Spitfire22V's LD Mark VI build - Now Completed

[Spitfire22V]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Well, I had a close call with a disasterous mistake yesterday. When I fiberglass, I use bath cups that I've made a mark for 1 oz of liquid. So I fill resin to that line, and I know to use 7 drops of hardener, and it's just enough to use before it starts getting clumpy. I reuse the same cup a few times untl it gets soggy.

Well, while fiberglassing the helmet yesterday, I felt like the resin was curing a little faster than usual, and I thought it was because of the residual mixed resin in the cup when I poured in a new batch. So, I thought I'd be clever and compensate by putting a drop or two less of hardener.

Bad idea.

As of last night, the resin was still not 100% solid. I tried "kicking" it with a heat gun, and letting it set over night, and it helped, but it's still not fully cured. The helmet is not ruined, but I'll probably apply another layer of "hotter" resin (a drop or two more hardener) if it doesn't completely harden over the next few days. Lesson learned: always mix in correct ratio of hardener!

Anyway, can anyone help me with my chest scaling issue? If not, then I guess I'll get started it on it anyway and settle for a slightly too big or too small chest, as I really don't see myself making more than one chest piece unless the dimensions are off by a lot.

 

[Mensrea Prod]

I use 7 drops per tablespoon of resin, 14 drops per ounce of resin. Thats just what on my can. Hope it works out for you.

 

[Spitfire22V]

I use 7 drops per tablespoon of resin, 14 drops per ounce of resin. Thats just what on my can. Hope it works out for you.

Yup, sorry, that's what I meant. Every other time I've resined, it's hardened correctly, so I'll try to keep doing it that way!

So, a quick update. I'm heading to NYC for the weekend, so I wont be able to work on this again until probably Monday.

The handguards are essentially finished except for final paint, weathering, and strapping. I still have to buy the paint. I'm going with standard Master Chief olive green, anyone know what color is the closest?

I Bondo-ed a little of one of the thigh pieces as more practice. Strictly baby steps here, as I learn more about using it and get more practice. I think I put it on a little heavy, but it will definitely help smooth out the sharp edges due to the low-def files. This was just a primary sanding, so there are lots of voids. I may fix them, or leave them.

Finally, I starting Pepping the chest piece! As I was cutting & folding the parts, I began to think it might be too small. So, I started gluing some parts to find out, and this is as far as I got before I confirmed that it was way too small. Definitely a stupid mistake by me: I measured my shoulder to shoulder width, and input it into Pepakura without compensating for the fact that the chest piece's wdith measurement is at the widest point near the pecks, not the shoulders. I just forgot, guess I got excited about Pepping my last piece! I'll start on a new, bigger one first thing when I get back home.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Hyperballistik]

make sure when you scale your chest you compensate for your under armor and have space to get the strapping hooked up, thats what happened to me, fits with just a t shirt but put on the under armor and it digs into my rib cage, Im just suggesting that you make sure the lower part of the chest is measured corectly, just my 2 cents, it suck making a chest twice

 

[tarsus]

Nice clean peps, I always wished we could scale the pieces inside pep designer independently across the X, y and zed axis...as everyone's different shapes. I know I was worried mine wouldn't fit as I have a really broad chest and hoped that it wouldn't bury me inside the armour when I scaled it up.

I always take into account any undersuits that may arise with a build, especially as I'm switching to the foam mats, which brings problems all their own with the added thickness.

Still back on track, cracking build and ook forward to more progress.

 

[HushB170]

really nice bondo/ pep work. i cant wait to see how this turns out. what brand of resin did you use by the way?

 

[Spitfire22V]

Thanks for the info about scaling. I need the chest to be about 13 in at the shoulders, which makes the lower dimension about 15-16 in. It seems big when I hold a ruler to my chest, but it should work, and I really hope it does!

Well, I got back in from New York late last night. I'm not really in the mood to fiberglass or Bondo today, so I will probably start Pepping the new, larger chest piece later.

In the meantime, I stopped by Wal-Mart for some paint. I got Krylon "Italian Olive" and a some Satin clear. Here are the handplates with their first coat of paint! Funny how these are almost finished and I haven't even started the chest piece yet!

I out on a light coat, and with the black primer underneath, it shows through near edges, which I think gives some depth. After these dry overnight, I'll weather them tomorrow, then spray on the clear.

really nice bondo/ pep work. i cant wait to see how this turns out. what brand of resin did you use by the way?

It's Bondo brand resin, just like most everyone else uses:

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[tarsus]

I'd probably down load one of the size testers that are here and print that out on some normal paper <no sense wasting card stock> I did 4 testers before settling for the one that fitted me reasonably...Without the undersuit my other half helped me make It didn't sit too well on me at all and rested lower than I felt looked good or right.

 

[Spitfire22V]

I'd probably down load one of the size testers that are here and print that out on some normal paper

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I downloaded a tester, pepped it really quick, and I have a better idea of the size I need for the chest. I added about 2.5 inches; we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

For under armor, I plan on using, well, Under Armour! I don't want to modify the undersuit just for this project (i.e I'm simply borrowing items I already own for the undersuit, so I want to be able to use them when I'm not wearing the armor pieces <---subject to change). So, I'm fairly sure I have enough space for the under suit since it's skin tight.

 

[LongShot X]

Nice progress so far!

I like the way you did the detail for the hand plates.

Good pepping skills.

Glad to see that your getting the chest scaled to your size by using the testers.

Keep up the quality of work and you'll have a great Cheif!

Cheers!

