RoxyRoo's Halo 5 Build + Undersuit

WARNING. PIC HEAVY.

I wasn't going to start my halo build until I finished my Destiny Hunter, but since I landed a ticket to PAX I can at least try to have something halo related. (Thankyou, Spacemeat! I've always wanted to go!). I may not have an entire suit done by then. I'm just too slow because I'm a detail monger. Doing things twice is annoying so getting it right the first time is important to me. OKAY. I have to give some credit here. I'm fully following Lil'Tyrant's lead. ElTee, you are one amazing seamstress. I'm devouring your thread and taking it to heart. (Everyone should check it out right now.)

First off, I made a duct tape dummy. New and full body, unlike my old one that was only a bust. (I should have done this years ago. The avenues opening for patterns for cosplay across the board is blowing my mind). I've been going to the gym, so I have a lot more muscle mass than I used to, so a new dummy was needed anyway. I weighed around 110 lb 3 years ago when I did my Reach Gungnir. Now I weigh 119.5 lb. Booyah. I'm going to look like a spartan inside and out. MUAHAHAHAHAH FEAR MY GIRLY MUSCLES.

I took an entire 2 days do make this thing. 2 large roles of duct tape. A whole stack of newspapers to stuff it with. I need to get some pvc pipe to make the legs stand better. I don't like leaving the dummy on the floor for my cat to terrorize...


Making the Duct Tape Dummy.

People always, always ask me to tell them how to make one of these. It really is quite simple.

Here's what you need:
1) a friend
2) scissors
3) duct tape (I used 2 large rolls. But most men are much larger than me, so you want at least 3-6)
4) newspaper, a large stack.
5) marker
6) plastic bags (optional) or old close fitting clothes (optional).
7) patience and time. (lol)

Get a friend (or in my case, I got my twin sister) to tape you up. GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFOREHAND. Start first with the chest. Use plastic bags (cut so you can use strips of it), old clothing, or newspaper to separate your skin from the duct tape. It's best to wear tight fitting clothes underneath. For example, work out tank tops, leggings, etc. Tape around your chest just below your pectoral muscles as a starting point. Then criss cross over your shoulders and work your way around your torso. Leave the arms for last so you can rip pieces of duct tape for your friend as they work. Then continue with the legs, neck, and finally arms.







Once your entire body has been covered with tape, use a marker to draw lines up the back of your legs, back, neck and arms. Make markings to where each 4-6 inches meet up so you can match it later when you tape it back up.

Smile. People will use pictures as blackmail if you don't.






Hopefully the person you chose to tape you up and cut you out is trustworthy. When they are cutting you out, they have to be careful! They can nick your skin very easily. My sister stuck her finger between the tape layer and my skin/pants to make sure she didn't cut me. Even though she was slow and careful, I still got nicked about 3 times. >.> I guess I should say too that you shouldn't wrap the tape too tightly because it will make this part take that much longer.

After you recover from escaping your duct tape cocoon, tape it back up bit by bit and stuff it along the way with newspaper. I suggest using pvc or wooden dowels to make the legs stay straight. That way you can make your dummy stand up without the shins crumpling. I forgot to do that...


Pattern Making for the H5 Undersuit.

1) First part of patterns is to cut down the center to mirror it later. I'm using masking tape here because it doesn't tick too much to the duct tape.



2) After gathering tons of reference photos from various Halo 5 stills and screenshots, I found that the H5 undersuits are basically the same as the H4, but with less color and less blasted hexagon patterns. Here's the progress so far.







Those hated Hexagon Patterns


As far as I can tell, the hexagon patterns are still present in the H5 undersuits, but are significantly reduced in the area they cover. I've seen it on the shoulders and biceps in various screenshots, like below.



This is what I've managed to figure out. If you take a thick type of vinyl, heat it up with a heat gun, then press down one of those hexagon heat pads, you get this below. I tried two kinds of vinyl/pleather. The thinner kind still had the faux leather texture even with the added hexes, but the thicker, smooth kind kept the hexes perfectly even days after, which I believe will be permanent. I'm going to continue experimenting with this until I get it right. Please note that these are only small test pieces.




The Armor.

Last but not least, I've begun the armor. Thanks to Zero'sEnd, I was able to get a sized pepakura. I've begun adjusting the base pattern (Master Chief) to closer match Kelly's chest plate from Halo 5. No, I am not making Kelly. Just her chest piece. I'm still deciding what other armor pieces to make. Besides, it's been a while since I've done foaming and I'm slow. Should I even bother explaining foam process? I feel like a lot of people understand it now. If so, just let me know and I'll explain it. It's getting late so further explanations will wait till next post.

