Mass Effect 3 - N7 Hurricane (High Detail, First MDF prop)

[m00sem4n]

Howdy! I dropped off the boards for a wink, but have been gathering shop resources and knowledge to step up my prop-making game.
here's what I've been up to!!!

So I've been itching to whip up a mass effect suit ever since hype built up around the launch of the third game. I want to take another crack at it (v.1 didn't quite do it for me & I've learnt a fare bit since then.) but I think it would be best for me to start with the most difficult components. I like moving downhill on the difficulty scale in projects, keeps momentum up. That's why I'm starting with the weapon which involves the introduction of some new techniques for me. I also really just wanted to make a hurricane. haha

Started by drawing up some plans and templates, the usual process. I got to cutting right away!


When I started this the humidity on certain days was enough to cause slight warping on recently glued parts. Luckily my little iron buddy could help out with that. Now i'm dealing with extreme cold which comes with a host of new problems though.. :/



Once happy with the crude shapes and placement, I began the lengthy process of shaping before gluing layers down in order to maintain crisp & even edges on all those inner details.



This was accomplished with a rotary tool and many hours of rasp/file work. Next I glued down the remaining large pieces so I could finish the rough shaping and finally start smoothing this bad boy out.





There's lots more progress to show but It's late and this post must be nearing it's pic limit, so that's all for now.
Thanks for taking a gander! Back in a bit :sleep

 

[RobTC]

*watches*

 

[SoloHellsing]

Wow. Just wow. That is so cool. How long did that take you?

 

[m00sem4n]

*watches*

Haha, good to hear RobTC, I'll try not to disappoint :thumbsup

On with the update --- apologies for pic quality btw. Too lazy to use more than my phone cam and a new bug is making it difficult to focus shots... anyway..

I left off at the start of filling, sanding, and detail work. This is where it starts getting interesting and became really fun to work on.




At this point there was still plenty of cleanup to do and a few details missing too. I took my time over about a week applying spot filler-sanding-priming-sanding repeat.





Next, I needed to add texture to the lower handle areas so I used my go-to rubberized auto body spray. It goes on pretty thick so I didn't take any more time than I had to removing those surface imperfections in the spots this covered.




There's that pesky pic limit again, lol. Still a tad more to come but this is just about caught up to my current progress. All I've done is some more spot filling/sanding/priming and I will be making the barrels from PVC tube within the next few days. I'm also planning to pick up some more mold making materials tomorrow (I previously underestimated how much I would need) since I've decided to make this my first mold making adventure as well. I'm really excited to get started but the cold is setting in and I can't afford to ruin the little silicone I could finally get my hands on, so I will be problem solving for a while and any advice is welcome!

Thanks for lookin'

EDIT: @SoloHellsing, hey man thx a ton! I'm thinking about it now and it was a good 6-7 days of intense grinding each (8-ish hours) and several short sessions (1-3 hours) once I got to the point where I needed to wait for dry times every time I did something. All together I'd say about 70hrs of hands-on time which I spread pretty evenly across 9-10 weeks.

 

[Frozensnot]

Dang, that's one slick looking gun! Do you have any plans to add electronics?

 

[m00sem4n]

Dang, that's one slick looking gun! Do you have any plans to add electronics?

Thanks! And gosh I'd really like to but I likely won't be giving it much thought till after I've conquered the molding process. I'll be looking to recoup a lot of start-up expenses and sourcing decent electronics to experiment with at a reasonable price has proven difficult. I will at least eventually scrounge together some LEDs I have lying around to give my personal kit some life though.

Here's a minor update to bring this thread up to speed on where the project currently rests.


Some more glazing putty and sanding later.....




Excuse the hand, I was scrambling to find a light/angle that would half decently show the texture. It's become increasingly apparent in the past few weeks that some sort of a photographing station may be in order. Anyway I hope the grip looks grippy and the smooth faces look smooth haha because these shots aren't doing it justice. (toot toot)

I'm still undecided about whether to stop here or not. I suppose I might as well take the time to iron out any wrinkles while I wait for molding conditions/supplies.

 

[RobTC]

Pics look fine to me! Any idea how you're going to mould/cast it if you're intending to be able to add electronics? Need to be able to get in there with batteries and wiring and stuff.

