===Noble XERO Sangheili General Build Thread===

[NobleXero]

Greetings 405th,

The last week has been eventful. We had a cold front move in, so working outside's been out of the question.

Then to top it off, I came down with the flu. I've kicked the fever and whatnot for the mostpart but the coughing still beats me up six ways to sunday.

Some goodnews tho! The handplate is all detailed, and i just got my casting materials in the mail! a big kit of resin and silicone. I can't WAIT to start casting! gunna do some learner pieces with tiny trinkets around my house tho

A special shout out and thank you to Thorssoli, tho he might never read this thread. either way the sentiments here. He recommended a book that after reading it, definatly understood his high praise. Its in my collection. I've also read his thread a million times now and I STILL learn new things from it.



one thing i've definatly learned during my endevours.

EVA is a pain in the persnickle to work with. results are often quick and pretty to look at but coating them in bondo and working those areas is frustrating as i have a habit of sanding too deep DX its been an uphill battle, sanding and filling, sanding and filling.. <->

 

[fat hi555]

Nice progrees you got going on. I've got an elite ultra helmet fully unfolded if you need. http://www.4shared.com/file/LPzAcphP/eliteultra.html

 

[NobleXero]

nother bit of news for the day- went out and invested in some pieces of bulsa and one of those slightly-smaller-than-a-basket-ball-sized spheres of firm styrofoam. im coating it with Bondo for my Grifball. But i'll make a seperate build thread for my weapons. Just gotta get progress shots!


Ooh that's super awesome. Shame im not making an ultra! i'm making a general. If you could maybe model some other parts for me i'd be eternally greatful :[ i've already made the hand plate and gauntlet x3

the helmet andd the chest are the two parts i want pepped most of all. this foam's a pain to work with.

 

[cory045]

i think elite costumes are hard enough because there shaped differently' but good for you

 

[SneezyDinosaur]

Hey, cool im making my own sangheili costume but i was wondering what the hexagonal fabric is for...

 

[NobleXero]

Hey, cool im making my own sangheili costume but i was wondering what the hexagonal fabric is for...

I wanted to use hexagonal fabric for the undersuit. they have alot of hexagons on their armor and clothing.

 

[NobleXero]

Hey. if this thread is still being read, I was wondering if I could get some help... supposedly making stuff from foam is apparently quick but.. the amount of time i spent on one gauntlet betrays that belief. so I was wondering if I could get some help creating models that I could unfold and assemble? you'd get full credit for the work, definatly.

i think pepping and whatnot would be quicker. akon's less than 2 months away and things just.. aren't going well :|

 

[GAMMA NET]

awesome. I currently am attempting to figure what im going to do for a halo BoB, given its my first go at things, it may be interesting.

I am curious how you plan to do the elite foot, and how you intend to go about making your arms of similar ratio...as the arms thing is currently got me hung up.....

best of luck.

 

[NobleXero]

Greetings 405th.

Been a while since I made a proper progress post. I've got ALOT going on, and not just with the armor.
IRL's been an unpleasent rollercoaster ride, and there's alot that's been interfering with my ability to work on the armor.

So there's a big chance I won't be ready in time for A-KON in dallas. (I hope to god I am even if i have to make **** pieces as place holders)

But. this isnt facebook so im not here to whine about how horrible my day's been. I'm here to show PICTURES!

Picked up a bunch of stuff... a nifty pair of shoes, a floral arrangement foam ball, and 6 slats of long bulsa.. all armor related, I promise!

First up is a shot of me coating the soon to be Grifball in bondo. was thinned with a little resin so it'd get into the voids for a good firm surface.

Second shot of the ball coated with a little sanding. this was before i found a local retailer that sold spot putty (I FINALLY FOUND IT ;3

Next up is a (terrible) photo of my 'outlines' for the soon-to-be master of my sword. it'll be made from bulsa, but when cast and assembled, will be epic.

Sorry for the crap quality. phone was refusing to behave.

then i finally got my horrid pink stuff in the mail. IE Silicone RTV rubber, the brushable kind.
I've learned quickly that I HATE this stuff. Its sticky, unruly, a pain in the toosh to manage, and ..is pink.
here's the first coat of silicone on my gauntlet. Didnt mix enough but since silicone seals to silicone, its not a problem.

And last but not least, some of you ahve wondered how i'll be pulling off the feet.

I've ultimatly settled to 'hybridise' the designs of Halo 3 and Halo reach. I'm going to stick with the less bendy legs of halo 3 that have the higher foot stance (as if they wore heels), but with medium length toes like halo reach, since i really liked that design aspect. In the end it'll resemble an elite.

that's that pair of shoes i bought for this project, which im admittedly sad i must destroy for this project. None of the heels i found that were this tall were /comfortable/ and if im going to be in these for 2-4 hours, i want to be comfy.So i bought a pair that is. ultimately the extensions were shaped from sculpey, hardened with a heatgun, and will be molded and cast out of pure casting resin, (maybe a small percentage of microballoons).

When alls said and done, these should become extremely tall(they give me 6 inches and make me 5'8" lol)

Hope yall like this big update. Please give me feedback as i need the encouragement!

 

[NobleXero]

Here's another big update. some good photos.

the more pieces i complete, the better i feeel about this project. I truly hope i can finish it on time. the only thing i've had to look forward to at all is A-Kon and i would be very disappointed if I came so close and didnt finish this.

