If the profile pic bothers anybody im sorry but i though it fit my situation well in the fact that im flying blindly certain doom.

I was wondering what you are completely trying to do, and the methods of you madness? Are you pepping? Cardboard? Are you making any weapons? C'mon we need more info.

Edit. Oh yeah and the profile pic is beautiful.

How much time do you have?

Like sandy1973 said, how much time?
there are lots of questions to ask at the initial stages.

- How much time do i have?
- How much money do I have budgeted for this? (Add another 10% on top of your initial guess hehe)
- Is weight an issue?
- Is strength of armour a priority?
- Do i have a place to work in that can handle toxic fumes? Do I have the masks/gloves/safety equipment?
- Do I have a place that will allow me to sand? (into the night? if it's a power sander, noise pollution is an issue)
- Will your spouse leave you if you ignore them for the entire duration of your build!? haha

Pepakura build PROs and CONs:
- needs computer and printer
- lots of slow work up front. Cutting/folding/gluing/cursing at cut fingers/glued fingers
- once resined, super hard. but the process is messy and toxic.
- same with the bondo/rondo part: messy, dusty, toxic
- will take paint awesomely.

Foam build:
- very short startup. Can start getting a shape really fast.
- cheap! All you need is: Heat gun, Xacto knife (or hot knife) with extra blades, hot glue
- will not create a toxic environment when building. So, you can probably do this indoors.
- super lightweight
- won't take paint as well as a resined pep build. Because the inherent flexibility of foam, the paint on it would crack if flexed too much.

Cardboard:
- cheapest! (unless you resin it, then you have all the downside of toxicity again)
- melt if wet
- unless you like to go the ghetto route.

(This is probably not really that thorough. And other members can chime in with their opinions and experiences)

Alright, heres a nice tip from a fellow odst builder: there are various odst projects you can do, from halo 2 to halo rach, all different difficulties. i sould suggest doing the halo 3 odst. now, for pepeakura files, i highly suggest Hugh Holder's files, which can be found in his odst thread. the rest of the infor can be found throughout the site on stickys.

If you plan to do Hugh's files, make sure you get a handful of binder clips. His files are unique but they work real well.

Indeed. I went through approximately 120 on the torso and helmet alone, but that was to hold the entire piece together, as seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkshane...271642/detail/ .


-Matt

wow, I'm amazed by all the responses.
OK so im making the h3 version out of pep, I used Kirrou's file for that and i dont think i butchered it that badly. and my dead line is New York comicon in October. if i missed any questions just let me know, and im working on getting pics (i lost my camera).

Hey man glad to see another trooper coming in!

One of your best options may be to do a mixed build, incorporating both pep and foam pieces. Its how i managed to complete mine and the result looks pretty good.

Another thing you may wish to do is check out the ODST Lobby, created by Skull boy (http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/...+trooper+lobby) It has links to a good majority of the trooper builds on the forum and may give you a few ideas.

Anyway i hope this helps, good luck and feel free to hit me up if you would like some advice!

ok so ive set up a photobucket for all the pictures.
http://s1166.photobucket.com/home/KiloFive/index
theres nothing there.. yet

well it depends on what you want to build it out of, and how much money you have to spend.
id personaly say try the pepakura method, considering its pretty easy to get the hang of, relatively cheep, but it is time consuming, but i think building any armor is...
if your in the west CT/ all of RI area id offer up some help to get you started, but you seem pretty pannicked and stressed for time, and school prevents me from heading out anywhere...but im just starting my first build after abuncha research, so if you have any specific questions id be willing to have a stab at it (considering im sure ill be messing up all along the way >,<)

ok so ive started on the helmet and uploaded some pictures of it and the shoulder to my photobucket, tell me what you think!

A great way to start is to make the major parts -the ones that need the most detail/ will be taking the most heat- out of your Pep files, like the Helmet, Forarms, Shoulders, and Greaves (Leg armor). Make the parts that will take less damage out of EVA foam, like the Chestpiece, Shins, and Boot covers. Everything else should be straps and Vaccu-form Pep. I learned from Tsavo

So if anyone is checking the photobucket you'll see that I've begun constructing the helmet. I hope to finished and starting in on the chest by friday.