And be prepared for both your silicone and resin to go less far than you'd anticipated! I'd probably do Rebound 25 and fiberglass if you have a nice easy mostly one-piece mould to do. I'm probably up to about $800 in Smooth-On products so far this year, largely as a result of my many-part design. Means "recovering costs" has more of an asymptotic curve than a nice straight line!

 

[m00sem4n]

Pics look fine to me! Any idea how you're going to mould/cast it if you're intending to be able to add electronics? Need to be able to get in there with batteries and wiring and stuff.

Ideas are scarce, but so is the time I've allotted to planning any of that out. As I mentioned, it's not a primary concern since this is entirely new territory for me and I don't expect things to go smoothly. Therefore I'm of a mind not to further complicate the task at hand. I'm going to be casting in the open faces of a two part mold for detail capture to start, with foam inserts throughout the bulk to reduce cost and weight as much as possible (particularly while overcoming the learning curve). If this goes well I'll then try a hollow version beginning in a similar fashion, then closing the two halves to slush cast the connecting seam. I don't know... we'll see haha but I think I can make electronics an option for both methods since they'd be really simple circuits, just some diffused lighting.

And be prepared for both your silicone and resin to go less far than you'd anticipated! I'd probably do Rebound 25 and fiberglass if you have a nice easy mostly one-piece mould to do. I'm probably up to about $800 in Smooth-On products so far this year, largely as a result of my many-part design. Means "recovering costs" has more of an asymptotic curve than a nice straight line!

Oh I know, I've been anxiously waiting years for the prohibitively expensive opportunity to experiment. I still can't afford too, lol, but the desire to expand my repertoire now out-ways any sense of responsibility that was holding me back. I'm about $100 in myself and I gotta run out for $40 worth of extra silicone (the underestimation has already begun). Rebound 25 is where I landed too, it was my first choice and a helpful individual with prop/sculpting experience reaffirmed my confidence in this choice at the location I purchased from. I'm not keen on using fiberglass because I find it so noxious so I'll be trying plaster cloth wherever I can get away with using it, also because the more steps I can do indoors the better as the weather turns. However, I do think I'll be needing to use fiberglass at some point, it's affordability and effectiveness are too good to deny outright.

I hear ya' on the cost recovery, I think you made a good call going all in with your project though. You're sitting on the best (and most customizable) BR kit I've seen to-date, and that likely won't change in the foreseeable future, so I wouldn't worry much about that recovery projection, asymptotic as it may seem

 

[The BorosBoss]

This is really cool. Are you planning on doing armor with it? If so,any specific character in mind or a custom Shepard or what?

 

[m00sem4n]

This is really cool. Are you planning on doing armor with it? If so,any specific character in mind or a custom Shepard or what?

Hey, thanks! I do plan on that, yeah. Ideally I'd like to do a full Thane suit, but I don't believe that's something I can manage just yet. A custom Shepard is the most likely route, though I haven't nailed down any of the specifics. Beyond my weapon of choice, that is.

On to the update!
This is late because everything was put on hold after I had a pretty bad allergic reaction for a couple weeks swiftly followed up by a cold....

So I was finishing up my final primer coat and admiring my work when my mum, of all people, pointed out that I missed a detail. Lol

So I went ahead and added that little screw in. Always seek out a peer review, folks. Some more minor finishing was done by this time too. Today I also finished up most of the work on the barrels that I've been putting off. The process was pretty smooth, just a lot a simple hand filing/sanding. I did use an engraving head on my dremel to quickly start off the grooves.


I'm almost happy with how these look, just going to make a quick pass with more glazing putty after I finish the shaping stage with Apoxie Sculpt. I just recently got my hands on a tub and wow do I ever love this stuff. It's so versatile! I'm still just using it on simple little things like this until I get a good feel for it and how it behaves at various stages. Anyway, I used the Apoxie to buff out those inner walls that were supposed to be thicker and give them a conical taper towards the rear where I closed off the back with about a 1cm wall, all to make mounting and molding/casting easier.


That's all for now! I'm hoping to steamroll this thing tomorrow but my attentions are split, I've just started a couple other projects that I'm really excited about.

