1st Build 3D Printed Halo 3 'Finish the Fight' Chief/Spartan Build

[SIERRA720]

Hey everyone, I'm Mitch

I'm an Australian cosplayer who got into cosplaying specifically to make a Halo 3 Master Chief costume a few years ago. Back then I decided to make a clone trooper costume at the last second as I had no previous 3d printing, painting or general costume-making experience and didn't want to do a poor job with Chief. Since then, I've been pretty busy with uni and never got around to making Chief, but after making a really quick Halo CE marine build with my mate (below), I decided now was the time to start.


I'm making the armor based on the look from the Halo 3 'Finish the Fight' trailer with that juicy metallic green/gold paint job. I'm 3D printing the majority of the suit using Moesizzlac's files and my helmet came from Branfuhr Studios. All of the files have been roughly scaled and I'm doing my best to meet the in-game proportions of each armor piece. I'm not only going to make Mark VI armor though, I'd love to make all of the Halo 3 armor configurations, but I know when I'm being too ambitious.. So at the very least, I'll also be making the recon helmet, chest and shoulders to be compatible with the armor. If I have time to make other sets in the future, I'll definitely give those a crack too!


I've been modifying the files slightly just to add some details here and there as well as creating spaces for the lights. First piece I printed was a bicep... Which failed twice. Not a great start but despite the waste of filament, I'm pretty happy with how it came out!


Anyway since then, I've finished printing the biceps and forearms. I've also started cutting the visor out of my helmet cast, but I'm waiting for some decent weather before I finish. After spending way too much time adding some details to the chest/back plate (are fatal errors usually this common with meshmixer??), I'm currently printing the first chest piece as well. Really hoping I've scaled it correctly because its looking quite large on my printer..


Anyway that's about where I'm up to currently. The plan is to complete the entire base costume within 3 months, and then I'll think about future additions such as the recon gear. I also intend to make a Halo 3 carbine and/or a rocket launcher to go with the suit, but weapons aren't my priority right now.

So if anyone has some feedback or questions, feel free to reply! I appreciate the discussion and I'll try to keep this thread updated as often as I can.

Thanks for reading

 

[N8TEBB]

I will watch your career with great interest

 

[MalaFama]

How did it fail?

 

[marinesniper]

the scale looks pretty good on your frame, and i know what you mean when you said your bicep failed i lost three before i realized what i did but thats how we learn from our mistakes. i think you have a great handle on this armor i can not wait to see how this comes out..

 

[SIERRA720]

So over the last few days I've been pretty busy but I've still been progressing with the armor. I made a video showing off and talking about the armor progress on my instagram account if anyone would rather get updates through there. The handle is @sierra720_. Anyway here are some screenshots from that video:


Excuse the awkward poses, none of the gear has any strapping or padding holding it together!

So the chest and arms are fully printed and I'm about 98% done with cutting out the visor. The 3d printed parts have their first layer of filler primer applied and I will begin fiberglassing them soon. In the meantime, I'll need to modify and test the legs before I start printing them.

On a different note, I ordered a recon visor from Branfuhr Studios ad it has just arrived! Going to be hard to focus on finishing the Mark VI stuff first..


Finally, a sneak peak of the metallic green paint I'll be using. Just been testing on the cut-out visor.

 

[SIERRA720]

How did it fail?

There were some internal supports that were generated over a steep edge. They failed, and I think the nozzle got caught on them causing a large layer shift. The second attempt involved using tree supports which were too thin at one particular point again causing the supports to fail. Just bad luck mostly

the scale looks pretty good on your frame, and i know what you mean when you said your bicep failed i lost three before i realized what i did but thats how we learn from our mistakes. i think you have a great handle on this armor i can not wait to see how this comes out..

Exactly right, sometimes these things just happen and thanks!

 

[RyFISH]

So over the last few days I've been pretty busy but I've still been progressing with the armor. I made a video showing off and talking about the armor progress on my instagram account if anyone would rather get updates through there. The handle is @sierra720_. Anyway here are some screenshots from that video:
View attachment 326163View attachment 326160View attachment 326161View attachment 326158View attachment 326162

Excuse the awkward poses, none of the gear has any strapping or padding holding it together!

So the chest and arms are fully printed and I'm about 98% done with cutting out the visor. The 3d printed parts have their first layer of filler primer applied and I will begin fiberglassing them soon. In the meantime, I'll need to modify and test the legs before I start printing them.

On a different note, I ordered a recon visor from Branfuhr Studios ad it has just arrived! Going to be hard to focus on finishing the Mark VI stuff first..
View attachment 326159

Finally, a sneak peak of the metallic green paint I'll be using. Just been testing on the cut-out visor.

View attachment 326165View attachment 326166

I looked at those visors earlier, do you think they’re worth the 100 or so dollars?

