Duke's Custom Reach Suit Pep +photos!! *COMPLETE*

[PerniciousDuke]

Yeah Bobby Boucher , it's a lot. But last night I was reading through EVAkura 's Proof of Concept for their fan film and the site claimed that he has put in 4000 hours into that suit. So I don't feel as weird now with my 400.


Update:

Where to begin? Final stages, lots of wrapping up. I am completely done with painting and weathering. Main thing left is electronics.

Putting decals on was fun. I'm going to try to put together a separate tutorial for it. Remind me in a couple weeks if you are interested. I'll be busy preparing for my first costumed con for next couple weeks!


I blackwashed which I already showed you, then wet sanded (still no pictures of that).

Next I went indoors to work on the undersuit.

I know that going to the bathroom in costume can be a problem. So I modified my pants. The zentai suit will get a little flap, like pajamas. The compression shorts will go over top and for that I sewed in a zipper.


I purchased this motorcycle chest armor and just in the short time test fitting pieces it has already started to tear the stitching. I was also just not happy with how some of the straps were positioned and how short the they were. So I did some modifications.

First I superglued the zippers (to remove the spine piece) in the back closed. Then I cut off one end of some of the straps and sewed them on so that the buckles could meet in a straight line. Lastly, some of the armor pieces on the arms were beginning to fall off to I re-sewed them with thicker thread using this cool hook needle.


Finally, I cut the hood up, folded it over and sewed in little pockets were I can slide in EVA foam for support. This is just a basting stitch to test out the idea. I will resew it better.


Now on to burning myself with a soldering tool! Till next time .

 

[PerniciousDuke]

*I'm going to move this conversation here as it is about the suit*

Why painful and uncomfortable? If its bothering you so much after so short of time......what's going to happen after a few hours at a Con? And how is it loud? Do you have a helmet liner? That should muffle some of the outside sounds. Unless you're just a heavy mouth breather.......

View attachment 253264

unlike foam, when my armor touches together (knees against thighs, arms against chest, shins against boots, etc) it makes a loud clacking sound. I don't hear it that much inside the helmet, but I can tell it's loud.

The pain also comes from it being rigid plastic. For instance if I try to bring my arms forwards (like to hold this gun), my bicep will meet against my shoulder on the chest like a hinge. Sometimes my skin is in that hinge too and it takes you by surprise. You may recall CommanderPalmer showing where her suit caused bruises. Just a side effect of having heavy rigid armor. Over time I will learn how to move without pinching me and I'll pad the spots that clank.

 

[SI3RRA 117]

*I'm going to move this conversation here as it is about the suit*




unlike foam, when my armor touches together (knees against thighs, arms against chest, shins against boots, etc) it makes a loud clacking sound. I don't hear it that much inside the helmet, but I can tell it's loud.

The pain also comes from it being rigid plastic. For instance if I try to bring my arms forwards (like to hold this gun), my bicep will meet against my shoulder on the chest like a hinge. Sometimes my skin is in that hinge too and it takes you by surprise. You may recall CommanderPalmer showing where her suit caused bruises. Just a side effect of having heavy rigid armor. Over time I will learn how to move without pinching me and I'll pad the spots that clank.

It’s funny now that I’ve built armor I notice all the time, the points in the video games where you can see the armor actually move through another piece of armor. Just something you would never think of just playing the game.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Little update:

I got it to be quieter Dirtdives ! Two things. First I Velcro'd some rubber into the knee opening on the thigh. Problem was the the "wings" on the knee would get caught inside this opening, like so.


Now they will stay where they are supposed to.


Next I superglued craft foam on the inside of the knee. This not only makes the inside look nice, but now when it hits against the thigh it won't clank as loud.

 

[Electraknite]

Wow you really know what you're doing. With the sewing and everything. I have a suspicion I'll be following you in padding armor later on. And your gun is awesome!

