GEN2 Scout/Palmer 2.0 build - EVA foam

[Reclaimara]

Hello again. Long time no see.

Few years ago I've already done Palmer cosplay in hard resin and it's been a huge and unexpected journey.
It's very heartwarming to see my old thread with my build [here].
I didn't expect to even be able to finish the whole cosplay back when I was starting it. I never done it before and I'm always harsh on myself and have high expectations.
But I finished it and while it wasn't perfect, I had a lot of unforgettable and best moments while wearing it. Met amazing people - you all 405th fam and Halo cosplayers, fans and all.

Life happened and I was gone for some time and my cosplay was just forgotten in storage.
Some months ago I had to move and while I planned to take it with me, I decided to try it on... and it turned out it was too big for me and didn't fit me anymore.
It being hard resin meant it was impossible to modify it to fit me.
I was short on space already and it was very short notice as I was literally packing and moving out in few hours for a long journey in a car, I decided to dump it in a trash.
Might not been a wisest decision. I agree. It was very painful as I've spent years working on it.
There aren't many Halo fans in my country. And just a few who are into cosplay so the chance of finding someone who would fit the armor and want it were very slim and I didn't have the time...

I had to take at least a photo of it.
Now I regret I didn't keep the forearms at least...

--

I've been thinking about making a new Halo cosplay. I've been waiting for release of Halo Infinite to see how the armors will look like and honestly it left me a little bit disappointed and heartbroken to say the least. I tried to fall in love with it. But I realized I love Gen2 Scout too much and it feels like home.

So. I'm making a Palmer cosplay again. It'll be my version of it. A little bit modified to make it a little bit interesting rather than dull white/gray color palette it had in H4/5 and getting inspired from Infinite with armor attachments and some other details.
Call it however you want or just a new armor Palmer got after Halo 5 when they came back to UNSC Infinity as well.
I love Scout Gen2. I love Palmer's armor too. And Palmer as character in Halo universe. So I can't really do it any other way.

Just so you know - don't expect this being a fast build. Last cosplay took me 2 years of work and I was still in the middle of improving it. I don't expect this to be different. Especially that I don't have such big amounts of free time anymore either.
And I've already have gained some experience from the last build that I can use with this one.
I want this cosplay to be better than the last one in every way. So while last time I was often rushing to get it done before an event - I won't this time.
I will take my time to make it best as I can.

I'm not really building it yet either. As I said I'm taking all the time I need.
Doing mostly research and planning and buying stuff I need. But mostly brainstorming and planning.
I'll try to update the thread frequently with my ideas and plans on how I want to approach all parts during building process.

As it's gonna be a long thread I'm gonna save you the hassle and gonna try to make here index:

FOAM BUILDING
1. shoe parts [stars on page1]
2. gloves [start on page 3]

 

[Cadet]

Glad to have you back, Mara. Looking forward to seeing what you can do with EVA, and we'll be sure to give you the best support and guidance we can.

 

[Fallen]

I was short on space already and it was very short notice as I was literally packing and moving out in few hours for a long journey in a car, I decided to dump it in a trash.

This part was painful to read. I remember following your build thread like a hawk and being amazed at how incredible it turned out. At least you got some amazing pictures of it for all of that hard work. Can't wait to see what the next one looks like. You'll have at least one member (and no doubt countless more) following closely to admire your work no matter how long it takes.

 

[Reclaimara]

Glad to have you back, Mara. Looking forward to seeing what you can do with EVA, and we'll be sure to give you the best support and guidance we can.

Thank you so much, Cadet. I'm glad to be back too. Missed you all.

This part was painful to read. I remember following your build thread like a hawk and being amazed at how incredible it turned out. At least you got some amazing pictures of it for all of that hard work. Can't wait to see what the next one looks like. You'll have at least one member (and no doubt countless more) following closely to admire your work no matter how long it takes.

Yeah. It was painful decision but I was just trying to excuse it with "if it won't fit me then why should I take it?". Doesn't make it any easier and if I could I'd go to that dump and ask for my stuff back haha... Thank you. I'll try to share as much of my process again so maybe it'll help the community too.

 

[Reclaimara]

So. Well. I've been sick on covid lately. Hit me much harder so after 2 weeks I'm recovering. So a small update:

First of all. Undersuit. Already got a black morphsuit and now my stencils arrived too. It should be around similar size to what I had last time.
Would love to go with faster route and just airbrush the hexagons but I know that painting them by hand is a better solution: it looked way better and more natural and the paint was getting better absorbed into fabric.
Still gotta get a white marker to do all markings on the undersuit and some minor things but this is an important part ready - took me some time to find those hexagon stencils and I was afraid I wouldn't find them anymore.

--

This time I want a hip pouch preferably. Infinite did a good job with the Reach pouch so I'll be taking it as an inspiration.
Why I want a pouch? It's very practical. Last time I didn't have a space for personal belongings like wallet or phone. I was literally carrying it in the butt armor or hiding it in the chest piece between my boobs.
Now I want a pouch. And this one looks very cool - there is the another one that looks more like ammo pouch but I prefer this design more. That 3 part clip stands out so I'll take some inspiration from this pouch in Infinite.

