Reach EOD build - First Project

[Teifu]

Hello! My new years resolution this year was to get more projects done, so i decided to start by focusing on one thing, instead of multiple, smaller things. This "thing" is a 3D Printed Spartan build from Halo Reach! I've already mostly finished, but i want to go through each part individually and try to share what I've learned. The 405th Forum was an immense help, i spent plenty of time combing through threads, trying new things, going my own way and figuring out what truly worked. Some of these threads were almost 10 years old! That was incredible to me, and i want to leave behind info so that maybe a decade from now, someone else can find what works for them.

I want to start with the helmet, from Aguilar Workshop. This is one of the coolest 3D print files I've ever seen! The way it's designed to be printed, and actually worn is so good. If he ever puts out a set of Reach armor files I'd buy them and reprint my entire costume in a heartbeat haha, can't praise his work enough!

Side notes:

• I decided i didn't want to paint or prime any more than i had to, so i printed this entire cosplay in the dominant color, which meant buying about 10 rolls of Hatchbox gray blue PLA!
• I didn't use any expensive paint, everything i chose can be bought for around 50 cents at Walmart.
• I'm bad with an airbrush! I paint everything by hand.
• I own a CR-10, an FLSUN QQSPro, and an Anycubic Vyper. The Vyper came into play after most of the helmet was finished.
• Halo Reach armor references were shockingly hard to find. I sort of just "Winged" it when it came to painting details and went with what i liked best!
• The armor files are from NerdForgeDesigns on Etsy. Almost a week after i bought them, the files were unlisted. I messaged them with some help on the magnets and they offered to send me an updated file, but i had already printed it and didn't want to do it again.

Anyways, here are some progress pics from start to finish:

This is a dry fit shot of the helmet, no post processing aside from support removal.

Next, a shot of the helmet after being glued, and sanded! I used a cheap 3D pen to fill in a few gaps, which were errors on my part.

After that, I taped off the lines on the helmet and painted them with Apple Barrel Granite Gray acrylic. After a bit of drying, i lightly sanded the lines to simulate wear.

Then i took it outside to the painting tent. Two coats of Rust-oleum 2x Matte Clear clearcoat hid most of the sanding artifacts. It's not perfectly smooth, but a lot of encouragement from my friends made me appreciate how subtle print lines can add to a print, make it look more "Real".

Next: first weathering pass! I mixed a little gray, black and brown and then thinned it with water to do the base layer of "dirt"

After that i thinned some brown and added more "dirt" in the crevices of the helmet and let it all dry.

Finally, i did some dry brushing with silver, let it dry, and hit it with two more final coats of Rust-oleum matte clear. After that i cut the visor strips, (you can see how that works on the site for the helmet file) and it's done! (mostly..)

Thanks for taking a look at the first part! I'm going to try and post once a day, or when i have free time.

 

[Hein B287]

Wow, apart from some small artifacts from 3D printing this looks really smooth already. Great idea to print it in the colors you want in the end. Saves some time on priming and sanding as well

 

[Teifu]

Good afternoon! For today's post, I'll go over the last bits of the helmet, and the chest and biceps. I wear glasses! LASIK isn't really an option for me, and neither are contact lenses. Even with proper scaling, I cannot wear my glasses under the helmet. To get around this, i popped the lenses out of a spare pair, measured the pupillary distance, and hot glued them onto some clothesline wire.

This worked perfectly! No sports glasses, contacts, or eye surgery required! On to the next bit, the chest!
I split the front of the chest into 4 pieces, and glued the halves together overnight. I used Gorilla glue clear, and some clamps and cheap tape to keep them all in place.

While i was waiting for the glue to dry, i printed and painted both biceps, and the shoulders. While they're designed to be attached with large square magnets, i ended up buying some round ones and modeling and printing my own attachment points for them. I used a soldering tool with a special tip designed for pushing brass threads into the plastic. The magnets screw into those threads. Here's how that went:

Here's a shot of the biceps, shoulders, and chest connections after painting and weathering. There are a ton of artifacting issues on the biceps,but i wasn't worried as the shoulders would cover most of these. I put my FLSUN through the wringer printing these! I ended up spending more than I liked on replacement parts and new nozzles haha.

