Project_mjolnir://mark_iv

[tomboy]

Well, I don't have much of an update, but I do have something to report.

The patterns I ordered finally came in so I can create the bodysuit. The plan is to use Kwik Sew K3052 to create the undersuit and then attach panels of couch vinyl to create the suit detail. I'm going to use 4-way stretch cotton lycra rather than nylon to get the matte look. Nylon is too shiny for my taste. The only problem is that cotton lycra can be a little harder to find, but good places to look for it are etsy.com and fabric.com.

If you need any help making the suit or putting together the pattern, WindoftheStars on YouTube has a good video series and also shows off a few other jumpsuit/catsuit patterns for consideration along with their pros and cons. The first one can be found here.

The 3389 coveralls pattern I plan to use to create UNSC coveralls (from CE Anniversary) in another thread, along with some other costumes, but I've seen many other people use black coveralls for their undersuits, so I thought I'd throw up the appropriate pattern here.

Also, while I'm working on making my own weapons, if the worse comes, my little brother came through and snuck me a prize from the battlefield while I'm recovering.

I owe him a brute shot.

 

[hacxor]

I like the sword. Good luck on sewing the outfit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tomboy]

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I wish I had more to report, but I am loathe to let this thread die while I'm still working on it, even if all I can do is plan and plot. Or, if you're an RvB fan, I'm still schenniving.

I found a much better place to find spandex, not surprisingly, called spandexworld.com. Lot's of options and colors if you have any other projects your working on, and you can request fabric samples from them. Mine just came in, and I think I'll be using either matte or rough moleskin for the base of the undersuit. I've got the pattern sketched onto butcher paper, but I think I'm going to have to go back and redo it. The pattern is made for a material with 75% stretch, and I don't want it that tight. Plus, the shoulders are really small.

Also, my brother has corrected me. He doesn't want a brute shot. He wants a railgun.

 

[tomboy]

It's been way too long since I've updated this thread. On the plus side, I finally have progress! Sort of... and lots of backsliding. So much backsliding.

Early November, I went back to my apartment for a week to pack up, move out, and put all my stuff in storage. Part of that process including sorting through what should be kept or tossed. So, with all my pieces that were warped or ruined from the last move, the shin piece is gone. The forearms... gone. The biceps (those *^#@!$^&* biceps!) are gone. The chest piece was nowhere near done, but bits of it are saved. I think the only things that survived the purge were the knee and the tiny bottom piece of the chest. You know, that little piece that survived a three-story fall? (He's a tough little SOB )

So, it feels like I'm just starting all over again. But, on of the nice things about my trip back home was that I was able to put together a little "care package" to send home to myself. So, my dremel, foam cutter, favorite xacto and respirator are all here with me. I finally have the tools to do the job, and I have been building!

I tried Rundown and Jason-078's forearm model to see if they fit any better than the Abgates model. They do! They fit a lot more snugly, fit together with the Abgates biceps once properly sized, and best of all, they have pieces that help shape and hold the openings. I highly recommend these pep files! I've also rebuilt the biceps for the 4th(?) time. I think I've discovered my own personal hell. It's going to be rebuilding these pieces for the rest of eternity.

I've reinforced all the pieces, and am taking full advantage of the California weather. It's late November and 70 degrees! Took the builds and respirator outside and resined all my current pieces. The weather is supposed to be just as great tomorrow, so I plan on doing a coat on the inside.

Also, since the Rundown forearm was such a success, I'm building the shin rig to see if that fits any better. My primary concern is that it'll be too tall and narrow like the other one. I'm planning to have to do a lot of modification to the top.

Also, I have a thigh to make!

It's hard to see in this image, but at home, I have a sort of "cage" for my thigh set up. While I was back home, I used it to make a general outline of what the thigh piece will look like and key points and lines for the build. It's really rough, and I'll have to clean it up and modify as I go, but I have a base to work from and make templates for my foam thigh build.

