ODST Undersuit

[MadHeartParagon]

Hey everyone, trying to make progress on my ODST cosplay. Waiting on the main armour parts to ship from Sean Bradley and was wondering if anyone has any advice on what to set up for the undersuit? Any and all advice/links to resources would be great.

 

[LegacyAlloy227]

I used black BDU's I ordered from Amazon. They were affordable, pretty durable considering that amount of plastic costume armor I strapped to them, and if you wanna use them for other cosplays, they got hella pockets! I personally think BDU's are the way to go because of how versatile they are. I use them for my ODST, my Mandalorian, occasionally my rebel alliance soldier, and I also have plans for an SCP guard!

 

[MadHeartParagon]

I have now ordered and am waiting for the ODST BDUs and gloves. Should be here by the end of the month.

 

[PaiganBoi]

These are the BDUs I order from Amazon. They are a 'Python'
At the time I couldn't find a digital or standard style camo pattern. It still works pretty well with my armour.

 

[Reclaimara]

Depends on which ODST you wanna do. Generally in the game the ones from H3:ODST have just black bdu underneath the armor and thighs/forearms have some camo painted on. On the H2/A on the other hand bdu has camo.
I'd say go with whatever you feel like - a lot of people use camo bdu on H3ODST armors and it looks great.
Personally from different camos I prefer a-tacs most.

 

[SalLyrisse]

The guide provided by Sean recommends using thermal underwear for the black under suit, I felt more comfortable using black sweatpants and a Hanes dri-fit shirt for attaching the shoulder pieces to. Best of luck on your build!!!

 

[L337 H473R]

Depends on which ODST you wanna do. Generally in the game the ones from H3:ODST have just black bdu underneath the armor and thighs/forearms have some camo painted on. On the H2/A on the other hand bdu has camo.
I'd say go with whatever you feel like - a lot of people use camo bdu on H3ODST armors and it looks great.
Personally from different camos I prefer a-tacs most.

View attachment 322942

Every time I look at it I always think it looks like a divers/surfers wet suit. I know they have warm weather ones as well as cold weather. I could see the use of having multiples, one that looks immaculate for photo shoots, sim for cooler days so you aren’t perishing in the armor. Then have a con set where it’s the camo set with the cooling shirt and all. I have the Sean Bradley and found a few parts to be uncomfortable, so I’ll be replacing those pieces with foam in the future for better looks, more durability and comfortability.

 

[Reclaimara]

Every time I look at it I always think it looks like a divers/surfers wet suit. I know they have warm weather ones as well as cold weather. I could see the use of having multiples, one that looks immaculate for photo shoots, sim for cooler days so you aren’t perishing in the armor. Then have a con set where it’s the camo set with the cooling shirt and all. I have the Sean Bradley and found a few parts to be uncomfortable, so I’ll be replacing those pieces with foam in the future for better looks, more durability and comfortability.

Oh no no. They don't have wet suit. There is additional part (shoulder pad) on the shoulders that's where the shoulder armor is mounted on.
However they seem to have just normal black pants and some kind of sweater or other military clothing as shirt.
Most of the body is however covered in armor and combat gear so it's just those few tiny parts we see of actual fabric.

Dare is an easier example as she doesn't have armor on the shoulders so there is more for us to see. But other than few other details like few different armor pieces the clothing seems to be the same as on all other ODSTs.

Oh found a nice pic of Buck from the side. Can see the exposed parts on the elbows and even knees. Actually looks more like stretchy rather close to body fabric they have for undersuit.

ODSTs in Halo 3 also had same fabric on the arms.

 

[L337 H473R]

Oh no no. They don't have wet suit. There is additional part (shoulder pad) on the shoulders that's where the shoulder armor is mounted on.
However they seem to have just normal black pants and some kind of sweater or other military clothing as shirt.
Most of the body is however covered in armor and combat gear so it's just those few tiny parts we see of actual fabric.