Next, painting and weathering on the chest! I started to fill the seams with my 3D pen, but i think it made them stick out more, so i stopped, the major seams will be covered by the HP/HALO Chest attachment anyways.

And here we are! The painted chest and helmet together! This is probably one of my favorite pictures i've taken during this. I got that huge feeling of "This is really coming together, i can actually do this!"

Thanks for checking out today's post! I'll be back tomorrow with the HP/HALO cover, the back, and how i set up all of the attachments.

 

[JammedMite942]

Good afternoon! For today's post, I'll go over the last bits of the helmet, and the chest and biceps. I wear glasses! LASIK isn't really an option for me, and neither are contact lenses. Even with proper scaling, I cannot wear my glasses under the helmet. To get around this, i popped the lenses out of a spare pair, measured the pupillary distance, and hot glued them onto some clothesline wire.
View attachment 337964View attachment 337966
View attachment 337967

This worked perfectly! No sports glasses, contacts, or eye surgery required! On to the next bit, the chest!
I split the front of the chest into 4 pieces, and glued the halves together overnight. I used Gorilla glue clear, and some clamps and cheap tape to keep them all in place.
View attachment 337968View attachment 337970View attachment 337969

While i was waiting for the glue to dry, i printed and painted both biceps, and the shoulders. While they're designed to be attached with large square magnets, i ended up buying some round ones and modeling and printing my own attachment points for them. I used a soldering tool with a special tip designed for pushing brass threads into the plastic. The magnets screw into those threads. Here's how that went:

View attachment 337972View attachment 337973
View attachment 337974View attachment 337976

Here's a shot of the biceps, shoulders, and chest connections after painting and weathering. There are a ton of artifacting issues on the biceps,but i wasn't worried as the shoulders would cover most of these. I put my FLSUN through the wringer printing these! I ended up spending more than I liked on replacement parts and new nozzles haha.

View attachment 337977

Next, painting and weathering on the chest! I started to fill the seams with my 3D pen, but i think it made them stick out more, so i stopped, the major seams will be covered by the HP/HALO Chest attachment anyways.

View attachment 337978View attachment 337979
View attachment 337980View attachment 337981

And here we are! The painted chest and helmet together! This is probably one of my favorite pictures i've taken during this. I got that huge feeling of "This is really coming together, i can actually do this!"
View attachment 337982

Thanks for checking out today's post! I'll be back tomorrow with the HP/HALO cover, the back, and how i set up all of the attachments.

This looks awesome so far! As someone who also wears glasses this is an awesome solution! Im hoping to do something similar with my shoulders and make them detachable, how strong is the connection? like will any movement cause them to fall off?

 

[Teifu]

This looks awesome so far! As someone who also wears glasses this is an awesome solution! Im hoping to do something similar with my shoulders and make them detachable, how strong is the connection? like will any movement cause them to fall off?

Thank you! The magnets are designed for mounting accessories to the roof of cars, so they're pretty rugged. I had no issues with them even moving while im in the suit, as long as theyre aligned properly. I didn't really need the rubber coating, so I bought stronger magnets that are capable of holding 110lbs for the chest connections. The new magnets have holes for screws too, which helped out a ton.

 

[JammedMite942]

Thank you! The magnets are designed for mounting accessories to the roof of cars, so they're pretty rugged. I had no issues with them even moving while im in the suit, as long as theyre aligned properly. I didn't really need the rubber coating, so I bought stronger magnets that are capable of holding 110lbs for the chest connections. The new magnets have holes for screws too, which helped out a ton.

Ah gotcha, I’ll check out those types of magnets, thanks!

 

[Legend 113]

Sweet innovation on using your glasses inside your helmet. Can't wait to see more of this build eventuate.

 

[vTRONCATv]

Hello! My new years resolution this year was to get more projects done, so i decided to start by focusing on one thing, instead of multiple, smaller things. This "thing" is a 3D Printed Spartan build from Halo Reach! I've already mostly finished, but i want to go through each part individually and try to share what I've learned. The 405th Forum was an immense help, i spent plenty of time combing through threads, trying new things, going my own way and figuring out what truly worked. Some of these threads were almost 10 years old! That was incredible to me, and i want to leave behind info so that maybe a decade from now, someone else can find what works for them.

