Hyper's Noob Foam Reach Armor Build

Hyperballistik · Oct 5, 2011

Like the title says, im a noob when it comes to this foam stuff, this is my attempt to make a more comfortable suit, I hate to wear my Busa armor because its hot, heavy, and not that easy to move around in, so with all the foam builds I have seen lately figured I would take a wack at building a foam suit myself, what you see in the pics is 2 weeks worth of work, its not the best but like I said, im new at this, let me know what you guys think so far
Here is the torso, I still need to add details, finish the neck area etc.

Shins, I still need to make the knee things, sorry for the blurry pic forgot the flash

Thighs, still need details added

Shoulders, I didn't add the detail thing in the middle because im going to cover it with a shoulder piece

Forearms

Cod piece,still need to finish this, haven't had time lately

My pep'd knife, I made a while ago for a Reach build I was going to make out of pep, also the shoulder I plan to use on this armor, I will probably use the pep one instead of making it out of foam, I just need to pep out another one

Tell me what you think or any advice, like I said before this is 2 weeks worth of work, I was hoping to finish this before Halo-ween, I try to work on it in the evenings when I get a break from my 15 other projects, so hopefully I make my deadline

mkshane81 · Oct 5, 2011

Very nice start there sir!! The foam work looks absolutely great. One quick questions I had, what did you use to put the preliminary coat on the right thigh?

-Matt

Shaymin Sky · Oct 5, 2011

Pretty good for a first time. Hit me up if you have any questions. I'd be glad to help.

Hyperballistik · Oct 5, 2011

mkshane81 said:
Very nice start there sir!! The foam work looks absolutely great. One quick questions I had, what did you use to put the preliminary coat on the right thigh?

-Matt

It has a little plasti dip on it, the white stuff is a window caulk called Alex Plus, its an Acrylic latex with silicone that is paintable, also it says on the label that it will stay flexible permantly, I use it to fill in the areas where I have gaps and such, I found out also that you can use it to seal the foam for paint, I just take a sponge put some of the caulking in a bowl water it down then sponge bathe the part with the mixture, let it dry and then its paintable, when you paint over it, it actually looks smoother than if you were to paint over the plasi dip spray, not to mention its cheaper and flexible

mkshane81 · Oct 5, 2011

Well I'll be....thanks for the tip buddy.

-Matt

Hyperballistik · Oct 5, 2011

Shaymin Sky said:
Pretty good for a first time. Hit me up if you have any questions. I'd be glad to help.

Thanks man

Shaymin Sky · Oct 6, 2011

Hyperballistik said:
It has a little plasti dip on it, the white stuff is a window caulk called Alex Plus, its an Acrylic latex with silicone that is paintable, also it says on the label that it will stay flexible permantly, I use it to fill in the areas where I have gaps and such, I found out also that you can use it to seal the foam for paint, I just take a sponge put some of the caulking in a bowl water it down then sponge bathe the part with the mixture, let it dry and then its paintable, when you paint over it, it actually looks smoother than if you were to paint over the plasi dip spray, not to mention its cheaper and flexible

That's interesting to know. I've started to experiment with sealing and painting foam armor. I'm intrigued by your special mixture. I'd like to try it, seeing as it looks to be readily available for most people, and cheaper. When making the mix, what would the ratio of water to seal be? would a watery mix or a thick mix be better?

After closer inspection, I also noticed that your shin is sealed very well. No gaps or cracks are visible at all. Is that the Alex plus? If so What are you using to apply it? and are you sanding are smoothing it after curing?

this thread has already helped me lots. Looking forward to seeing more.

BLACKULA727 · Oct 6, 2011

Nice job! When we talked on the phone, you made it sound like it was a botched piece held together with popsicle sticks & duck tape. lol, it looks good "forum troll"...

vshore100 · Oct 6, 2011

Man, your builds always look great. Nice foam work buddy.

DETHANIEL · Oct 6, 2011

very good my friend, everything is shaping out a lot better than foam usually does. and mind i suggest layering up the inside of the torso with more foam? itll get very flimsy and tear if you dont

Hyperballistik · Oct 6, 2011

Shaymin Sky said:
That's interesting to know. I've started to experiment with sealing and painting foam armor. I'm intrigued by your special mixture. I'd like to try it, seeing as it looks to be readily available for most people, and cheaper. When making the mix, what would the ratio of water to seal be? would a watery mix or a thick mix be better?