 

[The BorosBoss]

Those are looking good! So, Thane, huh? To me, it seems that the only really hard part of that would be the mask/makeup. Otherwise, tights and a low-cut skintight top with a shell would do the rest. But that's just my 2 cents. There are probably some things I've overlooked..

 

[FlyinPhil]

I really need to browse this subforum more... this prop is insanely well done!

 

[m00sem4n]

Those are looking good! So, Thane, huh? To me, it seems that the only really hard part of that would be the mask/makeup. Otherwise, tights and a low-cut skintight top with a shell would do the rest. But that's just my 2 cents. There are probably some things I've overlooked..

Thanks! Yeah well I'd want to sew all the clothing super accurately and it's been years since I took up the needle, so i need to dust off some old skills. Also the mask/make-up would definitely be the hardest part because the whole process is foreign to me, latex and prosthetic making scares me haha.

I really need to browse this subforum more... this prop is insanely well done!

Many Thanks! And I neglect this sub too since I usually head to the RPF for my non halo interests and I kick myself when an amazing build slips by that I stumble on a year later. I saw your completed SAW btw, preeeetttyy dope.

Minor Update:
I realized that there was one final detail screw that I missed so I added that quickly while I waited for the first coat of primer to dry on the barrels.

Last image is their current state and where I think I'll leave them. I'm really pleased with this build and I think it's finally ready for molding. I've been putting it off because.... $ilicone, but now I'm glad I did since I caught a couple missed details. No excuses now though so I'll be starting slow with some Oomoo dump molds for the barrels (likely tomorrow) in order to build confidence and work out some kinks before moving onto rebound 25 for the body.

Here's the project altogether!


Thanks for stoppin' by

 

[RobTC]

Muey sexy!

And yeah, a tiny dump mold is definitely the best starting place. Once you realise that you don't actually have to be completely paranoid about every container and mixing spatula and every single surface the silicone might touch, it becomes easier.

 

[m00sem4n]

Howdy! Been a good long while since I've posted anything anywhere and I have no excuse :wacko. Apologies to anyone that was watching this thread, the good news is that my laziness stopped with my post-crastination. I continued documenting my numerous projects so here's everything I've been doing with respect to the Hurricane!

As planned, I started the molding process with the smallest and least complex pieces. Got the ball rolling with a couple simple dump molds for the barrels using Oomoo 25. I reaaally like this stuff and have made several small mold since beginning with these. It's just so easy to work with.

The plan was to not cut a seam into these molds since their shape seemed like the piece should be able to release vertically once I pried the edges away to get some air in there. That didn't work so well and that center post wouldn't release until I cut this seem to get in there and break the suction. It may have released with some more elbow grease but I knew I was pushing the boundaries of Oomoo"s tensile strength so I didn't chance it.

Next up was the main body and I opted to use rebound 25 for a 2-part brush-on mold.

I do know that a clay bed is the superior method and common practice at this stage but I'm usually strapped for cash and/or supplies. I just went with what I had and was very pleased with the results, but maaan did it take longer than expected to clean that seam up. Time spent at this stage really does ease the coming phases though, I only wish I'd had the patience to work in about twice the registration. That's where I was really wishing I could have gone with a cay bed.

I started with a shot glass portion across all involved materials to test for inhibition and detail capture before pouring glasses of this liquid gold. I later chopped this test up and used it as filler in the thickened 3rd layer.


Each half was applied in 4 and a half layers, each full layer being around 200g mixed with the remainder of each bottle being applied to thinner areas as needed. Layers 2-5 were progressively thickened to greater extents, beginning with about 2 drops and using as many as 7 by the last batch. I took a very measured and methodical approach with the silicone but I actual learned by the end of the second half that adding the Thi-vex by feel yielded much better results when working with such small quantities. Applying an exact amount never resulted in the expected consistency, but it was by no means a hassle or problem, likely just my mixing technique or something.

Gypsona Plaster bandages were used to create a mold jacket and they worked much better than I anticipated. You'll also notice a lack of registration between the mold and jacket and that's just because I'm an idiot. Lol, My thinking was that the natural shape of the mold would provide enough registration as is and I totally overlooked that the two halves of the mold jacket should ideally register well with themselves independent of the mold. Oh well... luckily it doesn't seem to have foiled my efforts. You may also have noticed by now that I forgot entirely about the necessity of a pour spout until this point, that was remedied on the second half. The paper from the foam board that got a little to cozy with the silicone was rubbed away with a damp finger (still annoying though).

