Seraphin290
New Member
Greetings, fellow 405th members! Now that the site is back in a usable state, I figured it's well past time to show off my progress on my rendition of ODST battle armor.
I'll start by saying that I've actually been at this for a few months now (working on and off, I've been busy with all flavors of RL things) and I'm nearing the end of the Pepping stages. The files that I used are an amalgam of Hugh's, Kirrou's and Nightshade's parts. I've been known to be especially picky when it comes to the look of individual parts, but I will say that ALL of the work that has gone into these parts - even the ones I didn't use - are phenomenal and the creators have my sincerest thanks for making them available. I simply don't have the patience to learn to model and what-not myself, so I sincerely thank you all very much.
Without further ado, here come some pics:
This helmet is absolutely my pride and joy of the build so far. Kirrou's HD models look gorgeous. I was afraid that I hadn't scaled it properly (I have an enormous head), but thankfully it fits perfectly and there's still plenty of room inside for padding and all that jazz.
I'm considering re-doing the belt buckle. It's awfully big, and I screwed up the pep in a few places. Chestplate is great, but it might be just a tad too big and doesn't quite fit the contour of my chest. I'm considering experimenting with a different file to see if it works out better. We'll see how it goes.
Silly me for forgetting that I'm gonna have to apply resin to the outside of the center piece, otherwise I would have left the circle part off until afterwards. It came out awesome, though, so I might just leave it and tough it out.
I've always preferred this style of ODST shoulder, but it's going to be tricky figuring out how to get it to articulate properly. Guess I'll have plenty of time to figure it out. :/
Hip and underarm plates. 'Nuff said.
The lower leg bits look superb, but I didn't realize just how much wider my calves are near the top, so they're pretty snug. Might have to figure out a way to break it in two and have the halves snap together (much like the torso will have to). If anyone has suggestions, I'm certainly open to them.
These forearms look beautiful, but they are an absolute PAIN to pep. I only have the one finished, and I'm thinking I might need to do it over (see pic below for one of the many reasons why).
I'm not satisfied with how this part especially turned out. I probably put it together in the least intelligible way possible, so when I do the other arm, I'll try a different approach. If it turns out better, I might re-do this one the same way. The other major thing wrong (which you can probably see in the top one if you look closely) is that the opening for the hand / wrist to go through is too small for my hand. I have small hands, but I can't roll them up properly to get them through without tearing the opening. May have to trim that particular piece off to make a slightly bigger opening. It doesn't need to be scaled up, the rest of it is perfectly sized for my forearm and the elbow pad is in exactly the right place.
I know I'm going the risky route of making the torso core out of card stock rather than EVA foam (I understand that's an increasingly common practice now-a-days) but I think I'll stick with it and see how it turns out.
At any rate, that's all the pep work I have done. Just missing the other forearm, the thigh parts, and boot covers. I have them all printed and ready to go, just need to spend some more quality time with an Exacto knife and a hot glue gun. I'll post updates as I'm able to get to them.
As for the next stages, I haven't gone out and bought resin or anything yet, but I know I need to get to it soon. I live in Michigan and we're probably only going to have pleasant outdoor weather for another month or so, maybe two. I have a tendency to work slowly but meticulously so here's to hoping that I can get them hardened before the snow falls in October (I wish I was exaggerating about that). With regards to that, I actually have to make some decisions and answer some questions about how to proceed with that phase of the operation, so expect to see me lurking in the resin / Rondo / fiberglass areas of the forums. This hobby is still new to me, and I'm definitely still learning and am not entirely confident of my abilities at this point, so any advice from veterans is more than welcome.
In the meantime, enjoy the pics and I hope to be back here with updates soon!
I'll start by saying that I've actually been at this for a few months now (working on and off, I've been busy with all flavors of RL things) and I'm nearing the end of the Pepping stages. The files that I used are an amalgam of Hugh's, Kirrou's and Nightshade's parts. I've been known to be especially picky when it comes to the look of individual parts, but I will say that ALL of the work that has gone into these parts - even the ones I didn't use - are phenomenal and the creators have my sincerest thanks for making them available. I simply don't have the patience to learn to model and what-not myself, so I sincerely thank you all very much.
Without further ado, here come some pics:
This helmet is absolutely my pride and joy of the build so far. Kirrou's HD models look gorgeous. I was afraid that I hadn't scaled it properly (I have an enormous head), but thankfully it fits perfectly and there's still plenty of room inside for padding and all that jazz.
I'm considering re-doing the belt buckle. It's awfully big, and I screwed up the pep in a few places. Chestplate is great, but it might be just a tad too big and doesn't quite fit the contour of my chest. I'm considering experimenting with a different file to see if it works out better. We'll see how it goes.
Silly me for forgetting that I'm gonna have to apply resin to the outside of the center piece, otherwise I would have left the circle part off until afterwards. It came out awesome, though, so I might just leave it and tough it out.
I've always preferred this style of ODST shoulder, but it's going to be tricky figuring out how to get it to articulate properly. Guess I'll have plenty of time to figure it out. :/
Hip and underarm plates. 'Nuff said.
The lower leg bits look superb, but I didn't realize just how much wider my calves are near the top, so they're pretty snug. Might have to figure out a way to break it in two and have the halves snap together (much like the torso will have to). If anyone has suggestions, I'm certainly open to them.
These forearms look beautiful, but they are an absolute PAIN to pep. I only have the one finished, and I'm thinking I might need to do it over (see pic below for one of the many reasons why).
I'm not satisfied with how this part especially turned out. I probably put it together in the least intelligible way possible, so when I do the other arm, I'll try a different approach. If it turns out better, I might re-do this one the same way. The other major thing wrong (which you can probably see in the top one if you look closely) is that the opening for the hand / wrist to go through is too small for my hand. I have small hands, but I can't roll them up properly to get them through without tearing the opening. May have to trim that particular piece off to make a slightly bigger opening. It doesn't need to be scaled up, the rest of it is perfectly sized for my forearm and the elbow pad is in exactly the right place.
I know I'm going the risky route of making the torso core out of card stock rather than EVA foam (I understand that's an increasingly common practice now-a-days) but I think I'll stick with it and see how it turns out.
At any rate, that's all the pep work I have done. Just missing the other forearm, the thigh parts, and boot covers. I have them all printed and ready to go, just need to spend some more quality time with an Exacto knife and a hot glue gun. I'll post updates as I'm able to get to them.
As for the next stages, I haven't gone out and bought resin or anything yet, but I know I need to get to it soon. I live in Michigan and we're probably only going to have pleasant outdoor weather for another month or so, maybe two. I have a tendency to work slowly but meticulously so here's to hoping that I can get them hardened before the snow falls in October (I wish I was exaggerating about that). With regards to that, I actually have to make some decisions and answer some questions about how to proceed with that phase of the operation, so expect to see me lurking in the resin / Rondo / fiberglass areas of the forums. This hobby is still new to me, and I'm definitely still learning and am not entirely confident of my abilities at this point, so any advice from veterans is more than welcome.
In the meantime, enjoy the pics and I hope to be back here with updates soon!
