Spacemeat's Halo 5 Athlon / Air Assault Foam Build

Hi Everybody!

I know the Crimson Crusher isn't 100% complete yet; that'll be finished before SDCC for sure. But I definitely had to get the ball rolling on this new build: My Halo 5-ish Athlon build. I'm primarily basing this build on the Armor I was using during the Halo 5 beta with few Halo 4 parts substituted in. I'm guess I'm just hoping those parts are still going to be available to me in the final game, but you never can tell.

Anyhow, I've started a new video log series with entry 0 being the intro and basically describing the parts I've gathering and the prep work I needed to get to the building stage:


To get started, I need to assets for this build, so during the Halo 5 beta, a couple of friends and I hopped into the game and basically acted as "war photographers", circling around me and repeatedly yelling "xbox, record that".



At which I passed the files off to Rundown whom I commissioned to make 3D models of. So I ended up with an Athlon chestplate, thighs, shins, and boots:



I'm still in the middle of unfolding the chest and other body parts for foam. But I've gotten the shins and thighs at done, so I've been able to take advantage of the new massive laser cutter we've gotten at the maker lab:



Here's the pattern for the shin cut and ready and to assemble:



And to kick off this build, I've finally changed the blade on my hot knife. Look at that gunk!



Anyhow, I've started assembling, and here's some progress:



That's it for now! For the next few video logs, I'm experimenting doing timelapse videos of me building in the interest of saving time and avoiding being repetitive from the last series of videos. So stay tuned for the next update with some time lapse goodness!

Very nice work so far - I look forward to seeing this build come to fruition.

On another note: how possible would it be to get images of the H2A/H5 Mk VI multiplayer armour? I'm in need of some decent shots of the belt/crotch plating and I haven't met anybody else yet who's able to grab images.

Chernobyl said:

On another note: how possible would it be to get images of the H2A/H5 Mk VI multiplayer armour? I'm in need of some decent shots of the belt/crotch plating and I haven't met anybody else yet who's able to grab images.

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The Halo 5 Mk VI will be impossible for me at this point as the beta is longer active and I can't go beyond the start screen at this point. The H2A version is extremely easy to do and I can take some screenshots for you in relatively short order.

how are people so good at building with foam

Spacemeat said:

The H2A version is extremely easy to do and I can take some screenshots for you in relatively short order.

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That would be amazing. I'll throw you first dibs on the files when they're done.

Noble 10 said:

how are people so good at building with foam

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More than anything else, practice. I'm not terribly proud of my first two sets of armor, but to get to the point I'm at now I had to make those rough pieces and learn. So, just keep at it, and build your skills up!

And also, you can also watch my tutorials and build logs for tips and things NOT to do whenever you see me screwup

I'm really looking forward to this build. Not just for the great information you share in your videos and builds but I really think that your latest set of armor was fantastic! I know this build will not disappoint.

So excited to see the progress on this build! good luck !

oh my god, i'ts gonna look so badass! i'm definitely subscribing!

Build Log #1 - From the Ground Up

Frozensnot said:

I'm really looking forward to this build. Not just for the great information you share in your videos and builds but I really think that your latest set of armor was fantastic! I know this build will not disappoint.

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pipninja said:

So excited to see the progress on this build! good luck !

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danielix 96 said:

oh my god, i'ts gonna look so badass! i'm definitely subscribing!

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Thanks everyone for the encouragement! This is certainly going to be my "best ever" armor (at least until the next set), and I'm definitely experimenting and trying out new things that I hope will be useful to everyone in the future!

Though for right now, I just need to get through the actual foam building phase, so here's "Athlon Build Log #1 - From The Ground Up". This one covers all the construction work I've been doing for the last week. I'm starting from the bottom of the armor and working my way up. So in this update I've gotten the boots, shins, knees, and thighs done. As I said previously, I've been experimenting with doing a timelapse video while building, so you can get a general sense of the steps of build without being totally repetitive from the hammer logs. In anycase, let me know what you think, I'm thinking of using the headcam again in at least one of the future logs as I head into more complicated parts or should I just stick to the timelapse?


