Rex 084's MK VI MC Suit WIP (with LOTS of pics) :-)

[Rex 084]

Ok, so I've been a lurker here for a few years and finally decided it was time to get off my backside and stop drooling over everyone elses stuff and start on my own. After following Thorssoli's build and seeing the finished results I figured the MK VI was the way to go.

After months of talking and trying to figure out what to do, me and some friends decided to follow in Thorssoli's footsteps and create the cast of RvB. However, seeing as I have never done anything to this extent, I'm going to do an MC suit first and go from there.

Progress so far:

This pic was taken a few days ago, about 4 hours worth of work into it. LD model by ROBOGENESIS.

Taken sunday morning, after I spent most of saturday night working on it. Needless to say, my gf wasn't happy. Oddly enough, when she saw the finished piece, she was pretty excited. She's been totally awesome putting up with all this. She wants a suit now, lol.

The helmet is a bit warped, but nothing too bad. As this is the first thing I've ever pepped, I'm pretty happy with the way it came out.

It's pretty darned cold out here currently, too cold for resin, but I'm going to be putting up a small shed in the gf's backyard and using that as the curing space for all that stuff (obviously, I'm installing a heater to make sure it actually sets and cures properly). Until then, I'm going to pep out the rest of this costume. LD chest piece is printed and I'll be starting on it tonight. I work 6 days a week, so progress is going to be a bit slow, but updates will come as often as possible.

Comments and criticisms welcome!

Thanks for reading!

~Rex

 

[Sky Walker]

Everything looks nice and clean... and be very cautious with heaters around Fiberglass resin, that stuff is HIGHLY flamable. Make sure you are at least 3 ft. away if heater is over 80 degrees. Happy Building

 

[Rex 084]

Will do, lol. I just want the shed to be around 65-70 degrees, doesn't need to be too hot. I'll be getting an IR heater to get the space all set. It's a pretty small shed (6' x 10') so shouldn't be too difficult.

Random question though: I'm using Elmer's Glue-All to put all my stuff together. I know people use CA glue and hot glue for the most part. I didn't want to use CA glue because it sets too fast and I wanted top make sure I had enough time to align everything correctly. And I didn't want to use even the low temp hot glue because I've burned my fingers enough to last a lifetime already using it for other projects. But I digress...

Does anyone know if the Glue-All will react with the resin at all and cause the helmet to fall apart? Was it perhaps a bad choice?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

~Rex

 

[aero]

Hey nice pep work you got there! Looks very clean! If you don't mind me asking, what did you scale your helmet to? I know how you feel with the cold, I live in the Yukon and its winter here till about the end of May, so no resining for me anytime soon. Oh well at least it gives me time to pep my whole suit without having to rush through it. Anyways good luck on you build!

 

[gc 3000]

Really nice work with the pepping thus far. I hope you will be posting more of these soon!

 

[Rex 084]

@Aero: I sclaed the helmet to 300mm. It's really big, so I'll be re-doing it soon. We're getting some snow tonight, blah.

@gc_3000: thanks man! I just started the LD chest lastnight. I'll post pics when it's more than a pile of parts.


Ok, so I had a bit of a scare tonight. I currently live at home and have 3 cats. One of which has a paper eating fetish. She hasn't touched anything I've made yet, and so I haven't worried about it. I had a wonderful conversation via txt with my dad while I was at work today.

Dad:How many pieces were used to make that helmet?
Me: Not sure off hand. I'll look up the file when I get home. Why?
Dad: Well, remember we have cats? One that likes to chew paper? Wanna guess how many pieces it's in now?
Me:... crap


I got home, and all is well. He got me GOOD. I was so pissed at work, freaking out about it (nevermind I'm going to have to make another one anyway). He got me good. Project stil on track.

Also, I figured I'd let everyone know what my goals are with this project. Firstly, it's all about making a MC costume for anime cons and such. Secondly, I'll be making the cast of RvB. Lastly, I'm also into motorcycle, and plan on doing a custom Halo themed bike, and customizing a motorcycle helmet to look like MC's (look up Icon Variant Helmet). Halo 4 launch parties? Imagine MC rolling up on a bike. Yeah, I think it'll be pretty cool.

As always, questions, comments, and criticisms welcome!

~Rex

 

[Rex 084]

Ok, so tonight, I'm working on the chest piece and I happen to have a quick question. When scaling the chest, what is the measurement from which to scale it? Height or width? I'm about a quarter of the way done (more or less) and it already seems like it might be too small. I'm relatively tall, but very thin, being about 5'10" and right at 130lbs. Can anyone per chance help as to which measurement to go by?

