WHS Red vs. Blue build (Very Pic Heavy)
- Thread starter Starvinartist80
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aussiemaggot275
Jr Member
Boot looks great! Caboose's helmet is coming along nicely as well, it's good to see the kids are coming back to the project with a vengeance!
Macattack64
Well-Known Member
I've been away from the forums a bit and damn! Lovin the boots! College has kept me busy and away from my armor. I'm jealous of your class.
Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
My main priority was getting them done in time for Friday but I did leave some material that can be cut away to allow for the plunger section.The boot looks great buddy. Have you thought about reworking somewhat to incorporate a plunger section for the middle area? They look awesome either way.
Thanks guys. We all appreciate the encouragement.
Bad news though. I wasn't able to finish the boots for tomorrow. (its actually today because I stayed up so late trying to finish) I was only able to get one boot painted to the red stage and that didn't include black wash. The other boot is only partially built. But its okay, I can take my time now and correct a few little things I didn't like and make sure they are up to my standards. I'll post as more progress comes. Goodnight all.
-Cagle
Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
Okay so I have good news. I got into work early this morning and hammered out the other boot. I got them both 99% painted and got a chance to wander the halls a bit. Enjoy the results.
Edit: after looking at these again... I really need a neck seal before halloween.
Edit: after looking at these again... I really need a neck seal before halloween.
Hyperballistik
Well-Known Member
Looks great, only thing is you can't see much of the boots, but otherwise great job
Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
Ha, I just realized this myself. I'll take a few of just the boots next week when I get back to school. They will need a little repair. The hard armor is a bit abusive to the foam. Nothing major to fix just some areas where the shin wore on the top of the boot. I also need to add the black wash and dirt effects. In general I need to do some slight modifications to the whole suit for comfort. I've also notice the COD is riding lower than it should. I may also remake this part in foam so that it has some flex to it for sitting. All-in-all the team really put together a good suit and I am really stoked to get them armored up as well.
Good luck to all the builders and hope you enjoy the progress.
-Cagle
Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
Hey guys.
Sorry no pics today. I had hoped to give better updates this week but the schedule at school has been crazy. On the good side, Caboose's MKV is ready for resin and his chest is heat-sealed. I'm debating about Plasti-Dip. I know it helps and ideally that the direction we'd go. However, I need to keep a close eye on the guys budget. Anywhere I can cut costs I should. Given that my boots were painted without Plasti-dip because of time and they look good, I'm thinking we can go without.
As for my build, I had a visor fail today. I cut the second visor for the details and glued it down two days ago. My super glue simply refused to set after being clamped down for 48 hrs. So when I released the clamps the outer detail popped right off and left a nasty chemical fog on both visors. I attached it back and ran a thin hot glue line to hold for now. But I'll have to replace both visor and try a new method before November. Things just look too bad the way it is now. If I remember I'll post a pic or two to show you how bad it looks.
I'm doing some basic fixes on the suit strength and comfort. My biggest problem at the moment is that no adhesive is holding well to the inside. My velcro attaching the padding is falling off in several places. Needless to say that is a bit annoying. If anyone has suggestions for more permanent attachment feel free to pass them along.
At this point I am strongly contemplating recreating several pieces out of foam. The more I work with it the more I like it. True the seams can be annoying but once I get the hang of reducing and hiding them, I think it will be the way I go from now on.
Keep on building guys.
-Cagle
Sorry no pics today. I had hoped to give better updates this week but the schedule at school has been crazy. On the good side, Caboose's MKV is ready for resin and his chest is heat-sealed. I'm debating about Plasti-Dip. I know it helps and ideally that the direction we'd go. However, I need to keep a close eye on the guys budget. Anywhere I can cut costs I should. Given that my boots were painted without Plasti-dip because of time and they look good, I'm thinking we can go without.
