is basically a type of plastic that is specifically designed to mimic the properties of real whalebone. As the piping is purely decorative and isn't in the right positioning to really resemble boning not sure if even calling it faux boning feels quite right it is just decoration to add interest not mimic boning really to my mind.
I love how you correct all the Botal Tote labels. Joe did outstrut you though. And you're in 'Merica - it is your duty to try and put a bullet through it!
@@BottleBass1977 TBH, I would take either or both... then send a piece to Jorg Spraeve to test against the Instant Legolas... LOL Let him "show you it's features" HA HA HA!!
If you were to do the body form again, what would you do differently to make the shape more rigid? Also, I think you made video game armour there. Do you have any of the parts you cut off that you could test for bulletproof?
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iOPYhH6YHpQ.html Morgan Donner made her own customized dress form using those plaster bandages that doctors use to make casts. So this should be more rigid than just duct tape
@@yumeng4686 There's also similar method that's been used by some DIYers, but with paper tape instead of plaster bandages. Same basic method to what Xyla did, but substitute the hardening paper tape for the duct tape to result in a rigid shape even without foam filling.
besides what people say above me. Another option I could think of is to use a metal wireframe. Not exactly sure of the amount of force that floatation foam has when expanding so you might need some testing to find the required rigidity, but it should work fine, or atleast it does in my head ^^
Although the suggestions already here are probably better, a cheap and easy way to approximate this is by simply adding some sticks that correspond with your major measurements (shoulders, chest, waist, hips). By placing those in the duct tape form, you're going to be making an elliptical mold. That's still not perfect, but it's a lot closer.
Never thought I'd watch a YT vid of someone making a dress but as both a car guy and firearms enthusiasts I can appreciate the craftsmanship of making it out of both carbon fiber and Kevlar. Saw the behind the scenes on Officer Greggs channel and I can't wait to see how the dress holds up.
I'd really love to see this project finished as intended (with a new mold). Than you'd have this version for shooting tests. I guess there's a chance for a nice cooperation video...
Blood vessels count as one large organ. They just name the different sections individually. Like how you fingers are still apart of your hands but still treated named separately.
The only composite I've used to any extent is glass fibre with polyester resin, so I'm no expert at the subject, but I'm wondering if the resin Xyla used could have been softened with the heat from a domestic oven to allow her to spread the sides of the corset a little bit? Looking at her first attempt to squish into it, I'd think the change in curve wouldn't really need to be that drastic.
Just started watching this channel. Prior video was the 22K carbon rocket. Nice evolution from the down to earth ball gown to upwardly mobility shooting to the stars. Can hardly wait to watch some of the other builds.
Love the dress, but I gotta nitpick, here: Kevlar is bulletproof when it's just the fabric layer; adding epoxy will prevent it from adequately absorbing any sort of bullets.
@@RepeatedFailure Eh, not exactly. The resins used in ballistic helmets are still elastic, unlike epoxy. Rigid plates are good for stopping low-velocity debris (such as shrapnel) and piercing weapons like knifes, but not high-velocity projectiles like bullets.
I was looking to see if someone pointed this out but yes, the kevlar is basically useless now. Not to mention that the layer density isn't quite up to actually stopping anything. Maybe a .22 LR...but not likely anything larger.
I suspect you're right (details to follow) but I still want to see this material get plinked on video. Preferably by someone with a slow-mo camera. Taofledermaus? Bulletproof vests replace a small puncture with a large bruise by dissipating the energy across a wide circle of the flesh (or ballistic gel) behind it. The Kevlar has to be able to flex to do it, and there have to be enough layers of it. (And, something I learned from Taofledermaus, it has to be backed by the flesh or gel. Hang it free in midair and the same bullet will go right through it. Just more good reasons to do a collab with a full-time "let's shoot stuff" channel!)
@@eritain The aramid/Kevlar fibers need to be able to shift and move in order to dissipate the kinetic energy, and using a stiff epoxy would prevent that, unfortunately. Of course, if you add enough layers, that can compensate for the rigidity, but that's pretty much true with everything. It's why plexiglass has to be 2" thick to stop some bullets.