Dare is an easier example as she doesn't have armor on the shoulders so there is more for us to see. But other than few other details like few different armor pieces the clothing seems to be the same as on all other ODSTs.

View attachment 323472

Oh found a nice pic of Buck from the side. Can see the exposed parts on the elbows and even knees. Actually looks more like stretchy rather close to body fabric they have for undersuit.

View attachment 323474

ODSTs in Halo 3 also had same fabric on the arms.

View attachment 323473

I see it now! Almost looks like tight thermals like long johns and such, waffle style material but definitely stretchy. Don’t know why I didn’t think to look at dare for better reference. Something that could be used after looking at the zoomed piece on dare I’m thinking is similar to what you see on the costumes in the marvel universe, Deadpool’s suit material has a kind of similar pattern and I believe Star lords dark parts of his jacket (the not leather parts) look similar too.

 

[Reclaimara]

Ooooh. I found the official cosplay guide by 343i. Some nicer and cleaner references.

Full guide on Waypoint here - Official Cosplay Guide: The Rookie
It's huge - 75 pages of references but mainly of armor parts and guns and stuff like that. Other than few such turnaround images it doesn't touch on undersuit.

 

[L337 H473R]

Ooooh. I found the official cosplay guide by 343i. Some nicer and cleaner references.

Full guide on Waypoint here - Official Cosplay Guide: The Rookie
It's huge - 75 pages of references but mainly of armor parts and guns and stuff like that. Other than few such turnaround images it doesn't touch on undersuit.

View attachment 323475

View attachment 323476

I guess they find the under suit to be irrelevant. Sigh… that’s alright, I think there’s enough out there with many creative people to get something correct looking made.

 

[Reclaimara]

I see it now! Almost looks like tight thermals like long johns and such, waffle style material but definitely stretchy. Don’t know why I didn’t think to look at dare for better reference. Something that could be used after looking at the zoomed piece on dare I’m thinking is similar to what you see on the costumes in the marvel universe, Deadpool’s suit material has a kind of similar pattern and I believe Star lords dark parts of his jacket (the not leather parts) look similar too.

Yeah. Tbh it looks like combo of different materials honestly. The shirt on the chest looks light (even in H3) that that then transforms into black stretchy material.
Same with the pants - on the crotch it looks like bdu but then on the knees it looks again like that black stretchy material again. Weird. Technically either sewn different materials together or they could slide it over.
Weird.
Now looking closely and analizing it all personally I kinda prefer more the fabric from the crotch section - just black bdu.
However kinda mindblowing discoveries we've made today. Never looked that closely into ODST undersuit before.

I guess they find the under suit to be irrelevant. Sigh… that’s alright, I think there’s enough out there with many creative people to get something correct looking made.

It should be other way around! Over many years all of us have been gathering screenshots from the game and even models that we can view from every angle.
Giving us insight on the undersuit is what we'd welcome it haha.

 

[L337 H473R]

Yeah. Tbh it looks like combo of different materials honestly. The shirt on the chest looks light (even in H3) that that then transforms into black stretchy material.
Same with the pants - on the crotch it looks like bdu but then on the knees it looks again like that black stretchy material again. Weird. Technically either sewn different materials together or they could slide it over.
Weird.
Now looking closely and analizing it all personally I kinda prefer more the fabric from the crotch section - just black bdu.
However kinda mindblowing discoveries we've made today. Never looked that closely into ODST undersuit before.



It should be other way around! Over many years all of us have been gathering screenshots from the game and even models that we can view from every angle.
Giving us insight on the undersuit is what we'd welcome it haha.

Might have to message some devs for additional info lmao! Yeah I’ve pondered the undersuit and actually use the black bdu with urban style camo, it doesn’t look bad but I wish it was more. I don’t mind the bottoms either and actually have seen higher quality pants that have all those perforated stretchy points on the joints that would match, but the top, the sleeves and all would need some seamstress work for sure, very possible though!

