Wow, what an original name!
My final painted version of "This is Armor How?"
I was really not liking how it was looking color wise as recently as this morning. So thanks to the magic of Photoshop I gave it a major color overhaul. Basically made everything darker and tinted everything more green so that it had a unified color scheme. And presto... it suddenly didn't suck as much!

Cheesy justification of skimpy armor:
The Def Co TX-74 Armor seen here is designed for maximum flexibility and maneuverability without skimping on protection. It's minimal light-weight physical structure allows for speed and ease of motion.
The wearer of the TX-74 is highly protected by a full body personal shield generator stored in the units backpack. The backpack also stores a highly advanced micro processing center which links weapon, armor and targeting information together for ease of viewing in the units heads up display. The Suit can be easily recharged, and can operate at peak efficiency for up to 72 hours of continuous use on a full charge. The Photon batteries are automatically linked with any gear carried by the wearer, powering weapons and secondary defense systems in addition to the suits main functions.
Available in a vide variety of configurations, seen here the TX-74 is being used in combination with a Def Co S-26 Bright Shield to repel heavier attacks, as well as a Def Co G-9A "Hammer" Class Blast Rifle with optional Focused Bright Lance Bayonet.