Wraith0912
Member
- Member DIN
- S912
So back in August/September I got the chance to cross a big thing off my bucket list: visiting the battlefields of WW1's Western Front. It was an experience I'd been looking forward to for years, and when I started thinking about what my next suit would be once I got home, I knew I wanted it to incorporate some of the things I'd seen over in France and Belgium. Of course, when we're talking about Halo mixing in with WW1 stuff, there's pretty much only one place to turn: Eaglestrike.
I know Eaglestrike isn't everyone's cup of tea, but me personally, I've always enjoyed it. It's tanky, it's bulky, the helmets based on IRL helmets look great with their Haloified elements, basically I just think it's pretty neat. For this build, I wanted to recreate this British uniform that was on display at one of the museums in Ypres while also trying to remain relatively close to options available in the game itself.
Two other goals were clear from the start as well. Running the Mark V suit I made for C2E2 last year made it clear that this suit needs to be as lightweight as possible to avoid the problems I ran into last time, and I wanted to have elements on the suit that made me unique compared to other prospective Eaglestrike builders. So, I decided to go with the Gummytube Filter attachment for the Brodie helmet, and to solve the weight problem, I would be printing almost the entirety of the suit in TPU.
I'm using Titlewave's files for the main body and MoeSizzlac's Brodie helmet file. I printed the first few pieces of the suit back in October. I hadn't used TPU in a very long time, and the last time I did, it clogged my printer's nozzle. However, I was lucky to nail the slicer settings for the TPU that I'm using very early on, and with my large-format Neptune 4 Max, pieces started flying off the print bed at a speed I could've only dreamed of last year. The handplates, boot covers, and the hips were the first to go, followed by the knees and the rest of the legs. Special thanks to Fallen , SamuelHan , and DeltaAlphaZulu for their input and advice on how to post-process TPU.
I also learned how to airbrush! Last time I had a mad scramble to get things painted and weathered because I was dealing with school, but I've since graduated, so that's not a problem anymore. I can definitely see room for improvement, but as a first pass, I'm very happy with the progress on these pieces.
In the months since October, I've gotten upwards of 80% of the parts printed, with almost everything either ready to paint or in some late stage of post-processing. This batch of pieces below got a pass of sanding and rubberized filler a few hours ago from when I post this. One issue that you can see (especially on the shoulders) is pillowing artifacts from the printer; I'm doing my best to sand these down as flat as I can manage, but due to the damage-heavy nature of Eaglestrike, I'm thinking I can probably get away with some clever weathering techniques if I can't. In addition, the helmet currently only has a couple more hours of print time to go before it finishes. Once that's done, I will print the mask, and then all that's left to be printed is the torso piece; everything else will have been completed.
I have been absolutely amazed at the amount of progress I've made in just a few short months compared to the extreme uphill battle that was the Mark V build. Like before, the goal of this build is to get it done before C2E2, which is a bit more challenging this year due to the convention occurring earlier in the month this time around. Still, I'm feeling confident about the progress that I'm making, and I'm looking forward to putting everything together.
I know Eaglestrike isn't everyone's cup of tea, but me personally, I've always enjoyed it. It's tanky, it's bulky, the helmets based on IRL helmets look great with their Haloified elements, basically I just think it's pretty neat. For this build, I wanted to recreate this British uniform that was on display at one of the museums in Ypres while also trying to remain relatively close to options available in the game itself.
Two other goals were clear from the start as well. Running the Mark V suit I made for C2E2 last year made it clear that this suit needs to be as lightweight as possible to avoid the problems I ran into last time, and I wanted to have elements on the suit that made me unique compared to other prospective Eaglestrike builders. So, I decided to go with the Gummytube Filter attachment for the Brodie helmet, and to solve the weight problem, I would be printing almost the entirety of the suit in TPU.
I'm using Titlewave's files for the main body and MoeSizzlac's Brodie helmet file. I printed the first few pieces of the suit back in October. I hadn't used TPU in a very long time, and the last time I did, it clogged my printer's nozzle. However, I was lucky to nail the slicer settings for the TPU that I'm using very early on, and with my large-format Neptune 4 Max, pieces started flying off the print bed at a speed I could've only dreamed of last year. The handplates, boot covers, and the hips were the first to go, followed by the knees and the rest of the legs. Special thanks to Fallen , SamuelHan , and DeltaAlphaZulu for their input and advice on how to post-process TPU.
I also learned how to airbrush! Last time I had a mad scramble to get things painted and weathered because I was dealing with school, but I've since graduated, so that's not a problem anymore. I can definitely see room for improvement, but as a first pass, I'm very happy with the progress on these pieces.
In the months since October, I've gotten upwards of 80% of the parts printed, with almost everything either ready to paint or in some late stage of post-processing. This batch of pieces below got a pass of sanding and rubberized filler a few hours ago from when I post this. One issue that you can see (especially on the shoulders) is pillowing artifacts from the printer; I'm doing my best to sand these down as flat as I can manage, but due to the damage-heavy nature of Eaglestrike, I'm thinking I can probably get away with some clever weathering techniques if I can't. In addition, the helmet currently only has a couple more hours of print time to go before it finishes. Once that's done, I will print the mask, and then all that's left to be printed is the torso piece; everything else will have been completed.
I have been absolutely amazed at the amount of progress I've made in just a few short months compared to the extreme uphill battle that was the Mark V build. Like before, the goal of this build is to get it done before C2E2, which is a bit more challenging this year due to the convention occurring earlier in the month this time around. Still, I'm feeling confident about the progress that I'm making, and I'm looking forward to putting everything together.