You should find somebody who can 3D scan your body in high resolution. You could then 3D print your body or cnc mill it from wood to use as a template for all future dress/corset projects.
Not a great idea for this project. 3D scanning is a long way from perfect, and 3D printing or milling something that big is expensive. Unless Xyla was going to do it before every project, it also wouldn't take into account changes in body shape between the time of scanning and any future projects using the 3D template.
@@joshuacollins385 with 3D scanning I didn't mean using a cheap scanner. If you use industrial laser scanners you get sub-mm precision. And printing it in parts with an fdm printer and then glueing it together isn't really that expensive. If she doesn't gain/loose too much weight it should work for a while
@@AngeEinstein Her current method is $1 of cling film, $1 of duct tape, and $60 of expanding foam. Even if she was printing it herself using budget filament with very little infill, she'd spend significantly more than that $62 on the filament alone, nevermind the cost of renting an industrial size laser scanner. She'd also be turning a process that took half a day into a process that took at least a week. Her current method does need improvement, but as others have said, starting with a negative cast would solve most of those problems, although it would add some cost. It also doesn't require her to hire a laser scanner and spend a week printing torso chunks any time she puts on some weight or muscle.
@@joshuacollins385 I assume Xxla knows a lot of people. Maybe somebody has acces to a scanner or has some connections to make that work. Also the printing part isn't that big of a deal. "RcLifeon" did that with his whole body. Keep in mind that Xxla is pretty slim. That would probably fit on a 300x300 print plate.
@@AngeEinstein RCLifeOn uses the Artec Eva 3D scanner which costs $17,000 to buy or $200 to rent for a day. The scanner can output to a variety of formats including OBJ which is good, but RCLifeOn still describes the quality in some areas as "straight up looks trash", although overall the quality seems excellent. He uses the Optimus P1, a $5000 printer and it takes 183 hours to print himself. Xyla is smaller and would only need to print the torso section, so it might be somewhere around 80 hours on the same printer. If you go to 5:15 in RCLifeOn's video, you'll notice the size of his model isn't quite correct, so somewhere in the process there's the potential for scale issues to occur. I'm sure Xyla could make this work, I just don't see any advantages but I do see some significant disadvantages.
11:24 you're wearing that respirator too tight on the topside. if you wear it often like that it'll give you sinus problems. Do a proper fit check for seal routine, setting it so it's sealed but not compressing your face like that, then take a sharpie and mark all your straps at the right length, it's a lifesaver. Those little toggles suck and lose the adjustment way too often and the temptation to just crank it on and go is high. the sharpie lets you get a visual reference before you put it on so you get a repeatable start at least. I've been using them daily for weeks on end at work welding, and once you put your helmet headgear on, it's set where it's set because you can't play with it, so it's a little trick that saves time and thinking before you have your coffee. also, it can give you really dark raccoon eyes from the minor bruising it leaves; at least I've heard this, I couldn't tell if it was that or lack of sleep so...yeah... yay for working 12's
@@JD-wf2hu Haha that was not my intention. But I reread and I see it now - whoops. You know the old physics joke? A perfectly spherical cow in a perfect vacuum and stuff.
@@Deserthacker Yeah, one of my physics professors told it at uni. Although, the first time I met the joke it was about calculating the fastest speed that a horse could run and only being able to do so if the horse was spherical.
Couple of suggestions: When/If you do take it out to the range for testing, I'd recommend starting with small calibers and working your way up. Kevlar loses some of its protective properties for repeated impacts so shooting different pieces/panels of the dress would make for the most scientific results on actual protection. On a less science related note, I think EL Wire for the piping work would be awesome and make it a more Tron-like bulletproof gown, which I can't see as anything other than even more awesome. You could also attach a bit of black satin fabric for some more accents and trim the edges to make it both a bit more comfortable and give it a bit more visual variety, but without really compromising the carbon fiber look. Also yeah that was quilt badding, the fabric fill used in the middle of a quilt, my mother makes quilts I'd recognize that stuff anywhere. Keep up the awesome stuff!