For the more photographically inclined, here's a breakdown of the completed pieces so far;



Boots - Pretty straightforward. These are going to be attached to a pair of black sneakers so I can keep running, jumping, etc.. I'm still looking for a cheap pair of black shoes to sacrifice, but haven't found anything yet. Of course, I haven't been looking too hard either and I think I'm going to have to do a deeper dive into Amazon soon.



Shin - I toyed with the idea of making it spit in two, but I couldn't really find a good place to put a seam and then put it back together in a reliably strong way. In the end I decided to just go with what works and make it one complete piece. The Athlon seems more narrow than the Reach shins at the bottom, so in order to accomodate my foot going through, I left a flap in the back unglued so it can flex as my foot moves through.



Kneecap - It goes on my knee. A slight change this time around is that I'm going to try to use purse snaps to attach it instead of the elastic band I have in my Reach armor.



Thighs - The thighs, even though they're sized to my height, ended up being too large for my legs. So to compensate for that I've decided to pull the back piece further around and instead of gluing it edge to edge, I'm overlaying the pieces. This has the handy benefit of allowing me to put snaps there in the future and it will allow the thigh to be removable straight from my leg, instead of needing to pull off my shoes, shins, and knees before getting the thigh off.

And finally, here's all of the pieces so far on me:



And that wraps up this update. I'm currently working through the forearms and shoulders, so those should be ready by the next update. I've got about 7 or so weeks to SDCC, so I really have to push it to get this done in time!

Hey man I watched all of your videos and I just hope that I can get as good as you can. I just started to cut my foam boots out but my confidence level is just not there yet...

I swear every single time I watch one of your videos or read up on the latest update, I always end up stealing of your ideas. I have a purse snap addiction because of you. It's all your fault haha. They are the solution to most of my strapping problems . The solution to your thigh problem is ingenious. Purse snaps for the win!

I personally like the timelapses. I was able to follow along quite easily. How is the video quality for the head cam? I think the more angles there are the better. The front and back angles used in the video were well done.

Keep the updates coming!

Just curious if you can pm me, I'd like to know if you could sell me the lower half already cut out in pieces, let me know how much. I only need the lower half in the recon suit. Thanks

Looking great so far! cant wait to see your updates!

What is that massive machine that has been cutting out your parts?

Frozensnot said:

I swear every single time I watch one of your videos or read up on the latest update, I always end up stealing of your ideas. I have a purse snap addiction because of you. It's all your fault haha. They are the solution to most of my strapping problems . The solution to your thigh problem is ingenious. Purse snaps for the win!

I personally like the timelapses. I was able to follow along quite easily. How is the video quality for the head cam? I think the more angles there are the better. The front and back angles used in the video were well done.

Keep the updates coming!

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I'm glad it's helping you out! I usually think that people learn what NOT to do based on the many many mistakes I make during a build. Glad to hear there's some new information leaking out of my videos too! As to the headcam, I'm certainly going to bring it out at some point, but it's capturing at 1080p 60FPS, so it actually creates some pretty large files especially for 1+ hours of footage at a time. All logs from the Hammer I think led to about 100 to 150 GBs of video. So, at this point, I'm using the camera a bit sparingly.

Uscstaylor said:

Hey man I watched all of your videos and I just hope that I can get as good as you can. I just started to cut my foam boots out but my confidence level is just not there yet...

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It takes time and practice! You're going to build out your suit and at the end you'll turn around and look at the first piece you did and compare it to the last piece you did and you'll probably see light years of advancement. At which point, you'll probably be really tempted to redo the first piece with all the new techniques and knowledge you've acquired during the build (Don't worry, that happens all the time!).

Reii said:

Looking great so far! cant wait to see your updates!