I already bought a similar looking pouch. Sure, doesn't really look the same right now but I'll be modifying it (removing the bottom MOLLE part).
Already found a nice looking 3 piece clip. Didn't order yet as I want to do a bulk order with all clips and straps I'll need for the costume (the pouch and mainly the strapping system for the whole cosplay) so didn't order it yet.

--

Lastly the boots. I already ordered these two weeks ago but the seller didn't even send these after all this time so I cancelled the order and ordered from another one.
I like the shape of these as they aren't bulky.
And this time I'd like to incorporate the shoes together with the undersuit. Still doing some brainstorming on how to do that best but the general idea is to strip the shoe of unnecessary parts and glue the morphsuit onto it - the shoe is already out of fabric so it should be perfect for gluing part. And then if needed glue on some thin EVA foam onto it so it transitions seamlessly. The parts of the armor will cover majority of the shoes anyway but I really want the undersuit and shoes to have that seamless transition.

 

[Asgardianhammer]

Mara you may want to follow some of Wardrobe Armory's work on FB and see how they approach some of their undersuit work. I am so glad you are back and even more encouraged you are working in Foam. My second build also was foam and I have to say in terms of longevity and wearability and making modifications was much easier. I think you will find this build once you get the swing of it will go faster and you will really like the results.

I think i can speak for everyone when i say we are all excited to accompany you on your Great Journey.

 

[Reclaimara]

Mara you may want to follow some of Wardrobe Armory's work on FB and see how they approach some of their undersuit work. I am so glad you are back and even more encouraged you are working in Foam. My second build also was foam and I have to say in terms of longevity and wearability and making modifications was much easier. I think you will find this build once you get the swing of it will go faster and you will really like the results.

I think i can speak for everyone when i say we are all excited to accompany you on your Great Journey.

Thank you, Robert!

I'm terrified that I'll be working with foam. I remember struggling with foam to make even few pieces with it... so it's definitely going to be an interesting journey.
Your foam Halo cosplays have always been amazing! Those EODs are legendary. I hope I can achieve something even half as good as you did.
I also think foam being much lighter and more flexible is a plus too?

Thanks. I've often seen Wardrobe Armory's work. His Halo 5 suits are very well known.
I'm not going to make the undersuit like he does - majority with foam panels. I plan to do it very similar to how I did with my first one. Majority just painted morphsuit but with some details out of foam. Mostly to not sacrifice mobility and not to overheat as I imagine in foam it can get even hotter? I wanna experiment with a little bit more foam, but I want to keep majority of the morphsuit just painted for more airflow. I remember how much that airflow was helping when I was in costume in summer.

Thank you again and hope not to disappoint! <3

 

[Asgardianhammer]

Mara you worry about not disappointing yourself and don't worry about the rest of us knuckleheads. We are along for the ride!
My pro tip with foam is using a rotary tool (dremel) but use a sanding drum and i keep an extra sanding drum without the sanding cylinder on it. use the rubber to burnish foam edges down. Makes quick clean up work of those edges.

 

[Reclaimara]

Mara you worry about not disappointing yourself and don't worry about the rest of us knuckleheads. We are along for the ride!
My pro tip with foam is using a rotary tool (dremel) but use a sanding drum and i keep an extra sanding drum without the sanding cylinder on it. use the rubber to burnish foam edges down. Makes quick clean up work of those edges.

Oh I'm very much aware I don't want to disappoint anyone or myself. And I know I'm the hardest to please and easiest to disappoint.
Thank you! I don't have a dremel yet but I'm also doing a list of things that I have to buy and a dremel and heat gun are definitely on the list!
I was thinking about whether I really need a rotary tool but it seems it's essential.
What you mean the rubber? You mean the rubber of the rotary tool without any attachment on it? It works best on foam on edges? O_O

 

[Electraknite]

yoo, i read your old thread back in the day when i first started planning for my Jun build. cool to see an OG back here.

 

[Asgardianhammer]

Oh I'm very much aware I don't want to disappoint anyone or myself. And I know I'm the hardest to please and easiest to disappoint.
Thank you! I don't have a dremel yet but I'm also doing a list of things that I have to buy and a dremel and heat gun are definitely on the list!
I was thinking about whether I really need a rotary tool but it seems it's essential.
What you mean the rubber? You mean the rubber of the rotary tool without any attachment on it? It works best on foam on edges? O_O

Yes the sanding drum has a black rubber piece that expands to tighten the little sanding cylinder. Use this piece without that sanding cylinder to burnish edges. It's basically a high speed rubber piece that seals the foam in this manner. A good sharpener as well. Foam dulls blades quickly. Sharpen between cuts

 

[Reclaimara]

Slow progress is slow but I already said I won't be rushing anything this time.
Been mostly doing brainstorming around undersuit and all the strapping underneath but also sorting out what to buy in terms of straps and buckles and all. Almost done to order it all together with heat gun and dremel this upcoming week.
I still have quite lot of 5mm EVA foam but after thinking I'll definitely need some 10mm foam as well seeing how big and thick some armor pieces are and for general shape so put it on the list too.

