RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pics)

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Oh im sorry I meant shoulder piece not the forearm.

The upper-arm and shoulder are two separate objects in the pep file with no shared flaps. You can build the upper-arm independently from the shoulder and have two totally separate pepped models after assembly. There is a horizontal top face on the outer upper-arm, and a horizontal bottom face on the shoulder pad. These two faces self-align to each other with adjacent faces, so the upper-arm model fits into a sort of "pocket" in the shoulder model's bottom. You can glue these two faces together either before applying resin or afterwards. Ideally it would be afterwards, so you have access for sanding and finishing the upper-arm surfaces that are underneath the shoulder. Best (and what I'll be doing) is totally finish and paint the upper-arm and shoulder as two separate models, then attach them using bolts on the inside through the parallel adjacent faces. That way the shoulder is not permanently attached to the upper-arm. (Weathering should be done with the shoulder attached for realistic results.) Does that answer the question?

 

[SirPalesAlot]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

That image lol. Another armor piece done, and this time it didn't take nearly as long.


This is where the two pieces come together. I removed the support bars so it's much easier to see.

 

[NoMaybeYes]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Ah I see, Nicely done both of you! Im glad you put the removability into the model. I saw one that had it but it was just the bicep part.

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

I have that bicep model you're referring to, and it's not designed to sport an optional shoulder pad - ours is. Also our model has game-accurate proportions and detailing. Next up is a better hand plate model having the correct shape and detailing. Meanwhile, I've got parts here waiting for me to glue together. (They're all cut already by the Cameo - I love it!)

 

[b4m]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Extremly Impressiv!!!
you have my highest respect!
:thumbsup

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Alrighty, it's been awhile since my last post, and that's due to holiday decorating, pep work on the upper-arms, and working with SirPalesAlot on ultra-high detail hand plates (and the helmet work has also been started). The upper-arms assembly has been going slow because the first start looked like crap to me so I revised the unfold and started again. The second start also looked bad so I revised the unfold yet again. The problem was with the center detail area of the outer arm - I consider myself to be pretty decent at pepping, but every time this area kept turning out indented, concave, dented, etc. I just didn't like the look of it:

So now I've finally got an unfold of this area which has it holding the proper shape. I've updated all the upper-arm models in the File Archive with this newer unfold (Cameo versions) and fixed support bar issues and floating faces display issues on Mac systems in the Low Detail model. What? Mac?!? Yes, I'm now running Pepakura Designer on my Mac using Wineskin (setup instructions are available in several places, but here's a local one). The Low Detail model had to be deleted in the Archive and re-uploaded because it involved a new screenshot and bugs with the archive still prevent updating of screenshot images.

I'm still using metal eyelets for the "rivet" detail because I like how well their rounded tops matches this detail in game photos. Last time they were put in as a retro-fit after the whole model had been assembled because I simply didn't have the idea earlier than that. This time around I knew what was going on and put them in early:

I cut out some mat board donuts as spacers behind the eyelets to give them more depth:

I also used the circle floating faces to close up the backs of the eyelets:

Last weekend while shopping at Michael's I discovered this new product from Silhouette: chipboard. Not as heavy as mat board, but can be cut on a Cameo (use a blade depth of 6 instead of the default of 5 to ensure cutting all the way through). It's just a little thicker than cereal box cardboard. By making copies of some of the Pepakura parts in Silhouette Studio and deleting extra vertices I was able to cut out perfectly-matched backing parts for areas on the outer arm which don't lay flat on their own due to being too narrow. Of course if you wanted a heavier material you could just cut out two sets (or more) of the chipboard parts and glue them together.

The chip board is especially useful around the light opening since it has very thin face widths around the edges:

Here's how the outer arm area turned out:

I've also got the bicep assembled. I used chipboard again for the raised detail around the perimeter because cardstock just didn't look thick enough.

Next update will be delayed again because of the holidays and working on the next armor files. Thanks for looking.

 

[NoMaybeYes]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Im really glad you two have stuck with this project so long given that its all just optional. The models are looking fantastic and the unfolds dont even look that complicated.

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Thanks - SirPalesAlot has been turning out some amazing models while I get the easy job (or the harder one, I dunno) of translating the game's texture maps into buildable geometric shapes and a seemingly unending "change this, move that, lengthen this, shorten that" etc. The upper-arm is turning out much easier (and thus quicker) to assemble than the forearms, probably due to all those darned trenches and minuscule parts on the forearms. The upper-arm base model is more than half done already and I just started the shoulder pad yesterday and it's already about half done.

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

The forearm detail replacement parts are updated in the File Archive to now include flaps around their perimeter in the same positions as the forearm models currently in the archive (by robogenesis, flying_squirl, and nugget). If the existing forearm unfolds get changed (again) then edits may be needed to the forearm unfold for compatibility, but as of right now the replacement parts are current and perfectly-matched with the forearm models in the archive. With the new addition of edge flaps on the replacement details, the parts now directly replace forearm parts with no required flap edits.

I also updated the Ultra-High Detail Upper-Arm unfolds for Cameo in the archive to make it easier aligning the shoulder pad trench corners.

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Work progresses on the right upper-arm build. As usual, lessons learned from building the first one will make building the left one easier. (I now know better in which order to assemble the parts.)

I did have one problem with the back notches raised edge. I'm using chipboard for these so they're more noticeable than the height cardstock provides, and this caused them to fall short of their termination edge since chipboard is thicker than cardstock and the floating faces don't account for that. So I got to scrape them off the part and then I extended their lengths in Silhouette Studio so they went past the part's edge:

Then I used flush cutters to remove the excess:

Thanks for looking.