~Rex

EDIT: Nevermind. Found Halogoddess's scaling tut (which I had completely forgotten about). So width is the way to go. I'll finish the chest hopefully in the next day or 2 and post pics. I still feel it may be too small, but I'll finish it and we'll see. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

~Rex

 

[aero]

Hey man good luck with your chest piece! With mine, it doesn't fit over my shoulders so I'm gonna have to wait till after I resin it to see if it fits. I REALLY hope it fits! Can't wait to see pics of it when you are done!

 

[Rex 084]

Thanks aero, I could really use the luck. I spent a bit of time last night working on the chest. Should be done in a day or 2. I'll take a couple pics and show my progress later this afternoon, after work.

 

[Rex 084]

Ok, minor update, nothing too much. Haven't had a lot of time to work on this, but I try to whenever I get a minute.

My current work space:

Normally there would be a cat or 2 up here watching me and trying to "help" by getting in the way.

This statue is awesome! Has different weapons and everything that you can switch out.

Love this combo, wish you caould do it in game, lol.

H3 legendary helmet next to the one I pepped.

I'm going to have to re-do that helmet. It's way too big. Good learning experience though, and I'll just finish it and give it to my dad. He wasn't all that sure this whole project was going to pan out, but after he saw the helmet pepped, he asked if he could have it, lol.

Pieces of the chest I have cut out and glued together.

Helmet came out big, and I'm almost damned certain this is going to be too small. And not just a little small either.

I'll be working some more on it tonight, and I'll post more pics when it's done.

 

[demonwars]

awesome helmet work,
my favorite character of RvsB is Meta

 

[Rex 084]

Ok, so it's been a bit since I had an update. Between work and spending time with my family and gf, haven't had much time to sit and work. But, I finally have some progress.

This is an almost finished chest pep. LD by Robogenesis.

I figure I'll just do LD as a scaling reference (cuz both pieces are scaled wrong for me and I have to re-do them, lol) and go HD a little later. We'll see if I can finish this piece tonight and move onto the cod piece tomorrow evening.

Let me know what you all think so far! As always, questions, comments, and criticisms welcome!

~Rex

EDIT:

Woot, all done with chest piece.

I'll try to get a pic or @ up of it next to me. I think it came out too small, but until I resin and FG it, I won't know for certain.

Tomorrow night, I print out to cod piece and get that pepped.

Wish me luck guys and gals!

~Rex

 

[thorn696]

Great looking build so far. Nice clean pep work.

 

[Rex 084]

Alrighty then, UPDATE TIME!!

Due to the holiday, I haven't had much time to really get a lot done. BUT! That doesn't mean I have sat idle. The cod is done and I'm almost finished with the left shoulder and bicep.

Cod piece: done. Yay. But alas... too big. I'll get a pic up later of me wearing it. I'll need you all to let me know if you think it's too big.

Current stage of the shoulder and bicep.

Woot. Almost done with it, then I can get the right one done.

Alrighty folks, that ends this evenings mini tour of my first build. Just found some pics of right when I first started. I'll get some of those posted just for S's and G's tomorrow night. Let me know what you all think. As always, comments, criticisms, and questions welcome.

Rex out.

 

[thorn696]

You're pep work is looking great.

 

[Genobreaker19]

very nice pep work, keep it up.

 

[SpartanT117]

Charger in the background, somebody has a Dell Studio!!! lol haha I know that's not the subject of the pics, so imma get to the subject: Great pep work man!

 

[Rex 084]

Lol, yeah. That's the old man's computer. Thanks for the compliments guys. It's what keeps me going, even if I'm a bit slow, lol.

On a side note, I think I'm going to go the Smooth-Cast route for hardening. With the cold weather here in VA (and the fact that I'm lazy and don't want to build a hotbox) I think it'll be the best way to go.

Rex out.

 

[Genobreaker19]

yeah, the cold weather in VA has stalled me dramatically. But my dad's shop will be empty soon, which means I can get back to work for a day or so.

 

[Rex 084]

Woot, left shoulder: done.

I think it's the only piece so far that I've scaled correctly, lol.

Next up, I think I'm going to do the right shoulder, since this one didn't take me too long. Then I'll move to the forearms and handplates. Then the lower body... damn, still have a (insert expletive of choice)-ton to do. Still truckin though, and still having fun.

Also, I've been seeing some conflicting reports lately. Some people love fiberglass and resin, while others swear by Smooth-On stuff. I've used fiberglass and resin before, and while I do love the strength of it, it tends to be quite messy, and sometimes particularly wasteful. Never having used smooth-on products, I have no firsthand knowledge of how well it works. Any opinions on which one is actually the better method for costuming purposes?

As always thanks for stopping by! Questions, comments, and criticisms welcome

Rex out.