1st Build WandererTJ's Mjolnir Mk. V (Custom) - S-128 - [Hybrid Build] [Pic Heavy]

WandererTJ said:

Sword Breaker, thanks!
I'll have to revisit that part of the backstory at some point.

Glad to have inspired you, that's one of my goals .
If you want to reserve posts, you have to wait 5 minutes between each post.
Be sure to check out Carpathia's, Satchmo III's, and GeekGuardianDee's build threads as well, they each do amazing jobs at laying details out in their first few posts. All of us have done it in different ways, so you may end up liking things from theirs.

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Will do. Good luck on your build mate!

Okay...all I'm gonna say is holy bloody hell. Literally astounded right now....that bio...the detail. Ohh and the duct tape dummy is just as amazing! And here I was about to get all proud of myself on finally THINKING about building a suit. Ohh well, best of luck to you mate, I'm definitely subbing and keeping this page up. Looking forward to seeing your great work!

Little bit of an update from the last design I posted.

This is a Custom Scratch Design for the Ab Plates

This is essentially going to be the basis of all my stomach plates from my Torso armor to my Codpiece/Belt.
Unfortunately I have to wait until I make the Torso and the Codpiece before I can scale this properly to fill in the space.

This is still a Low Detail version of what I'm expecting to make, all the green parts will have more shape to them, I just wanted to at least get an outline ready for them all.
You can see that I've added an angle to one of the pieces, just expect all of them to be like that.

I need to add a Hex and a Honeycomb appearance into my SolidWorks library to make things look better...

Loving that personal transformation section. Probably the most important part of this build! I'm going the other direction, up probably about 11 or so lean pounds since this time last year, with an admittedly variable calorie intake and inconsistent exercise schedule. Could probably have reached the magical 20lb/year if I'd been more studious, but life happens.

Also, if you're gonna 3D print your undersuits patterns, have you considered printing them inverted in ABS including the outline walls, ABS-gluing them to a glass plate (thrift stores have a bunch), and pouring some Dragon Skin sample kits over the top? It wouldn't be the cheapest method, but with a little finishing work on the 3D prints it would probably be the most accurate and resilient to wear. Seems like if you're going to all this trouble, you may as well go all-in.

RobTC,
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who is working on their health for their build!

I've been planning on going more into details about the undersuit once I have more to show; it has definitely been something that has been weighing heavily on my mind which is why I'm really glad to have knocked out the basic layout of it. I've been doing lots of material studies hoping to find something to make me happy and I have a fairly good plan at this point.
If I was going to 3D-Print anything on the Ab Plating, it would be the Green pieces you can see in the picture.

My current plan right now though, is to complete the entire suit (minus the helmet and props) in foam. The nice thing about this, is that allows me to not be super critical on myself on the details that don't exactly turn out perfectly. This is my very first build after all, and I don't just mean that it is the first Halo Build or first Foam build... this is my first costume I've ever attempting to make, other than some 14oz Cuir Bouilli (Hardened Leather Armor) that I've made in the past.
After all, being super critical of myself is why it has taken me so long to start my build, so being able to look at this as a learning experience sets me at ease.

If in the end I'm super happy with everything and don't want to change anything, that'll be that, but I have a feeling it won't be.
After that point though, I definitely plan on 3D-Printing almost everything.
But that'll be further down the road when I'm more financially stable, have easier and cheaper access to a 3D-Printer, and I will likely have a few models that I've made myself.

EDIT: Actually, I think I may have misunderstood what you were referring to.
If you are referring to the Hexagon/Honeycomb patterns that I came up with, that's a really great idea!
But as I was saying above, that may have to wait until I am more financially stable.

I'm actually really excited to come up with a cheap and easy solution to addressing undersuit patterns. So hopefully the process I've come up with will work!

