lostTRISTAN360
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words nor text can describe its awesomness
Thorssoli's MkVI Costume Buildup
- Thread starter thorssoli
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Brandon McClain
Well-Known Member
Hey Shawn, got you chest plate in the mail, it freaking rocks! Loved wearing it to Dcon, it got lots of compliments!!!!!
Loved your paintjob. The helmet looks pretty snazzy too. I've saved the pics to my hard drive. Yours is the first copy of my torso armor I've seen painted so far.
Thanks to the rest of you for the kind words.
I suppose this thread is massively overdue for an update.
First off, I've been building a sniper rifle:
You can read about the build by clicking here. Please post your sniper rifle-related comments in that thread and rest assured that I will probably be molding and casting a few copies once I've perfected the prototype rifle.
Also, I've finally gotten back to remaking the boot prototypes. They don't look like much just yet:
But as soon as I've finished making the foam base I'll be doing the smoothing and detailing in clay. Then I'll mold them and pull copies in flex foam. My ridiculously optimistic timeline has me making the first copy in about a week.
Stay tuned...
Terrag Shugo
Jr Member
Greetings Thorssoli!
/salute
I've just gone through all 89 pages of this thread.
I am truly inspired by your work and commitment to it.
I am in the beginning phases of building my shop up and gathering materials. Thanks to you, I have seen the light. It's time for me to buckle down and get serious about my passion. I could use an in house crafting droid as well lol. As soon as I saw your Carvewright, I thought about how I would build a frame around it that resembled an Astromech like droid and name him IR-CRFT.
That machine is calling me in my dreams now.
Your thread, updates, pictures and comments are a huge benefit to anyone interested in doing that kind of work and this site in general. One thing I would like to know more about, in your future updates, is the kind of liquids you are using. I am but a fledgling newb, comparatively, so I am not automatically familiar with certain products on sight.
I can see from the pics what you are doing, but what I haven't read/seen too much of (even after reading, with mouth agape, all 89 pages of this thread) is what specific kinds of liquids you are using for each process. I do recall seeing mention of Flex form foam rubber, and maybe a couple others....but nothing of what it is technically, who makes it and where to acquire said liquids.
Above all, your work and this thread is an amazing force, that is to be respected. I just want to know a little more (as I'm sure other newbs would as well) about what you're using when you use it.
Sincerely, with all due respect, Thank you.
Terrag.
/salute
I've just gone through all 89 pages of this thread.
I am truly inspired by your work and commitment to it.
I am in the beginning phases of building my shop up and gathering materials. Thanks to you, I have seen the light. It's time for me to buckle down and get serious about my passion. I could use an in house crafting droid as well lol. As soon as I saw your Carvewright, I thought about how I would build a frame around it that resembled an Astromech like droid and name him IR-CRFT.
That machine is calling me in my dreams now.
Your thread, updates, pictures and comments are a huge benefit to anyone interested in doing that kind of work and this site in general. One thing I would like to know more about, in your future updates, is the kind of liquids you are using. I am but a fledgling newb, comparatively, so I am not automatically familiar with certain products on sight.
I can see from the pics what you are doing, but what I haven't read/seen too much of (even after reading, with mouth agape, all 89 pages of this thread) is what specific kinds of liquids you are using for each process. I do recall seeing mention of Flex form foam rubber, and maybe a couple others....but nothing of what it is technically, who makes it and where to acquire said liquids.
Above all, your work and this thread is an amazing force, that is to be respected. I just want to know a little more (as I'm sure other newbs would as well) about what you're using when you use it.
Sincerely, with all due respect, Thank you.
Terrag.
PCD, If you would look further back in Shawn's thread you would see he makes a "master", from there he cleans it a bit (If needed) and then he makes a mold of it. Then depending what its used for he uses different materials for the end product.
See he did the same thing for his abdominal under-suit piece. He used the machine, made the part, molded it, and then used a "flexible" plastic material for his pull. So when it came out the main piece was a bit harder, but the sides were flexible enough he could wrap it around his body.
So I am guessing he will use the MDF foot pieces to make eventually a stiff rubbery plastic "pulled" soles!
But hey just guessing!
~James
This is pretty much the exact plan. I'm using the MDF soles as a base to build and sculpt onto. The prototype boots will be an amalgamation of wood, foam, clay, plastic, and found hardware bits. They will not be wearable at all. The finished boot will have a cast rubber sole, foam rubber uppers, and a slip-on shoe cast inside so that each boot will be one solid piece. I may or may not vacform some separate armor pieces to stick on as well. They'll be a bit warm to wear, but making them out of foam will keep them flexible and afford the maximum freedom of movement.