 

[SI3RRA 117]

Little update:

I got it to be quieter Dirtdives ! Two things. First I Velcro'd some rubber into the knee opening on the thigh. Problem was the the "wings" on the knee would get caught inside this opening.
View attachment 253277

Now they will stay where they are supposed to.
View attachment 253275

Next I superglued craft foam on the inside of the knee. This not only makes the inside look nice, but now when it hits against the thigh it won't clank as loud.
View attachment 253276

Finishing touches are coming
Out great. On the legs I think the weathering came out awesome!!! Amazing work!!

 

[ODST Langford]

This looks so so so so good! keep up the stellar work!

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Thanks everyone!

I forgot SI3RRA 117 I haven't shown the final weathering. Nice thanks for noticing. Super dirty huh? The boots are even more so.

electricknite - I promise you it's all an act.

Hey Asgardianhammer - you had said you painted on the clasps on your Reach forearms, but I stumbled across this picture of yours in a Google image search the other day and they are definitely pepped.

That is a very different file than the one I used. Did you remake it in foam?

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Little update:

I got it to be quieter Dirtdives ! Two things. First I Velcro'd some rubber into the knee opening on the thigh. Problem was the the "wings" on the knee would get caught inside this opening, like so.
View attachment 253277

Now they will stay where they are supposed to.
View attachment 253275

Next I superglued craft foam on the inside of the knee. This not only makes the inside look nice, but now when it hits against the thigh it won't clank as loud.
View attachment 253276

Great job Duke. However you will find that the craft foam will eventually tear. I know because I had it on my spine and butt plate. And it wasn’t even moving so much. You have this at a joint that will constantly be moving. Something a little more durable but flexible is needed. Like a piece of foam rubber.

 

[Asgardianhammer]

Thanks everyone!

I forgot SI3RRA 117 I haven't shown the final weathering. Nice thanks for noticing. Super dirty huh? The boots are even more so.

electricknite - I promise you it's all an act.

Hey Asgardianhammer - you had said you painted on the clasps on your Reach forearms, but I stumbled across this picture of yours in a Google image search the other day and they are definitely pepped.
View attachment 253295
That is a very different file than the one I used. Did you remake it in foam?

I did not make it in foam. It was pulled from the forum. I dont remember if it was one of @Carpathias or someone else. I'd have to go back through my archives as I saved all of those files. The original pieces were pepped and glassed and then molded and cast in a flexible eurethane rubber. They weren't the best though and it was a piece that I would do over again if I hadn't retired that suit. Which by the way i put about 700 hours into. Those pinch points were hard on my legs. My shins caused the most damage even after trying to pad those areas. The inside of my thighs were done in eva foam. You can check out the full pep job by checking out my deviantart.com page under my forum name. The full build is visible there for both my Hazop and my EOD armor along with a couple of other projects. Black washes are meant to be brushed on thinned down with the high points dabbed off with a rag.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

I'm having a problem with magnets. Many of you might not be able to help me if your experience is in foam. Foam is much lighter. My problem is that I can't get a good enough connection to keep the pistol held in place.

Question:

How do you go about installing magnets flush to hold a weapon on?

I thought two sets of rare earth magnets would be enough, they are pretty strong. But it seems the problem is that I can't figure out how to secure the magnets so they meet exactly flush. I mark the thigh, then slowly lower the pistol to see where it meets the mark. I got all four spots marked, dremeled out recesses for the magnets and guerilla glued the magnets in. But since the magnets are not exactly the same orientations to each other they dramatically lose their force. I imagine there is some way to glue both sides of the magnets at the same time so that they can connect to each other while they are drying, but that seems like an impossible task. Any suggestions?

I'll try to take pictures when I get home. Problem was that after the magnet didn't hold, the pistol fell to the floor and broke in two! I'm just not cut out to own 3d props it seems.

 

[mblackwell1002]

Yikes. That's a bummer. I think you have a certain knack for breaking 3D prints, lol.