In the meantime I've started on the boot armor as last time I was in sneakers cuz haven't managed to finish shoes so it'll be my redemption. Took few tries - below on photo finished shoe vs last try I at first thought was good enough but I think I got the scale as perfect as I could.

So now boots are ready for actually making them out of foam. Or figuring out how to make them. Got templates but already thinking on how or what to change to make it fit better for working with foam and on some small parts and edges I definitely think that dremel will be very helpful.

Just a question. What do you use for tracing the templates onto the foam? Especially when it's dark gray/black so black marker/pen won't work?
Been trying to search around but found myself only guessing. Seen some people use something like a white pencil but is it really a standard white pencil or something else?

 

[Unfit Armory]

Holy crap! amazing proportions, A lot of effort was put into this build!
shame what happened to it, truly.

Good luck on the new one!

 

[Reclaimara]

Holy crap! amazing proportions, A lot of effort was put into this build!
shame what happened to it, truly.

Good luck on the new one!

Thank you so much. It took everything from me to get those proportions. Restarting most pieces multiple times
But was worth it in the end.
I regret it too but well. Time to build it again but even better this time. At least it won't weigh a ton hah.

 

[Reclaimara]

Small but big update for me personally.
I've done my first piece of armor out of foam and it confirmed to me that it is indeed possible to do this whole build.

First. Here below on the left is my finished piece and on the right is a test I did to figure out how to work with foam - at first I thought I could cheat my way into dremeling and making those beveled edges but it turned out to be a fail.

So I restarted again and this time I was doing it as if I was working with paper pepakura. So a lot of small pieces to get the shape and those edges and curves correct but I consider it a success. Looks accurate as I wanted it to be.
This is the smallest part of the whole armor - it's the tiny pieces on the ankles on the foot so it's really tiny.
But happy with how small and not really noticeable the seams are. Didn't heat seal it yet but theoretically I don't think I'll have to touch up on them? With the plastidip and then paint on it later on I mean. I'll see.

Oh well. 3 more ankle pieces to go. Small start but it's huge for me.
Was so afraid of foam that I've been doing everything to not start working with it in past few months.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

Not gonna lie, I'm jealous of how clean those insets are.
I'd still recommend heat sealing it though, it'll mean the foam absorbs less of the sealant (PlastiDip in this case) and gives it a smoother texture.

 

[Reclaimara]

Not gonna lie, I'm jealous of how clean those insets are.
I'd still recommend heat sealing it though, it'll mean the foam absorbs less of the sealant (PlastiDip in this case) and gives it a smoother texture.

Oh thank you! I admit most time spent on it was just dremeling and beveling edges to make sure it's all a good fit as I could do.
Oh I'll heat seal it soon - just when I was making the photos I didn't seal it yet with the heat gun. When I'll have all 4 of those pieces I'll seal and see if they need touch ups or anything.

 

[Dire]

Or, hear me out, heat your foam up and seal that puppy with leak seal, it will turn your foam into rubber pretty much, their is no ripping or ( sister's cats' claws messing it up) buuuut you have to sand it smooth, or really do some controlled temperature stuff like warm water in a bucket and some weights, but it works well, g'luck, sorry bout your resin build.

 

[Reclaimara]

Or, hear me out, heat your foam up and seal that puppy with leak seal, it will turn your foam into rubber pretty much, their is no ripping or ( sister's cats' claws messing it up) buuuut you have to sand it smooth, or really do some controlled temperature stuff like warm water in a bucket and some weights, but it works well, g'luck, sorry bout your resin build.

Oh I am going to seal it with a heat gun. Just didn't do it for a single piece. We don't have leak seal in Europe so I'll be using plastidip.
I don't mind that rubber texture as I don't want a perfectly smooth texture tbh so it's gonna be fine

 

[Reclaimara]

Ok. Finished all the 4 tiny pieces that protect the ankles and are part of the boot armor. Sealed them with a heat gun too.
Actually on few spots I used tiny bits of Poly Props Craft Clay when I saw small holes in the seams (and I wanted to try out this foam clay) - they were small and as you can see the parts are tiny and I can see those micro seams when I have them next to my face. After some layers of plastidip I think they should be fully covered?

Also as you can see on the right - I started working on the back part of the boot. Fixed it with some tape to test out if the parts will fit with the shape. So far so good. Tomorrow will be preparing all the rest of small parts for it.
Also have to figure out how to do all the small details for it as in the game it has more details.

Also - can very recommend such small boxes. Storing some small pieces I'm gonna glue together and also for some rest foam that I'm using to spread the glue before throwing away. Can also stack those boxes on top of each other. Very practical! Especially when your workspace is small like mine.