I'm absolutely confident that I'll be ready in time for Haloween this year. I was going to be ready in time for last year too, I just ended up getting word that I'd be going to sea so I stopped work on the project for a bit. Since then I've made improvements ot a few of my molds, finished the larger torso, and built a couple of weapon prototypes.
All I have left is the boot prototypes and molds. Then it's just a question of assembling and painting a suit and getting the rest of my crew to actually turn to and get their gear together. There will be pictures.
My rigid castings are urethane resin, my rubber molds are RTV Silicone, and the mother molds are built using a product called "mothermold" all of which I buy from www.jgreer.com. I've done a lot of shopping for these materials all over the internets and I haven't found a better price yet. When you order from them, tell them Shawn Thorsson sent you.
For the flexible foam pieces, I use Smooth-on's Flex Foam series of urethane foam. I'm still trying to find a cheaper source of flexible foam with the same sort of predictable density properties they have at Smooth-On. So far I haven't had much luck.
Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement. I've gotten wrapped up in running around today and the weather is finally agreeable for me to catch up on some much-needed boat maintenance. I should have some boot updates tomorrow.
I promised an update, so here it is:
It doesn't look much different from the last pic that I posted, but now I have the rough shape sorted out. Next I'll be touching up the soles a bit and then painting them with a few coats of primer before I start sculpting the details on the uppers.
Stay tuned...
It doesn't look much different from the last pic that I posted, but now I have the rough shape sorted out. Next I'll be touching up the soles a bit and then painting them with a few coats of primer before I start sculpting the details on the uppers.
Stay tuned...
Funny, when I decided that my first MkV helmet was too big I gave it to the Canadian Master Corporal assigned as the driver for my office. He seemed to have the same CADPAT idea. Here's a shot of him in Afghanistan before he rotated back to Canuckistan:
Not sure why I never thought to post this picture in the thread.
Still, there's no CADPAT MkVI yet...
Not sure why I never thought to post this picture in the thread.
Still, there's no CADPAT MkVI yet...
Terrag Shugo
Jr Member
Funny, when I decided that my first MkV helmet was too big I gave it to the Canadian Master Corporal assigned as the driver for my office. He seemed to have the same CADPAT idea. Here's a shot of him in Afghanistan before he rotated back to Canuckistan:
Not sure why I never thought to post this picture in the thread.
Still, there's no CADPAT MkVI yet...
This is fantastic. When I'm working on my helmets, I think about them ..one day...being the kind of standard issue gear for our troops. I don't see why they aren't already?
Okay thats pretty sweet wheres he live so i can go steal it?
I was thinking cadpat tw, but Arid would be pretty cool to. I need to buy an airbrush kit for my shop
afters I play with my first helmet i may have to buy a couple more. hehe
I had tempted with the idea of doing a cadpat spartan. BUT I want a real chief first. Than maybe more helmets
Heck maybe I'll get a bulk discount
I was thinking cadpat tw, but Arid would be pretty cool to. I need to buy an airbrush kit for my shop
afters I play with my first helmet i may have to buy a couple more. hehe
I had tempted with the idea of doing a cadpat spartan. BUT I want a real chief first. Than maybe more helmets
Heck maybe I'll get a bulk discount
Marker Lights
I decided to knuckle down and get a suit finished in time for the Reach launch, so I've been working lots of hours in the workshop and I've got a lot of updating to do since my last post.
First up, it's time I explained my marker lights...
While I was in Afghanistan I spent a lot of time mulling over ways to make all of the lights turn on and off without an obvious pushbutton or switch. I also didn't want to have wires running all over the suit to a common battery pack and/or actuator.
Somewhere in my quest, I stumbled across this page: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/nightlight
This one might work better though: http://www.instructables.com/id/light-detector-no-microprocessors-just-simple-el/
Using the evilmadscientist method, I started making LED circuits that would automatically shut themselves off when exposed to daylight. I had to make some changes based on the fact that I was using different LEDs, so the only part numbers that match up to his tutorial are the transistors themselves. The phototransistors are sensitized to infrared light, so they don't tend to turn off in flourescent lighting. Otherwise, they're great.
I also got a great deal on a large pile of battery holders that hold 3 "AAA" batteries. They're bulkier than the button-cell that they show in the article, but they'll also run the lights for years. Literally. Years.
Anyhow, once I had enough of the lights to outfit the whole suit (twelve of them) I started making the fixtures themselves. First, I cut out the hole where the light would go. Then I would cover it with duct tape like so:
Then I filled the hole from the inside with water clear surfboard resin (essentially a high-end polyester resin) to make a transparent plastic window:
The lights were then embedded directly into the resin:
Once the resin had cured, all that was left to do was peel the tape, put batteries in the battery box, and find somewhere dark to test them.