I want to start with the helmet, from Aguilar Workshop. This is one of the coolest 3D print files I've ever seen! The way it's designed to be printed, and actually worn is so good. If he ever puts out a set of Reach armor files I'd buy them and reprint my entire costume in a heartbeat haha, can't praise his work enough!

Side notes:

• I decided i didn't want to paint or prime any more than i had to, so i printed this entire cosplay in the dominant color, which meant buying about 10 rolls of Hatchbox gray blue PLA!
• I didn't use any expensive paint, everything i chose can be bought for around 50 cents at Walmart.
• I'm bad with an airbrush! I paint everything by hand.
• I own a CR-10, an FLSUN QQSPro, and an Anycubic Vyper. The Vyper came into play after most of the helmet was finished.
• Halo Reach armor references were shockingly hard to find. I sort of just "Winged" it when it came to painting details and went with what i liked best!
• The armor files are from NerdForgeDesigns on Etsy. Almost a week after i bought them, the files were unlisted. I messaged them with some help on the magnets and they offered to send me an updated file, but i had already printed it and didn't want to do it again.

Anyways, here are some progress pics from start to finish:

This is a dry fit shot of the helmet, no post processing aside from support removal.
View attachment 337926
Next, a shot of the helmet after being glued, and sanded! I used a cheap 3D pen to fill in a few gaps, which were errors on my part.
View attachment 337927
After that, I taped off the lines on the helmet and painted them with Apple Barrel Granite Gray acrylic. After a bit of drying, i lightly sanded the lines to simulate wear.
View attachment 337928
Then i took it outside to the painting tent. Two coats of Rust-oleum 2x Matte Clear clearcoat hid most of the sanding artifacts. It's not perfectly smooth, but a lot of encouragement from my friends made me appreciate how subtle print lines can add to a print, make it look more "Real".
View attachment 337929
Next: first weathering pass! I mixed a little gray, black and brown and then thinned it with water to do the base layer of "dirt"

View attachment 337930
After that i thinned some brown and added more "dirt" in the crevices of the helmet and let it all dry.
View attachment 337932
Finally, i did some dry brushing with silver, let it dry, and hit it with two more final coats of Rust-oleum matte clear. After that i cut the visor strips, (you can see how that works on the site for the helmet file) and it's done! (mostly..)
View attachment 337933

Thanks for taking a look at the first part! I'm going to try and post once a day, or when i have free time.

EOD Gang

 

[N8TEBB]

I LOVE the idea of gluing glasses right into the helmet! Very clever.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

What's Colonel Sanders doing in your helmet?

I'm very surprised at the outcome for a helmet that is just sanded (with no gap filling, sanding primer or other primers), great job so far!

 

[Teifu]

Good afternoon! Thank you all for the positive messages, i love reading them. I love answering questions too! Today I'm going over the rest of the chest, the back, and the rig i attached to them. I have a little more time on my break today so this will be a longer one.

I split the back into 4 pieces just like the front. I had quite a few issues with these parts, mostly because i had been running my printers 24/7. My QQSPro was basically unusable around this point. This is when i picked up an Anycubic Vyper, that ended up working great.
There are quite a few printing errors, but mostly in parts you won't even notice.

After lots of masking, i painted the back. Not much else to say about that. Next, i did some weathering. Dry brushing the silver is probably one of my favorite things to do. Next time i'd like to go a little harder on wear marks however.

Next, attachments! I initially glued some buckles on, but the glue didn't hold like i had planned, so i bought an arbor drill bit and some magnets of the same size. For future reference, i would use Gyroid infill if i was printing this again. Cross/Cubic subdivision doesn't hold screws easily in my opinion. I used 4 magnets, and ended up sealing them in with some Steelstik epoxy putty and screws.

The Steelstik putty was vital to holding up to the force of the magnets and keeping them in place. Up next, i printed the HP/HALO chest attachment in some Hatchbox Matte Gray. Matte gray can be pretty brittle depending on your print settings, and abrasive on your printer nozzle. It turned out nice for me, but in the future i wouldn't use Matte PLA again.

