Major Props' Mirage Spartan Build

[Major Props]

Hey folks,

I'm Jamie aka Major Props, I'm the Creative Lead over at Galactic Armory. After the success of our 2023 ODST build series, and the incredible welcome we received from the 405th at DragonCon, I already have the itch for another costume!

Since Ghosts of Onyx, I have always been utterly in love with the lore of Spartan III's, particularly their SPI armour - tactical, cheap, and effective for the task. Then, when I saw the Mirage armour set from Halo Infinite, I knew that I must have it. So, my build is going to be the best elements of the Ghosts of Onyx aesthetic, with the more modernised (and comfortable) Mirage kit! This entire kit will be 3D printed, with the helmet + visor being the upcoming release from Galactic Armory, and the body armour being Titlewave Designs.

Joining me in this journey is Instinct Vlad! We'll both be doing our own Spartan III's in Mirage armour, as the handles 'Hammer' and 'Anvil'! We plan to flesh out these characters as we go, and maybe even add to the personalisation to differentiate the two personalities!

For now, two aspects have been completed: The primary weapon, and the first piece of armour to test the colour scheme/weathering approach. As this kit has a Ghosts of Onyx aesthetic, I'll be using an MA5K, the 'Spartan SMG', which truly feels like a futuristic P90. Shout out to crackhead09 for the files, they are absolutely bloody amazing!

Here is the first test pieces of armour, simply using the shoulder plates as a test for the colour scheme. I wanted to get as close as possible to the SPI armour seen on the cover of Ghosts of Onyx, seen below:

And here is the first armour test:

Well that's it for post no. 1! If you have any thoughts, comments, or advice for this build, let me know down below!

I look forward to keeping you folks up to date on the rest of this build - next is the rest of the arms.

 

[Sithslayer78]

Ayyy hype

 

[CrimsonViper97]

That MA5K is just maximum cool factor. This suit is going to be sick!

 

[RCSRex]

The weathering on that paint job looks straight out of the games! Nice job!

 

[BrokenHawk]

That MA5K is gorgeous! I loved seeing your progress and can't wait to see any videos or content you make with the suit!

 

[ThreeEvening158]

I'll be closely following this! The ODST looked great and this one looks to be even better!

 

[AugmentedHuman013]

Awesome another mirage. I'm working on one as well.

 

[Lojak]

OH! I'm excited for this. I'm not even through my first armor and I'm itching to do some SPI!

 

[CrimsonViper97]

If you don't mind, could you give us a quick overview of the painting/weathering process you used on the MA5K? Some of us may have bought the files because yours looked so cool and are printing it as we speak...

 

[Major Props]

If you don't mind, could you give us a quick overview of the painting/weathering process you used on the MA5K? Some of us may have bought the files because yours looked so cool and are printing it as we speak...

Sure, happy to help!

1. Base layer of any gunmetal (I chose Citadel's leadbelcher).
2. Each black area (forward grip, cheek rest, stock) are all hit with a layer of flex seal to give a rubber finish.
2.5 You can add any accent sections at this point, e.g. yellow stripe, fire select red, etc.
3. A black oil wash is then applied to the body, wiping most of it away and leaving it in the recesses.
4. Drybrush a bright silver onto edges of gunmetal, and areas that would receive more wear, e.g. trigger, grip, barrel (I chose silver rub n buff).
5. Airbrush black acrylic into areas that would experience heat, e.g. barrel and vents, as well as any area that have a significant recess.
6. Use acrylic pigments mixed with a very small amount of water to apply built up dirt effect to recesses and areas that would be handled a lot (e.g. all the flex sealed areas). Pat away excess and leave to dry.

I hope this helps! Feel free to DM if you have any questions.

 

[CrimsonViper97]

Thanks much! Funny enough, I bumped into someone who had used that plastidip trick at my last con. It was my first time seeing it used that way (funny right, what it's actually for...). Anyway, looked great.

 

[Major Props]

Hey folks!

Quick update to the build. I decided to start off easy and work on the least troublesome parts of the build, which is definitely the arms! Loads of flat sections, really easy to print and sand smooth.

Here we have them all weathered up, using a mix of sponged black and silver, brown oil washes, and acrylic pigments for dust/dirt build up! Finally, I used a vinyl heat wrap to add the carbon fibre to the wrists, which adds such a cool pop of visual interest! The weathering was made more severe towards the ends of the arms, and less heavy towards the shoulders

Keep an eye on this thread for new updates as I work on my spartans sidearm, the classic Halo magnum, as I also work on a system to effectively maglock the pistol to my thigh plate, using fidlocks!

 

[Lojak]

do you plan to weather and knock back the reflection off the carbon fiber rap? If so, how? Curious how you would weather type of material.

 

[Bloxxer]

Loving the progress so far! That paintwork is phenomenal! How did you get the carbon-fiber texture on the forearm armor?

 

[BrokenHawk]

I love that carbon-fiber texture!! I would love to see you do a tutorial on the GA youtube channel!!

 

[Major Props]

I love that carbon-fiber texture!! I would love to see you do a tutorial on the GA youtube channel!!

I am actually doing the Mirage helmet as an upcoming video right now, which will include the use of the carbon fiber vinyl!

Spoiler: I use the following vinyl alongside a heat gun at low temp. Just stretch and cover, it's super easy! Amazon.com

And to answer Lojak 's question, I really like how the carbon fiber pops right now, so I think all I am going to do in the future is just apply weathering pigments to the recesses and keep it as is!

 

[OFiveTwo]

This looks amazing so far! Can agree, the addition of the carbon fiber vinyl really elevates the whole appearance!
When I tried my vinyl wrap (being an absolute schmuck and not testing beforehand) I ran into issues with the vinyl peeling off after repeated friction. Have you seen this happen/have any tips?

Taking notes on your process for my redo!

 

[Major Props]

This looks amazing so far! Can agree, the addition of the carbon fiber vinyl really elevates the whole appearance!
When I tried my vinyl wrap (being an absolute schmuck and not testing beforehand) I ran into issues with the vinyl peeling off after repeated friction. Have you seen this happen/have any tips?

Taking notes on your process for my redo!

Thank you!

I found that over-wrapping your vinyl and then sealing the edges is the best method. Just wrap the piece so that extra material is on the flip-side of your armour piece and hit the edges with low-temp hot glue or super glue to seal it in place. Hitting the entire thing with a couple layers of clearcoat once complete also aids in sealing everything in, I have found.

Hope this helps!

 

[NobleofDeath16]

Thank you!

I found that over-wrapping your vinyl and then sealing the edges is the best method. Just wrap the piece so that extra material is on the flip-side of your armour piece and hit the edges with low-temp hot glue or super glue to seal it in place. Hitting the entire thing with a couple layers of clearcoat once complete also aids in sealing everything in, I have found.

Hope this helps!

I would honestly love to see an example of this method, this sounds fantastic.

 

[Dragern]

I heard you talking about doing a mirage build and then I found the forum post
It looks great so far