Re: ODST + Venom cross-over : ODSV
More Carnage!
Here are the rest of my build pics
The side connections
The back plate has two.... prongs that come out and hug you when you wear it. You have to add more straps here to keep the back secured to your body. I built this kit (and the venom kit for that matter) to be wearable by my friends, so the strapping needs to be adjustable.
One cool thing I found was that if I did the strapping in a certain way, I only had to sew one end and friction would take care of the other end when wearing it, so I could adjust the strap to fit someone with a bigger waist, or remove it altogether if I wanted.
Here is 1 of 2 straps setup. The buckle you see here is where the chest piece would meet the sides. The other half of the buckle is riveted to the chest.
As I started getting all the pieces wearable, it became time to acutally WEAR them so my fiance could being painting the black details.
I'm pretty good at symmetry and a more machined look, and one thing I really struggle with is free-flowing and more organic forms. You'd think painting a bunch of black squiggly lines would be simple, well, if your a perfectionist, it's hell! It's akin to trying to draw something on paper, making two lines, and then crumpling up the paper and trying again haha.
SO, I enlisted my Fiance to assist since she does the free-flow stuff way better than me. She did an AWESOME job! First time we've ever worked on a project together, we might have to do it again
Boot caps, no gloss, with gloss
Here are the toe caps that slip over the boots.
The one on the left is without a clear coat, the one of the right is with a clear coat.
Normally in Halo armor, people tend to use the matte clear coat as glossy can make it look too much like plastic or a giant toy. In my case, I went with gloss because it makes it look WET, like I envision the symbiotes to look.
To make it look extra wet, make sure you prep your pieces with as high a sand paper\sponge as you can! It makes a difference!
Crazy eyes
On Venom, I did so many damn eye prototypes before I decided on one. With Carnage, I somehow hit what I wanted on the first try. Go figure.
What I did is draw out one eye to size, then cut the paper template out and use it to cut out a craft foam template that can be flexed over the physical helmet, to trace out the eye.
For Carnage's eyes, I went a little bigger, a little rounder than Venom's eyes.
Here's a pic of the Stencil I made to paint the name on the chest plate.
It takes a few tries to get the size and spacing right, and then I take the card stock and lay a piece of painters tape over it, then cut the letters out with an x-acto knife.
Patience here counts. The details are very small.
Once cut out, I then tape it over the chest where I want it, and hit it with spray paint.
By this point the base red coat had dried. I then taped off the details I wanted to preserve red (that would be where you see the blue tape) and then I taped off the crown where I wanted the eyes.
Once taped, I traced out the eyes with the template I made, and then very carefully cut out the eye with my x-acto blade. I had to press hard enough to cut the tape, but not cut into the paint if I could help it.
Everything else was masked off, and then I lightly sanded the negative space of the eyes, wiped it clean with rubbing alcohol (to promote better adhesion) and then sprayed they white on.
With the paint dry, and the tape removed, they eyes came out fantastic. I think I nailed that creepy look I was aiming for.
I also had the teeth finalized by this point. To make them, I cut them out of craft foam in various sizes and then glued them on the visor how I wanted them.
They don't really interfere with visibility at all, and look different enough from my Venom suit that it doesn't come off as a copy.
The ODST visor also makes it look like he's smiling, which adds to the creep-o factor
Here is the chest with the black details and name painted on.
Here are the arms with all details and clear coat.
I really like the back details here. My Fiance totally nailed how I wanted the lower back to look- By blacking out the recessed areas, it makes it look like some of the skeleton is showing.
Pretty neat!
Here is a closer look at Carnage's maw.
The silver visor is a nice contrast to the black teeth I did, and the pant job matches them perfectly.
Here is the helmet with the black details painted on and clear coated.
I don't really have words here. It came out exactly as I wanted.
Beautiful.
More helmet. Again, I don't have words.
Why can't this be in the game? C'mon 343.....
Here are the two helmets next to each other. I'm still planning to get a friend to wear one of the suits so I can take some real pictures with them.
Carnage and Venom.
From the front.
I love them.
I want more.
I have a problem.
What color do you bleed?
This is one of my favorite details- in Halo, the ODSTs where their blood type on one of their shoulders. I thought it would be a nice touch on this cross-over if I put something special for Venom and Carnage's blood types.
Venom is V+ (venom positive)
Carnage is C! (carnage....EXCLAMATION AHHHH)
Here are all the parts laid out on my work tables, read to be put on.
Go time.
Here's me putting the suit on for the first time. I learned a lot from my Venom build, so I made some tweaks to the Carnage suit and it fits me way better.
-continued in one more post-