**Carpathia's Mk VI Armor: Master Chief Going into Cryostasis!

[Mstruvmgc]

Looks very clean, love it

 

[Macattack64]

Do you have a goal date for completion?

 

[Carpathia]

I have a VERY tenative schedule in my head. I'd like to be finished with the arms and cod by the end of august, work on the chest and finish it up by the end of september and get at least one weapon built by the beginning of november. It's a pretty rough schedule that would put suit completed at the end of september, but it's do-able. Finishing up with a month to spare will give me some time to make any adjustments or alterations needed as I find them.

I've got the right bicep about half pepped. I'll most likely have it finished and have both biceps resined by tomorrow evening. Then, over the weekend I'll fiberglass the biceps and forearms, maybe even begin the bondo process on them.

 

[Carpathia]

Very quick update. I've managed to get the biceps resined. So, here is the current condition of my forearms and biceps...

I haven't had the chance to get out to fiberglass them since it's been well over 100 degrees every day this week. Just getting the biceps resined was a pain. So, instead, I've been working slowly on this...

I've attached a few rare earth magnets to the inside of my right thigh and am slowly putting together a new pistol. My BR is still back at my inlaws', as well as the SMG, and my old pistol was less than stellar, so I'm starting a new one. This is something that I will focus on as long as it's too hot outside to work. It's really miserable out there.

Anyway, keep watching!

 

[Macattack64]

You should see about completing early August. Chicago Comic Con is coming up then. I know you are aiming for Halo 4.

 

[Carpathia]

You should see about completing early August. Chicago Comic Con is coming up then. I know you are aiming for Halo 4.

Yeah, I know about that, but I'll be leaving for a week long vacation in a few weeks and won't be able to do anything during that time. If I'm lucky I'll be able to finish up what I wanted to finish up before the end of August by then, but I still won't have a torso (and this isn't a project I want to rush, that's always been my downfall in suit builds).

On the positive side, I got my forearms and biceps fiberglassed yesterday and will start bondoing the forearms today. I should have progress pics up later on tonight.

 

[Carpathia]

Update time! I spent some time cleaning the fiberglass overrun off the biceps and the forearms tonight. Then, I got the forearms about 85% bondoed. Afterward, knowing that I am using only medium definition files, I decided to add in the missing detail. So, I made a pattern and traced it onto some mat-board and cut the pieces out...

The first step was to add in the bar filler into the cavity of the armor...

Then the first layer of detail went on...

And finally, the second layer of detail...

It all went together pretty nicely...

The indents are a tiny bit deep. If I think I need to, I may mix up a tiny batch of rondo and bring the level up a bit.

Tomorrow, I will complete the last 15% of the bondo work, which is a line detail on the back side. I have to do a little research tonight to figure out the proper shape, but I don't anticipate any issues with it. After I finish smoothing out the last bit of bondo work, the gauntlets will be ready for clean up and priming.

Let me know what you think!

 

[hyundai2806]

thats really awesome its very clean indeed!

i was looking up top and noticed you were making the odst socom mod magnum
i just started a quick put together one with a green gas glock,bad thing about it is itll be real weight..lol
so earth magnets wont to the trick but i could some quick disconnect adapters i might use.

its not supposed to be perfect or i wouldve just done a pepped mag, but i cant wait to see it finished!! good work

 

[Carpathia]

i was looking up top and noticed you were making the odst socom mod magnum

It's actualy just the Halo 3 M6G Magnum. The M6G and the M6S are essentially the same base pistol with different attachments. I started a thread a long while back in which I released a pep file for the M6G, M6C and M6S all in one file. I'm currently reworking that file and will likely update the thread soon.

 

[vshore100]

This is a great build carpathia. Awesome stuff!

 

[Macattack64]

That looks very close to how I did mine!! Nicely done!

 

[Carpathia]

Thanks Mac!

I got some more work done on the forearms tonight. First off, last night I dusted off my copy of Halo 3 and went into forge to take a look at the lines on the backside of the gauntlets. Here is what I found...

So, I taped off the lower line...

Then I bondoed everything above the tape line, sanded smooth and repeated for the upper line and ended up with this...

Then, of course, there's this mess...

Tomorrow, I will sand down the filler making the gauntlets nice and smooth. After that, they will be ready for a coat of primer!

 

[Macattack64]

Those look amazing! I'm excited for you to get done so we can troop!

 

[Carpathia]

Only a few more days left on the gauntlets! I got the spot putty sanded down today...

