Odst cnc r2 WIP (Pic Heavy)

Hey guys, so I feel the itch again and decided to do an CNC'd ODST. Last time around life, trucks, and inertia kind of got me off course. Now nearly a year later and with new improved skills in Blender, a fresh tune up on my router, and I'm ready for round 2.

So far I've been reworking a couple models from Kirrou, bumping the res and adding in details while waiting for my long reach endmills to arrive. But time is running short and I need to get the torso vest part done asap. I've taken a good look at the handful of ODST vest/torso out there but they all seem to be missing some important stuff (like the front). And then there's Hugh's. Normally I PM and wait for the original modeler to respond before importing into Blender then into my CAM software but since this is technically being used like Pep, think of the mill as a big craftrobo (^_^), I beg for mercy this one time (time is very tight).

I was thinking EVA foam for the core as to keep it flexible and for speed of construction but I'm no pattern maker so I reworked Hugh's files from Pep (scaled them down, altered the unfolds, removed tabs, that sort of thing). Then exported as a EPS file (so it keeps the scaling) and imported into my CAM software for 2.5D work (VCarve Pro).

In Vcarve I set the materials size to match 2 sheets of EVA foam locked together with a 2 inch no milling area where they interlock (benefit of owning a big router). Then I went about deleting the internal structure as the EPS output gives you a mess of polygons and fugly open vectors , but it keeps the scale. Once the cleanup was done it's a simple adding of a profile toolpath and pocket toolpath for that one little pocket in the back and done. If I got crafty (chipped my vcarve bit on a hold down (._.)), I could also do all the little impressions on the inner vest.

She goes on the router tomorrow if I don't get forced into working OT. First time milling EVA foam so it should be interesting.

Preview from VCarve Pro:


Thank you to the original artists. I did minor adjustments to their files, I'm a engineer they are the artists.
Original 3D Artists:
Helmet: Kirrou
Stomach Plate: Kirrou
Shoulders: Kirrou
Forearms: Kirrou

Torso/Back/Straps: Hugh Holder (and whoever did the original unfold too)

Shins: JTM1997

Just noticed Rino's ODST build, I think I'll use his tut to combine parts to cut down on all the little bits.

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/30011-rino-s-odst-build-(WIP)/page4

Anyone have a model with the lower back "spine"?

UPDATE:

I reworked the vectors and added some details like the carving of the straps and the back plate.



Then I threw it on the router and went at it with a 1/8" downcut endmill @ ~200 IPM which was still a little slow for the slowest speed my spindle can handle (it's a Hitachi router):


I noticed I messed up on the profile cut (>_<). I used climb instead of conventional which means I got a very nice clean edge on the part I'm throwing out and what could be called epic shag on the part I'm keeping :$:


Now I just need to buy some more foam mats, only takes about 20 min to cut this guy out, the hard part was setting up the toolpaths. On a side note my replacement long reach endmills came in so with a little luck I might get started on the helmet this weekend. I might play with putting a radius on the straps with a round over bit, to give them that backpack look from 10 feet.

Cut another vest out tonight and I learned I'm terrible at hot glue . I'll have it all together tomorrow but here's a little teaser for what's going on the mill next. This is Kirrou's model that I've added in details and tweaked the topo to get it a little closer to the renders.


And a a couple side by side shots of the original model by Kirrou and what I came up with after detailing:

Whoa man, this is awesome! I'm subscribing to this! I wanna see this from start to finish! Great job man!

This looks very promising. i'm keeping an eye out for this.

where would i fund cnc helmet files i cnat seem to find them any where. btw very cool build.

Got half the helmet milled (still stuck to the router because my fingers are frozen) Looks like it's going to come out well, I'm just hoping I didn't mess up the scale. Also got half the vest assembled last night. So tomorrow should be full of stars, er, pics.


@eliteslayer032
I sometimes build the files myself but in this case I got them from the original artist who made the pep and reworked them with their permission. The models are the exact some ones in pep and was extracted via pep designer which gives you a obj. I then go in a clean up the topo and add in the details. Once those are in it's all about strategic loop cuts, creases, and edge splits. Then it's off to subd the model 4-5 times and if you keep it clean you should have something pretty smooth and professional looking. Now keep in mind to get from the original model to what I used took about 10 hours of tweaking, researching reference shots, looking at matches in theater, sketching, Googleing shortcuts in blender, etc.

If your going the eva foam route you can export the vectors out of Pep as and eps, import into a 2.5D cam package (I think there's a plugin for sketchup which is pretty basic but might work). Then you need to add/remove/join sections together in a way that makes sense for foam considering the endmills or profile bits being used. Then it's back to gcode again... One good thing is EVA foam builds are relatively cheap and it cuts real fast. The bad news is all the extra details still need to be cut from smaller pieces by hand, just like pep.

Argh... my brand new endmill decided to shed pieces of it's self... And I forgot to include an extra inch or so for padding. (._.). I'm thinking EVA shins are going to be next since I'm stuck until the replacement endmill shows up.

