Foam Reach Security Suit. (Quest for the Best)

[RandomRanger]

Looking great! Massive upgrade

 

[master_colt_117]

UPDATE!!
To quote Aaron Lewis- "It's been a while." Since I've made an update post, and I've gotten quite a bit done in that time. All the primary pieces of armor have been painted and weathered. A few pieces, like the shins and handplates, might need a little further weathering but that's not too hard. All the grenades for the belt and chestpiece have been painted and attached. I attached them with concrete anchors and screws to ensure they won't be falling off anything soon. Also attached the handplates to the gloves and the soft case to the thigh. The soft case does need a bit more work with adding straps and buckles to make it more game accurate, but that also shouldn't take long.
So now with all the major pieces done, it's time to move onto the thinner pieces of armor and the undersuit itself. This involves making the ab wrap, neck seal, and bottom spinal plates out of craft foam, and then attaching leather to the Under Armour undersuit.
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Dude it's so beautiful!!! Glad to see you still chipping away at it! Hopefully I can get back to it soon myself

 

[Rock Lobbster]

testing the signature feature (sorry Benton)

 

[Electraknite]

This is so sick, it’s awesome seeing the contrast of old and new armour, can’t wait to see you suited up. Are you going to add silver paint chips? would add a nice bit of extra detail.

 

[Benton188]

Are you going to add silver paint chips? would add a nice bit of extra detail.

I'm going to play around with it a little, but they don't show so well with white armor. Tends to look like white instead of silver in pictures. Looking back I do need to add some silver highlights to the black pieces on the chest and thighs to make them pop better.

 

[master_colt_117]

I'm going to play around with it a little, but they don't show so well with white armor. Tends to look like white instead of silver in pictures. Looking back I do need to add some silver highlights to the black pieces on the chest and thighs to make them pop better.

Try the gun metal silver oil based paint pens. They work insanely well for that deep chipped look. I swear the paint in the pen actually absorbs into the base coat color and really produces a real look.. I'm confident it would work well on white armor too. And don't make a mistake, cause nothing takes it off unless you strip the base coat back off! But thats the fun part of weathering, once you get it down, its hard to make a mistake. I use the pen tip to flow the paint where I want on the edges or surface, then I use upholstery foam to "scratch it" or drag it to what looks like abrasions across the surface. Ask RandomRanger he uses the same technique I do with the oil based pen. I agree with you, simple silver acrylic paint will just appear white like the rest of the armor, but I'm confident the darker gun metal silver pen will give you knarly looking edge wear. In the attached pic, you'll see the darker metallic silver of the pen vs the lighter silver scratches. What's cool about the pen is it also shifts color at different angles and lights too, which really looks cool on a whole suit of armor that's always moving, thus providing various new angles to viewers. I had to take the pic aiming down like this to catch it in dark gun metallic form.

 

[Angus314]

Looks so good man!

 

[Benton188]

Mini Update.
A preview pic of how everything is coming together. Just finished foaming out the ab wrap and the neck seal. I will be covering the ab wrap in faux leather to give it a bit more undersuit like texture. And it looks like a few more spots could do with some more weathering as the colors are still bright in some areas.

 

[master_colt_117]

Dude that looks so amazing!! Beautifully done!

 

[TecnicoNinja]

Coming along pretty well, looking good.

 

[Benton188]

UPDATE!!
So yeah, it's been a hot minute since I've posted any updates in here, but I'm back. Literally re-built my entire Ghost in the time between as procrastination for not wanting to work on the undersuit... no joke. Undersuits are my least favorite part of builds and this time it pushed the limits of my sanity, trying to find the best material to use without needing much modification. I settled on some faux leather for the arms and legs, and real leather for the ab wrap. Reach's undersuit has a real leathery look, so I'm hoping I got it close enough, without sacrificing too much on comfortability, it is semi breathable at least. Learning to sew on leather was a real experience, and I never want to do it again lol.
I've gone and made the front of the chest piece detatchable using magnets, so I can get in and out of the suit by myself if needed. Rock Lobbster wanted me to post a pic of how I keep my magnets from shifting around or tearing off foam so I've posted a picture below. I essentially wrap it in a 2mm blanket, and apply double sided tape to the magnet face so it can't slide left and right, while the foam prevents it from moving up, down, or backwards. The 2mm foam also provides more friction when the magnets meet, providing greater adhesion. Also, fun fact, if you stack 2 magnets, they double their pull power

So.... where does this leave me? I'm waiting on a few more magnets to come in to finish the chest piece. The front and bottom lock, but not the sides, so I want to make sure it all **Clomps** together nicely. I also have to add some last details to the back of the knees on the undersuit. But after that... I think I'll be finished! Then it's onto deployment to see if anything else needs adjusting. Plus.... shooting videos with the Ghost cause people have been waiting on that for a few months...

Here's a photo of my magnet panini
:

As well as a photo of the leg with the new faux leather undersuit:

 

[Rock Lobbster]

thank 4 pic, now to completely redo my magnet system in the suit to be as good as yours lol

 

[FLEX TAPE]

Looking absolutely amazing!! Cant wait to see further progression of the armor!

 

[Benton188]

UPDATE!!

It's done! Well.... may need a few fixes here and there to prevent potential future tearing of seams, but for the most part it is done. Suit has been sent in for deployment and am standing by for the results and/or if anything needs adjusting.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

Screee! It looks incredible Benton! I'd be really interested to hear/see how your mobility is in it

 

[MrJamin]

I agree with PlanetAlexander - absolutely incredible!

 

[CrimsonViper97]

Now that's just awesome Benton188

 

[Benton188]

UPDATE!!
After wearing the suit out a few times, I can say mobility is good. I don't have to many pieces rubbing or binding, I can sit down in chairs and on the Ghost, though I do have trouble picking things up off the ground. After getting more pictures taken from various angles and poses I can tell the chest piece is just too big and doesn't look right, so I will be re-building it.... well finishing it as it's already 80% done lol. I also want to update the undersuit a little bit as the top is very uncomfortable and is failing at spots.
I am still very happy with this suit, and plan to improve on it throughout the years. Maybe if the pieces ever pop up in Halo Infinite I could integrate some armor attachments to it???? Time will tell.
Oh, and here's some new pics with my new hammer as well: