My first armour build- MKVI in foam (Will be photo heavy in time!)

[Rooney]

Good evening esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the 405th! After being inspired by browsing this forum on and off since I started cosplaying, and seeing the Spartans at Expo in October, I've finally gathered the courage (and supplies!) to start a MKIV build in tandem with a friend of mine, hopefully to be finished in time for May Expo 2013. I'll be red and he'll be blue, and I'm sure there'll be hi-jinx aplenty...

But first, some progress shots (As suggested by the title, I'm a noob at this sort of thing, so be gentle!). We're using the Robogenesis foam pep files, and have started with the right forearm

It's been quite a learning curve, but I'm quietly pleased with the fact that it's come together and actually resembles what it's supposed to. I've got the parts for the left forearm cut and ready to be sanded/cut to get the angles tomorrow, and thought I'd share!

 

[thorn696]

Looking good, your off to a great start.

 

[Rooney]

Finally got some more progress! The biceps are assembled;

And a quick shot of the parachute clip that makes it that tiny bit easier to get the biceps on and off

Now, if I can ever get my damned printer working, I'll be starting on the chest piece. I'm running out of time to complete this by the target date of late May this year....

 

[spartan IV]

Foam work looks great and your deadline seems to be very ascertainable if you can keep this pace.

 

[hobbitdude13]

Great work! Ive never built with foam (pepakura til i die) but this looks like a promising build. I had problems with my printer as well, I started going to the local library to print my pep work. They are usually cool about letting you use card stock.

 

[Spartan_127]

You are off to a good start. Foam work looks nice and clean. Keep up the good work.

 

[daviduffy]

That forearm looks great! Are you using strictly hot glue to bond your foam pieces?

 

[Ghost01]

I think your completion date is totally feasible. Foam is an awesome medium to work with and generally takes less time than the pep method. What you give up in detail you make up for with mobility, comfort and time.

 

[Rooney]

Thanks guys! It's reassuring to know that people who actually know what they're doing think that I'm doing this right! More foam has been ordered since I ran out last night mid-way through putting the back of the torso together. But here's what I did manage to do before I ran out.

That forearm looks great! Are you using strictly hot glue to bond your foam pieces?

Yep, just hot glue at the moment. My friend said he read on here somewhere about using gel superglue to clean up any gaps in the seams, so I'll be trying that once all the major parts are assembled.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Rooney]

So, after a grueling few weeks, I have another update! The chest piece is more-or-less complete - I need to do some quite substantial filler work, and the little intake grills on top of the shoulders need doing, since the parts I've cut don't seem to fit, and even when they do, they look terrible!

So anyway, here's a quick snap of the (mostly) finished piece:

The little white bits are filler that I've started applying to smooth out some of the less-than-perfect seams and joins. You may notice the back of the collar is missing. This is because if I fit it, then my head won't fit through the hole. Going to have a think about what to do with that over the weekend.

Another shot, showing a bit of the side:

At the bottom (wrapped in masking tape) is the parachute clip that will allow me to squeeze this thing on. Unfortunately I'm having trouble getting the damned thing to stay attached - I've tried hot glue and no-nails, and both have failed miserably. What have other people used?

So far so good, right? So why has this last week been so grueling? Well we discovered that there's a section missing from the pep files. Two long strips between the breast (*snigger*) plates and the ab plates are missing. When we looked at a paper pep file, the pieces were made up by tabs on the end of the upper pieces. But on our foam files... nothing.

It's the strip I'm highlighting with my inbuilt pointing device.

We had to get creative. I made two strips from the EVA foam (which was fun, since I had to trace out the shape on the mostly-constructed armour), and my friend opted for filling the blank with craft foam stuck over the gap from behind (something I maintain will be too flimsy and prone to tearing).

Anyway, we're out of gluesticks 'til Monday, so the weekend will be spent hole-filling (again *snigger*) and detailing the completed section, and possibly marking-up and cutting out the cod-piece/belt.

I'm actually quite excited, because it's finally starting to look like armour!

 

[Alfrey515]

you seem to definitely be on the right track with your suit! its looking great so far, keep it up!

 

[AI Blue Fox]

I'm guessing you meant mark VI right? XD getting my hopes up. Great pacing. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[Spartan_127]

Work on the torso looks awesome. :cool

At the bottom (wrapped in masking tape) is the parachute clip that will allow me to squeeze this thing on. Unfortunately I'm having trouble getting the damned thing to stay attached - I've tried hot glue and no-nails, and both have failed miserably. What have other people used?

Where you're having the problem getting the buckle to stay attached on the chest, have you tried using a two part epoxy?
You could also try to put a piece of webbing strap on the buckle and hot gluing that down instead of the buckle on its own, but I think that a two part epoxy like what LOCTITE™ makes would work well for holding that in place.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Rooney]

Thanks for the encouraging words chaps! Yes, I did mean MKIV - I'll investigate editing the title this evening.

I did try some of the two-part stuff, but it still fell off. Then my housemate (and partner in this madness) pointed out that the stuff was well best it's best. We've got some new two-part epoxy which is actually setting as I type, so fingers crossed it'll work this time!

 

[Raskulz]

Awesome work, the foam looks darn good - I personally have yet to try working with E.V.A foam but from what I can tell it's coming along really nicely.

I like the idea with the Parachute Clip, I've seen it done a couple of times and it seems to work really well. I just have one idea that's been running through my head that I'm thinking I'll add to my ODST Armor (Not completed nor in progress yet..)

That is a Seat Belt Latch, or any clip/latch with a Button release instead of Side Clips that are pressed in... this'll describe what I mean.



From there.. it may be hard to tell but the Seat Belt Latch would be mounted on the inside much like yours. however I'm thinking of making a free floating foam piece above it so that the Button Release can be pushed from the outside - Via the free floating foam piece on top of the Release Button. Sorry for the rambling and probably incoherent description, it's alot nicer in my head.

Edit: I'm also not an artist so please excuse my crude depiction of my concept.

 

[RTWHOCKEY]

great progress so far, BUT- I would recommend using these files as foam templates from now on. They're much smoother and more foam-friendly.

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...s-For-Smoother-Pep-Builds?highlight=mroreo123

Keep building, it looks good so far!

 

[Rooney]

Raskulz - I like that idea. Only thing that worries me is the cost - I get the feeling that those clips would be a lot more expensive than the parachute clips. But when you start that ODST build I'll be interested to see how it works out!

RTWHockey - Thanks man, those files do look a lot more foam friendly! The ones we're using seem to be far too angular. But ho-hum, this whole build has been a learning curve. Just wait for the next one... ;-)

 

[DBmike]

That's some good clean foam work goin on. +1 sub here

 

[Raskulz]

Rooney - Thanks for the reply, I realize your worry about the cost. However a couple years ago me and my brother went to the Junkyard to find some old seat belts for our hammock we put up in our back yard. Simple disconnect so you can bring it in when you want and it just clips in when you need it. Total cost couldn't have been more than $5-10 MAX, the most expensive part is probably the grueling task of trying to get them unbolted from the car. Which is certainly a task and a half.

 

[Rooney]

Another update, and a sure sign that we're making progress:



That's me wearing everything I've constructed thus far, wearing my new undersuit - two part motorcycle undersuit from Lidl of all places! - no strapping as yet (so the biceps keep falling down), and the belt/codpiece needs some adjustments now that I've worn it over the undersuit rather than jeans!

But I am really bloody excited to finish this, and quietly impressed with how well it seems to be going. This weekend will be spent doing strapping/padding, possibly finally detailing the chest armour, and next week it's on to the thighs. Which leads me to a question...

The pep file I'm using for the thighs doesn't have the inner-thigh section with the black overlapping plates. I'm considering making this section out of craft foam rather then the EVA stuff, but I'm a little worried it won't be rugged enough to stand up to the rigours of conventions and posing for photos (). Does anyone have any experience of this?

Also, the two part epoxy adhesive seems to have done the trick, so I'll be using that for all the clips and strapping.

On another note, both myself and my partner in crime have opted to modify a Rubies 2-piece helmet, since we have neither the time not the skill to build our own out of foam. Anyone have any tips of making them looks awesome? We're replacing the visor (obviously), fixing the two halves together, and re-spraying them to match our armours, but I'm always looking for tips on how to make things better!