Embarking on my first build: MK VII!

[Darkninja]

Thanks for both the answers! I tried that method but it didn’t work out too well for me so I went with magnets and dowels, which seems to hold really well. I do have a question for you guys about scaling though. I already printed the left forearm but am beginning to think it’s a little too small and needs to be longer, as I have long arms. What do you guys think? I put a random glove on to give some scale for how far up my arm it is. Thanks!

P.S. I’ll have another update out within the week. I like to finish things I’m happy with before posting .

 

[BrokenHawk]

Progress is looking great so far! I'm also making an MK VII and I did my strapping just like how N8TEBB and Fallen said. It truly works wonders! Can't wait to see the rest of your progress!

 

[Darkninja]

Progress is looking great so far! I'm also making an MK VII and I did my strapping just like how N8TEBB and Fallen said. It truly works wonders! Can't wait to see the rest of your progress!

Thanks! Your suit looks really good as well! I like the colors you’re going with as well, it’ll look really neat in person.

 

[BrokenHawk]

Thanks! Your suit looks really good as well! I like the colors you’re going with as well, it’ll look really neat in person.

And thanks to you as well! My paint arrives tomorrow so I am excited to finally escape the sanding mines!

 

[N8TEBB]

Progress looks good! I'm glad you've found inspiration in my build!

You may find you'll want the forearm bit to be a bit longer. Have a look at this screenshot of my spartan:

You can see that the forearm armour piece goes from the top of the glove, right to the bend in the elbow. Now, this can be tricky to translate into real life, especially if your arms are skinnier like mine. To account for this, My forearm pieces are skinnier than they are in the game. They are the correct length (top of glove to elbow) but the other dimensions have now been scaled to the same ratio. It's skinnier on me than in the game. Even though it is not the same scale as the game, as long as it looks correct for your arm it will look good as part of the whole ensemble. You may consider reprinting your piece longer, but not necessarily wider to the same degree.

 

[Darkninja]

Progress looks good! I'm glad you've found inspiration in my build!

You may find you'll want the forearm bit to be a bit longer. Have a look at this screenshot of my spartan:
View attachment 346509
You can see that the forearm armour piece goes from the top of the glove, right to the bend in the elbow. Now, this can be tricky to translate into real life, especially if your arms are skinnier like mine. To account for this, My forearm pieces are skinnier than they are in the game. They are the correct length (top of glove to elbow) but the other dimensions have now been scaled to the same ratio. It's skinnier on me than in the game. Even though it is not the same scale as the game, as long as it looks correct for your arm it will look good as part of the whole ensemble. You may consider reprinting your piece longer, but not necessarily wider to the same degree.

That's what I was thinking about doing but just wanted to get some input from others that have built armor before. I'll probably keep it the same size but just make it a bit longer. Thanks for the help!

 

[Darkninja]

So I just ran into my first mechanical problem so far with the printer. I believe the extruder motor just decided to give out 93% of the way through the right shin . It started making loud clicking noises every time it was ordered to retract and then deretract, and whenever it was supposed to be constantly extruding you could see the gear just rotating back and forth instead of rotating in one direction like it should. Just ordered a new replacement for it that’ll hopefully be here tonight so I can continue printing. I’m not too angry about it since I did buy the printer used and that motor lasted me around 200 hours of print time, which I feel is pretty decent since I don’t know how it was used before.

I started working on making the gloves and tried to make them decently accurate to the game by gluing 2mm foam onto some harbor freight gloves, and started making the ab wrap out of 5mm foam and pleather. I also printed a longer forearm and it looks quite a bit better! I printed out the right bicep and it got some pretty noticeable layer shift about halfway up so I might reprint it as I don’t think I can hide the mark it left . I’ll edit the post to add pictures of the forearm and bicep once I get home a little later.

EDIT: So it turns out the problem was the wiring and not the stepper motor or driver, thankfully. I’m still going to use the new motor because it feels quite a bit smoother than the old one, and it doesn’t hurt to replace a 6-7 year old stepper motor . So like always, check wiring before spending money on anything lol.

 

[Darkninja]

So I’ve been making some slow progress so far. I’ve got all the pieces printed out so far but might reprint the helmet and make is slightly larger. I’ve been sanding and preparing for priming and painting. I was wondering if anybody has found any foam unfolds for the MK VII neck seal. I’ve been searching around and have seen that people have made them but made no reference of where the template was from. Also, I’m kind of struggling making the ab wrap out of 5mm foam. The different parts don’t want to seem to line up very well. I’m using Monker’s ab wrap unfold. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[N8TEBB]

I’m kind of struggling making the ab wrap out of 5mm foam. The different parts don’t want to seem to line up very well. I’m using Monker’s ab wrap unfold. Any help would be appreciated!

I replied to the other thread as well, but lmk what particular part isn't going together nicely. I'll link THIS POST about the ab wrap I made from my build thread here as well

I didn't have issues with the pieces going together. I used 4mm EVA foam and contact cement to glue them together. I wrapped the pieces in faux leather and sewed the larger sections together.

 

[Darkninja]

I replied to the other thread as well, but lmk what particular part isn't going together nicely. I'll link THIS POST about the ab wrap I made from my build thread here as well

I didn't have issues with the pieces going together. I used 4mm EVA foam and contact cement to glue them together. I wrapped the pieces in faux leather and sewed the larger sections together.

Moreso the pieces on the backside. I looked at how you made your a wrap and was going to try and do it the same way with the spine made of thicker foam. The main part that isn’t lining up is the edges of the back. I’ve cut them to make them fit but it’s just annoying cause I want to try and make both sides the some lol. I think my biggest issue is cutting them at the correct angle to make them line up. Here’s the parts.

 

[N8TEBB]

Try to apply the same pressure when gluing. Sometimes pulling or pushing too much can cause the foam to stretch and make the seams look different on pieces that are supposed to be symmetrical. The template requires the foam to bend a little bit though, so don't be afraid to force the foam into it's position. As long as you force both sides the same way, you can bend the foam in to the shape it needs to be.

 

[Darkninja]

Try to apply the same pressure when gluing. Sometimes pulling or pushing too much can cause the foam to stretch and make the seams look different on pieces that are supposed to be symmetrical. The template requires the foam to bend a little bit though, so don't be afraid to force the foam into it's position. As long as you force both sides the same way, you can bend the foam in to the shape it needs to be.

Alright cool. Ill have to try that and see how it goes. Thanks for the help!