Thorssoli's Isaac Clarke Engineering Rig from Dead Space 2

[thorssoli]

Apologies for the lack of updates, but the heat has stalled progress for me. There's no climate control in the barn, so if it's 90 degrees outside, it's 110 in the workshop.

Yesterday I made the molds for the chest widget, the arm and thigh rings, and the left shoulder ridge. I also finished the gauntlet molds. Here's the left one:


And here's the right one:


Hopefully today I'll have good pulls of all of them.

Stay tuned...

 

[thorssoli]

Here's an action photo:


That was grinding out the hand hole on the end of one of the gauntlets. They look pretty good now:


Also, I've made the belt buckle section for the front:


More to come. Stay tuned...

 

[Starvinartist80]

looking good as always. Any ideas on how you'll be attaching all the smaller pieces to the chest?

 

[thorssoli]

I'm going to be making a black leather vest and attaching all of the chest parts with rivets from the inside.


In other news, here's the beginning of the boots:


The parts of the left and right boot will be interchangeable, so I can get away with just making one mold for everything. The shin part shown above was cobbled together from pieces of plastic sheet I had laying around in the workshop. Now I just need a toe, a heel cup, and a kneepad.

Stay tuned...

 

[TxtbookNinja]

This is pretty amazing. Well done - can't wait to see it completed.

Thor, do you mind me asking how thick the visors for the faceplate are?

 

[thorssoli]

I'm using 1/8" acrylic for the faceshield inserts.

Today I finished up the calf/shin portion of the boot:


I also got a good start on the toe:


Tomorrow I'll make the last few prototypes and prep them for molding. Stay tuned...

 

[vshore100]

That boot looks great already!

 

[Statyk]

I know this sounds dumb as a request, but could you take a picture of everything you've made so far, on you? =D You could just tape the pieces to yourself to hold it there. That'd be cool =]

 

[thorssoli]

A lot of the prototypes aren't wearable until after I mold and cast copies. Right now I'm about a week away from having all of the parts cast.

Yesterday I made the heel:


Here it is with the reference images I'm working from:


It's not dead on, but at this point I'm in a bit of a rush.

Stay tuned...

 

[Mjjmk]

wow. i always LOVE your work. great work so far!!

 

[thorssoli]

Here's the toe and heel prepped for molding:


Here's all of the molds for the boot parts and the neck piece:


Things should start to get interesting again this week and next. Stay tuned...

 

[thorssoli]

No comments at all? Bummer.

I apologize for not posting more regular updates. Someone walked off with my workshop camera over the weekend and I'm leery about taking my nice, expensive DSLR into the filthy, dusty workshop. That said, last night I poured the rubber for the last two molds I have to make for this costume:


Shown are the left hand plates (lower left), the right thigh bits (lower right), the tailbone parts (upper right and left), and a huge mess (everywhere).

 

[Statyk]

I always believe the messier, the better! =P Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[mkshane81]

I haven't gotten into Dead Space, but this is one heck of a build. keep up the great work buddy!!

-Matt

 

[Liamthedevastator]

Man, you are a hero! You make mold making look so easy! :O

Are your main materials styrene and clay?

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

[Starvinartist80]

Thor,
I'm dying to drop by your shop and work with you. All the different projects you have going just keep me pumped to try new things. I think I might just have to put in a transfer to your area. LOL Everything looks fantastic as always. So which do you think will be completed first, this or the 40k marine?

 

[thorssoli]

Are your main materials styrene and clay?

I don't have "main" materials. My builds use foam, sheet plastics, cardstock, clay, bondo, wood, found items, and whatever else seems like it'll get me where I need to go. The prototypes for this outfit have included bits from the hardware store, leftover pieces from my Warhammer bits box, parts scavenged from airsoft guns, brass extrusions, nuts and bolts, a section cut out of an old hard hat, some popsicle sticks, acrylic sheet, ABS and HIPS sheets, and a bunch of clay.

So which do you think will be completed first, this or the 40k marine?

It'll probably be this one. I've already got casts out of all of the molds and I'm in the primer and paint stage. With a bit of sewing and a few dozen rivets, I'll have Isaac walking around. The Marine still needs more sanding and fairing before I cut the pep models apart to make forming bucks. Then it's just oodles of vacforming and that project will really get started.

For Isaac, I'm behind on updates. For starters, I've made the left hand parts:


Here's the first casting of the lower spine:


Here's the parts of the right leg detail:


For the finishing touch, I made vacforming bucks for all of the straps that hold the chest parts together:


Here's the first pull (in .040" ABS) on the table:


Last night I started arranging the back parts:


I also cobbled together the boots:


Today I will be painting like a madman. Stay tuned...

 

[Starvinartist80]

It doesn't matter how many builds I see or how often I look at them, this stage still impresses me every time. I just love watching it all come together. You have some fantastic work going on. Thanks for sharing as always.

-Cagle

 

[thorssoli]

Tip of the day: When you need curved pieces that don't have details on the inside of the molds, you can get away with making them out of a flat mold:


The trick is to pull them after the resin is mostly cured but before it's completely solid. Then bend them to the curve you need:


Since I don't enough time (or hands) to stand around holding all of these things in the curve that I want, the next step is to lay them inside a piece of plywood cylinder I had laying around:


Then I clamp them in place and wait for the resin to finish curing:


The end result is a complex shape with a tremendously deep curve made from a simple sheet mold.

In other news, I primed all of the parts yesterday:


Then I put the basecoat on:


I've done a bit of detailing since that picture was taken. Today I will finish weathering it and rivet all of the pieces together.

Stay tuned...

 

[mkshane81]

Holy cow man, that's a lot of parts!! This thing is shaping up to great. Good job sir!!

-Matt