Awesome dude! Will love to see updates on this.

Might I suggest that after you cut and assemble the foam pieces that you could cover them in a fabric of your choosing, since the model you are using is also soft armor based (ballistic plates under). I would just apply tacky fabric glue and use some sort of stylus to get the fabric into all the area smoothly. Just thought since paint would look kinda odd... Good luck man hope too see more soon.

Thats more or less what I'm doing
The exterior collar, along with the chest pieces and cod pieces are getting covered in fabric to simulate the soft armor look, while the inner collars and the arm protection are getting painted after I apply an epoxy to make them harder! Thanks for the ideas, and for the support, I'll have another update today!

jeesh, EOD (Explosive ordinance disposal) on steroids! this is really cool, I wanna see this one complete.

Looks promising so far. This will look so cool once it is complete. I'm looking forward to it, so good luck!

Update Numero dos

*Short Update*

Alright, now for todays update. Last night/ this morning I completed and cut out several more templates with my heat knife. After cutting them out, one must simply put on whatever you are wearing under it, and form it. The reason I'm wearing the jumpsuit (real military jumpsuit) under it is because due to movement limitations of the suit, I need to get an Idea of how these need to be molded. After that, I use my handy heat gun, heat the foam to singing temperatures, and then push it onto my chest to get a basic curve... Fun!

Luckily for me, the jumpsuit I'm using is fire resistant, so I felt little to no heat when curving the foam, but keep in mind, even when using protection, it's really dangerous to use a heat gun. Make sure you are wearing gloves or some sort of protection for your hands, and that whatever surface you put the materials to be heated on is covered in tin foil. Reason being is that the heat gun, when used for extended periods of time (3-4 mins) gets hot enough to burn and start fires , so if you are cutting things on cardboard or something else flammable, just barely aiming in that direction can be dangerous. Safety first!

Onto the Photos:

First off, we have the chest plate, this chest plate is going to be covered in the net-like material that you see in the reference pictures, so all I need is the basic shape, and then a coat of primer or some other base color.



The back piece, which will have numerous satchels and pouches (full plate not posted);



The rear Collar



And the basic idea for joining. I'm thinking of using industrial-strength Velcro to attach them, that way it is adjustable, and If I wanted to eat something, I can just remove the front .



Thats it for this update, might add some more pictures, but for now I'm going to Joann's for fabric-shopping, wahoo

Update #3

Back from Joann's, and I have me some material . First thing I went looking for was Burlap, as it resembles the material on the collar and the cod pieces. Finding the mesh for the front plate was more difficult than I thought it would be, but I found something that looks 99% like the material I'm looking for, so that's that. Among those things some other stuff I picked up was buckles, straps, parachute clips, adjusters, and quick-release clips. All in all, roughly $60 toward this project on material (fabric), $15 for straps, buckles, etc. and $30 for the EVA foam, not to mention another $30 for the heat tool ... Yep.

Overview on material usage:



The assorted material (right to left)
mesh, straps, and Burlap;



And some of the Clips, Buckle and quick release. The Buckle (Parachute) clips will be used for the exterior collar to hold it in place, and the quick-release are for the sides of the chest/back plates for ease of removal.



Thats about it for this update, Check back soon

Having trouble starting a new thread in the Weapon& Prop section, says I'm not authorized... Help?

I think you have to had been on the forums for longer. You may also need more posts to obtain another rank, such as Infantryman.

Wow man that is some impeccably clean foam work, I think i'll pick up a heat knife kit ad get to it myself! But about the m60, can't you just buy an airsoft one instead of building it? Your american after all right?

German, and I'd rather not, I like the look and feel of a weighted gun, and the pride that I made it myself. Thanks by the way for the compliment on the foam work, it just takes patience!

HAH! Ive been waiting forever to see somebody take on one of these beasts! I always wanted to do one myself, but it sort of got away from me. Regardless, your work so far is simply astonishing. I cannot wait to see more progress!

Update 3.5

One last little quick update guys before I go. So basically over the last few hours I have been cutting out the remaining pieces of foam, Below are some pictures of the finished pieces... Enjoy and Good night!



As I said, heating and shaping will happen tomorrow, and with this being the third update of the day, let's call it a ".5"

Edit: By the way guys, thanks for all the positive feedback, I didn't think people would like it that much... not bad for a first try eh?

Dude! You are cruising through this project! And it's really nicely done, that foam work looks super clean!
It's amazing how fast materials add up, after reading your comment about getting fabric and such it reminded me how much I have actually put into my own build and I hardly have much to show haha.

Excellent work, keep the updates rolling in, Im really excited to see this beast!

following the progress! btw, nice hot tool you got, and really cheap

waiting for more updates