Thorssoli's MkVI Costume Buildup

[LastSpartan]

Woah, that's a sweet helmet dude! Nice work!

 

[sk8er4life]

in the end will you mold the entire suit to have some molded suit? hey your tester for sizs are better than the stuff i made to try for real!

 

[thorssoli]

in the end will you mold the entire suit to have some molded suit? hey your tester for sizs are better than the stuff i made to try for real!

I will be molding the entire suit. Aside from the helmet I will be making at least two diffferent sizes for each part. The mold for the boots will even be designed to accomodate a variety of sizes. So far there are at least six or seven people who will be doing the Red vs. Blue thing with me for Halloween. Since they have limited skills, it falls to me to make outfits for all of us. The good thing is that I will also be able to sell a variety of sizes once I get around to casting these. The bad thing is I will have to make several of these rather expensive molds.

The really interesting part is when I start casting urethane rubber parts for the undersuit.

 

[Nicktendo]

The really interesting part is when I start casting urethane rubber parts for the undersuit.

Yes, that will be interesting. Look forward to that.

 

[Rednimnam]

how much will u be selling the suits for cuzz im a poor 15 year old boy and dont want to spend much also, i need a hi-res model for the helmet if im goign to make my own can u send me urs? and how do u size test. im 5'9 and supposedly i will grrow up to be 5'11 so the same suit shud fit me forever.

 

[SGT V]

how much will u be selling the suits for cuzz im a poor 15 year old boy and dont want to spend much also, i need a hi-res model for the helmet if im goign to make my own can u send me urs? and how do u size test. im 5'9 and supposedly i will grrow up to be 5'11 so the same suit shud fit me forever.

For something like this you might want to look into a part time job. The time and materials that go into his stuff makes it a little pricy. But, for the quality of work that he puts out (His Space Marine Beakie was great, wish I could have gotten one) his price is pretty reasonable. I have seen people get more money for less quality.

 

[thorssoli]

how much will u be selling the suits for cuzz im a poor 15 year old boy and dont want to spend much also, i need a hi-res model for the helmet if im goign to make my own can u send me urs? and how do u size test. im 5'9 and supposedly i will grrow up to be 5'11 so the same suit shud fit me forever.

I'm not selling full suits yet, but when I do they will likely be pretty expensive. I'm planning on selling the raw castings of the helmets for $300 shipped. I don't work for free (especially for strangers). I don't mean to be rude, but I don't mean to be broke either. The helmet alone hase taken quite a few hours to get to this point and the castings will take time too. Add to that some very expensive materials and the potential for legal problems vis-a-vis copyright infringements and I need to take in enough cash to make it worth the trouble.

If you don't have the money to spend, you're right in trying to spend time instead. You need to poke around in the Pepakura threads a bit more and find a model that will work for you. There is no shortage of links to the files you need. There are also pages and pages of tutorials on how to test the size.

Hopefully this is helpful. People who know me in the real world often ask me how I learned how to do all of the things I do in the shop and elsewhere. The answer is simple: you just try. Don't get frustrated if the first attempt looks nothing like what you'd intended. You are embarking on a lengthy and challenging project that will see some problems along the way.

There is no shortage of encouragement to be had here as long as you don't try to get everyone else to do everything for you. Understand from the get-go that making this costume look good will require a lot of time and/or money. Good luck.

For something like this you might want to look into a part time job. The time and materials that go into his stuff makes it a little pricy. But, for the quality of work that he puts out (His Space Marine Beakie was great, wish I could have gotten one) his price is pretty reasonable. I have seen people get more money for less quality.

If you're interested in the Space Marine helmets, PM for details. Here's the two that I painted up:

I will be getting back to the other parts of that costume eventually too...

 

[Walter Spase]

I am going to play the completely ignorant part, but Space Marine? From where do they come, and do you have a full suit reference picture?

 

[SpartanForever]

I am going to play the completely ignorant part, but Space Marine? From where do they come, and do you have a full suit reference picture?

SICK SPACE MARINE HELMETS!!! HAHA thats awesome.... Space Marines are a race in warhammer 40k its a board game with model figures and you build an army and play people with other races, they also made a video game called dawn of war.

you should have made the normal helmets though, the bird one isnt as cool BUT AMAZING JOB!

 

[thorssoli]

you should have made the normal helmets though, the bird one isnt as cool BUT AMAZING JOB!

I'm still planning on making the Mk7 variant of the helmet with the grill like they had in Dawn of War, but that project is backburnered for a little while while I keep up on the Master Chief outfit. The beakie helmets were mostly an excuse to learn all of the processes I'd be using for the rest of the project such as sculpting, molding, and casting. I chose that design specifically because they look like nothing else in science fiction. The finished products were a bit small, but I was still very happy with the overall shape.

I don't have any reference pics that I can post, but if you do a Google image search for "space marine" it'll get you a few. Also, the intro video to the Dawn of War video game (which is brilliant) is on YouTube. None of them are wearing my version of the helmet though.

I also made a bolter with a removable magazing and cold-cast metal details:

Since I'll be in casting mode this week anyway, I can make copies of any of these items. PM me for more info.