After closer inspection, I also noticed that your shin is sealed very well. No gaps or cracks are visible at all. Is that the Alex plus? If so What are you using to apply it? and are you sanding are smoothing it after curing?

this thread has already helped me lots. Looking forward to seeing more.

Yes I used the Alex plus caulking to seal up all the seams where the foam comes together, as for using it to seal the foam, first I use a heat gun and shoot hot air over the foam to try and seal up as much of the faom as I can with that, then i take the Alex Plus put some on my finger and just run my finger down the lines, then I take a sponge and a bowl of water, make sure its a smooth closed cell sponge, wet the sponge and ring out as much of the water as you can then take the sponge and run it over the Alex Plus to smooth it out, everytime you soak the sponge in the water it will take the excess off the sponge and add to the water, then I take a little of the caulking dab it on the armor and take the damp sponge and rub it around on the armor, you can tell its getting on the part it turns the armor to a chalky white, once its dry its ready to paint, if there is an area where I missed with a sponge i take 320 grit sandpaper and smooth down the caulking, just make sure its dry, the stuff is flexible so its not that easy to sand but it will smooth out, The Alex plus is around $2.00 a tube at Wal Mart

BLACKULA727 said:
Nice job! When we talked on the phone, you made it sound like it was a botched piece held together with popsicle sticks & duck tape. lol, it looks good "forum troll"...

Compared to how my pep armor looks, there is a big diffrence, unfortunatly I have been busy today so I didn't get to troll much today, but the night has jsut begun lol

vshore100 said:
Man, your builds always look great. Nice foam work buddy.

Thanks man, your build not to shabby either

DETHANIEL said:
very good my friend, everything is shaping out a lot better than foam usually does. and mind i suggest layering up the inside of the torso with more foam? itll get very flimsy and tear if you dont

Thanks for the info, Im definatly going to take your advice

Spacemeat · Oct 6, 2011

That's impressive stuff, your foam work is quite clean and I love all the little details you've already put into the chest piece. Out of curiosity, what files did you use for the shins, thighs, and forearms?

GMer56 · Oct 6, 2011

Combining the power of caulking, water and (closed cell) sponge! Brilliant!
I can't wait to see the finished suit!

Hyperballistik · Oct 6, 2011

Spacemeat said:
That's impressive stuff, your foam work is quite clean and I love all the little details you've already put into the chest piece. Out of curiosity, what files did you use for the shins, thighs, and forearms?

Thanks for the comment, The files I used for the shins and Thighs were Forged Reclaimers edited for foam by L3X , The forearms is Ruzes file

GMer56 said:
Combining the power of caulking, water and (closed cell) sponge! Brilliant!
I can't wait to see the finished suit!

LOL sad thing is the mixture works and is a cheaper alternative to Plasti Dip, and I can't wait to see it finished either

GMer56 · Oct 7, 2011

I try to make my armor as cheap as possible, so this might work well with my expanding foam insulation plan ^_^

Hyperballistik · Oct 19, 2011

Stepped away from this build for a few days, had to finish making my mold for my Reach EOD helmet, but since I made cast of my EOD I decided to paint one up, so as you can tell my armor is going to be green, I really don't plan to use the EOD with the armor that often but at least I will have another helmet to change it up a bit, also I painted one of my MKV A casts the same color, its the one behind the EOD and its the one im going to use the most with this foam armor, so with all that done, I will get back to the faom stuff and at the same time work on 5 other things im currently working on at the moment

Sorry there is not any good views of the MKV, I made a promise not to show it off yet!!!!!!! so a glimps for now will have to work

for better pics of the EOD look at this thread for diffrent angles
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/32353-Reach-EOD-helmet/page11

BLACKULA727 · Oct 20, 2011

I really like your helms dude!!!!! Anywhoo, you should put together kits of your decals and offer them up, I know I would get some...lol.

Great work Hyper!

Sir Tsaboc · Oct 20, 2011

BLACKULA727 said:
I really like your helms dude!!!!! Anywhoo, you should put together kits of your decals and offer them up, I know I would get some...lol.

Great work Hyper!

I echo what Blackula said, I'd really love to see that done too!
Great work my man!

liquid6 · Oct 20, 2011

awesome work!!! that EOD helmet is damn fine!

Philvanhalen · Oct 20, 2011

Nice , and accurate build dude keep on working !!

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