I also printed the grenade attachment, and glued some magnets inside of it to hold the grenades. These magnets weren't very strong and the grenades easily popped off, so in the future i'd either go stronger or just glue the grenades on. My QQSPro couldn't manage big prints anymore, but i was able to align grenades in the center and get decent prints. I printed 8 of those off, and painted them. At this point i was able to try it all on!

 

[Teifu]

(Continued)

I ended up buying a Condor Elite Chest rig to essentially make into a backpack. I had looked for a Tree stand rig to attach the chest and thighs to, but hunting season started and everything was out of stock or couldn't be delivered until after Halloween. I also glued some heavy duty nylon webbing to the side pieces. 3M spray glue worked pretty well, you just have to treat it like a contact adhesive. I definitely should've made the straps longer though as they made the chest super hard to clip together alone.

The connections weren't perfect, but it worked! You can also see where i used some hot glue to try and secure the side straps. Don't do it, it just isn't worth trying to use hot glue for something so major. What REALLY came through for me were self tapping truss head screws. In any cosplay i make going forward, i'll definitely be using those. Next, i 3D printed some Zip Tie Molle attachment points for the chest rig. This allowed me to hang the bicep strap (don't have pictures of the bicep strap but i will take new ones if anyone asks) to my chest, and keep them from sagging. Worked out perfectly.

That's about it for the chest! The Condor chest rig also allowed me to hang two Molle pouches that filled out my abdomen space, and kept my glasses and wallet etc. I didn't do any eva foam undersuit with this. Cutting foam just isn't my forte! Plus, a law enforcement friend of mine told me the exposed belts and Molle made it look "badass and realistic" which is all i needed to hear haha. I'm starting to get into the thigh/belt area and that will essentially be the last of these posts. Thanks for reading! See you tomorrow!

 

[Teifu]

Good morning! Today i'll get into how i attached the thighs, the shins, and any other parts left. The thighs are huge, so i split them in 3D Builder and printed them in halves. I used Gorilla glue and steel dowels to join them together, i think in the future just glue and a plastic welder would work. After that, i printed the UA/Chobham armor panel! I had a bit of peeling but not in any noticeable place, i used my 3D pen to fill the seams.

Like i mentioned earlier in the thread, i wasn't using EVA Foam for this build. I purchased 2 Molle drop leg panels, and screwed them into the thighs. The panels would strap around my legs, and also hang on a heavy duty tactical belt. This worked out great, and saved me from having to wear more than one belt!

Next, the belt. All i did for this was screw some nylon webbing into the belt! I didn't get every part finished, but more than enough to wear it to a Halloween party haha. The codpiece hung in such a way that it never bothered me, the only change i'd make in the future would be having it a little higher. I don't have many pictures of the shins or the boots, but i basically screwed the boot pieces into an old piece of boots, and used nylon webbing to secure the boot tips. All of the boots and shins were done 2 hours before the costume needed to be ready, so they're barely painted and weathered lol.

And that's it! In the next reply i'll post full pictures of the costume and address anything i forgot lol.

 

[Teifu]

Here we go!

I got the amazing opportunity to walk and talk at a school and show the costume off lol. Would do it again in a heartbeat, the reaction was great!

Thanks for checking out this thread! I'm going to address some things now that i'm looking at the full picture:

• Next time i'll definitely bring the belt and my pants up, didn't realize until after i saw these that everything was hanging a little low!
• Attaching the knees to sports kneepads worked out great, they sat on the foam and didn't bother my knees at all.
• I shouldve put foam in the shins to keep them aligned
• Last minute gloves worked out great, just used hot glue. (I know i said not to do this but it's a low interaction area IMO and the glue held fine)
• The forearms have a bit of foam in them that held them in place fine. They pinched a bit when i moved but im not sure how to avoid that.
• The EOD helmet has a magnetic seal on the back, i left this off. Leaving this off provided perfect airflow, never fogged up inside once and no one knew it was even missing.
• Moving around in this was awkward at first, but once you get used to it it get super easy!
• Some parts of the belt are missing/not painted, this didn't really bug me.

Thanks again for checking out my first build! I've learned a lot about 3D printed cosplay through this. I'm not sure if i'll do another Halo build, but i'm looking forward to keep at it and maybe refine this suit.

If you have any questions i'll be glad to answer them!