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

[mblackwell1002]

nice bucket! Hey, that shop looks familiar...hrmm...I think I've been there..

lol, nice work, good to see you back on track! Like the scowl!

 

[Schankerz]

I can feel the icy chill of that stare from here...oh wait..no sorry just our crappy Canadian weather...

The helmet looks awesome! The scaling looks perfect, gonna look awesome completed!

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Huzzah, I'm doing stuff again!! We had a nice day today, 65F degrees! I had to take advantage of it so I started working a little more on the helmet.

For those of you who have not noticed, part of my break from building was in helping create the new subforum on the 405th entitled Halo Online Gaming (HOG) Some of us have been playing online together and we wanted you all to be able to join. So now we have a way to see when people are playing and/or create your own gaming night that others can join.


Now onto Progress

I started shaping my helmet. But first I needed tools. I went out and bought this at Harbor freight for $23 including attachments.

This is the last replacement of the things that were stolen when someone took my car. My last osculating tool made my arms hurt while using it, so I picked this smaller version up super cheap. And it's super small too. I can just cut sanding discs up into pizza slices for cheap sandpaper too.

For those of you curious, here is my new work space. :/

I feel very weird working out here. But, hey, it's worth it.


First up, I need to knock down the edges of the polygonal shapes that need to be smooth. Before I do that I like to black marker the lines that I don't want to file down. This will help keep my details crisp and will require less bondo work.

Also wrote "UP" on spots that needed to be built up more.

In the past I've used a rasp file to knock down the edges, but I've found that 40 or 60 grit sand paper with a precision sander works WAAAY faster.

Now I've sanded the lines down, you can see it starting to take its shape.

Next I take some loose 120 grit sandpaper and go over the whole thing including the black lines. This knocks down the bumps and jagged edges to give the piece a crisper look. Note that I actually sand away a lot of the black lines. I use that to tell me which parts I've sanded.

From here I have been using krazy glue and then going straight to bondo. But, after seeing CommanderPalmer 's stunning work, I now start by covering it in mud. Not only is it faster and easier, but it is also more fun than burning your eyeballs with krazy glue fumes.

The nice thing about the rondo, aka mud, is that it is self-leveling. So as long as you don't put too much on there is really not a whole lot you have to worry about. Its similar to giving it a nice thick coat of paint.

And here I have it in my drying area, aka outside my apartment entrance, where I hope it stays for the rest of the night. :/
I'm happy with how it turned out. There were a few clumps from the rondo drying to quickly, but I'll just sand them down. From here we'll give it a few coats of bondo and get it looking pretty.

Till next time. Hope to see you online.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Progress:

Second coat of Rondo on the outside. It is starting to smooth out.

I'll file/sand down the ridges again and start doing just straight Bondo, one maybe two coats before spot putty.

Here I've mark my hard edges again so that I don't smooth them out.

 

[Schankerz]

The helmets really coming along! Looks awesome Duke!

And that new workspace...I'm so jealous with how roomy it is, and that silver fire hydrant really brings the whole space together.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Don't forget the overhead lights.........almost like it real daylight.........It must be a very expensive light fixture........

 

[PerniciousDuke]

And that new workspace...I'm so jealous with how roomy it is

Ahahaha! Sorry to make you so jealous. I've even got employees now. They work for $5 and a cup of coffee.

Don't forget the overhead lights.........almost like it real daylight.........It must be a very expensive light fixture........

Lol. It's actually very dark out there at night. Kinda like a paved alley. Every night there is someone out there sitting in a car, mostly doing drugs or listening to heavy bass music, or both. It's really annoying. I don't care about the drugs, people can do what they want to themselves, it's the trash that pisses me off. People treat the area behind my apartment like a giant trash can. I'm at least happy I can use the space for some good.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Think its time to relocate to a cleaner neighborhood? One w/ outdoor lighting perhaps? Maybe even an indoor workshop of some sort?

 

[SI3RRA 117]

Helmet looks like it coming out great. This seems like one of the most logical and cleanest ways to smooth out a pepped helmet. Usually you see people just go to town with the bondo and make a mess of it.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Think its time to relocate to a cleaner neighborhood? One w/ outdoor lighting perhaps? Maybe even an indoor workshop of some sort?

Hmmm... Sounds like my last place. Couldn't afford it though so I had to move

Helmet looks like it coming out great. This seems like one of the most logical and cleanest ways to smooth out a pepped helmet. Usually you see people just go to town with the bondo and make a mess of it.