 

[SpartanForever]

I'm still planning on making the Mk7 variant of the helmet with the grill like they had in Dawn of War, but that project is backburnered for a little while while I keep up on the Master Chief outfit. The beakie helmets were mostly an excuse to learn all of the processes I'd be using for the rest of the project such as sculpting, molding, and casting. I chose that design specifically because they look like nothing else in science fiction. The finished products were a bit small, but I was still very happy with the overall shape.

I don't have any reference pics that I can post, but if you do a Google image search for "space marine" it'll get you a few. Also, the intro video to the Dawn of War video game (which is brilliant) is on YouTube. None of them are wearing my version of the helmet though.

I also made a bolter with a removable magazing and cold-cast metal details:

Since I'll be in casting mode this week anyway, I can make copies of any of these items. PM me for more info.

That is quite amazing... do you play warhammer? if so which race, i used to playe eldar space marines and was starting demon hunters. You should make a grey knight costume or terminator armor, haha that would be sick, but overall master chief is cooler then all of them. Good luck with the rest of your suit.

 

[Rednimnam]

ok well seriouslyi dont want to spend more than $200 on the whole suit which is doable for a decent suit and im wondering if I can just waer the pepakura bondo and fiberglass covered parts. Is it unsafe or health-hazardly? Because making the pep stuff doesn't cost too much, its just the nolding that does. If I HAVE to mold it, I'd rather forget about making anything.

 

[SGT V]

I had a chance at the Beakie when you they were in the junkyard at RPF, my wife nixed it. I am a member over there, I did the Tau helmet. With a tax check coming, I might be hitting you up though.

To piggy back on your advice for the earlier poster, the Pep method is a great way to ease into theis process. I have done the sculpting, molding, casting, cursing, starting over thing before. The pep method makes it so much easier. Will it look like Thors? Probably not but with practice it can. The Pep method is more affordable too. i will not say cheap but more affordable. Good clay can be costly. Resin is pretty cheap, Bondo is pretty cheap. Work with the cheap stuff before moving to the expensive. My wife still comments on the cans of casting resin and silicone in the Garage.

If you do not want to spend more than 200, stick to pep. Any decent helmet pull will cost you that, and that is a raw pull.

 

[PillowFire]

how about you just read the stickies like adviced, there are MANY threads on the topic, and it even states the health hazards and such.

Seriously.


I learned from experience that a good suit will not cost you 50 dollars, there is no way around price, you will spend several hundred dollars just to get an awsome helmet if your going for quality.

 

[Rednimnam]

i jut want to know if ill die if i wear a fully pep armor thing -.-. if i leave it outside under shelter will the hazards go away? I dont want to be told to read other forums. all they say is that teh fumes r deadly WHEN MAKING THE ARMOR.

 

[SGT V]

i jut want to know if ill die if i wear a fully pep armor thing -.-. if i leave it outside under shelter will the hazards go away? I dont want to be told to read other forums. all they say is that teh fumes r deadly WHEN MAKING THE ARMOR.

Follow the directions on the materials and you will be fine. That usually means good ventilation, maybe a respirator. Definately wear a mask while sanding...that dust is not good for the lungs.

 

[PillowFire]

I notice you used cold-casting for the bolter, and got it to be metal? Any chance you can expand on that a bit and explain? Is this actual good, strong metal we are talking? I read about it on wikipedia, but wasn't sure on the actual strength and cost involved with it.

 

[thorssoli]

Success!

The first casting came out of the mold last night:

Here's a shot of it with the master:

And here's some more shots of the casting itself:

If anyone wants a copy, I've got a classified thread going. Meanwhile, I've got a lot more casting to do...

 

[docbytes]

Your helmet pull rocks! Congrates! Ever think of maybe a trade of pulls?

Great Work!

 

[thorssoli]

I notice you used cold-casting for the bolter, and got it to be metal? Any chance you can expand on that a bit and explain? Is this actual good, strong metal we are talking? I read about it on wikipedia, but wasn't sure on the actual strength and cost involved with it.

Cold-casting metal is essentially gluing a layer of powdered metal to the surface of the cast. It's done by mixing powdered metal into the layer of resin that goes into the mold first. You coat the inside of the mold with this metal-infused resin first and then back it up with whatever filler resin you want. Then, when the casting comes out of the mold, you buff the outside with a piece of steel wool or other abrasive to remove the resin that covers the metal powder. It's the best way I've found to simulate a metallic surface because it is, in fact, a metallic surface.

Here's an example of one of my bolter details in cold cast bronze:

Here's some more:

The casting itself is much lighter than actual bronze because, aside from the outer layer, the bulk of the item is just urethane casting resin. If you flip any of these over, the backside is just black casting resing. It's only as strong as the resin you use, but it looks the part of the metal you use. The outer layer is actually bronze, so it does occasionally need to be polished or it will develop a patina. Depending on how you mix your metallized layer, you could also get it to conduct electricity, but I wouldn't rely on that and I'm not sure why you'd want to do it.

Cost-wise, it's not all that bad. Especially when you compare it with the costs of having anything custom cast. I buy the bronze powder locally, but you can find all sorts of metal powders if you spend a bit of time on Google. I bought a container of aluminum powder online a while back (and it works great for simulating aluminum castings) but I don't remember where.

Hopefully this is helpful for you.