Ok thanks. My reason for asking is I'm in a technology machining/tool and die making class. And my personal project I came up with was to build a mkVI shoulder price out of aluminum. We're using haas vf3's and some clausing mills to do them and was having trouble finding a file that would work in solid works 2013 edition (I think) but ya simply is it even possible to make a pep file in to a solid works file.

man what cnc can't do these days.

I've never gotten a usable file from pep or blender into Solidworks. The problem is your importing a mesh which is just a collection of points. Where as Solidworks is a solid modeler which uses Nurbs and tessellation to create parametric models. That being said you can export the mesh and import it as a mesh but Solidworks and most CAD packages aren't made to handle that many raw points (they offload tessellation to the GPU where as Mesh structure is mainly a CPU process). Your best bet is to ether recreate the file in solidworks or to go strait from Blender/Maya/3DS to CAM.

If you really need a solid file then you'll need to recreate it. Not particularly hard but I've always had issues with compound curves in 3 dimensions in CAD (>_<).

ill try to recreate it but if not i might just use a manual mill and try my best with it.

thanks for the help.

Update: So I got a ghetto endmill (upcut router bit) so I could keep going. I got a most of the helmet routed out. As you can see CNC isn't magic and there is still a ton of sanding that needs to be done. Very careful sanding with 600 grit, a steady hand, light pressure, and a riffle here and there since this stuff is scary soft and easy to sand (one reason to use 30 Lbs. HDU if your paying for CNC work ).


And while I was waiting I redid the vest again. I'm a short dude but I'm pretty muscular. Enough so the default scaling on the vest was a bit off. I extended the straps an inch and added an inch to the front neck/pectoral pieces to attach velcro under them for easy entry. I still need to do some minor finishing touches and seal the seams with acrylic silicone (hope that works) before spraying with plasti dip.


And lastly the bit that stopped me for 2 days

Quick question, I think I'll need to cast the Helmet, shins, and forearms (x2) since these parts will be very hard to hollow out and wear. The big question is how much silicone, plastepaste do I need (thinking of the 1 gall. Still debating on Smoothcast or flex foam for forearms/shin. Anyone got an opinion or experience they like to share?

GremlinLord said:

Quick question, I think I'll need to cast the Helmet, shins, and forearms (x2) since these parts will be very hard to hollow out and wear. The big question is how much silicone, plastepaste do I need (thinking of the 1 gall. Still debating on Smoothcast or flex foam for forearms/shin. Anyone got an opinion or experience they like to share?

Click to expand...

Look at Cereal's Thread and in the link look for post #405. There are a lot of guys on here that do casting. In Cereal's thread he shows what he used for just his helmet. Maybe that would give you a good starting point.

What you have so far looks great. Keep up the good work.

Looks like half a gallon to a helmet so 1 gallon might be enough for helmet and shin and maybe one forearm, time to pucker up and feel the wallet pain (>_<).

Anyway, glued the helmet together and took a riffle to the grooves. I still need to carve some details in it but I need to wait for the glue to cure. Then it's lightweight filler + dewaxed shellac sanding sealer + poly + primer and into silicone.

Wow, this is the first ive ever seen for a helmet, and it turned out magnificent! Great work! You should do guns on the cnc mill too, they turn out great as well! Xan this be worn? Or is it more of a statue type helmet? It dosent matter, this looks great, again, great work, abd good luck on your eva foam body piece.

Helmet looks sweet.

This is such a beautiful method, I wish I could do this. A cnc mill? Never heard of that..

Since I've pretty much thrown in the towel to get the suit done by Halloween I'll slow down and post more info on the process. The CNC is a 4x4 router which took me a year to build. She is pretty close to the performance of a mid range full sized ShopBot, for now. Like our armors, it's a project that never really done >.

Right now I'm experimenting with sealing/hardening the foam and filling small imperfections. For filler I'm using lightweight spackel, one section normal, one thinnned. I'm also experimenting with seal-cote which is a dewaxed shellac used to stiffen wood grain. I'm hoping it will penetrate the foam a little better then poly so she doesn't delaminate when it out gasses.

For the poly I'm testing both Polycrylic which is used a ton by model plane builders and Arm-r-seal which is a very nice, wipe poly. If I can finishing it wood it's the seal-cote then 3 coats of arm-r-seal. The real question is will automotive sandable primer stick to ether polycrylic or arm-r-seal? I want to see my reflection in this helmet before she goes to mold (figuratively).

All of this is to keep bubble from forming which did happen on the chest piece I did eons ago. I eventually gave up and did a quick caulk mold and recasted it in water putty. I don't want to do that to these pieces. Just waiting for my experiments to dry....

Edit: While waiting take a look at the shin model that's going to go on the CNC tomorrow if all goes well. This is JTM1997's shin that I modified the topo a little bit, added a few details and subd.