 

[Crimmson]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Last weekend while shopping at Michael's I discovered this new product from Silhouette: chipboard. Not as heavy as mat board, but can be cut on a Cameo (use a blade depth of 6 instead of the default of 5 to ensure cutting all the way through). It's just a little thicker than cereal box cardboard. By making copies of some of the Pepakura parts in Silhouette Studio and deleting extra vertices I was able to cut out perfectly-matched backing parts for areas on the outer arm which don't lay flat on their own due to being too narrow. Of course if you wanted a heavier material you could just cut out two sets (or more) of the chipboard parts and glue them together.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...0U/wotsis7AuCo/w1616-h1212-no/UpperArms06.jpg


The chip board is especially useful around the light opening since it has very thin face widths around the edges:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...0g/olAKfkNF1o0/w1616-h1212-no/UpperArms07.jpg


Here's how the outer arm area turned out:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-...B0k/WCZ9xa07iDI/w910-h1212-no/UpperArms08.jpg


I've also got the bicep assembled. I used chipboard again for the raised detail around the perimeter because cardstock just didn't look thick enough.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...0s/3Vx0T4WHofs/w1616-h1212-no/UpperArms09.jpg


Next update will be delayed again because of the holidays and working on the next armor files. Thanks for looking.

@RobotChicken , that chip board is a much better idea than the what i have been using which are a combo of thick flat popsicle sticks and sometimes vernier sheets. they dont give me much satisfaction when i use them though to be honest. i will try this out. looks very good when you applied it to your pieces. keep up the great work you and @SirPalesAlot

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Thanks. The nice thing about chipboard is it will feed through the Cameo so I can cut part parts without flaps to use for backing on the inside. Mat board is too thick for the machine. Chipboard isn't as rigid as mat board, but it's much easier to cut (especially when a machine's doing it for you!). There are a couple other areas on the upper-arm that I'm going back and adding chipboard to for helping keep straight and flat. I even considered building the whole model out of chipboard instead of cardstock. But at $10 for 25 sheets it would be much more costly than cardstock.

 

[realmasterchief]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Amazing work as always buddy, thanks for sharing

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

It all started out innocently enough, family baking day and decorating of Christmas cookies...

...until dad (that's me) got bored and decided to be a little more creative with the gingerbread...

...upon which the kid responds with The Grinch:

...so dad turns on Heroic mode, to much amazement:

Not to be outdone, the kid responds with...

So dad gets out the big guns and turns out four more cookies which took just way too long to decorate...

Happy Holidays

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

I cut fabric on the Cameo today for the first time...with mixed results. I did get better at it as I gained more experience. I think my next batch will turn out really good. These are proof-of-concept and a Christmas gift for my Lego-obsessed kid - custom capes, cloaks, and coats for the minifigs. I drew them up in Silhouette Studio and cut them out of quilting squares. Now he'll be able to create custom capes for the figures, and can decorate them with markers.

And speaking of decorating, he also likes to make custom characters but is not allowed to use paint or pens on the Legos, so we got him label paper last year and he's been making his own stickers for the minifigs. This year, since he's out of label paper and his markers are all used up, I decided to draw up sticker outlines in Silhouette Studio and pre-cut a whole pack of label paper so they exactly fit the minifigs. I also pre-decorated some of them in Studio with downloaded decal patterns (Batman, Master Chief, ODST, Marine, etc) but he's also getting a new set of markers to go with them.

Close-up:

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Work continues on the right upper-arm assembly, with support bars suspiciously resembling Superman's Fortress of Solitude:

I've also got the shoulder pad assembled:

 

[JMRoach]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Hey! I'm new to this forum and I'm glad to have found your thread. Congradulation on your incredible precision and dedication to your son! I hope he wont out-grow your starting pieces before the whole project is done. I'm curently finishing up my second Ultra-detailed forearm (from your file section) and I gotta say the ''belt buckle'' part is a PAIN IN THE %/"$! I hate it lol but still, you got to do what you got to do to achieve perfection. Anyways keep up the great work! Oh and by the way, great job on the new unfolding, this ULTRA-Detailed forearm is easier to make than the older versions! (exept for that damn buckle of course!!)

 

[RobotChicken]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Thanks. Yes, the "buckle" area sucks, especially at the scale I'm building at, where that feature is only about an inch across. I opted to pep them separate from the main forearm, like in the HD version, so they can be sanded smooth more easily later on. The corners on mine will be getting some bondo work to smooth them out. At such a small scale the cardstock thickness interferes with the feasibility of gluing some of the flaps. In fact, for a while I was entertaining the idea of buying a 3D printer for making some of the parts. I've got the models sized up pretty aggressively this time around - they almost fit me! I don't get much time to work on my build each day, so probably other people will get these models done before I finish mine and I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out after finishing and painting. I've currently got both forearms pepped, right shoulder pad pepped, right upper-arm almost finished, and left upper-arm started. An ultra-high detail hand plate is next up which has the same level of accuracy as the first two models, and after that comes a bucket that is also looking very cool. SirPalesAlot is producing some incredible Mk VI models and I hope the Halo 3 Hunter files I'm working on turn out as good. I'm honored to be the first thread you've posted in. This thread tends to get a lot of views, but I suppose the motivation for people to post will come later when I start the finishing process.

 

[Macattack64]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

I've glanced through this entire thread, your work looks fantastic! I love the new Halo 3 models that have been evolving from this. Keep up the fantastic work!

Do you plan on doing all the other armor pieces in Ultra Detail?

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Re: RobotChicken's Halo 3 Mk VI Master Chief, Ultra Detail, First Build WIP (many pic

Everything is looking good