Okay....now I'm starting to get freaked out. Why is it that we've been going through the same things? Well, minus the get fit thing, though I've been thinking about it...does that count? Anyways, absolutely fantastic work so far, even my mother is impressed with the forearm. So excited to see the undersuit! Best of luck!

Forearms - Built and Detailed

Update time!
First of all, made it to 1,000 views! Achievement unlocked! It might not be much, but I'm super excited!

Forearms - Built & Detailed​

Got both of them finally finished (well... being built) and I have all the foamies added on them and I got some fun practice in with my Dremel in adding some new details since my first post that had to do with my forearms.

Build Photos:

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Model Used:

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Reference Images Used:


Please refrain from Quoting this post.

Looks good man!

Looking really good WandererTJ. I'm loving all the information your providing for the build ! Best of luck with the rest of the build!

Compression Clothing

Minor Update!

Recently got my Compression clothing in the mail that I ordered this past week. It came in after only 5 days which was really nice.

This is what I'll be using as the base layer for my Spartan's Undersuit. I will likely end up having strips of velcro sewn to the clothing as well as possibly some straps with buckles permanently attached as well. It's important to me that I be able to wash the base layer of my costume, which is why I've considered going this route.


I know that there are a plethora of options out there for compression gear, but I just ended up sticking with Under Armour. Other brands might have seams that would work better with the costume, but I was pretty satisfied with how the Under Armour looked.
Furthermore, Under Armour is pretty widely known and I've worn it before, so I knew I'd like it and they have multiple options for materials.
I went for the option of their "Heat Gear" line, which means it is intended to keep you cool when it is hot outside.

It wasn't too easy trying to find a place to buy these, but I actually fortunately ended up finding a place that had both: http://www.roadrunnersports.com/

Men's Under Armour HeatGear Sonic Compression Longsleeve T

Men's Under Armour HeatGear Compression Leggings

For the shirt I went with their "Sonic" option, which really just means that the seams are in a different location from the original style; I liked them better, and the Sonic option seemed more likely to have Black seams.

My leggings ended up having white seams going down the full length of the outer sides of the legs, but it isn't too bad.


Other than the legging's seams, I don't think I'll have any issues with any of the logos being visible.
The T-shirt will be velcro-ed down to the leggings, covering the waistband of the leggings.
The Tag at the bottom of the shirt will likely be covered by the undersuit (hopefully the tag won't end up below my codpiece/belt).
The backside of the collar will be covered by my cowl/neck seal.
The main front logo might also end up being covered by the neck seal, but if not, I will have a piece inside the torso that should take care of it.

Great Job WandererTJ! Are you going to use a hood or just a neck seal?

LoneLegionary said:

Great Job WandererTJ! Are you going to use a hood or just a neck seal?

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I may start out with just a hood/cowl, but I do plan on eventually making a neck seal, likely using the BlueRealm Studios pattern. It's definitely important to cover your neck up.

I've got several purchasable options listed here:
http://www.405th.com/f22/resource-thread-gloves-boots-compression-shirts-pants-more-44624/
If you can come up with good options to add to the list, be sure to comment on that thread!
That's what it is there for!

Kig-Yar Point Defense Gauntlet - Early Design

I may or may not be planning something....

I know the pattern on the shield doesn't look like how it does in the game, but you have to sometimes just work with what is available to you in SolidWorks.
As for the design, I've gone with a bit of a hybrid design between each of the games. The "Energy" makes use of the Halo 4 design that is perfectly circular and only has one cutout, and the "Emitter", if you will, is based on the design in every other game.

At any rate, it definitely won't get started until my armor has been completed, but I always enjoy planning and thinking up concepts.
I'll probably have to completely remake the entire design after I determine the exact components that will be used for it, but again, that'll be somewhere down the road.
The important thing to me, is that I've got the dimensions and shape of things fairly close to how I want them.

The only way I could better the dimensions is if I knew what the size relationship was between Master Chief and the diameter of the Jackal Shields in the game.
Right now it is set at 48'' because I think you can find plastic sheets at Lowes at that size.