Et voila!:
Here's the one at the back of the calf:
I used the same clear resin method to embed all of the lights in the suit, so there's a separate battery pack in each shoulder, the helmet, the backplate, the chest, the thighs, and each calf.
When I get a moment, I'll post a video of me walking in and out of shadows to illustrate how well they work.
I decided to knuckle down and get a suit finished in time for the Reach launch, so I've been working lots of hours in the workshop and I've got a lot of updating to do since my last post.
First up, it's time I explained my marker lights...
While I was in Afghanistan I spent a lot of time mulling over ways to make all of the lights turn on and off without an obvious pushbutton or switch. I also didn't want to have wires running all over the suit to a common battery pack and/or actuator.
Somewhere in my quest, I stumbled across this page: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/nightlight
This one might work better though: http://www.instructables.com/id/light-detector-no-microprocessors-just-simple-el/
Using the evilmadscientist method, I started making LED circuits that would automatically shut themselves off when exposed to daylight. I had to make some changes based on the fact that I was using different LEDs, so the only part numbers that match up to his tutorial are the transistors themselves. The phototransistors are sensitized to infrared light, so they don't tend to turn off in flourescent lighting. Otherwise, they're great.
I also got a great deal on a large pile of battery holders that hold 3 "AAA" batteries. They're bulkier than the button-cell that they show in the article, but they'll also run the lights for years. Literally. Years.
Anyhow, once I had enough of the lights to outfit the whole suit (twelve of them) I started making the fixtures themselves. First, I cut out the hole where the light would go. Then I would cover it with duct tape like so:
Then I filled the hole from the inside with water clear surfboard resin (essentially a high-end polyester resin) to make a transparent plastic window:
The lights were then embedded directly into the resin:
Once the resin had cured, all that was left to do was peel the tape, put batteries in the battery box, and find somewhere dark to test them.
Et voila!:
Here's the one at the back of the calf:
I used the same clear resin method to embed all of the lights in the suit, so there's a separate battery pack in each shoulder, the helmet, the backplate, the chest, the thighs, and each calf.
When I get a moment, I'll post a video of me walking in and out of shadows to illustrate how well they work.
Sloppy Rushed Helmet Wiring
So in addition to the two marker lights on either side of the helmet I decided I needed working headlights in the cheeks and a pair of cooling fans. Here's a shot of the whole rat's nest coming together:
The switch on the right side turns the cheek lights on and off. The one on the left is for the fans. The black piece is a piece of Sintra that I heated up and formed to fit inside the chin of the helmet. here you can see the fans and the backside of the pushbuttons fitted to it:
The way the black plastic is shaped, it will duct air flow from the fans across the visor and then my face. This way the fans work to defog the visor and improve visibility.
Here's the only part that will be visible when it's installed:
Once I was done soldering all of the wire ends together, the next step was to tape the whole assembly into place and then glue it in with some black casting resin I picked up from jgreer.com. All of the wires were taped to the edges inside of the helmet to keep things neat.
I failed to get a picture of everything tucked in, but you get the idea.
So in addition to the two marker lights on either side of the helmet I decided I needed working headlights in the cheeks and a pair of cooling fans. Here's a shot of the whole rat's nest coming together:
The switch on the right side turns the cheek lights on and off. The one on the left is for the fans. The black piece is a piece of Sintra that I heated up and formed to fit inside the chin of the helmet. here you can see the fans and the backside of the pushbuttons fitted to it:
The way the black plastic is shaped, it will duct air flow from the fans across the visor and then my face. This way the fans work to defog the visor and improve visibility.
Here's the only part that will be visible when it's installed:
Once I was done soldering all of the wire ends together, the next step was to tape the whole assembly into place and then glue it in with some black casting resin I picked up from jgreer.com. All of the wires were taped to the edges inside of the helmet to keep things neat.
I failed to get a picture of everything tucked in, but you get the idea.
Strapping Arrangements
All of the pieces are a bit tough to keep together and properly aligned. Because I was in a rush to prep for the Reach launch, I had to go with plans I'd already made whether or not I was completly satisfied with them.
For the diaper, I'd started with having it split at the sides, so I just went with it. The plan was to have it buckle together and then have the hip boxes cover the buckles:
Once I'd installed buckles on either hip, the next step was to install the thong strap:
When she took this picture for me, my little sister remarked, "There's no way you were able to find that particular detail in the game."
She was wrong.
The thong strap is important because it keeps everything aligned when I sit down:
In other news, I can sit down in this outfit.
