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

[Deadpool5]

Nice job on the helmet! it looks awesome!

 

[Carpathia]

Thanks Deadpool. If you all like the helmet, here's a little gem. I've gotten the electronics and the padding installed. That means that the helmet is FULLY complete. It's my first COMPLETE helmet!! Only took me two years.

Anyway, here are some progress shots of the electronics installation.

First, the battery packs were glued into place. I needed to supply 12 volts for the fans, which means 8 AAA batteries...

Next, I installed and painted the grill covers for the fan vents. The material I used here is a mesh material used in drywall patching. Very inexpensive, and I had it laying around the house (just a side note, all the items I used for this part I had on hand except the switches).

Then I installed the fans. Two 12 volt industrial fans my father-in-law scavenged from where he works. They were hot-glued into place. The hot-glue also acted as a dampener for the noise of the fans, preventing the fans from rattling the helmet...

After that, it was time for the lights. I used four 5mm white LED's and mounted them behind the clear drawer bumbers adhered to the outside of the helmet...

The padding is 1" padding foam, sewn into some black cloth I had and velcroed into the helmet...

Oh so comfy.

And here's a little extra for you all...

So, I hope you enjoy this. As I said, my helmet is DONE now and I can focus on the rest of the armor. Keep watching and let me know what you think!!

 

[mkshane81]

The helmet turned out great!! And you're right, that does look comfy.

-Matt

 

[Deadpool5]

Good job, just out of curiosity, what kind of batteries did you use for the LEDs, and how many?

 

[Carpathia]

First, the battery packs were glued into place. I needed to supply 12 volts for the fans, which means 8 AAA batteries...

There ya go.

 

[Carpathia]

Update 08/15/2011: I managed to get a little work done tonight. I finished smoothing out one shin and am almost done with the other. The shin I finished, I also cut down a detail line to split the shin where I want to. My plan is to attach straps to the front section of the piece, strap than onto my shin, then attach the back portion and hold the two pieces together with rare earth magnets (which I have yet to purchase). The one shin is ready for paint, but I'm going to wait until I have the other shin ready and have the magnets in place before I do.

I've updated the OP with my latest progress. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel where the shins are concerned. Let me know what you think of my idea of how to put them on.

 

[Road Kill]

awesome vid man and awesome build so far, keep up the fantastic work and good luck with the rest
btw it is crazy how many movies you have man, when you went over to your other helmets, there were so many movies xD

 

[Carpathia]

Yeah, it's been a while since we have updated our database, but at last count we were nearing 900 DVDs. It's a sickness I think.

 

[Carpathia]

A very quick update. I received my base undersuit in the mail the other day. Links for the shirt, pants and gloves can now be found in post #2.
I haven't gotten any more progress with my armor since school started. In fact, the shins I was working on turned out to be too small, so I've abandoned them and have found another, much more accurate file by Nicktendo and Crackhead09. I'll update that post as soon as I have some progress.

This is where I will keep an up-to-date photo of my armor as it fits me as well as a quick description of the parts (ignore the mess in the background).

Armor Parts
Helmet: Described below
Handplates: Pepped, hardened with a slow-curing, non-toxic resin and painted the same as the helmet
Undersuit
Gloves: Paintball armored gloves (found here: http://www.amazon.com/Grip-Armor-Pa...7FFW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1315363340&sr=8-5)
Shirt: Black Combat Shirt (found here: http://www.amazon.com/90010-ROTHCO-...M09G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315363317&sr=8-1)
Pants: Black Combat BDU's (found here: http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-Force-B...U4SQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1315363330&sr=8-4)
Boots: Black work boots (non-steel toe)

Undersuit Pics
Shirt

This is a black combat shirt I found on amazon (the link is in post #2).

Pants

These are black military BDU's also found on amazon.

Boots

I found these at Walmart for about $30 when I was working with a land surveyor. They are waterproof and very comfortable.

Gloves

I've seen other members use these gloves for their builds, and I think they will work out fine. They can also be found on amazon (post #2).

 

[Carpathia]

Just another quick update. I mentioned that when I had some progress with the new shins, I would update you all, and I have some progress. I've completed one shin and the other is coming along. Hopefully by this weekend I will have it finished and I can get them resined (weather permitting as it's been a bit nasty here lately). Stay tuned!

Shin Progress
File Info
Modeled by: Nicktendo & Crackhead09
Unfolded by: Ral Partha

The first pair of shin armor I built turned out to be too small. They fit fine after they were pepped and resined, but when I applied the rondo to the interior, the interior volume shrunk and I forgot to take that into account. I tried everything I could to make them work, but in the end, they ended up warping beyond help (even after I had hardened them). So, I scrapped them and decided to start anew. Luckily, I found on my laptop, a set of shins that were super detailed. All the detail I was attempting to add in the previous shins are present in this file. So, here are the pics...

I have started the second one and it is progressing quickly. Despite the intense amount of detail, it is actually a fairly simple build. The unfold was done very well (thanks Ral Partha), and the model itself is amazing.

 

[project003]

Bazinga! Love the tut on the fans and LED's, can't wait to see more!

 

[Deadshot010]

i wish everything i made looked this good

 

[Carpathia]

Here's a quick update for you all. But, before I update the first page, let's see if anyone can guess what this little beauty is going to be...

Hint: It involves Post #8

 

[mkshane81]

It almost looks like the soft armor for the neck, but the curved ends have me wondering.

-Matt

 

[RogueSeven]

Is it the chest under armor?

 

[Carpathia]

mkshane81 is right, it is the neck seal. I made this from leather and used a template that Adam gave me a few years ago for contributing toward the migration of the 405th site to its new server. To my knowledge, this is the same pattern that Bluerealm Studios used to create the neck seal for their MkVI suit (though mine is nowhere near as epic looking).

Neck Seal

The neck seal was made from light black leather, crafted using a pattern given to me by Adam for contributing toward the migration of the 405th site to its new server a few years ago.

 

[Will Turner]

If I may, I've been having the hardest time scaling the boots and I wear a 10.5, can I ask how you've been scaling yours?

 

[Carpathia]

Will, that is an on-going task for me as well. The first pair I built looked like they would be fine, but when I tried to put the front part over top of my boot (I'm using the HD 3-part boot BTW), the sides would not meet. So, I scaled the boot up and built again. This time, it's looking like the top fits over my boot fine, but it's looking somewhat big. I wear an 11 myself, so when I get the scale figured out for myself, remind me and I'll post its dimensions, since it should be pretty much the same for you. So, I guess the answer to your question is, trial and error.

 

[Spitfire22V]

That is an awesome neck seal! It really looks great, especially with the helmet on. I usually don't do this, but I was wondering if there was any way you could share that neck seal template? I have a bunch of vinyl material left over from my build, and I'm not 100% satisfied with the commercial off-the-shelf neck guard I purchased. This would be a great upgrade to my suit. :cool

 

[SnakeFang]

Your suit looks awesome! Your build is giving me motivation to finish my Mark VI helmet.