As for my build, I had a visor fail today. I cut the second visor for the details and glued it down two days ago. My super glue simply refused to set after being clamped down for 48 hrs. So when I released the clamps the outer detail popped right off and left a nasty chemical fog on both visors. I attached it back and ran a thin hot glue line to hold for now. But I'll have to replace both visor and try a new method before November. Things just look too bad the way it is now. If I remember I'll post a pic or two to show you how bad it looks.
I'm doing some basic fixes on the suit strength and comfort. My biggest problem at the moment is that no adhesive is holding well to the inside. My velcro attaching the padding is falling off in several places. Needless to say that is a bit annoying. If anyone has suggestions for more permanent attachment feel free to pass them along.
At this point I am strongly contemplating recreating several pieces out of foam. The more I work with it the more I like it. True the seams can be annoying but once I get the hang of reducing and hiding them, I think it will be the way I go from now on.
Keep on building guys.
-Cagle
Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
Sorry for the double post but I have the much promised pictures to update:
Several small update pieces to share. Its slow going right now because we are only able to meet once a week, but What is being done looks good so far.
Pepakura is completed on Caboose's helmet:
There were a few places where the fold and cut lines printed out wrong. The 3-D shows up correctly but for some reason they print out of alignment. That made for some strange areas that got a bit warped at the top. Nothing bondo can't fix I guess.
Also got a small bit of foam work done on Caboose's Left Thigh. Not a ton, but what is done looks good. Hopefully we'll have that finished soon.
Donut's shoulder is coming along well, but the small pieces are proving to be a challenge for the new builders. Lots of odd angles and beveling to get the right shapes.
And lastly, I replaced the inner thigh portions of my armor with foam inserts. These are a TON more comfortable. They look grey in the pics but the outsides are really black so they blend in like they should.
I also created foam collars for the ankles that slide into the shins once I put them on. Completely forgot to take pics of them but I'll update tomorrow. They provide the perfect cushion between the hard shin armor and the foam boot. They should eliminate the shins tearing up the boots like they did before.
Several small update pieces to share. Its slow going right now because we are only able to meet once a week, but What is being done looks good so far.
Pepakura is completed on Caboose's helmet:
There were a few places where the fold and cut lines printed out wrong. The 3-D shows up correctly but for some reason they print out of alignment. That made for some strange areas that got a bit warped at the top. Nothing bondo can't fix I guess.
Also got a small bit of foam work done on Caboose's Left Thigh. Not a ton, but what is done looks good. Hopefully we'll have that finished soon.
Donut's shoulder is coming along well, but the small pieces are proving to be a challenge for the new builders. Lots of odd angles and beveling to get the right shapes.
And lastly, I replaced the inner thigh portions of my armor with foam inserts. These are a TON more comfortable. They look grey in the pics but the outsides are really black so they blend in like they should.
I also created foam collars for the ankles that slide into the shins once I put them on. Completely forgot to take pics of them but I'll update tomorrow. They provide the perfect cushion between the hard shin armor and the foam boot. They should eliminate the shins tearing up the boots like they did before.
L3X BLU3R1V3R
Active Member
That would be my fault
I used a trick to have less cuts where its smooth by joining the adjacent edges and in some places it just gets a little weird. Sorry Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
That would be my fault
Hey man, considering how much work I know went into this unfold and how much more you've put into all the patterns we are using for the foam, I think you can be forgiven a mistake or two.
Thanks for all the work you have done on these. They have been a huge help.
LongShot X
Well-Known Member
Starvinartist80!
I can see that your hallway wanderings has made a huge impression on the student population. I love those pics! Congrats!
Plasti-dip: Yes you can skip the plasti-dip if your on a budget. I've skipped it on a few foam pieces for the same reason. Those pieces came out fine, with the exception that the paint would eventually crack and/or rub off.
Foam pieces: Glad to see that your foam build and skills are becoming better and more popular. I'm now seriously considering making another foam MK VI scaled to my size. (Winter project)
Caboose's Helm: Bondo will fix those warped ridges during the bondo phase.
