I ended up buying these plates:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290750791379
The results of the experiments said that covering the steel plates with approx. 1/4" of herculiner (brush on bed liner) did pretty good but if you then wrapped it with kevlar fabric (obtainable off eBay) it was GTG. They showed taping the edges of the plates with painter's tape and said that if you put it on real slow, you could pour it on. Well, that didn't work for me. I made a hell of a mess !! Ended up just brushing it on with a paint brush in layers, letting each layer dry 6-12 hours.
Once I got the desired thickness, I let it dry for a couple of days. I then used an industrial glue (that came in a caulk tube) and glued 2 layers of kevlar cloth over the front side with around 1 1/2" going around the sides and adhering to the back. Once the glue dried, I covered all the kevlar with a thin coat of the Herculiner. The only downside is that I increased the size of the plates so it would not fit in a normal 10"x12" plate carrier. I had to go with one from Blue Force that has a bigger "pocket" for the plates.
As I was doing the plates, I did the same thing to a steel target I had. When completed, I wanted to be able to shoot it at the range to see what kind of results I got. At the end of RWI's Christmas Shoot we shot it with 9mm, 7.62x39 and .308. You could almost not see where the 9mm even hit it. The 7.62x39 and .308 penetrated the kevlar but all of the bullet fragments were contained. Success!!
Like everything else, products have increased in price since I did this. the steel body armor plates were $105 delivered, the Herculiner was $75 for a gallon (it only takes 1/2 gallon for the 2 plates) and I believe the kevlar fabric was $50. So I had right at $200 in the 2 plates.
I will post pictures of the finished plates when I get home.
Geno
