Reach UNSC Trooper WIP

[TD2253]

Hello and thanks for stopping by. This is my first Halo armor build after doing quite a bit of research and reading on this forum. So here goes.

Since my original thread was titled inappropriately, I decide to post a new thread about my Reach UNSC Trooper armor build.

Since there were no known pep file for UNSC trooper armor other than the helmet and EOD shoulder plates, I decided to make my own chest and back plates, ab plates and drop thigh plates from scratch. Just a quick summary of what I've done to start this project:

1. I made drawings on card stock paper based on the McFarlane UNSC figures to use as a template.

2. Then I built the chest from foam board but it didn't look quite right to me.

3. So, I decided to build the armor using 1/2" inch foam rubber mats. I used super glue for assembly and dremel'd the edges and sides to clean it up a bit. The first pic was shot without using the flash to show the angles.

I will update this thread again in about a week with the rest of the body armor, hopefully! Thanks for looking!

 

[JMann]

Looks great so far. Will be nice to see another personal take on foam. Good Luck!

 

[TD2253]

Thanks JMann! I've never worked with foam rubber before so this will be a very interesting build for me.

 

[alix965]

Thanks JMann! I've never worked with foam rubber before so this will be a very interesting build for me.

off to a great start. MOREPICSPLEASE.

 

[Sean C84]

Looking very good so far. I suppose that foam carving would also be a smart way to do the chestplate for an ODST, as opposed to Pepping it. Good luck with the rest of your build!

 

[TD2253]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I'd rather use foam rubber as opposed to pepping the parts since its very time consuming. Cutting the parts with a hot knife makes it really easy and it probably doesn't dull the blade as much.

 

[spartan 847 david]

I'm sorry but DANG talk about game acurate.Someday I want to make A reach army trooper too.I gona comeback to these pics for reference when I do.keep it up

 

[Road Kill]

hey that looks pretty sweet man

 

[Brandon McClain]

Looking good! Keep up the good work! I do believe this is the first reach trooper build I have seen.

 

[regr3t]

Looks really good! Im thinking about doing certain parts in foam, so its good to see that people are getting really good results working with it!

 

[vv7]

Looks great. Question, where did you get the foam mat and how much is it? Other thickness (1/4" or 1/8")?

 

[TD2253]

Thanks for the compliments guys! I got the foam mats from Harbor Freight Tools and CLICK HERE for the actual item. They only had the 1/2" and I believe it was 3/4" sets when I picked up mine. Not sure if they actually have 1/4" thickness foam mats though.

 

[Grave Hawk]

very nice start. It's nice to see other builds besides spartans. Keep up the good work!

 

[setabkcin]

Looking good so far.

 

[vv7]

Thanks for the compliments guys! I got the foam mats from Harbor Freight Tools and CLICK HERE for the actual item. They only had the 1/2" and I believe it was 3/4" sets when I picked up mine. Not sure if they actually have 1/4" thickness foam mats though.

Hey, thanks for the quick reply. I'm going to swing by harbor freight tonight to pick some up. I may redo my ODST shoulder straps with this stuff. Thanks for the inspiration. Looking forward to seeing your project completed.

 

[Tyvern]

this looks good! must continue!

 

[braytak]

how do you cut the foam with 45 degree edges?

 

[Burns]

nice job man. i'm curious to see how this one turns out. looking forward to more pics.

 

[TD2253]

how do you cut the foam with 45 degree edges?

Thanks for the nice comments guys! For the 45 degree angled edges, I sliced a wedge behind the part that is supposed to be angled, pull the sliced wedge out, then fold at the slice and glue it together. The result on the front side is the angled feature. The thickness of the sliced wedge on the back depends on how much of an angle is needed to achieve the desired effect.

Here are some updates on the armor. I managed to finish cutting out the bottom side parts that connects the chest to the back armor. What I've done here is scored about 1/4" of an inch around the bottom edges to achieve the recessed effect. Then, I burned the line details going to and fro the entire length of the parts. I've also cut-out the rank chevrons in the center of the chest piece.

 

[braytak]

looks awesome are you useing 2 different foam thickness?