ODST build with EVA foam + M6 SOCOM (COMPLETE, for now..)

[m00sem4n]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Schedule got scrambled, otherwise I'd planned to have more to show. For now its just more progress on this snazzy M6S

I really enjoy scratch builds like this. Its all about reducing complex shapes to their more basic geometry, and when you f*** it up like I did you just add add add glue, lol

I'm impatient so I avoid having to clamp things off and wait as much as I can. But sometimes it really is the only way to get a nice seam.

I've still got some steam in me so maybe I'll get it sealed and slap that first coat of primer on before the night is through.

 

[FoxtrotZero]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Hey, it's lookin' good. Got some real nice definition on all the little pieces there. I guess having a fine hand is an important skill. Do you bother using a straitedge with your cuts? And hey, I can't see any ****ups, so you must be doing something right.

This interests me, so if you do get the sealant and primer on tonight, maybe you'll put it up tonight, too. I'm willing to bet your primer isn't too far off of the final colour, so that would be a nice estimation of the finished piece.

 

[harvola]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Dude! This build is better than anything I could do in a million years! The detail on that gun is freakin amazing.

 

[m00sem4n]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Hey, thanks a lot, harvola , hopefully this update is to your liking then! Haha
And FoxtrotZero, thank you too! I don't use one for cutting, although I really should. Its just impatience lol

Here we go, I tried to keep track of this one since I personally find the scratch building process of others very interesting.

I find its a good idea to keep things modular like this for as long as possible. Its then easy to line up large parts for gluing and you can go back and redo small sections if needed.

Then the final look before painting, and after being sealed with good 'ol white glue.

This was a beautiful sight. Always satisfying to see everything come together under that first coat of paint.

Thanks for stopping by!

Edit:
As a side note to anyone wondering, I filled and smoothed the rear of the handle in two steps. First it's just plaster with water and a splash of white glue mixed in. This gives better tackiness and adds a lot of strength. You do not want to work with this once it dries though, very difficult, so I only use it as a base. Then I apply regular plaster over it to easily shaped

 

[RobTC]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

That's pretty damn sexy, for any material, but for card it's amazing. Reckon you're going to add any functionality, or would that risk sacrificing aesthetic?

Big agreement in "the first coat of paint". I'm getting pretty close to that stage on a couple pieces now. It's still a little hard to see how they look exactly, but once it's all under grey or ruddy brown, it's gonna be amazing.

 

[m00sem4n]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

That's pretty damn sexy, for any material, but for card it's amazing. Reckon you're going to add any functionality, or would that risk sacrificing aesthetic?

Yeah its because I wanted detail, and fast. I generally only build functionality into my larger stuff cuz building with card needs a little space to build strength into moving components. I've got a plain old m6 laying around somewhere that had a slide and removable mag. Time has not been kind to it though

But the light on this one works!

 

[m00sem4n]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Forgot to post with mag.

 

[FoxtrotZero]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

I'd like to see that M6 (C? D?) sometime. The moving parts interest me. I'd like to have one with moving parts for myself but I'm most likely to make a sliced build, so that's not liable to happen unless...

Hmm, I suppose there are a few ways I could get a moving slide. Use some notched-out rails to keep it on track and then just include some sort of spring.

Anyway, the SOCOM is looking great. Can't wait to see it with paint!

 

[m00sem4n]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Lol, its in my brothers *care*, I'd have to ask him.
And that's how I go about moving parts in a sliced build. Requires a lot more planning upfront to get the layers interacting well but you can make 'em strong. I might make a classic br that way in light of halo 2 multiplayer making its comeback.

 

[RobTC]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Ok, weapon build nerding time, apparently.

I'd also like to see that functional M6, if you can extricate it safely, haha.

I wont consider my BR85 complete without changeable magazine(s?), functional ammo counter (that's the hardest part, the screen is a complex shape in a housing that can't hold a rectangular screen), moving charging lever (possibly also affecting the ammo counter, it has some extra notifications on there I haven't checked out yet), "functional" scope (zoomed in digital camera, maybe? I may scratchbuild that as well, the electronics and optics shouldn't be too bad), moving safety selector, also probably affecting the screen, spring-loaded ejection door, and working trigger (obviously). It doesn't have LED indicators or anything like that, it's all harder stuff. Totally appropriate for my first hardcore build! (/s) I just need to source custom OLED screens and the rest is pretty straightforward though. As soon as the current two bits (grip area and barrel jacket) are complete, I'll get a thread up.

