Spartan IV Under Suits

[Eldwain]

So i'm currently working on a Halo 5 buck build, and the armor is coming along nicely. But the more I look at Buck the more unsure I am how to do his under suit, and by extension, spartan under suits in general. (I've only ever built ODSTs and I just used military BDUs for their under suit) I've seen a few methods used, the most common just being a black skin tight body suit. But this wont work for me because I a very skinny guy and I need to bulk myself up with the armor for it to look proper. On top of that, for most Mk V and VI armors the black morph suits work well, but the Spartan 4s have thicker and more complex under suits. So i'm wondering how to make a good under suit for Spartan 4s and how I can use it to make by self bulkier to fill out my armor. I thought about building an under suit with some 3mm craft foam, but wasn't sure if that the right way to go. Let me know what works for you, thanks.

 

[DoopleStick]

I think a body suit akin to a wetsuit is the way to go on this one. I use the term so you can get an idea of the thickness in mind, but I don't literally mean a wetsuit. Fabric stores sell at least 1/4 inch foam/fabric composites of some sort. If you know anything about sewing and cutting from patterns, you could seam some together and even add an additional layer to get the proper hex texture (or whatever it is) to make the suit. I would even go as far as to consider the possibility of integrating hard molds into the body suit to attach some of the armor pieces like thighs and shoulders to eliminate the need for tacky straps to hold positions.

 

[DoopleStick]

I was thinking about this some more, and I think this is just a little tidbit to ruminate over, but for skinny folks (like you and me), the closer the armor stays to the body, the less the skinniness is exposed; especially in the shoulders. The ODST shoulders are good for keeping close, but I just rewatched a couple cutscenes from H5 and since 343 brought the Chief's shoulder pads outwards, it's made his shoulders and especially his elbows look very thin. Just something to think about, maybe.

 

[Eldwain]

I was thinking about this some more, and I think this is just a little tidbit to ruminate over, but for skinny folks (like you and me), the closer the armor stays to the body, the less the skinniness is exposed; especially in the shoulders. The ODST shoulders are good for keeping close, but I just rewatched a couple cutscenes from H5 and since 343 brought the Chief's shoulder pads outwards, it's made his shoulders and especially his elbows look very thin. Just something to think about, maybe.

Wow! I never would have thought of that! ill have to try that out, right now I have the armor really padded out to make myself look bulky. But i'm definitely gonna try bringing it in to see how it looks. if you have any pictures of what you look like in your armor id love to take a look and see what you mean. And yeah, at this point i'm think body suit with maybe certain parts of it built out and made sturdy with cast parts a 3mm foam for detail.

 

[Reclaimara]

I was thinking about this some more, and I think this is just a little tidbit to ruminate over, but for skinny folks (like you and me), the closer the armor stays to the body, the less the skinniness is exposed; especially in the shoulders. The ODST shoulders are good for keeping close, but I just rewatched a couple cutscenes from H5 and since 343 brought the Chief's shoulder pads outwards, it's made his shoulders and especially his elbows look very thin. Just something to think about, maybe.

They didn't do that only to Chief. Compare Palmer - her shoulders looks ridiculously broader because of these "pads".
It wasn't a smart move, IMO, the standard undersuits in Halo 4 were much better IMO.

 

[Reclaimara]

Well, as for Buck... Fireteam Osiris has very unique armors IMO. They differ from most of the GEN 2 armor variants - both armors and undersuits.

This is how normal GEN 2 undersuit looks like (GEN2 is generation 2, current armor worn by Spartan IVs and earlier):

(here is bigger female undersuit - http://i.imgur.com/ktwm6Vg.jpg)

As you can see these both designs vary. Like I said, Fireteam Osiris's suits are very unique.
I've seen many techniques, some people build full foam undersuits, but sadly then you trade flexibility and movements for this.

Also, I've seen Impact Props doing very cool Locke moving undersuit:

Another way is to use very soft foam or stuff and then sew it onto the morph suit to add more muscles and structure:

(here is one example with A LOT of mass builted into it as you can see)

There are many more ways, but either you use foam or stuff to saw onto the undersuit. In both ways - the more material you add, the less movement you'll have, just remember

I'm in the planning-phase of my undersuit, so I do research. xD

 

[Eldwain]

They didn't do that only to Chief. Compare Palmer - her shoulders looks ridiculously broader because of these "pads".
It wasn't a smart move, IMO, the standard undersuits in Halo 4 were much better IMO.

Your right. I never realized that before. The fact that they brought out her shoulder guards just makes here arms and shoulders look small.

 

[Eldwain]

Wow! That's amazingly helpful! Thank you! I knew I had to build up myself to fill in the armor, I just didn't know how. I'm definitely going to look into the light foam with the morph suit, that looks just like what I'm going for.

 

[Reclaimara]

Your right. I never realized that before. The fact that they brought out her shoulder guards just makes here arms and shoulders look small.

Not only that, it just makes her look bit silly... like other female Spartans.
It doesn't look as bad with male Spartans as they are more bulky... but still, no idea why they did that.

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Wow! That's amazingly helpful! Thank you! I knew I had to build up myself to fill in the armor, I just didn't know how. I'm definitely going to look into the light foam with the morph suit, that looks just like what I'm going for.

You're welcome. ^^

I'd recommend the very soft foam or the stuff you add into clothes to fill them (sorry, no idea how it's called).

In my personal build I don't look to add more bulky-ness but just to add texture, etc. so I didn't think much about muscle mass. O_O
I think morph suits are best to go with, they are very flexible and you won't be too hot or too cold in them. ^^