WHS Red vs. Blue build (Very Pic Heavy)

[chitwood1775]

YOU ARE MY NEW FAVORITE TEACHER!!!!!
This is coming from (as of today!!! =D) a high school senior.

I have managed to convince my teachers to let me do pep work in my free time during class. I've also convinced my activities director to let me ware my armor (and bypass the mask rule) and ware it to my back to school dance. So just picture a Spartan at a high school dance... XD

Anyways, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread!!!

 

[Starvinartist80]

Thanks for the compilments guys. I've started starting our studio time by letting the guys see the new posts before they get to work. It means a lot for them to get the encouragement.

YOU ARE MY NEW FAVORITE TEACHER!!!!!
This is coming from (as of today!!! =D) a high school senior.

I have managed to convince my teachers to let me do pep work in my free time during class. I've also convinced my activities director to let me ware my armor (and bypass the mask rule) and ware it to my back to school dance. So just picture a Spartan at a high school dance... XD

Anyways, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread!!!

Chitwood,
Its great your able work on this in class. Some times all you have to do is ask. Most teachers are just waiting for students who want to go above and beyond their normal work.

 

[Starvinartist80]

Okay really small update.

We started a weapon side project to work on while pieces dry. The first candidate is the SPNKR. The plan for now is to use the cardboard materials I have been stockpiling in the room maybe foam filler for strength. So far I've worked out a way to make the tubes rotatable for that extra little fun.

I'll have pics of the resining and SPNKR coming next week.

We've also set a few deadlines just to keep us motivated. We're hoping for one complete suit by Halloween '11 and then hopefully three more by Halo CE HD release. We want to storm the local Gamestop!

Quick question:

I'm sure several experienced builders have run into issues with the opening of the forearms being too small for your hands to fit through. But for the life of me I can't find where anyone has talked about their way around this except for Thorrsoli's nice idea of making the top detail removable. If we manage to mold these I'll definately try his technique but ideally I'd like to find another solution for the master piece.

The proportions are perfect now that I've scaled it right so I'd like to avoid adding diameter to the whole forearm by inserting a paper spacer. Any ideas?

 

[Starvinartist80]

Next update as promised.

The chest is now fully resined and both old forearms are done as well.

The baby powder on the table is just to keep the resin from sticking to the table while it sets.

Also pepped out a new set of HD forearms using Sutekhian's method of folding. Personally think they turned out great. Big thanks for Sutekhian for posting this method in his Meta build. If you haven't seen it check it out here

Here you can see what we've done so far to make the openings big enough for my hand to fit through. I'm still looking for a better option that doesn't involve adding the extra cardstock. I think it throws off the proportions too much. Any ideas?

And finally here are some very early pics of the rocket launcher. It is still early in the build. As you can see we are just getting the rocket tubes to the right size. I have to put this on hold until next week. The administration isn't to big on me militarizing the kids. :cool So I'll have to wait until school is over to continue building the SPNKR.

 

[thorn696]

Wow...just wow. You're build is coming along great. And all being done as a student project, that's just beyond cool. I'm looking forward to seeing how this comes out. This build just made my short list.

 

[tsau mia]

I am so glad there are art teachers out there that are willing to teach the kids something different. After 8 years of art classes in high school and college, only some of the higher up college classes did projects similar to this.
My high school art teacher complained that everyone drew/painted beaches and sunsets and dragons and tigers and said we should be different. Then she made us paint flower still-lifes. My least favorite, and to this day I have to force myself if I need to paint flowers.
Take it from someone who "grew up" to be an artist by trade, this is the kind of art that can lend itself to practicality. Thank you for making something awesome with your students!

 

[Sutekhian]

Also pepped out a new set of HD forearms using Sutekhian's method of folding. Personally think they turned out great. Big thanks for Sutekhian for posting this method in his Meta build. If you haven't seen it check it out here

Glad to see my little trick worked out for you! This build is made of win and I think you're the most awesome teacher I've ever seen dude, I'd be honoured to have been in your class

For the hand openings on the wrist I personally trimmed the openings until the lip on them was barely 1-2mm and I found I could just about squeeze my hands through them then, hope that helps!

 

[Starvinartist80]

Wow...just wow. You're build is coming along great. And all being done as a student project, that's just beyond cool. I'm looking forward to seeing how this comes out. This build just made my short list.

