Mass effect armor build (first major build)

[Haxzor]

Hi guys, I plan to make the helmet out of pepakura and the rest o the armor out of E.V.A foam, I am going with the open faced helmet with a moveable breather attachment.
I wanted to know if there was an alternative to using aqua resin and fiberglass to make the helmet strong? I think a clear coat plus some paper mache (without the newspaper) might work...but I don't want to test it out on the helmet. Thank you for any/all answers.

 

[Darthoblivious]

good luck with the build! as far as alternatives to aqua resin, just use fiberglass resin, its pretty cheap, and easy to use. just paint it on in thin layers so you get an even coat without globbing or uneven surfaces. personally i use a modified version of rondo. rondo is an equal to 3/4-1/4 ratio of bondo to fiberglass resin. you just add the cream hardener and rotocast the piece. i use a modified version, i use a bondo and fiberglass mix along with the resin, this makes the piece pretty light, my first helmet was straight rondo, and weighed somewhere around 5-7 lbs, with the fiberglass in the rondo mix, my new one weighs around 2-4 lbs. i cant tell for sure, but its a hell of alot lighter. i like it because its alot stronger than straight rondo, but just as easy to sand, and its more foolproof than straight fiberglass because you end up with holes to fill when you glass it, and alot more bondo work to smooth out the lines

 

[Haxzor]

Thanks! And wow that was fast! I just posted this thread around 10 minutes ago, anyways do you know how many oz. of fiberglass resin that I would need for just the helmet because they sell it in 32 oz. 48 oz., etc? I also looked on lowes, home depot, and walmarts websites and i couldn't find any rondo so i guess i'll have to use bondo. Thanks again for the alternative .

 

[Darthoblivious]

idk, just like a $10 dollar can of resin will set you for the helmet! and you cant buy rondo! you have to mix it yourself. and hey, no problem, gotta help a brother out!

 

[Andrew Lambright]

hey haxzor, happy to hear about another ME3 build. and Darth oblivious is right, it can't be purchaced, only self mixed. you need to mix resin and bondo (hence rondo) together in a container, and once well mixed, add both catalysts at the same time. i use a 1/1 mix of resin and bondo, that way it is strong, yet liquid enough to slosh around the inside of a helmet. hope this helped can't wait to see some update pics

 

[Haxzor]

Well its been a while since I've last posted because of school, etc. But I've assembled the pepakura model of the M76 Revenant;
Update Picture:
If you can't see the pic here is the direct link.
http://imgur.com/xb6Kv

(And a box of bandaid's because i'm so pro with a hot glue gun )

I'm thinking of just using a few coats of Mod Podge because I heard that it layers well, and fiberglass resin is about 36$ minimum in my location so that's a bit much for what my budget is. More updates this week!

 

[Haxzor]

Well after 3 hardware stores and lots of frustration, I'm just going to use layers and layers of mod podge/glue the strengthen to paper and reasons being in my newest post.

 

[Admiral Tiberius]

Not sure where you reside at but if you live in america you can get resin from walmart for around $13 a can which would be enough for a helmet.

 

[Haxzor]

I guess I'm going to have to crack open that piggy bank for some resin, the mod podge worked fairly well after a few coats but it's just barely not as firm as I would like it to be. In total I will be making: a gun, a helmet, a chest piece, arm/shoulder pieces, and thigh pieces. Any idea how much resin all of that would take? I really didn't want to spend more than like 30-40bucks on this?

 

[Dh748]

Good luck with that budget yo! Just a foam suit, on the cheap, would be at least $75. If you want the helm to be hard, you will NEED to either fiberglass or rondo. simply resining, or in your case mod podging, will not make it to where you want it to be. let me brake it down real quick: $5 for fiberglass for the helmet, $15(ish) for resin, another $10 for bondo (small can) $20-$30 for EVA foam, $10 for cheap padding, $20 for cheap black yoga pants and undershirt, $5 for Cheap visor (opaque plastic sheets), 20 for straps and buckles, prolly $30 for supplies, then for the heck of it- lets add $30 for misc costs. This is a BEAR MINIMUM estimate, if you wanted more, you'd have to pay more. (on the bright side the costs may be a lil overpriced ) so...we're looking at about $175. A can of resin USUALLY gets through the hardening of a whole suit (the large ones, idk the oz on 'em.) So that should be good, far ass fiberglassing goes I'd suggest 2 packs from wally world, if you're in america.... Any questions?

 

[Haxzor]

Well I am going to get some resin as much as I hate it, and fiberglass cloth in the helmet isn't 100% necessary so I'm just going to skip that. I'll look around and see if I can find some bondo for the helmet, and as for the armor I found these:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Step2-Playmats/2603666 and they should work, but I was wondering how many packs I would need. Everything else save for the straps, velcro, and foam I already have and I found really really cheap buckles that come with a decent strap for 97 cents a pop so I'll grab some of those. And for the visor I have a cheap motorbike goggle replacement lens that came with them. Off the topic of supplies I know that there are certain details and I don't think I can do the with eva foam, would something like craft foam work? Like for the details and top of the vambraces? I'm almost finished with the gun as well so an update picture of that will come soon.

 

[Dh748]

Well...Bondoing the helmet isn't gonna work well if the helmet isn't hardened, unless you're gonna rondo? Those mats will work, but You CAN find cheaper Craft foam also works VERY well for lil details like that.

 

[Haxzor]

I come bearing updates, I finished the gun with 2 coats of resin and a bit of bondo (because I'm cheap like that) then I hand painted it.

http://imgur.com/m5Fe7

http://imgur.com/PeOGQ

The helmet will be done in pep but the rest will be out of E.V.A foam an craft foam for details. I'll bring more updates once I assemble the pep version of the helmet.