Made two (very bad) pulls of my gauntlet master. i wanted these to be resin because they'll be potentially colliding with alot of other people.
Bottom row are the four toe plates, sans details. and off to the right are the handplates. they're ready for paint and mounting.

closeups of the handplates

Closeups of the toeplates.

helmet progress, sans details.

front view of the helmet(yess that's an assassins creed tattoo, and yes its real. yes it hurt.)

back view. It sat in the sun and the heat warmed the bondo/foam. so it warped slightly. nothing more sunlight won't fix.

All in all, im aware the pieces are rough. but give me a break. akon's in two weeks and i've still gotta finish bondoing the thigh plates, start bondoing the paldrons(upper arm parts which are assembled), and make/assemble the chest and shin guards. tomorrow i'll be finishing up the thighs, and making the foam/framework for the head/feet. the shoe stilts are also done. dont have decent pics of those as i've got to cut em down a little bit. they make me a bit TOO tall and void the comfort of the shoes.

my goal here is to have something wearble for Akon.
after the convention i'll go back and correct all the flaws for halloween.

feedback would be greatly appreciated. really.

 

[Spitfire22V]

Considering that this is an Elite build that actually has significant progress accomplished with intention to finish, and not just a lot of talk and planning, I think it's great! Love the helmet so far. As I've mentioned to others, while it's always great to strive for a perfect finish, don't worry about small imperfections. They tend to disappear in final paint and weathering, and it's not like anyone will really notice them unless they're inspecting your suit looking for it. Keep up the great work, looking forward to seeing this finished!

 

[Pipinacan]

I know it's realllllly soon but I hope you make it to akon with this, can't wait to see it in person, I'll pistol you up! lol

 

[NobleXero]

hey folks. possible delays. roommate went into the garage today and found 3 wasps nests. a window got left open and he fouind half a dozen of the little pests making themselves quite comfortable.

This wouldnt be a problem

if i wasn't allergic to them unfortunatly since my allergy hasn't been OFFICIALLY diagnosed, i dont carry eppi pens. so i need to avoid getting stung as i have no emergency preventive measures. (Yes im fairly certain im allergic as my last run-in with a wasp left my right arm swollen, in extreme pain and weak for several days. to this day i still get aches in my hand, or 'phantom pains', basically nerves remembering it and spasming.).

there ar some things i can do indoors until im sure the wasp problem is resolved, such as add details using apoxie sculpt and begin assembling the head, hands and feet out of upholstry foam.

I also havent done like, 5 of the things i mentioned in y last post because the last 2 days i've been playing APB :| my friends tempt me!

Either way thanks for all the support and comments thus far. I'm very eager to wear this armor at the con and post pictures and videos of the shennanigans. (after akon, this thread will go on as i've got to improve it for halloween)

 

[Pipinacan]

I really hope you get as much as you can done, I look forward to seeing you wearing as much of this as you can at akon!

 

[NobleXero]

I've got the chest plate half assembled as we speak. wrapped it up for the day as its hot in there.. reminds me i left the fan on. i should prolly go take care of that.

I'm also going to be a lazyxero and make crappy versions of the shinplates so that i can just velcro them on. Prolly am just gunna heat form em in place and not even bother bondoing them. Once painted and sealed with clear coat, i dont think it'll make much difference visually.

I hope to have all the pieces bondo'd and painted by the end of the week so i can dig through my boxes of crap and find my Impact armor that i originally bought for my spartan armor.

If not that, then i'll go buy a girdle. it wont make me skinnier by much, but it'll definatly make things high and tight. better for an elite.

 

[NobleXero]

More pictures, YEY!

Started painting what i had complete while i waited for some Rondo to cure.

Helmet in progress:

Chest plate assembled and ready for bondo: Also say hi to mr. wortwort

Blurred shot of the back(jerked the phone at the last second)

Front-top angle of the assembled chest plate with a few changes to its overall design.

Yes you'll notice that isnt the actual general's chest but i'm out of time and this one was far simpler to make. So whoora. I might have bondo'd photos of the chest ready to show tomorrow, same with the paldrons. We'll see. depends on how things go.
I'm currently working on wrapping up a project in SL so im splitting my time with that.

 

[NobleXero]

<emo>

I hate to amit it but, right now im through..

I had SIX MONTHS. I dont have a job irl, I have the most freetime of anyone i know, and yet I still failed to complete this project. My procrastination knows no bounds. Its frustrating. But the more I tell myself and struggle to improve and do things in a timely manner, the more i feel uninspired.

Im still coming to Akon... but I'm afraid.. No armor. Not this year. Hell, I likely won't be wearing a cosplay at all. parts of my Ezio cosplay are missing or broken, and i dont really want to fursuit this year in my crappy fursuit.

I came so close.. All i had left is the belt, shin plates, feet, hands and head. I could do it, with minimal sleep but.. the head(or what i have of it) looks terrible.
I wanted so much for it to be done..

I might bw down, but I'm not out. Halloween's around the corner and so is the HaloCE:A release, so i can try again then. And maybe i can have a nice set of MKVI MJLONIR ready for the 2012 release of halo 4 ^-^

Thank you all for the encouragement you've given me thus far, and for your kind words and help when i needed them. But right now, i'm putting this project on hiatus.. I need the rest.
</emo>

 

[Pipinacan]

lol k I'll forgive you for everything except the emo part! it's all good if you don't finish for akon! don't give up, use the fact that you still have CE and halloween left this year as your motivation! I have been VERY impressed with your build so far!

but in all seriousness, do take some rest, and come see me at akon so I can motivate you in person! lol

 

[spartan 847 david]

Really great start on the torso Btw

 

[sanghei]

So far, So AWESOME!!

I want to see this finished its gonna be beast!!!