ABS vs PVC

[blythe]

Okay, this is it, I am talking to RS Propmasters and I am ready to order my armour. I have been losing weight so I won't have any snobby Alderaanian senaters ask "aren't you a little fat to be a stormtrooper?" and I have the money saved up.  I emailed Andrea at RS, we are getting the process started and she asks me my first question "ABS or PVC". I instantly have flashbacks to my loyal SNES sitting in a closet all yellowed and hoary. I am so nervous I don't want my "investment" to turn all yellow and gross in a few years!

 

I saw the great intro thread which compares HIPS and ABS but what about PVC? What about the yellowing?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

<<<edited for proper grammar, etc.>>>

Edited August 22, 2013 by blythe

[rhapsodyred99[TK]]

I have a PVC RS suit, and its super flexy and very bright white.  I also have one of their PVC lids and its plenty white.

 

Over time the ABS may well yellow a bit, but if you look at some folks that have had an ABS TM suit for years its still white.  It really depends on how you store it.  If you store it in sunlight it is going to yellow.

 

The down side of PVC is that you cant make ABS Paste to repair any cracks that may develop.  With ABS if you get a crack, as long as you have saved back scraps of the same color abs, you can mix them with a bit of acetone and make a paste that after a little light sanding not only repairs the crack, but blends in pretty well.  With the PVC it wont melt in acetone (just get sorta soft and break apart) which means no easy way to repair a crack that is pretty seamless.

 

Just my experience with both plastics, YMMV

 

If I had it to do over I would probably buy an ABS kit over the PVC Kit, but its just a preference not really anything at all wrong with PVC.

[blythe]

rhapsodyred99, can I see some photos of you in your suit? I would love to see what it looks like on an actual customer.

[rhapsodyred99[TK]]

Sure... 

 

Currently its a Sandy (yep I turned a bright white PVC suit into a dirty Sandy!)

 

Here it was prior to going sandy:

 

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[blythe]

This looks super sharp Red! I guess if I did ever see some yellowing on the ABS I could either use some the bleaches I have seen, or dirty him up for a sandy. Would you rather have a ABS trooper because the gloss doesn't matter on a stormtrooper, or because of your worry about cracking? How often does armour crack, should that be a major concern of mine?

 

Thanks for all the help.

[rhapsodyred99[TK]]

Both actually.

 

When I first started I wanted a super white, but then I started realizing that real TKS were not gloss white.  I now prefer a more prop accurate non gloss abs (abs is still shiny, just not glossy).  I also like being able to repair.

 

Honestly my TM ABS has not cracked once in the 4 or 5 times Iv'e trooped in it, so I do not think its going to be a big issue, its just nice to have the option of an easy repair.

 

My PVC Chest has actually cracked a a bit but that was my fault not ear and tear.  The rest of the PVC suit is super durable.

 

I just prefer prop replica to Idealized. and a super bright white PVC suit is not as Prop replica ish as the ABS.

 

 

You are not going to go wrong with either plastic choice.

 

You might also want to talk to Troopermaster about his armor.  His does not suffer from the realy fat shin syndrome that RS has due to the suit they molded having repeat parts instead of the correctly assembled shins.  RS shins had all outer (or inner iI forget) shin parts glued together in their armor as opposed to a correctly assembled inner shin matched to an outer shin on each leg.

 

TM suit:

 

See how the shins actually contour to the right shape of the leg as opposed to the RS in my Post above?

Edited July 25, 2021 by gmrhodes13
photo updated

[blythe]

If I got an ABS RS kit, then decided I liked TM shins better, could I mix their ABS shins with RS ABS armor? Would the colours look right? Is mixing armour like that taboo?

[rhapsodyred99[TK]]

No mixing is not taboo. The TM abs is not 100% the same color as RS abs but its not a big difference as you can see in the con photo with an RS abs lid and a TM suit.

[LeMaxim[TK]]

No mixing is not taboo. The TM abs is not 100% the same color as RS abs but its not a big difference as you can see in the con photo with an RS abs lid and a TM suit.

According to some scriptures mixing materials is a sin but that doesn't apply here.

 

I'm currently building an RS PVC and I distinctly remember reading about rhapsodyred99's "too shiny - turned Sandtrooper" comments while researching the materials myself. At that time I thought it was a very strange thing to do.

I wanted the idealised "just stepped out of my memory" look of the Stormtrooper. But the more I build and research I get more and more in love with the beaten up, weathered look of the screen used props and TM's 1mm prop build is one of the most beautiful builds I've seen (I don't have the link for it available now but I reference it a lot in my own build).

Don't get me wrong, I love my PVC armour and I'm very happy with my choice. In the future, however, I might go the same way as rhapsodyred99 and turn it into a sandy in order to go more towards true prop and get myself a ABS/hips combo.

 

Oh. Yeah. Mixing materials is actually in the DNA of the screen used armours.

 

All this being said I don't know how I would feel if I had gone with the ABS from start. I might have felt I missed the dream-white colour.

 

I also think that PVC would have been a nightmare to use on screen as the plastic would no doubt reflect any light source and make a proper mess for the film crew. So I feel that ABS is more accurate but what we see on the screen is much whiter than the material actually was. Heavy lighting and post processing considered. This is my layman's guess. There are different whites in ABS and from what I understand you can get a crisp white too. So it's possible to get both ABS and a more idealised look.

 

Either way you are in for a treat.

[spedlot]

Ok so reading this thread has me wondering something. I ordered a RS PVC suit and am patiently waiting for it to arrive.

Are you able to sit down in a seated position without the suit cracking. For example a car ride or sitting down to rest.

I decided to go with PVC as in my mind it would be a little bit more forgiving under certain stresses.

[Locitus[Admin]]

Yes you can sit in it but it won't be comfortable. A car might not work though as the space is limited. I can sit in my TM ABS.

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

[blythe]

After all the discussion, I went with ABS. I send in my measurements in a week, and will hopefully have my armour by Halloween. Thanks for all the help everyone!

[funkster[TK]]

Just going through the same procedure with Andrea at RS......and was wondering the same thing.

Looks like ABS is the way to go

[Squeaky[TK]]

I ordered from RS two weeks ago in PVC.

gotta love a uniform in bright white.

[Skywalker1981]

I have also ordered a PVC from RS one week ago. I also like the shiny white.

[RuFiO]

Thank you rhapsodyred99. I have referred to your posts and pictures multiple times in order to aid me in this grave decision. I have not made a choice yet, but I am more informed now thanks to you.  

[Cantina Security[501st]]

Red, you are everywhere , 9 out of 10 troopers recommend ABS...

[zoekoner[TK]]

I went with RS ABS as well i felt the pvc would give it too much of a action figure feel if that makes any sense

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hoggzman[TK]]

I'm wrestling with the same decision here, this post has been very useful, thanks to everyone who contributed.

 

Still haven't decided however...;-)