RoxyRoo at it again! Looking good so far!

This may be the first full screen accurate UNDERsuit made. Cannot wait to see the results.

The more I see builders use duct tape dummies for their undersuit, the more I'm convinced that using duct tape dummies is the best way to go for a custom fitting undersuit. I'll definitely have to scour this thread for information once I start my next Halo armor project. The work your doing so far is excellent especially with the customization! I'm looking forward for more updates!

I couldn't help but notice the braille number on your chest. Is it 371? I like it when builders add a little character to their armor. I'm also going to use the braille system myself when I tackle my Halo 5 build...eventually .

Man im going to have to start on my undersuit in a little bit. It looks challenging, not going to lie. I already have a duct tape dummy. Nice start though!!!

I have been able to get the same hexagon pattern results using foam in place of vinyl leather in case you want to try exploring it as an option.

I have a post in my build thread with the results.

I've tried both the heat pad trivet as well as a stencil (embossing folder) I got from Hobby Lobby for getting a hexagon pattern.
The trivet looks like it would be best for the small patterns on the limbs while the embossing folder would be good for the torso pieces.

If you have a 3D-printer available, I've made some custom hexagon pattern stamps with the intention to heat press them into foam once I get to them.
I'd be happy to share it if you mailed me the 3d-printed stamps when you were done with them so that I can use them myself.

I can do a custom size, a raised or recessed pattern, and I can go ahead and set it to the size of your print base so slicing isn't necessary.

Looking great so far Roxy! So stoked to see another one of your builds on here, as your first one was phenomenal!

Omg i never even thought to cover the duct tape dummy with tape and draw on it... It seems so simple lol. Looking great roxy, keep up the good work

Looking great so far! So exited for this build

I've stalled on my undersuit. This is good motivation to start again.

Awesome

Thanks for the tips on imprinting the honeycomb. Tested it out on 5mm & 3mm foam as well as some vinyl and fake leather.

Cutting you out of the duct tape.... The trust is REAL here, folks.... But seriously, that is something that takes some serious trust that I doubt I could muster in someone. Looks good so far.

I couldn't help but notice the braille number on your chest. Is it 371? I like it when builders add a little character to their armor. I'm also going to use the braille system myself when I tackle my Halo 5 build...eventually .

Click to expand...

Actually, it's supposed to be 326, which is my birthday. lol. I also have those numbers on the end of my gamertag.

WandererTJ said:

I have been able to get the same hexagon pattern results using foam in place of vinyl leather in case you want to try exploring it as an option.

If you have a 3D-printer available, I've made some custom hexagon pattern stamps with the intention to heat press them into foam once I get to them.
I'd be happy to share it if you mailed me the 3d-printed stamps when you were done with them so that I can use them myself.

Click to expand...

I chose vinyl because it can be sewn to fabric. Foam cannot be sewn because it will tear, even with a glued cotton backing. It doesn't work too well on longer seam lines.

Rusty from Phoenix Team has a 3D printer, I believe. Making larger stamps is something I'll tell him to look into. The little silicon one I have can only do so much. If other members, such as yourself, wish to do a full hexagon Halo 4 undersuit, a larger stamp will be needed. My small one works for now since only the shoulders and biceps of Halo 5 needs hexes.

Mstruvmgc said:

Omg i never even thought to cover the duct tape dummy with tape and draw on it... It seems so simple lol. Looking great roxy, keep up the good work

Click to expand...

Don't do it! I just cut out the patterns and it caused a couple problems (putting tape on tape). The masking tape patterns came off, but when I used an exacto blade to cut it out, I sometimes went through the duct tape as well. In the future I will be covering the dummy with plain newspaper instead, like Lil'Tyrant.

FirstPick said:

Thanks for the tips on imprinting the honeycomb. Tested it out on 5mm & 3mm foam as well as some vinyl and fake leather.
View attachment 15531

Click to expand...

Oooooo~ Experimenting is fun, isn't it? Thankyou for sharing pics.


Working on cosplay again today. I just got back from a trip from Minnesota for my cousin's wedding. I also went fishing. I caught a tiny 5inch bass and 2 blue gills (catch and release). I'll upload more pics when I have enough progress to show. I hate uploading to photobucket. Is there an easier way to upload pictures on here?

Can't wait to see this finished! Your Reach build was awesome! What helmet are you going with?