Yeah, the rondoing is seeming to be a good option for the first couple layers of bondo. It's quick to put on and you can't put too much on because it just drips off. If you're not careful with just the regular putty you can scoop a spoonful into a detail and not even know you lost it. With the rondo you can take a dry paint brush and get it out of the recesses that it pools up in.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

I've got to give my good Samaritan a shout out. Someone on the 405th was kind enough to offer help to see my goals a reality. They have offered to use their Cameo Silhouette to cut out all the rest of my pieces! Not only will this speed me up, but it also eliminates the most painful part of the pepping process. It also gave me a big boost in confidence that this will actually happen. So far I have received the first armor piece cut from the pages, the right thigh. I've assembled it in record time and ease, with a smile on my face the whole time.

Progress:

Here I have two finished thigh pieces, the light grey one on the left (my right) was cut out with the cameo and assembled in under 7 hours. The one on the right was done previously and took about 17 hours.

Still working on the spartan weight. I'll get there.

I wonder who put that there?

Next we'll be doing the shins/knees. I'm going to scale the knees separately because the files on the site have the FJ para knees comically small. And of course I will be pluggin away at the helmet as well.

Till next time, my friends.

 

[SI3RRA 117]

Your scaling is looking spot on and pep looks great. I may have to look into this armor smith. Few questions for you on it - say a piece has too small of an opening for your arm or leg, does it highlight or some way warn you that the armor intersects your body part? Does it do stl files as well?

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Thanks SI3RRA 117 and ask away. I actually made the same recommendation to the developer. That as the pep file intersected the "skin" it would turn red. So it doesn't now. But, he said that was a goal, once he allows us to put in circumferences (right now we can only put in body lengths). In fact the plan is to create an algorithm that turns brighter red the closer the pep gets to the avatar. If he can do that then he would be able to create an auto-scale feature.
I do not know about .stl files. I will try this out and get back to you.

 

[mblackwell1002]

SI3RRA 117,

STL files are pretty much in-useable in Pepakura due to tri's and being difficult to assemble. However, There is a remedy for this...
Import the .STL file into Blender,
Scale the part,
Delete that annoying start cube,
go into edit mode with TAB
Highlight all faces with [A]
Then press [ALT] + [J] to convert tri's to quads.
It's also a good idea to delete some faces you don't need, so you might as well do that, too. (like faces that won't be seen)
Export the model from Blender as an OBJ, and Import the model into Pepakura.
now you won't have to deal with all those extra edges.

Hope this helps!

sorry for taking up your space, Duke...

Also, Duke, who put the smiley face and the "Because I can" along with that unintelligible gibberish off to the side?

 

[SI3RRA 117]

Ok ya that makes sense. Thanks mblackwell1002. Ok PerniciousDuke post some more pics and progress so we can get your thread back on topic.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

You guys are talking about building and halo, sounds pretty on topic to me. I'll just keep working though.

SI3RRA 117
Also, Duke, who put the smiley face and the "Because I can" along with that unintelligible gibberish off to the side?

It's a mystery. The gibberish on the side says "Hahaha". 3 Ha's, like an evil Santa Claus. No telling what this person is up to. Maybe they're just giving me a present, or maybe it's part of some diabolical scheme! Mwhaha! Now I'm evil laughing.

 

[SavedbyGraceG12]

You guys are talking about building and halo, sounds pretty on topic to me. I'll just keep working though.

Sorry, I had a moment! That's good stuff! I'm cracking up!


It's a mystery. The gibberish on the side says "Hahaha". 3 Ha's, like an evil Santa Claus. No telling what this person is up to. Maybe they're just giving me a present, or maybe it's part of some diabolical scheme! Mwhaha! Now I'm evil laughing.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

SavedbyGraceG12 - I'm glad we could provide some entertainment.
Took me a while to see your comment inside my quote.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

I updated my first post picture and there is finally some color on most of the pieces! I also now know why you laughed at me daviduffy . Now that I am at 100 hours on my build I feel like I am still far from my goal, probably a third of the way.

Check it out Schankerz I'm expanding my empire! Here is my new second location workshop.

Progress:

I've been able to get some more bondo time on my helmet. First up I decided to work on my visor buck. I taped cardstock around the edges of the buck to help me apply a bunch of bondo in one coat.

Now onto the helmet.
This is one coat of bondo applied to a few areas to help build the proper shape.

I did a couple other areas and then sanded.

I will apply a thin layer of bondo to the entirety of the helmet, sand, spot putty and call it good, probably.

 

[SI3RRA 117]

Hey look there still is a sun! Sorry it's been over a week of rain here and it's taking its toll. Helmets seems to be coming along nice. Will you be vacuum forming the visor?