I don't know how you installed those magnets exactly, but I would let both pieces of the magnet sit on the pistol. Then, put some glue on the magnet that rests on the thigh and secure it to the thigh. Let the glue dry and remove the pistol. I would honestly cut a slot in the thigh with some extra wiggle room for the magnet, then fill in the magnet slot with some bondo, and repaint it. That way it looks nice and securely holds the magnet in place.

Hopefully that made sense. If not, my apologies.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Progress:

Last night before Emerald City Comic Con.. am I ready? You betcha! Even had time for a little bit of this..


Not to say that there hasn't been panic. Even last night I sprung out of bed in the middle of the night with an idea and at 2am I was in the living cutting out Velcro to put overtop the failed magnets. It may not be cutting edge military tech, but it gets the job done.


With the painting all done all that was left was electronics.

Lights:
First I had to cover the holes for the lights. I cut paper to size then used that to cut the .020 acrylic.


Holding the plastic into place I globbed hot glue on the inside. It holds the plastic in place but will also defuse the light.


The result leaves a nice smooth reflective surface on the outside.


The thigh pieces have bigger plastic so I sanded the plastic with 300 grit to give a softer look.


From there pretty straight forward. Solder a light circuit together. First problem I had was not enough blue LEDs. So I took white ones and sharpied them blue.


The result.. good enough for me.


From there I just use black ducktape to install it into the armor.



Helmet:
I bought an awesome $10 wireless mic and speaker on Amazon. Installation of the mic was easy. Just hooks around the construction helmet suspension system that I epoxy puttied into place. The fan shown is also set in with epoxy putty.


One thing I'm excited worked... The visor holds. I wanted something that held the visor in without actually attaching anything to the visor. Meet Sugru.


It is similar to epoxy putty in that it is a moldable glue. The difference is that once it hardens it is rigid but still flexible, like thick rubber. So I moulded them into hook shapes. To install the visor I simply bend one back and slide the visor in. (In the picture two hooks are black and two are silver)



Final pieces:

The only thing to note is in the picture showing the back of the chest.. You can see the speaker that I hid inside the chest, above the canister. I made an EVA foam holder for it and attached it with Velcro.

See you at ECCC!

 

[PerniciousDuke]

The group photos will take some time to edit, but here I am after suiting up in the garage.

 

[mblackwell1002]

Dude. You look badass.

I will see you tomorrow!

 

[SI3RRA 117]

The group photos will take some time to edit, but here I am after suiting up in the garage.
View attachment 253533

Awesome job and congrats!! I now it’s been a long journey for you and your armor. I’m super excited for you and hope you have a great time at the con!

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Thanks guys!


After Action Report:

Oich!! This stuff hurts. I wasn't as loud as I was before, but I never did anything about the pinch points. The only really bad one came from taking my helmet on and off, ended up pinching between forearm and bicep. After two hours it was so tender it was near impossible for me to take the helmet off myself.

I'll probably cut it away but I'll to just have to wrap it before tomorrow's walk around.

Also the speaker gave feedback randomly which I'm sure was annoying for people.

 

[Schankerz]

It just....looks....so.....COOOOL

 

[mblackwell1002]

Thanks guys!


After Action Report:

Oich!! This stuff hurts. I wasn't as loud as I was before, but I never did anything about the pinch points. The only really bad one came from taking my helmet on and off, ended up pinching between forearm and bicep. After two hours it was so tender it was near impossible for me to take the helmet off myself.
View attachment 253562
I'll probably cut it away but I'll to just have to wrap it before tomorrow's walk around.

Also the speaker gave feedback randomly which I'm sure was annoying for people.

It would be easiest just to amputate.

Hahaha.

Did you buy Sat tickets? I didn't realize you did, I was under the impression that you just bought Sunday.

Anyway, what's the verdict? First time trooping, good or bad experience?

 

[PerniciousDuke]

mblackwell1002 Nope, just Sunday tickets. But I drove up for the photoshoot on Saturday.