What do you guys think about the laser sight on the M6? It seems like replacing it with an ultrabright red LED is the only convention- and photography-safe thing to do, right? It doesn't seem as cool, but considering lasers are realistically very low visibility anyway, and it can always be a narrow beam.

If it's big enough inside, you could use a few inches of small 8020 aluminium extrusion and let the slide slide through that, on little indentations.

 

[FoxtrotZero]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

If you actually pull off that BR85 build I will sing your eternal praise from the mountains. That's a tall order, and I look forward to seeing what you accomplish. Personally, I decided to scrap most of the actual functionality on my planned custom DMR build. The things I want are a backlit ammo counter (not a functional ammo counter, I scrapped that - this is a stencil of the number 15 with LEDs behind it), several removable magazines, a moving charging handle (literally jus a spring loaded lever for looking cool), and a working flashlight (easy). I've decided to drop the scope for a bit less-canon holographic sight, which will be a piece of plastic with a reuticle stenciled onto it, also not hard. To be honest, other than the LED wiring, the charging handle is the only thing I haven't got figured out.

To be honest, as for the targeting laser on the gun, I'd either ignore it, or install an actual laser pointer - which I'd only turn on in specific situations (read: ones that can't get me in trouble, and not just have it on all the time). As for your slide, I realize you're probably talking about M00se's build, but I'd probably put a couple of hooks on the interior of either side of the slide, for a matching set of indentations on the body, and use, I don't know, a recessed spring, probably, to keep it in place.

 

[RobTC]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

FoxtrotZero Hahah! Hopefully others will agree, because I'm hoping it'll be a sellable kit so I can recoup some of the crazy expenses I'm foreseeing. I have some reasonable experience in electronics, been building stuff since I was a little kid, and have a degree in physics, so I'll be pretty disappointed in myself if I can't pull it off. Lol.

But really, the only difficult part is acquiring and possibly running the ammo counter screen. From the images I have, it looks like a very flat OLED screen rather than a recessed LCD display. Which is fine, because OLEDs are easier to find and perform better in daylight, but it may still take a while to find one of the right size that I can sort of fudge it- I've just been Googling, and it looks like a custom trapezoidal display is just a no-go. Refreshing a micro OLED screen probably involves sending serial pixel scan data to the buffer, rather than having a nice built-in driver that I can just send images to from an SD card database. The latter would be preferable though, if I can find one with an appropriate aspect ratio.

I'm hoping I can get away with Arduino Nanos for this build, because the barrel jacket is the ideal place to put it/them. Hopefully just one to keep costs low, but maybe two if the library/codebase for running that screen is too big to coexist in program flash memory on a single Nano. Fortunately, the rear of the stock is pretty massive, so if I have to upgrade to an Uno or Mega, there's plenty of room there, I believe (I haven't measured the space behind the mag well though, technically, but my Uno is tiny).

The trigger, safety, charging lever and magazine are all simple springs and magnets and switches, so no issues there.

The scope could use something like this: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11676 - combined with a Nano to run it from a camera board behind a custom lens setup. 128x128px resolution would be pretty straightforward to deal with, I think, and it has all kinds of handy features on the baseboard. That's probably approaching $100 for the scope electronics alone, but it could be spectacular- especially if I used an IR camera or something. All that plus a little lithium battery should fit inside the scope no problem.

I'm just one of those people where "it looks more or less right" doesn't even begin to cut it. Hopefully I can do myself justice, but it seems to be going well thus far. The attention to detail required is insane, it's hard to keep track.

And hey, if you need help "funning up" your DMR build, feel free to hit me up.

 

[ErMaC]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Excellent job, looks fantastic

 

[Commander Siv]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

that looks epic!!!!

 

[drack]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Very impressive work man!

