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Old 02-07-2018, 09:02 PM   #16
safisher
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Default Re: [Cutting-Edge Armor Design] Real World SCA-legal Armour and Ballistics Armour

Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander View Post
I don't want to do that unless TL8 very hard steels are truly so much more effective than TL6 'Hard Steel' and actually perform better against all threats than the the equivalent weight of the best cutting-edge steel alloys used in vehicular armour in recent years (but nevertheless somehow aren't used for most military armour applications, maybe because they are very hard to shape and work with).
I think I'd just stick with David Pulver's figures for compatibility sake.

Quote:
Plasma cutter would be useful in making improvised APCs out of trucks and tractors too, right?
Yep, its a common tool in most body shops. You need a heavier duty one for thick armor plate, I suspect.

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What about a hydraulic hammer or a heavier press? Do you need them when making armour plates to weld to a truck to make it proof against all smallarm fire up to .50 BMG?
It's likely that a shop used to make that stuff would have what you need. I'd handwave it, personally.

Quote:
What kind of steel, or steel alloy, is high-quality in the 2010s for vehicular armour purposes, but still shapable into personal armour?
Where I'd think you could get some interesting results is direct metal laser-sintering or fused metal deposition, which can work with steel and titanium alloys in a powder form, basically forging them into a shape like 3d printing, and using gradient materials, that is, blending materials seamlessly from steel to titanium and aluminum. It's capable of making rocket nozzles and turbine blades, so I suspect body armor is not impossible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgGenOdq9iY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7IsFQLjRNU

Basically, you can build a helmet that's made from say, steel alloy, titanium, and aluminum, blending materials and shapes to maximize protection in likely strike zones while minimizing weight and using the best material for each area. You could have aluminum reinforcing bands inside the helmet, for instance, providing flex, that just blends into a rigid hard outer surface to deflect blows with no seams or connectors whatsoever. The whole thing could have fluting and various construction (captive infills, like triangles or i-beams, for torsional stiffness) to make it lighter and tougher as a result. That's not something you ever could build by hand. And it'd be fairly simple. It's just using one of those expensive metal 3d printers and a 3d printing file. Print, test. Adjust. Print, test, etc. Once it's perfect you scale it to fit the wearer and print.

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And how much of an improvement is it over the fairly mild RHA steel used as the benchmark in GURPS?
I'd call some of this more advanced stuff early TL9, perhaps. Just use the figures from David Pulver's articles.

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If $5,000+ in tools like plasma cutters and hydraulic presses are what you need to be able to do the work at all, how expensive are the tools you need for +1, +2 or an even higher bonus?
I think we give some figures in HT for a mobile parts hospital. That's what I'd use.
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cutting-edge armor design, hema, jade serenity, pyramid #3/85, sca

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