Still, the part I'm happiest with on this whole outfit is my arrangement for holding the backplate and ab plate in place:
The back straps on like a backpack and then the chest just has to be buckled on. This way the whole torso moves like it's a part of your body:
The only other minor issue I had to sort was how to keep the thighs hiked up in place. Again, it was a rush job, but I settled on a couple of elastic straps to go up and over my shoulders:
If I'd had time I would've used something heavier than the peel-and-stick velcro to hold the straps into the legs, but that's the best I could do with the time I gave myself.
In hindsight, the thigh straps need to be intigrated into the midsection of the undersuit like a garter belt and then the undersuit needs suspender straps to hold up the diaper and thighs.
I'm also planning on rearranging my straps so that the diaper buckles in front and then the codpiece just hangs over the buckle.
Next up: building the undersuit.
All of the pieces are a bit tough to keep together and properly aligned. Because I was in a rush to prep for the Reach launch, I had to go with plans I'd already made whether or not I was completly satisfied with them.
For the diaper, I'd started with having it split at the sides, so I just went with it. The plan was to have it buckle together and then have the hip boxes cover the buckles:
Once I'd installed buckles on either hip, the next step was to install the thong strap:
When she took this picture for me, my little sister remarked, "There's no way you were able to find that particular detail in the game."
She was wrong.
The thong strap is important because it keeps everything aligned when I sit down:
In other news, I can sit down in this outfit.
Still, the part I'm happiest with on this whole outfit is my arrangement for holding the backplate and ab plate in place:
The back straps on like a backpack and then the chest just has to be buckled on. This way the whole torso moves like it's a part of your body:
The only other minor issue I had to sort was how to keep the thighs hiked up in place. Again, it was a rush job, but I settled on a couple of elastic straps to go up and over my shoulders:
If I'd had time I would've used something heavier than the peel-and-stick velcro to hold the straps into the legs, but that's the best I could do with the time I gave myself.
In hindsight, the thigh straps need to be intigrated into the midsection of the undersuit like a garter belt and then the undersuit needs suspender straps to hold up the diaper and thighs.
I'm also planning on rearranging my straps so that the diaper buckles in front and then the codpiece just hangs over the buckle.
Next up: building the undersuit.
Undersuit Assembly
Step one: figure out where the pieces need to go:
Step two: glue them to the underarmor with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. Be sure to press them down firmly:
Step three: tape everything to hold it in place while the glue sets and spray the white logos with black Plasti-Dip rubberizing paint:
Step four: because there's no adhesive in the world that will be able to contend with the different flexabilities of these pieces, stitch all the way around the edges of each piece with a heavy-duty upholstery sewing machine. My machine gave out just after I'd finished stitching across the horizontal edges of each of the detail patches, so I had to settle for safety pins to keep the vertical edges in place.
Lessons learned: My idea of making the midsection work like a garter belt is looking better and better. I will remake the undersuit and the entire waist section will just be a sleeve that will pull on and fit like a corset with shoulder straps to keep it pulled up.
Next up: shaping and installing the visor in a hurry.
Step one: figure out where the pieces need to go:
Step two: glue them to the underarmor with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. Be sure to press them down firmly:
Step three: tape everything to hold it in place while the glue sets and spray the white logos with black Plasti-Dip rubberizing paint:
Step four: because there's no adhesive in the world that will be able to contend with the different flexabilities of these pieces, stitch all the way around the edges of each piece with a heavy-duty upholstery sewing machine. My machine gave out just after I'd finished stitching across the horizontal edges of each of the detail patches, so I had to settle for safety pins to keep the vertical edges in place.
Lessons learned: My idea of making the midsection work like a garter belt is looking better and better. I will remake the undersuit and the entire waist section will just be a sleeve that will pull on and fit like a corset with shoulder straps to keep it pulled up.
Next up: shaping and installing the visor in a hurry.
Hurried Visor Detailing and Installation
Step one: Use a template to mark the location of the ridges:
Step two: Smile for the camera:
Step three: Grind out the lines with a Dremel:
Step four: Wedge into place and caulk around the edges with oil-based clay:
Step five: Mix an ounce and a half of casting resin and pour around the edges of the visor from inside:
Step six: Once the resin has cured (about an hour), clean away the clay and touch up the paint if needed:
Step seven: Smile for the camera:
Up next: suiting up.
FINALLY!
Step one: Use a template to mark the location of the ridges:
Step two: Smile for the camera:
Step three: Grind out the lines with a Dremel:
Step four: Wedge into place and caulk around the edges with oil-based clay:
Step five: Mix an ounce and a half of casting resin and pour around the edges of the visor from inside:
Step six: Once the resin has cured (about an hour), clean away the clay and touch up the paint if needed:
Step seven: Smile for the camera:
Up next: suiting up.
FINALLY!
- Status