 

[m00sem4n]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

drack that means a lot, you're somewhat of a legend in my eyes haha. You've done some incredible and daring things with foam, hoping to get on your level someday!

 

[m00sem4n]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

OK everybody, this is what I've been up!
I closed up all those helmet gaps before resin and final details were added.

I used a very thin uerethane resin to coat the inside. With a 5 min working time though I was able to apply a nice solid coat across all surfaces as it started to gum up.

So it will be a few days before full cure, which gives me time to decide if I'll go my normal nontoxic route, or just commit to the chemicals since I've already gone this far.
While I was waiting the first couple hours after pouring I started on the gloves.

So I'm happy with those for now. I've been painting in the background this whole time, I'll just post a pile of photos when I bring all the pieces together, for now everything is all over the place.
Sneak peek at templates

 

[FoxtrotZero]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

The helmet is looking good. You probably posted this and I don't remember, but... you made it out of cardboard? And then resined it with urethane? What inspired these choices? And do you know what you're going to do about the visor?

The gloves look kickass. I've only seen a few attempts at realistic gloves and it generally dissuades me from even bothering. I was just going to invest in a pair of paintball gloves or something but you make it look so damned easy. Am I wrong to assume you made that with pieces of thin craft foam? Maybe I should ask you to scan and upload your glove template, if you still have it, because that might be worth emulating.

And the decal stencils also look good. Can't wait to get a peek at that sweet paint work. Is that some sort of paper with a removable adhesive back? I suppose that makes a lot of sense. I did some stencils for a while by trying to lay cardstock with the stencil cut out of it onto my surface, but that naturally isn't the most effective process. I considered a similar thing wherein I first cover the stencil in a lattice of masking tape and then just use said tape for the actual stencil (peeling it off the cardstock, after cutting it out and right before application) which would really just be a layman's version of the same thing. Haven't tried that yet, though.

The paint job is something I'm particularly excited to see what you do with, because there's so many little things you can throw in there to give it your own taste, things like colour schemes, emblems, battle damage, you name it. I know the MED REF patch on the left shoulder is standard, but I'm wondering if you'll do anything with the right shoulder. Most people don't, and I've been considering what could go there. For my own, I was thinking something like a rank insignia and "7th BN // FOXTROT", though perhaps I should see if I can dig out more concrete information on the nomenclature when referring to battalions and companies.

Backstory is half the fun, and the details on your armour are the best way to tell it! I look forward to seeing the labours of your creative mind, moose.

 

[m00sem4n]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

FoxtrotZero
Many thoughtful remarks, thank you muchly!

I did touch on my background with cardboard on the first page, but briefly. It was simply a decision to stick to my strengths, always been able to replicate any desired form in cardboard. The resin I had on hand as part of my growing stock going towards mould making and casting but it has a shelf life and I won't have the funds to attempt anything like that for quite some time.

The visor is my next mini experiment, and I will have more on that in the coming days. I found some plastic with promising properties that I will try to manipulate into the shape of the visor, keeping it 1-piece. If that fails I do a pretty good 2-piece with scoring, if I do say so myself.

These gloves were easy-ish. Although the hand is a strange and complex mechanism so glove making is difficult if you haven't studied the musculature and movement patterns. This makes a difference when the piece undergoes everyday stresses and flexing. Having said that they are indeed only craft foam, so I've mounted them in a way that burdens them with no tension. Best I can do is a pic over my grid for templates, scanners down. I'll update this post with them.

The stencils are just paper with packing tape over over the paper, then cut. I either do this or the technique you described with masking tape, which I personally find much better, but I wanted to keep these reusable. I lay the masking tape over a small glass pane.

I have a custom paint job in mind but I can't find my colour. If it doesn't present itself I will just blot on acrylic. I have several small accents in mind and, indeed, a custom emblem that I will be repping. :thumbsup

Edit: additional glove shots.

The last pic shows an important over-under flap I added to keep the top and bottom edges as I wanted them relative to oneanother, but still allow flexing as I put on/remove the glove.

 

[Harri51]

Re: ODST build with EVA foam

Dang. I love how clean the cardboard is on the helmet. The level of detail looks amazing. The gloves look fantastic as well.