 

[tomboy]

More progress! Took a break over Thanksgiving, but I've been hitting it hard since. I made Rundown's shin piece to size and see if it fits any better than my old piece. It's lovely, though I moved and made the indents a lot more shallow to be more screen accurate, but it's a little too small and short. Also, a problem I've noticed on both models I have built, the top bit that wraps around behind the knee is too shallowly angled. Going back to the reference and McFarlane figures, the backs of the shins are much more deeply scalloped, actually falling below and to a point that makes bending ones knee possible, and the front slopes up to the middle of the knee. Both Rundown's and Major Pain's models are right where the knee needs to bend. Also, they're both too small at the top for my knee to go through (which is why I didn't bother making the top this time). I'm going to try making a slightly bigger Rundown shin and then figure out a way to scratch build the top piece. I like bending my knees.

Also, there's been some rain (finally! ) but plenty of moderate, dry days to work outside, and I've done plenty. All my previously assembled pieces have now been resined inside and out. The forearm piece actually took a few tries to get all the faces covered. I've also assembled and resined the left shoulder. Different model than last time, and I like it better. More importantly, I'm finally off the heavy narcotics and the doctor says I can drive again, so I was able to go out, buy some bondo, and rondo'ed the bicep and forarm pieces. Two more weeks and I'm off everything but the baby aspirin!

Please ignore the strange dome in the picture. It's part of a Mandalorian helmet I'm working on.

 

[ErMaC]

Its looking good so far. Keep up the good work and I am looking forward to seeing this finished

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Yeah, great job dude! I love to see people determined. It really is great motivation for others who are struggling after just a few weeks. Any day now I'll start up on my next piece... lol. I'm definitely subscribing.

 

[Reclaimara]

Yay! The resining stage! You're lucky it's warm at your place. xD

 

[tomboy]

Progress! Yay! So, I made the other forearm and got a coat of resin on it. Every other piece I'd built is now fully resined, and all but the shoulder has 2 coats of Rondo on the inside.

I'd have more done, but it's started raining more and more in the last couple of weeks. One night, there was so much moisture in the air that I almost lost my shoulder. I was bringing pieces in for the night and the shoulder was practically mush. Luckily, everything firmed right back up once it dried.

In other news, I'm *sigh* rebuilding the Abgates HD Chest piece... So, soooo many tiny pieces...

Approaching it very differently this time around. Most of my pep builds I do in stages. Cut everything, score everything, fold everything, and then build it once I have all my pieces ready to go. That doesn't work with this thing. The Abgates chest includes multiple construction options depending on if you want to pep the details, carve them, build them, etc. Cutting out everything would take forever and lead to lots of wasted effort if you end up cutting out pieces you don't need.

This time around, I'm working in sections; cutting, prepping and building things as I go. This has led to a lot more progress in the last 10 days than in the month of effort I put in last time. I'm also still using the foamie method I created to build in the small or round details. (see post #51/pg 3 for instructions)

This thing is giving me a headache, both literally and figuratively. I'm off to shoot something on the Xbox until my brain stops hurting.

 

[Spartan X]

Looks amazing! The Mark IV armor is awesome and it's a shame there's only few builds out there. Can't wait to see more ! Keep up the great work

 

[tomboy]

Its looking good so far. Keep up the good work and I am looking forward to seeing this finished

You and me both!

Yeah, great job dude! I love to see people determined. It really is great motivation for others who are struggling after just a few weeks. Any day now I'll start up on my next piece... lol. I'm definitely subscribing.

If I wasn't determined this build would have been tossed years ago. Get started on your next piece!

Yay! The resining stage! You're lucky it's warm at your place. xD

The most smelly of stages! Just has to hope it stays warm and dry.

Looks amazing! The Mark IV armor is awesome and it's a shame there's only few builds out there. Can't wait to see more ! Keep up the great work

You could always start your own. We'll start a club.

Sorry for the long radio silence, but life got in the way again. I was supposed to go back to my job in Texas, but it was moved to Louisiana, and I was told that as soon as I got to Texas. More details in my blog, but I've just moved into a new apartment and am unpacking everything. Hopefully, all the armor pieces made it in one, unsquashed piece, but I won't know until they're unpacked. Also, worker's comp finally released me to go back to work, and I start Monday. Needless to say, there will be very little progress the next few weeks as I get into the swing of things at work and set up the apartment.