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Thanks! I'm going to try to keep updating on a regular basis until SDCC, but I have the feeling as we get closer and I start feeling the crunch, I'll have to prioritize finishing the armor versus putting up an update.

FelixMercenary said:

What is that massive machine that has been cutting out your parts?

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It's a laser cutter, found at my local makerspace.

Build Log #2 - One Step Forearm, One Step Back

Hey everyone! Got another update and build log for you!


So this week wasn't super productive for me. I didn't have to much time to work on anything the past week and adding in the mistakes I made, I pretty much got a pair of forearms done:



As you can see, the contoured forearms are made of two separate pieces, so to keep them together and maintain flexibility, I used nylon strapping and purse snaps. This allows me to clamp it to me like a clamshell when putting it on and take it apart into its two pieces for storage/travel.

But alas, even this didn't go right as I misjudged the side of the piece and made a pretty big mistake on one of them. I should have trusted my initial scaling, but when I built it and wrapped it around my arm, it seemed too wide. So to "fix" it, I ended putting snap on the other face of the armor so I could put the piece on tighter. Problem was, I forgot that I'm not naked underneath the armor and I have pieces of undersuit that add some bulk to me. That's when I figured out that when my elbow piece in place, the forearm fits in it's normal position.



So I had to backtrack and remove the snap, which left a rather large gouge in the foam. So, since it's early enough, I've got a replacement part for that area, and next I'm going to just remove the affected pieces and replace it.



And now onto my big mistake of the week, the shoulder plate:



Basically, I sized it too small. I was still in a Reach mindset and sized the plate to the same scale as the shoulder plate on my Reach armor. What I forgot was that the Reach armor is composed of two pieces, the shoulder plate and the bicep piece:



As you can see here, the in game one covers a lot more of the length of the bicep then mine:



So yeah. Stopped immediately when I realized and ran off to the laser cutter to make larger pieces. Which you can actually see in my new Guide video all about laser cutting:

My mistake, and totally your benefit with a laser cutting guide as I redo the piece.

Anyhow, that wraps up this rather setback filled update. Next time I aim to finish the shoulders and get started on the chest plate, which I've already cut out. And on a final note, does anyone have a lead on a good pep/obj file of the Halo 4 spine plate? I've been digging around and I still haven't seen anything, same goes for the crotch plate actually, I've seen a few floating around but I don't think they're sufficiently detailed or the right shape. If anyone knows of any, I'll be very grateful if you could kindly direct me to it.

but but but theres no space diaper...

This build is looking fantastic! I think that the Athlon set is some of the coolest looking Halo armor, and I'm pretty happy you are trying to build it. Can't wait for the next update!

Video Log #3 - Shouldering Through

Galvatron said:

but but but theres no space diaper...

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Actually...

nanobot said:

This build is looking fantastic! I think that the Athlon set is some of the coolest looking Halo armor, and I'm pretty happy you are trying to build it. Can't wait for the next update!

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Well, looks like you don't have to wait too long for this update!

Video Log #3 - Shouldering Through

So first, to finish off the forearms, I added more strapping to keep the whole thing together when it's on my arm:



Now on to the shoulder plate!

I cut out larger plates, you can see the size difference here:



The little bicep bits and the all the shoulders themselves are pretty intricate, I've pretty much only been building those parts all week:




Here's the shoulder plate and forearm temporarily taped to me:



I think it's certainly a better fit. Still have to get used to the idea that so much undersuit is exposed in Halo 4/5 armor, but I think it's going along well.

Here's a few shots of all pieces done so far:



And finally about that lack of "Space Diaper". Well, I'm pretty much hybridizing my armor with Halo 4/5 parts, such might as well throw some more in the mix. Chernobyl has kindly modeled the MKVI cod piece from Master Chief Collection H2A from the screen shots I took:



Here's the model in pep:



I'm currently unfolding it for foam, and should be posting it up on the forums within a week.

So that pretty much concludes this update! Time to get cracking on the Athlon chest!