You get the idea...

Second half of mold jacket applied with place holder clamps (rushes out to hardware store).


Damage report. One small detail popped off wit the silicone since it seeped a tad to far into a seem and was allowed to wrap around it slightly. nbd. The problems besides that were confined to that jumble of deep detail towards the front. This is where I was really glad I busted the bank on the rebound 25 for its strength and flexibility when peeling back that detail. It held up astonishingly well and I was asking a lot from it with how steep I left those trench walls, alas, a few tiny air-bubble-sized pieces of silicone fought back and tore in the deepest sections. Barely noticeable and I have a plan to address them but they can just as well be hidden with paint. I'm not really surprised but I am annoyed that I didn't get a single air bubble (as far as my eyes at 2 a.m. could tell) but I'm still left with these faux-bubble looking bits :facepalm. Anyway, like I said I'm not without a plan and I'll be doing some test casting soon. I hope to get some quality pulls out there in time for Andromeda. I want to make a Carnifex too since that's my fave ME pistol and the one shown in promos. Should be considerably easier than this treacherous project as well.

That's all for now, all tips & remarks welcome! Thanks for looking!

P.S. those interior silicone-to-silicone faces need a lot more muscle to separate than people let on. I was so afraid of tearing, but you just gotta go for it. Have faith haha.

 

[BlazedStarbon]

I'm biased and will say that this is nothing short from amazing considering I'm a huge Mass Effect fan as well.
I always find casting an intriguing alternative to see progress from. Keep it up!

 

[Minishdude1]

Lookin like a great mold ya made there. Keep up that work and you'll put Kassa Fabrications out of business!

 

[Reclaimara]

OMG DUUUDE! O_O
This is OUTSTANDING OMG OMG OGMOG
But seriously - amazing work! *w*

Also, you still have plenty of time - like a year of time... Andromeda was recently confirmed to come in 2017.

 

[m00sem4n]

Ahoy all!

@BlazedStarbon Thanks! I love everything the mass effect art & design team puts out! ...Except Batarians... I plan on bringing a few more items from the ME universe to life so maybe you'll enjoy those too!

@Minishdude1 Lol, I'll do the best I can with my black market knockoffs!

@Marawuff Why thank you, that's much appreciated! I did catch wind of that delay as well, too bad but it does put more time on the clock. My concerns about the timeline come from how slowly I'm able to progress atm, haha just look at the gaps in these updates! I have gotten the ball rolling again with the weather picking up though, so there should be much more to show on all my open projects in the coming weeks/months.

To pics!
I finally just went for it and used the remainder of the tiny bottle of smoothcast 300 I've been experimenting with. I had about 700-750mL left, roughly 100-150mL shy of what I needed to fully cast one of these, even after a half inch foam insert that fills about 450mL. I learned a lot about the mold itself and am confident that I can churn out far superior casts down the line. I wasn't worried about starting the process with too little resin since I fully expected it to be a throw away cast (with all the debris still in the mold and inevitable bubbles), so I just treated it as a complete test of all techniques involved and got to know the mold, the resin needed to be used at this point anyway.



This was the "good" side of the test cast, trust me when I say you wouldn't want to see the other, lol. There are some pinholes here and there but the seam is cleaner than I expected for my first two-part mold! There's barely any cleanup needed and I found out later that this was even after some improper registration between the mold and jacket. I'm also far less worried about those small areas where the silicone was damaged and it releases so easily from the resin compared to the master that practically all of my concerns regarding further damage have been dispelled.

So there ya' have it! I'm fairly proud of this since it really began to feel like I'd bitten off more than I could chew for my first real venture into mold making. And It's a real relief to know that casting isn't so scary after all, just expensive. I've got my sights set on a gallon or two of resin soon so that I can make a couple of these and see them fully assembled/painted. That's all for now, thanks for reading if you got this far! (side note, I usually post progress pics like this to my instagram way before I get around to posting. @OKAYprops)

 

[TiTime]

So many details ! It's .... I can't find the exact words to describe it
Keep going on! N7 suit maybe?