 

[Reclaimara]

Might have to message some devs for additional info lmao! Yeah I’ve pondered the undersuit and actually use the black bdu with urban style camo, it doesn’t look bad but I wish it was more. I don’t mind the bottoms either and actually have seen higher quality pants that have all those perforated stretchy points on the joints that would match, but the top, the sleeves and all would need some seamstress work for sure, very possible though!

Any BDU will work just fine tbh - whether you prefer black or camo it's up to you. And those pants with knee pads already in them can be useful too actually not only for looks but could try to secure the knee armor onto it too.
Tbh as both arms area and thighs are covered by armor could easily either saw both materials together - or even go for other alternative solutions like perhaps attaching these two with velcro so it could be removed later on and that bdu could be worn with something else when not cosplaying.

Tbh now I'm even more amazed by what WETA did. Now it explains why that ODST has some additional fabric slid over the black shirt on his elbow.
On the knee there is nothing but you can see the straps so the knee armor is more secured and won't flop around.
Sure the thigh pieces are missing the inner parts but I'm 99% that change was done so they could be more mobile for filming the trailer.
I'm even more impressed on how amazing their work on ODST was.

PS. At least the H2A (and Fireteam Raven) variant of ODST has consistent undersuit!
Who will stop you from saying you kept your camo BDU but changed the armor? No one will dare haha.

 

[L337 H473R]

Any BDU will work just fine tbh - whether you prefer black or camo it's up to you. And those pants with knee pads already in them can be useful too actually not only for looks but could try to secure the knee armor onto it too.
Tbh as both arms area and thighs are covered by armor could easily either saw both materials together - or even go for other alternative solutions like perhaps attaching these two with velcro so it could be removed later on and that bdu could be worn with something else when not cosplaying.

Tbh now I'm even more amazed by what WETA did. Now it explains why that ODST has some additional fabric slid over the black shirt on his elbow.
On the knee there is nothing but you can see the straps so the knee armor is more secured and won't flop around.
Sure the thigh pieces are missing the inner parts but I'm 99% that change was done so they could be more mobile for filming the trailer.
I'm even more impressed on how amazing their work on ODST was.

View attachment 323477

PS. At least the H2A (and Fireteam Raven) variant of ODST has consistent undersuit!
Who will stop you from saying you kept your camo BDU but changed the armor? No one will dare haha.

View attachment 323478

Those ODST suits are always so amazing to look at on film, I know somebody in the 405th just completed a full set of this exact armor and it looks amazing, he also does a lot of reach armor and it’s all flexible. I like the idea of reusing the BDUs for armors with little Velcro attachments, saves on money, way more versatile!

 

[WhiskeyHammer]

This was actually something I spent a lot of time looking into as well and ended up settling on black BDU pants and found an all black Helljumper Tactical Shirt for the top on Etsy that will work for a H3ODST under suit. Comfort at its finest. I just need to get all the pieces together and I'll be about 70% done myself.

 

[ODSTWolf1013]

I used a black BDU combat T-shirt, where I sewed thermal sleeves on, and black BDU pants. The sleeves and materials are closely apparent to what others theorized, which is the thermal/waffle top material.

I used a mixture of Velcro, straps, and neodymium magnets to attach the armor to the BDU under-suit. Even went as far as to making the padded portion underneath the plate carrier even though it’s ultimately covered up by the power pack. If you want references, just look at my build thread. I aimed for Tier 3 when I was building mine so I tried to go as detailed as possible. I used that Rookie Cosplay guide for a lot of my references too.

 

[pippon]

This was my general approach, based heftily on WhenInMaine 's work.
Pleather sandwiched over eva foam with contact glue, sewn to a base of cordura. Made a "poncho" that closes on the sides with velcro and is worn over a standard grey BDU wicking shirt or boiler suit. (tho im gonna steal ODSTWolf1013 's idea now and sew on some thermal sleeves to my bdu shirt, id been pondering it but i didnt know if itd work...and it seems it does, so jobs a goodun!) Ignore the press stud attachemnt for the collar piece, that didnt work out and is an artifact of the design process...