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Worbla cracked on my chest armor 3 times, so I switched to a foam core
I finished a full Mandalorian chest plate last spring and wore it to three cons before the left side split right along the seam where I'd heat-formed it over a foam base. I patched it twice with extra Worbla and paint, but it cracked again in the same spot during a quick pose for photos in Portland last month. I finally gave up and rebuilt that whole section using a 5mm craft foam core underneath, with the Worbla only as a thin outer skin instead of the main structure. The new piece flexes with my body instead of fighting it, and after a full afternoon in it at the mall for a test run, no cracks at all. I used to think more Worbla meant more durability, but it turns out the foam was doing none of the work while taking all the blame. Has anyone else had luck with a hybrid foam and Worbla sandwich for large curved armor parts?
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nancy_price8221d ago
Learned that lesson the hard way too, except mine was a back plate that split down the middle after two wears. Now I do a 6mm foam base, hit it with a heat gun to shape it, then skin it with two thin layers of Worbla instead of one thick one, and I leave the inside of the curve bare foam so it can move. The key is not gluing the Worbla to the foam across the whole surface, just at the edges, so the two materials can slide a little when you bend. Mine has made it through two summers of con floors with zero cracks since I made that switch.
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