In the meantime, thank you, everyone who watches this build, for all your patience. Stuff will get rolling again soon.

 

[tomboy]

Hello again! I'm back... kind of... So, I got all the armor pieces unpacked, and it's official. Packing peanuts are the way to go when you have to move your half-finished pieces. Everything came through undamaged, even the paper pieces! The closest thing I've had to a problem is that my pieces seemed to be having an affair with the peanuts, but they came off easy and left almost no residue.

I've started working on the chest piece again, and while it might not be possible, I'm hoping to have something wearable for RTX2016. I've missed the last 3 years for various reasons, and I want to go! It's a long shot, but I'd like to try. I just have to get through this #%$@^ chest piece. I'm hoping to make some decent progress on it this week because next week I go back to Hartford to redo the new hire training that was "interrupted" last year. Hopefully there are no snow plows involved this time.

 

[SavedbyGraceG12]

Awesome! Glad to have you back, and to see your build progress!

 

[Chernobyl]

-snip for brevity!-

That's all looking good. Did you take a look at the Mk IV body I uploaded at some point? It's in the Halo 5 OBJ Archive - I'm sure I sent you a PM with the link but I may also not have since I'm a doofus with a lot of things on my plate.

Either way, it's good to see you back and involved once more!

 

[tomboy]

Awesome! Glad to have you back, and to see your build progress!

Thanks! Now I just need time to work on it.

That's all looking good. Did you take a look at the Mk IV body I uploaded at some point? It's in the Halo 5 OBJ Archive - I'm sure I sent you a PM with the link but I may also not have since I'm a doofus with a lot of things on my plate.

Either way, it's good to see you back and involved once more!

You did not, but I've since found it in the archive.

Whelp, I got some progress made, but since it's all little detail pieces a lot of hours does not translate into a lot of progress. I'm off to Connecticut tomorrow morning. Wish me luck, and I'll see you again in ~3 weeks!

 

[TheJrACE]

This is an awesome thread man. Love me Mark iv and all the lore that goes with it. Glad to see you are back up and at it again.

 

[Johnnybroskii]

Lookin good! I finally found some motivation to start working on this again! Cant wait to see your progress!

 

[tomboy]

I'm back! I'm finally back! TuT After ~6 weeks of hotels, I have missed my bed, I have missed my cat, and I have missed my project. Thankfully, there's no more training until July, and I've passed all the tests that went with this long bout. (Plus, there were no more incidents with snow plows, so I shouldn't have to repeat the courses again! ) Since I've gotten back, I've hit up my chest piece pretty hard, and I've actually been able to make some visible progress:

Hopefully, I'll be able to continue making headway like this since all but a few of the tiny detail pieces are done. I've also resined a couple of the pieces that I built in California. I'm afraid there's no pictures of those. They're currently hiding under a tarp on my patio trying not to get rained on. I wish I could have made more progress on those, but the entire week's forecast has (and continues to be) rain. This next weekend looks like it should be dry, so I'll hopefully be able to get more done then.

However, there's going to be another delay. My company is moving me, again... this time to Florida. It's going to be weird changing my costume schedule. Usually I've had to worry about it being too cold to do resin work in the winter. Now it looks like that's going to be the best time for it since there's a rainy season that'll keep me inside during the summer. At least it gets me out of Louisiana.

Wish me luck, and I'll try to make sure I report the last bit of progress I make before I move.

Time for my MAXIMUM EFFORT!!!

 

[tomboy]

While it's not as much as what I was hoping for, I still think I've made an impressive amount of progress on this chest piece in one week. I'm down to 14 of the original 48 pages and most of the chest has come together. I'm getting down to connector pieces and edges, and soon I'll be down to the cross braces. I'm going down to Tampa for the week to meet my new supervisor and the shops I'll be working at, so I won't be able to work on it until Saturday. I'll also be looking at some potential apartments. I don't suppose anyone has any recommendations?

 

[elusch99]

Wow, this is looking great! Keep it up!