Thanks Thorn, that means a lot coming from a vet.

I am so glad there are art teachers out there that are willing to teach the kids something different. After 8 years of art classes in high school and college, only some of the higher up college classes did projects similar to this.
My high school art teacher complained that everyone drew/painted beaches and sunsets and dragons and tigers and said we should be different. Then she made us paint flower still-lifes. My least favorite, and to this day I have to force myself if I need to paint flowers.
Take it from someone who "grew up" to be an artist by trade, this is the kind of art that can lend itself to practicality. Thank you for making something awesome with your students!

I had the same problem growing up around art teachers Mia. To this day I can't look at a "Bob Ross" style painting without a gag reflex. I told myself all through college that I would push things as far as I could to keep my students interested. It is easier being on the younger end of the teaching world but I've seen some of the oldest teachers I know come up with some great out of the box ideas.

Glad to see my little trick worked out for you! This build is made of win and I think you're the most awesome teacher I've ever seen dude, I'd be honoured to have been in your class

For the hand openings on the wrist I personally trimmed the openings until the lip on them was barely 1-2mm and I found I could just about squeeze my hands through them then, hope that helps!

Thanks a lot man, the compliments have been a bit overwhelming to be honest. I think the only difference between myself and the thousands of great teachers out there is just the willingness to stay young at heart. I know that sounds cliche' but its the truth. I'm thinking your advice is spot on. I'll try trimming back spare pair of forearms to see if I can get them to fit without any spacers. Here's hoping.

 

[LeeKegan]

Awesome class project. I will keep watching.

 

[Starvinartist80]

Awesome class project. I will keep watching.

Thanks Lee,
That is a great compliment coming from someone with experience and reputation within the community. I hope we can make it worth your attention.

 

[Magic Storm]

Wait, you live in VA? And you teach at whs. Is that Woodbridge?

 

[Starvinartist80]

Wait, you live in VA? And you teach at whs. Is that Woodbridge?

No it is actually Warwick High.

 

[Starvinartist80]

Todays round of photos:

We have half the first suit resined up. and the main body of the SPNKR is coming along.

Tyler (Church) pepping out his shoulders

Sue (Tex) and Nathan (Doc) cutting out a few pieces for the SPNKR.

Me working on the SPNKR body. I'm still fine tuning how it will rotate. I don't think I'll have any motarized parts this time around. We'll just be able to rotate it by hand. Maybe next time we can automate it.

The core frame is 90% built. Still need to add a few faces and decide if the top will be hinged or static.

If you look at the tubes in these two images you can see that they do rotate by hand right now. I need to work on the details of the cylinder but otherwiseI'm happy with the results.

And here are the pieces we have managed to resin so far. I'm still a bit frustrated with how quickly the resin is setting in the cup. About 1-2 ounces is curing faster than we can get half of it on the armor. I tried lowering the amount of hardener but then the resin never fully cures on the armor. Oh well. The teacher in me screams everytime I have to throw away an ounce of resin. LOL

Here is the chest and helmet for a size test. I think it turned out exactly right, which was a big surprise considering how many times I had to reprint the thighs and codpiece.:rolleyes

So what do you guys think. If it looks right it should be able to fit almost the whole group except for Tex. There is just no two ways about it, she is a small chica, but man is she fiesty.

And lastly here is a shot of the various pieces in our makeshift storage area. The darkroom is the only place I can really lock all this up.

Edit: One last small update. I appears my choice of Agent Washington has been vetoed. Everyone is begging me to be Sarge. I think it has something to do with how much I joke with the student making Griff. It just seems natural to them guess. Oh well, just means when I do get around to Washington I'll have increased my skills a lot.

 

[thorssoli]

What brand of resin are you using? It seems odd that you're not able to use more than one or two ounces at a time. I usually run polyester resin (regular hardware store fiberglass resin) in batches of 8-12 ounces with no trouble. Plus, as long as you're mixing it thoroughly, you can adjust the cure time a bit by adjusting the amount of hardener.

If memory serves, the resin I pick up at Home Depot (Bondo brand to keep things confusing) mixes 11 drops of hardener for each ounce of resin. This assumes you're working at or near room temperature. If it's warmer the resin will cure faster, so you can use a bit less (8 drops per ounce on a really hot day) to slow the cure time. This same trick will work at cooler temperatures too, but you don't want to overdo it.

