I’m very new

[chedder0519]

I’m new to cosplaying and I want to get into it, but I have no idea how. I don’t have a 3D printer or anything like that, all I have is cardboard. I’m trying to make a noble 6 cosplay, but I have no idea what to do or where to start. If anyone could help, that would be great. Edit: forgot to mention this but I want to make a pistol, dmr thing, the suit, and an energy blade.

 

[Lupus590]

I would start by going to the armoury and downloading the Pepakura files for the items that you want to build.
Then you'll need to figure out scaling, Armorsmith Designer is very helpful for that but not required. The free version of Pepakura can do what you need, however, you may want to by the license key for it as it enables file saving. Unfortunately, both pieces of software only work on Windows.
From there, you can print out your paper templates (card stock or thick paper holds its shape better which makes it easier to work with) and then cut out and glue your cardboard.

 

[chedder0519]

I would start by going to the armoury and downloading the Pepakura files for the items that you want to build.
Then you'll need to figure out scaling, Armorsmith Designer is very helpful for that but not required. The free version of Pepakura can do what you need, however, you may want to by the license key for it as it enables file saving. Unfortunately, both pieces of software only work on Windows.
From there, you can print out your paper templates (card stock or thick paper holds its shape better which makes it easier to work with) and then cut out and glue your cardboard.

Thanks!

 

[CTN04529]

If you really want a 3D printer, you could try Facebook marketplace for one and learn it.

 

[N8TEBB]

Hi chedder0519
Welcome to the 405th! Glad to have you here. How to get started with prop building can be quite an open-ended discussion, but I hope I can give you some general guidance.

While cardboard is a good material for testing scaling and general shapes, it is not an ideal material for making a finished prop in most cases. It's quite a fragile material and can be difficult to work with because of its very rigid characteristics. While 3D printing is another option as you mentioned, you may also consider EVA foam and other types of foam to craft with. EVA foam is considerably durable, flexible, light, and relatively cheap for prop and costume building. It's my personal material of choice for my halo suits and props. If you have a sharp blade and some strong glue, you'll be able to get started with EVA foam crafting right away! You'll be able to find files and templates specifically designed for EVA foam in the Armoury, as Lupus590 mentioned above. You may also find the information we have in our foam guide useful.

Now let's talk about the specific build you want to create; a noble 6 cosplay. It's worth doing a bit of a search around the 405th to see if there are any other members that have made the same build you are looking to do and use their build threads as a reference. Here's a tip for searching for threads on the 405th: instead of using the built-in search bar on the 405th, search on google and put site:405th.com at the end of the query to limit the google search results to just this website. I've done a quick search for you and I'll link some threads that you may find useful below:

Noble 6 Concept Armor Build

Edit 3/30/2020: Hi guys! If aren't up to speed with this build, I'm basically remaking the whole suit. I feel like I had a bad cosplay burnout in 2018/2019 and didn't do anything that whole time. Last time I did anything to the suit was in 2017. I decided I wanted to get back into cosplay and...

www.405th.com

JonteBoi's Noble 6 from Halo: Reach!

Hi everyone! Thought i'd share with you my noble 6 build that i just finished! This is my first serious cosplay build ever. I've done some small stuff before, an Iron Man helmet, a Captain America shield and a Boba Fett helmet, but never anything in this scale. Here's a shitty pic of my Noble 6...

www.405th.com

Detailed Reach armor + Undersuit

Hey everyone! This will be where I post progress and details of my new Reach suit. I've created two Reach suits in the past, one for myself and one for a friend. Hopefully this one will be even better looking and better functioning. This suit will be pretty much all foam, made with pep patterns...

www.405th.com

Reach Jun Build (Foam/fibreglass + custom undersuit)

In depth tutorial for undersuit on page 9 Finished suit

www.405th.com

If you're interested in making armour from foam, I also have a video tutorial on youtube that will walk you through the general process that I used when crafting my most recent suit of armour. Here's that video:

Hopefully with the resources I've linked to you you will be able to get some insight into how we go about crafting our armour. Of course if you have any specific questions please feel free to ask in this thread. But also don't be afraid to do loads of reading into how other people build their armour! Good luck on your build!

-N8

 

[chedder0519]

Hi chedder0519
Welcome to the 405th! Glad to have you here. How to get started with prop building can be quite an open-ended discussion, but I hope I can give you some general guidance.

While cardboard is a good material for testing scaling and general shapes, it is not an ideal material for making a finished prop in most cases. It's quite a fragile material and can be difficult to work with because of its very rigid characteristics. While 3D printing is another option as you mentioned, you may also consider EVA foam and other types of foam to craft with. EVA foam is considerably durable, flexible, light, and relatively cheap for prop and costume building. It's my personal material of choice for my halo suits and props. If you have a sharp blade and some strong glue, you'll be able to get started with EVA foam crafting right away! You'll be able to find files and templates specifically designed for EVA foam in the Armoury, as Lupus590 mentioned above. You may also find the information we have in our foam guide useful.

Now let's talk about the specific build you want to create; a noble 6 cosplay. It's worth doing a bit of a search around the 405th to see if there are any other members that have made the same build you are looking to do and use their build threads as a reference. Here's a tip for searching for threads on the 405th: instead of using the built-in search bar on the 405th, search on google and put site:405th.com at the end of the query to limit the google search results to just this website. I've done a quick search for you and I'll link some threads that you may find useful below:

Noble 6 Concept Armor Build

Edit 3/30/2020: Hi guys! If aren't up to speed with this build, I'm basically remaking the whole suit. I feel like I had a bad cosplay burnout in 2018/2019 and didn't do anything that whole time. Last time I did anything to the suit was in 2017. I decided I wanted to get back into cosplay and...

www.405th.com

JonteBoi's Noble 6 from Halo: Reach!

Hi everyone! Thought i'd share with you my noble 6 build that i just finished! This is my first serious cosplay build ever. I've done some small stuff before, an Iron Man helmet, a Captain America shield and a Boba Fett helmet, but never anything in this scale. Here's a shitty pic of my Noble 6...

www.405th.com

Detailed Reach armor + Undersuit

Hey everyone! This will be where I post progress and details of my new Reach suit. I've created two Reach suits in the past, one for myself and one for a friend. Hopefully this one will be even better looking and better functioning. This suit will be pretty much all foam, made with pep patterns...

www.405th.com

Reach Jun Build (Foam/fibreglass + custom undersuit)

In depth tutorial for undersuit on page 9 Finished suit

www.405th.com

If you're interested in making armour from foam, I also have a video tutorial on youtube that will walk you through the general process that I used when crafting my most recent suit of armour. Here's that video:

Hopefully with the resources I've linked to you you will be able to get some insight into how we go about crafting our armour. Of course if you have any specific questions please feel free to ask in this thread. But also don't be afraid to do loads of reading into how other people build their armour! Good luck on your build!

-N8

Thanks so much!

 

[thadmakesstuff]

im still pretty new to foam crafting and cosplay but i do know a thing or two about cardboard crafting, ive been doing it for two years,
cardboard is a lot harder to work with due to its corrugations, making it hard to be smooth in the final project. id recommend watching through some of epic cardboard props videos on youtube and look for tips and tricks he uses.
but the best tip i can give you is start and never give up
sometimes i want to give up i put the project down for a week then come right back its super easy to give up espescially when you have no motivation.