You mentioned your padding falling off due to the velcro not sticking? If I recall correctly, Gamemaster used hot glue to glue the padding in place. I have had a similar issue with some of my velcro not holding on my boots and on the wrist plates. I solved that by running a bead of hot glue all the way around the edges of the velcro. After one year they are still holding well.
Cheers!
I can see that your hallway wanderings has made a huge impression on the student population. I love those pics! Congrats!
Plasti-dip: Yes you can skip the plasti-dip if your on a budget. I've skipped it on a few foam pieces for the same reason. Those pieces came out fine, with the exception that the paint would eventually crack and/or rub off.
Foam pieces: Glad to see that your foam build and skills are becoming better and more popular. I'm now seriously considering making another foam MK VI scaled to my size. (Winter project)
Caboose's Helm: Bondo will fix those warped ridges during the bondo phase.
You mentioned your padding falling off due to the velcro not sticking? If I recall correctly, Gamemaster used hot glue to glue the padding in place. I have had a similar issue with some of my velcro not holding on my boots and on the wrist plates. I solved that by running a bead of hot glue all the way around the edges of the velcro. After one year they are still holding well.
Cheers!
thorn696
Sr Member
The update looks good. You're team has so much going on and they all seem to be working at the same high standards. As you said that helm should be a easy fix.
As for the velcro, Contact cement seem to be working for me. I keep a tube around at all times, you never know what you'll have to glue down.
As for the velcro, Contact cement seem to be working for me. I keep a tube around at all times, you never know what you'll have to glue down.
Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
The update looks good. You're team has so much going on and they all seem to be working at the same high standards. As you said that helm should be a easy fix.
As for the velcro, Contact cement seem to be working for me. I keep a tube around at all times, you never know what you'll to glue down.
Thanks Thorn, I'm having a lot of fun watching the guys work and seeing things come together. I think I have the velcro issue fixed. I sanded down the areas where I'm attaching the velcro again. Then took some acetone to make sure it was nice and clean. Now it is sticking real well.
It's awesome to see you suited up again. I agree about the balaclava, it would hide your neck and really bring the whole thing together. Great job buddy!
Yeah, everytime I see the images now I'm bugged about seeing my neck.
I have scrap black material that I'm going to sew a neck seal with. It's cheaper than buying a balacava.Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
Okay so I've started the neck seal. Hand sewing leather is by no means the ideal way of doing things. But you make due with what you have I guess.
Another wonderful hurdle for me is that I didn't have enough scraps large enough to give myself the proper amount of seam material width. The correct thing would have been to make my sections a half inch to a full inch larger on either side to give room for two rows of thread line.
Like this:
But with the limited material I had I was only able to get a small amount of seam space. So the results aren't perfect but they will due until I can get more material.
Here is the start: (this is the inside of the seal)
Another wonderful hurdle for me is that I didn't have enough scraps large enough to give myself the proper amount of seam material width. The correct thing would have been to make my sections a half inch to a full inch larger on either side to give room for two rows of thread line.
Like this:
But with the limited material I had I was only able to get a small amount of seam space. So the results aren't perfect but they will due until I can get more material.
Here is the start: (this is the inside of the seal)
Carpathia
Sr Member
That's pretty much the same process I used for my neck seal. I used leather, but it was hand-sewn since I don't have/can't afford a leather sewing machine (nor would I really need one). I also opted for the single seam rather than the double row. It still looks ok and the leather is actually quite comfortable against my neck, so you should be pleased as well.
Starvinartist80
Well-Known Member
Well Thorn, I guess you could call it sewing although I'm sure some might scoff at the term describing my handi-work. LOL
Yeah I finished up and have to agree it did turn out really comfortable. I was surprised that I didn't feel the seams or anything. I definitely could have used a mannequin to build the patter on though. The back is not symmetrical at all, but hey for a 24 hour build up I'd say it turned out great.
So I entered a local costume contest and won first place. Unfortunately the suit doesn't leave space for a camera.
I'm waiting for my friends to email me pictures from their cameras. I'll post when they arrive.- Status
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