And since the indents were too deep, I filled them up with a little bit of resin...

Finally, I was able to apply the primer and silver coat...

Here's a shot of it on my forearm. Looks just about right to me...

Tomorrow, I'll be able to get the primary color on and a few clear coats, then Friday I'll finish up the paint job and pad them, and they'll be done!

 

[Macattack64]

Those look awesome! I can't wait to see it finished and trooping!

 

[Mstruvmgc]

yeah those looks righteous man. I am going to have to invest in this spot putty stuff lol

 

[Nessy]

So shiny! These are looking awesome, keep it up!

 

[Carpathia]

Those look awesome! I can't wait to see it finished and trooping!

Damned straight! I'll get to a convention one of these days!

yeah those looks righteous man. I am going to have to invest in this spot putty stuff lol

You should indeed, spot putty is a life saver. My bondo work is never perfect, but spot putty fills in all the little pits and imperfections. It's great stuff.

So shiny! These are looking awesome, keep it up!

Thanks to everyone for the compliments.

Well, the paint job is finished and I had a revelation tonight. I had wondered why the blackwash on my boots, shins and thighs were so different than the blackwash on my helmet. My helmet's blackwash was so much more subtle than the rest of the armor. Well, I figured it out. For my helmet, I use model brush cleaner, which is a paint thinner, for the rest of the armor, I had been using LAQUOR thinner. There is a difference. Laquor thinner evaporates 10 times as fast as paint thinner. When I blackwash, I need a thin film of unevaporated thinner on the piece before I lay down my black dye. That way the dye dosen't directly penetrate the paint job, but rather flows over top of it. So, tonight I picked up some paint thinner.

Here you can see the blackwashing supplies I use...

So, yesterday, I applied my standard paint job. After the silver coat, masked off areas with petroleum jelly and sprayed some dark primer, then wiped away the jelly and reapplied, sprayed on the green and wiped the jelly away again...

Then, after the blackwash and silver highlights...

The camera still picks up the blackwash better than you can see it in person, but if you compare it to the shins, thighs or boots, you can tell that it is a lot more subtle. I figured that the legs can remain less subtly blackwashed because the legs would see more damage and grime anyway, so the suit's paint job should still look balanced.

All I have left to do with these is padding so they don't flop around on my forearms; but that will have to be next week after I can get to the hobby store and pick up some more foam. Next week, I'll be focusing on my biceps, hopefully completing them before next Friday. After that I will be gone for a week (spending the week of my birthday in a condo on the beach in Florida, lazy days). So, keep watching and let me know what you think.

 

[Macattack64]

The camera still picks up the blackwash better than you can see it in person, but if you compare it to the shins, thighs or boots, you can tell that it is a lot more subtle. I figured that the legs can remain less subtly blackwashed because the legs would see more damage and grime anyway, so the suit's paint job should still look balanced.

That's what I was kind of going for with my suit! My boots are much darker and fades into the shins a bit! I like the realistic approach!

 

[Redshirt]

You should indeed, spot putty is a life saver. My bondo work is never perfect, but spot putty fills in all the little pits and imperfections. It's great stuff.

When I blackwash, I need a thin film of unevaporated thinner on the piece before I lay down my black dye. That way the dye dosen't directly penetrate the paint job, but rather flows over top of it. So, tonight I picked up some paint thinner.

I have a couple of tips I've learned on these two topics. Spot putty was a lifesaver, but brittle and prone to cracking and chipping when flexed. It is also slow drying and prone to shrinkage if you use a lot. My fiberglass supplier talked me into using Auto body Icing by USC. It is a catalyzed spot filler that is fast curing (because it is polyester resin based) and very easy to sand with a much finer 'grain' than Bondo. I'll never go back to the toluene-based red stuff--just a much more predictable and stable result. I got mine at NAPA, but here's a place that features it:

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/usc-icing-polyester-finishing-putty-p-10969.aspx

For black washing, I have two solutions. Sometimes I use mineral spirits. It is thicker and less volatile than paint thinner so it flows out with less likelihood of attacking the base paint. If my base paint is spray paint, the most susceptible to oil-based solvents, I'll use an acrylic black in with a 50/50 mix of water and rubbing alcohol along with a couple of drops of dish soap (to help everything get along). Also, if my black wash is too harsh, I'll add a little brown or my base color to soften the effect. Another trick I use to keep the effect soft is to airbrush in subtle shadowing before the black wash.

Before

After

Redshirt