 

[PlanetAlexander]

Hey everyone, I'm Mitch

I'm an Australian cosplayer who got into cosplaying specifically to make a Halo 3 Master Chief costume a few years ago. Back then I decided to make a clone trooper costume at the last second as I had no previous 3d printing, painting or general costume-making experience and didn't want to do a poor job with Chief. Since then, I've been pretty busy with uni and never got around to making Chief, but after making a really quick Halo CE marine build with my mate (below), I decided now was the time to start.

Woo, more Australian classic marines! This is starting to explain how Dubbo can be in multiple places at once.

Your current build is looking great so far too!

 

[SIERRA720]

I looked at those visors earlier, do you think they’re worth the 100 or so dollars?

I don't really have any other visors to compare them to, but if you're looking for a high degree of accuracy they're perfect. I'm pretty happy with mine and don't regret paying what I did

Woo, more Australian classic marines! This is starting to explain how Dubbo can be in multiple places at once.

Your current build is looking great so far too!

Apparently so! No surprise Chips is a popular costume down here.. And thanks! Can't wait to start painting it

 

[RyFISH]

I don't really have any other visors to compare them to, but if you're looking for a high degree of accuracy they're perfect. I'm pretty happy with mine and don't regret paying what I did


Apparently so! No surprise Chips is a popular costume down here.. And thanks! Can't wait to start painting it

Ok ok I’ll consider the fancy visors

 

[SpartanSweed]

Branfur visors are top tier if you’re looking for quality, but the iconprops visor sheet is an excellent choice as well

 

[SIERRA720]

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've still been cracking away in the background. I'm clearly not the best at documenting things as I go but I'll have a big update written up soon!

 

[SIERRA720]

I'm really bad with updates.. But unfortunately I wasn't able to finish Chief before my uni semester started. I study full-time so it's really hard to find time to work on costuming when I'm not on holidays.

Anyway, in the background I've managed to paint all pieces except for the shoes. Started strapping yesterday and the chest and arms are now wearable! I've got a convention coming up in two weeks so I've really gotta rush to get it wearable (not 100% finished). It'll still probably be months until everything is finalised. Anyway, here's a test fit of the upper body

 

[SIERRA720]

Oh forgot to say too, don't mind my voice in that vid. There's no padding in the helmet so I can hardly move or it'll slip

Here are some more progress pictures!

 

[SIERRA720]

Legs: strapped!

I'm headed to a convention in a week and probably won't be able to work on the suit again. While it still isn't near finished, I'll wear it there as a test run. I still have to make the boots (not certain how I'll do them admittedly), weather the armour, add some extra Eva foam details and add the electronics.

If anyone is at Melbourne Supanova, be sure to say hi!

Ion

 

[SIERRA720]

This'll be the look before the first convention. Still unfinished, but wearable

 

[Cadet]

The undersuit you got from SnakePit Studios looks great. You see a lot of dye sublimated Halo 4 or 5 style Tech Suits, but that's the fiest Halo 3 one I have seen. I believe in the Facebook Group you said it was a custom commission? They really did do a great job on it.

I think once you get the back of the "Space Diaper" sorted, it looks like you had a visble gap between the side pieces and the posterior plate on FB, and give it a black wash, this will be one of the best Halo 3 Suits I have seen in a long time

 

[SIERRA720]

The undersuit you got from SnakePit Studios looks great. You see a lot of dye sublimated Halo 4 or 5 style Tech Suits, but that's the fiest Halo 3 one I have seen. I believe in the Facebook Group you said it was a custom commission? They really did do a great job on it.

I think once you get the back of the "Space Diaper" sorted, it looks like you had a visble gap between the side pieces and the posterior plate on FB, and give it a black wash, this will be one of the best Halo 3 Suits I have seen in a long time

Thanks mate that's much appreciated!

The suit still isn't done but I intend to have it looking very accurate by the time I'm finished. Some of the things I still have to do are make the missing hip pieces and weather the suit like you said, but I've also got to make better boots and add the lighting too.

Hopefully I'll be able to have it finished in a few months

 

[SIERRA720]

Went to my first convention in the suit today. The shoes I threw together last second were extremely uncomfortable and I need some extra shoulder padding. I've also got to improve airflow into the helmet as the little fan I had wasn't cutting it. Apart from that, there are a few smaller touch ups I'll also need to do but the suit didn't perform too bad for its first time!

Here are some pics

I can't wait to improve the suit and get back out there!

And thanks to Shayden for lending me his Halo CE magnum for the day, I needed a weapon

 

[Wendi82]

Oh forgot to say too, don't mind my voice in that vid. There's no padding in the helmet so I can hardly move or it'll slip

Here are some more progress pictures! View attachment 330016View attachment 330017View attachment 330018View attachment 330019

Really loving the weathering on the armour, what technique did you use? Dry brushing? It looks beautiful