I know most plastic domes are blow-formed (which is basically reverse-vacuforming), but for a raise of only 3'' from flat, it'll be interesting to try and make it perfect.
I'd figure that maybe if you sandwiched it between 2 wooden circle pieces (middle cut out), and had them supported at either end but left nothing under the bottom opening, that if the sheet was heated up, it could possibly sag its way down to 3'' just from the heat. Not sure though...



For my other arm, I've got a few options I've been considering...

• Sanghelli Assassination Energy Dagger (Magnetically attached to Forearm) - which will let me simultaneously carry an M6G or M6H Magnum
• Futuristic Energy Xiphos (Spartan Sword)
• Baby Hammer (One-Handed Gravity Hammer)
• or just your standard Covenant Energy Sword

Daaaang man, this is impressive. I cannot wait to see more, I LOVE seeing builds that are extremely thought through.

This build... I like it... keep up the good work

i like it to

Biceps - Progress Pics

Currently debating with myself if the best place to continue talking about the Jackal Shield would be in my build thread here or if I should start a new thread over in the Halo Props section...
There are definitely a few questions I'm having about it that maybe the community could answer, I just don't know if it would be more likely to be seen here or over there. Anyways....

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Thanks for the encouragement all!

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And now....
Update Time!

So first off, as usual, I kind of started with just a test piece, and like the very first forearm I made, it didn't turn out too great...
I rushed it a bit and didn't change blades as often as I should and I didn't put a whole lot of effort into trying to prevent glue from seeping out of the edges.
The important thing, was to see how everything was going to fit together.
It was pretty bad... one piece in particular ended up being about 2 inches short (the piece that wraps around the bottom). And all the pieces on the outer side of the bicep that form the main details that make the model stand out didn't fit together well either. The seams were pretty obvious and there were several untastefull gaps.
All of that was definitely a good learning experience though. I find that sometimes it's more important to just jump in and do things first to see how they end up, good or bad, and then see how you can improve on it. Yeah, it wastes some foam, glue, and blades, but that's not too big of a deal. A useful learning experience definitely outweighs the cost of those things.

So with that said, I've started working on Bicep v2, which you can see in the pictures below.
I'm currently only about 4 pieces out from finishing them minus adding detailing parts. Having a bit of trouble trying to plan out the bottom-front of the bicep, but it'll get done soon, I prefer taking things slow and getting them right. My aim for this is to be minimally 85% game accurate and the model I'm using, which is the best model I have access to, is only about 50% accurate I'd say. It's missing a lot of details here and there.

I would say that the method I'm using for these would be called something kind've like: Scratch-Built from Stencil-Derived-Templates.
I'm taking the paper cutouts I originally made for the first version of the biceps, and I'm using them to create slightly altered templates that are based on them.
I'm also using the foam pieces that I make as I go as modifiers to those templates so that things will line up with one-another more perfectly.
In other words, a line on the paper that I've transfered over might not have the exact same curve that the foam piece ended up having when I made it and shaved it down, so I'll use the piece I just made to make adjustments to the paper stencils so that the next piece that is supposed to meet up with the current foam piece will be more flush.

Please refer to the attachments below if you would like to see the images in full resolution.
Please refrain from including images in your quotes when responding to this thread.

Looks really neat! What thicknesses of foam are you using for the details?


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LoneLegionary,

While it may change in the future, I am currently using:
Grey = 1/2'' Puzzle Mat EVA (about 11mm)
White = 5mm Hobby Lobby Craft Foam EVA
Red = 3mm Hobby Lobby Craft Foam EVA
Green = 2mm Hobby Lobby Craft Foam EVA

This is absolutely amazing!!! I just have a few questions 1) how did you make the 3D model? And 2) How were u able to create such an awesome backstory?!? It's totally mind blowing! I can't wait to see the final result, it's gonna be epic!