If you're using some resin that's designed for laminating, it may be the problem you're having. Unless your resin is manufactured with a surface curing agent (which hardware store resin usually has), air contact will retard the curing process. If your resin does not have a surface curing agent, you can actually help the resin cure by putting a coat of paint over it.

The last possibility is that maybe you're just working too slow. I usually get about fifteen minutes out of a mixed batch of resin before it starts to gel and become useless.

 

[tankball]

man i wish i wus in your classs there so lucky. i have to go to collage :|

 

[PANIK33]

WHY ARE YOU NOT MY ART TEACHER i put it to my A level art teacher to let me do a master chief sculpture using pepakura and he just denied it PLEASE MOVE TO MY SCHOOL in the uk hehe but wow your students are lucky as hell to have you man and the builds are going reat so far i will be keeping my eye on this

 

[Starvinartist80]

...The last possibility is that maybe you're just working too slow. I usually get about fifteen minutes out of a mixed batch of resin before it starts to gel and become useless.

Thanks for the help Thor. Your expertise is very welcome.

I'm using Bondo brand fiberglass resin as well. The container was calling for 12 drops of hardner per 1 ounce of resin. Today we mixed up 3 ounces with 18 drops and got 10 minutes before it set in the cup.

Now we did manage to resin the codpiece, one shin and the back halves of two boots with a total of 6 ounces mixed. (mix 3 ounce, use it up, mix 3 more) We only lost about 1 ounce for each mix. We're working pretty fast (4 pieces in 15-20 mins) but considering we aren't going through 3 ounces in 10 minutes I think your right that we aren't moving as fast as we should. We're definately not going through 8-10 ounces in 15 minutes.

Tomorrow I'll check the pieces we did and if they are curing correctly overnight then I will try a little different ratio.

man i wish i wus in your classs there so lucky. i have to go to collage :|

Tank, you'd be a welcome addition but don't get too down. College will be more fun that I can even describe. My advice to you is to always find new ways to push your skills while your there. You will rarely and maybe never be surrounded by so much raw talent, expertise and experience than you will while at college. Be sure to take full advantage of that. Always ask questions and find the professors that push you the hardest. You may get frustrated at first but you'll learn so much more that way.

WHY ARE YOU NOT MY ART TEACHER i put it to my A level art teacher to let me do a master chief sculpture using pepakura and he just denied it PLEASE MOVE TO MY SCHOOL in the uk hehe but wow your students are lucky as hell to have you man and the builds are going reat so far i will be keeping my eye on this

Hmm...The UK, well maybe that is an adventure I'd look into. One piece of advice I can offer you is when a professor shuts you down like that don't give up. Create the sculpture on your own time and bring it in for his advice. When he sees the skill involved and the effort your putting forward he may just change his mind. And if he doesn't, well then truthfully it might be time for him to retire. (I don't advise telling him that though)


Small update today. We finished resining the first round of armor. Still need to do a couple remade pieces like the new fore arms, smaller thighs, and larger bicep/shoulders.

Here is one completed arm for scaling reference. The bicep/shoulder looks spot on but I'm glad I'm redoing the forearms. They are about 0.5 to 1 inch short for my arms. They should work for a few of the guys though.

 

[LongShot X]

The speed at which your team is progressing is very impressive. I wish that mine went that fast.

As for the resin (my 2 cents). I mixed up 2 ounce at a time (by weight) and applied the hardener as per the directions. It let me work for about min before it started to gel up. More than enough time to brush those 2 ounce of resin on. I found that I was not fast enough to do more than 2 ounces at a time.

Is your team going to fiberglass the inside or Rondo the inside?

Super Cheers guys/gals!

 

[Bishorzidi]

Wow this has got to be THE coolest thing any teacher has done with their students. Where were you when I wanted an art teacher to do something like this with me!? You guys are making great progress, everything looks beautiful so far, and I really can't wait to see this project completed. Keep up the progress, cuz I'm lovin it.

Oh and how are you getting away with making a rocket launcher in school? I know you said administration isn't big on militarizing the kids, but I'm surprised you got as far as you did. A kid brought in a water gun to school last year and got expelled for having something that looked like a weapon, and it was probably the dumbest looking water gun I'd ever seen.

 

[tankball]

who will i be?