I'm back from the crazy adventure that was PAX Prime. Preparing for the con left me little time to spend updating my thread. I'll be posting everything you've all missed if you haven't been following my Instagram or Facebook pages. You guys get more detailed descriptions though, so have fun reading.



Let's start with the rest of the build I have so far. I'll repeat this since people still ask: The Halo 5 suit is the same pattern as the Halo 4 suit, just without the Hexes. The only place I have seen the hexes is on the shoulder and biceps. I've marked them with hatch marks on the tape. I'll also repeat DO NOT USE TAPE DIRECTLY ON YOUR MANNEQUIN. Use newspaper. I nearly ruined my mannequin while removing the tape. Don't do it!





If you ignore the advice above, and use tape, put the tape onto newspaper so the back is no longer sticky and the pattern is now stiff. If you used newspaper in the first place, then good for you! Also, this tape method for pattern making can be used for other things, like props. Say you make a beautiful carving of a warthog out of insulation foam, but want to redo it in a stronger material. Tape it up and then use the pattern to remake it the same size and dimensions out of something else. I did this in college with a sculpture of a whale and used the pattern to remake the whale out of plastic. It was an adorable whale balloon. <3





If you really want to make sure the patterns are flatter than newspaper and tape, re-trace it onto brand new, unused newspaper stock. I did this. Then I realized I didn't really have to. At least now I have fancy patterns to re-use later if need be.



Neck seal in progress. I did this wrong. I should have sewed the pieces together and then stuffed them, but i did it the other way around. I stuffed then sewed. It still looks good though. In the future, I'll remember.




The chest is full of weird protrusions. Because I'm a sucker for detail, I'll implement them anyway, despite the fact that NO ONE WILL SEE THIS UNDERNEATH THE CHEST PIECE. Craft foam. These will be sandwiched between to layers of spandex.





It's important to find that goldy-locks zone. When making details, you can't make it too big or too small, but juuuuuust right. The left was too big. The right was my 2nd attempt and turned out the right size, but also much nicer. Sometimes doing something again makes a better piece simply because you've had practice.



Details details... One piece at a time. I had to really trust my patterns being the right size, because I had no way of test fitting individual pieces.



As more details came in, the more it looked like i was making a charcoal lobster. >_>;;; Slightly different technique here. There are two layers of spandex again, but the craft foam is shaped and then stuck in between. I then hand sewed (yes, hand sewed) the top fabric and stretched it under the edge of the foam, making it POP. Gluing a separate piece would achieve the same look, but it wouldn't nearly hold up as long. I want this costume to last for years, not days.



Cat Break

And by cat break, I mean my cat literally forces me to pause a project because she claims my stuff. XD


Lower abdomen, patterned and then done first in foam. There are three layers of craft foam here. This will be stuck in between two pre-sewn layers of fabric, just like before.



Torso mostly completed. Here is the front. There are some minor details missing here.



Zoomed out view. The bottom there looks odd, I know. But that is where all the strapping comes in. I need to get more pictures for that.




Here's the stamped vinyl again, but this time done on black instead of blue. Looks much better.

Step 1) Prepare cut out of vinyl roughly larger than the stamp.
Step 2) Cover front of vinyl with a sheet of cotton fabric, then use an iron on medium/hot temperature.
Step 3) Flip the vinyl scrap over and iron the back, with the cotton still over it until the edges begin to lift off the ironing board.
Step 4) Repeat the front real quick
Step 5) Quickly place the scrap on the floor (carpet) face up, and place the stamp over it.
Step 6) Quickly place a sheet of EVA foam over the stamp and then... STAND on it. Your weight will press the stamp into the vinyl.
Step 7) Remove the foam and stamp. There you go, a stamped vinyl scrap.





More updates coming REALLY SOON. I need to gather more photos. This post is already huge.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoxyRooCosplay
Instagram: https://instagram.com/roxyroocosplay/

Wow I'm quite impressed. I will be following this closely to see what else I can learn from all this.

One thing I noticed myself: When the vinyl on the undersuit and the foam armor rub together when walking, they make a squeaking sound.

Just wanted to say thank you for sharing. By any means I know nothing about sewing, but this is one of the ideas that I had mind for undersuit. Or pep the undersuit mold an cast it, then use some type of rubber, or silicone cast. By the way, not really sure about how you went about pressing then honey comb shape into the vinyl? Saw that you explained it in steps, but you did say you will be posting more pics. This is looking really good! Again, thank you so much for sharing!

Very nice Roxy!