 

[Road Kill]

looking great keep up the good work

 

[Spitfire22V]

Thanks for the comments guys. And Longshot, your suit is definitely good motivation; if mine ends up being half as good I'll be very pleased!

So, I've been doing some slow and steady work, and unless something goes horribly wong....I'M FINISHED PEPPING! Which is good because I was just about completely sick and tired of cutting, folding, and gluing.

All of the chest pieces folded and organized, and ready for assembly

About half way through. I took my time, took some breaks, and didn't rush anything.

Finished chest piece. I'm going to add in some posterboard supports before I resin it to hold the shape. As far as size, I'm unable to fit my head through the neck hole (which is normal), but I did do a test fit early on, before I closed up the neck hole. I think it should be fine. And anyway, I don't think I'll remake it if it's not exactly the correct size.

Also, I actually finished the handguards completely last week before heading to New York. I applied a black "wash" using black paint lightly sprayed onto a cloth, scratched up the finish a bit, painted the 3 holes, then clear coated.

I went relatively light with the scratches, as I believe it's very easy to overdo. It's not dry-brushed, I took some files and went at the edges and corners to reveal the under layer.

Quick question about clear coats: Is Flat or Stain better? I used Satin, but I may switch to Flat to be a little less shiny.

Finally, just a quick shot of a mostly Bondo-ed forearm piece. I know everyone says not to apply it to the entirety of pieces, but since these are LD pieces, I might end up doing that to all pieces to get the necessary curves. I honestly think I'll prefer more Bondo work to the Pep work of HD pieces.

That's all for now. Next, I have to resin the chest and codpiece, and keep working on the fiberglass (helmet fiberglassing is finished). But I think the next thing I will do is clean up the edges of all the remaining piece, and spray a coat of black primer to find imperfections. Then sand a bit more to minimize how much Bondo I need to apply. Stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[shedg]

nice armor man! and good luck with it!

I honestly think I'll prefer more Bondo work to the Pep work of HD pieces.

I completely agree with you!

 

[Spitfire22V]

Thanks shedg!

Quick update for now.

Due to the weather not cooperating for resining/fiberglassing/Bondo, I haven't done much of that yet. I still have yet to even resin the codpiece and chest. Hopefully I can get started on that ASAP.

However, I managed to work on the helmet. I grinded/sanded down edges to minimize how much Bondo I'll need, then shot it with a coat of black primer to show imperfections. I think it looks pretty cool already! The gray areas are where I knocked down edges that were sticking out a little.

Also, I worked on the thigh detail pieces. These are pretty prominent on the Chief from in-game pictures, so I had to add them. The same method as the handguards was used: sketch, cut out template, transfer to cardboard, cut and glue to piece. This thigh piece is now almost ready for final primer and paint.

And a little sneak peek at what I started working on now that I don't really have an stuff to work on when I can't resin or Bondo. Expect a new WIP thread in the "Weapons & Props" forum soon.

That's all for now, thanks for stopping by!

 

[snypernight]

soory this is late but the standard color for military is olive drab sorry for being late and nice!!!

 

[tarsus]

Great work there, nice to see the details coming along too. I think you'll be fine with the chest As I think you've taken the time to size it and be happy before moving to pep'ing it.

 

[AGAF 2594]

Thanks! I'll be on the lookout for a build thread, good luck!

Just thought I'd add a few more pictures of some of my plans for this armor.

As I mentioned in the original post, I plan on doing something similar to Jun's right should armor. He has three .50 cal bullets strapped to the armor, and I want to do the same. However, I'm going to attach them to the regular Mark VI shoulder piece.

These are dummy .50 cal rounds that I've picked up over the years at airshows (you can see one has a giant hole in it to belabor the point). They usually sell for about $5 a piece. I just need one more, and there's an airshow in May that I will definitely attend and buy a third!

It will look something like this. I haven't decided whether I will have them attached lined up with each other, or stagger them a bit to follow the shape of the shoulder piece.

Nice, armor so far. i hav just posted up a sniper rifle bullet as a pdo file. come check it out at http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/31502-Sniper-Rifle-Bullet-pdo?p=514239#post514239

 

[cory045]

looking pretty basic.(which is good)

 

[TreizeAlpha]

Looking good so far. Can't wait to see the finished result.

 

[Spitfire22V]

Thanks for the comments guys.

As far as paint goes, the colors I found at Wal-Mart didn't seem right until I found Krylon "Italian Olive" in satin finish. It seems a little lighter than regular Olive green, and overall I'm satisfied with it.

Now I hope I'm not bombarding you guys withh too many photos of updates, but I managed to get some more work accomplished. It doesn't look like much, but it takes time.

I Bondo-ed the helmet, and spent a while doing a preliminary sanding this morning. It looks good so far, and only needs a few touch ups of more Bondo before it will be ready for final sanding, primer, and paint.

Pre-sanding:

Post-sanding:

I added all the detail pieces to the Chest that I wanted. They're mostly on the back, though there are 2 small pieces on the front. The Chest is now ready for outer-resining, which I did earlier today also, along with the Codpiece. When that dries, they will be ready for fiberglass.

The Magnum is coming along well, and is taking up a bit of my armor-making time, but I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end. I'm in no rush!

Edit: I forgot that I can't post in the Weapons & Props forum yet, so I'll include some progress shots of the Magnum here.

Six layers of black poster-board.

Here you can see the cutout for the magazine, which is 4 layers wide.

Lined the edges with more cardboard. The magazine is held in place with neodymium (rare-earth) magnets.

The completed mag, ready for finish work

Thanks for stopping by! I might wait to update next time with more pics until I've done more noticeable/significant progress.