**Carpathia's Mk VI Armor: Master Chief Going into Cryostasis!

[Carpathia]

Had a good day today. After work, I ran out and got some new pants, Fila compression pants (not under armour, but not bad either). The undersuit slides on very nicely and easily with these pants, so I won't have to install a zipper, just replace a few of the panels. The only problem is that my thighs are a bit looser now, and they tend to move around a bit more, so I've got my eye on some paintball/airsoft knee pads that will look great.

Here are the pants...

After that, I finished up the paint job on my cod piece. Here is how it looks...

There are still two details I need to add in, but I'm going to wait until I've finished the rest of the armor to think about that. First, I need to add in the black ribbing at the base of the two pouches, and secondly, I want to add in the bit of strapping that runs from the bottom of the butt-plate to the bottom of the groin plate. This is what it looks like...

But, like I said, for now the cod is complete, so...

The ONLY thing left now is to work on my torso! Nearly there. Please let me know what you think.

 

[ACDCrockr209]

Dude!! Everything is coming out really aweswome!!

 

[Redshirt]

All the parts seem to have great proportions to each other. Nice job scaling. Usually the thighs end up giant or sticking too far out the sides of the hips. The better pants really clean up the lines.

Redshirt

 

[Nessy]

Changing the pants was a good idea. Getting rid of the bulky/bunched-up cloth really helps clean up the look of the suit. Armour parts are looking amazing as well! I cannot wait to see the torso and the completed build!

 

[Caboose vs Grif]

Nice job man. Seeing you're build makes me want to work harder on my build. Keep up the good work, you're almost there! (You probably get this a lot)

 

[Macattack64]

Nice job man!! Now we need to find a con to go to for when you are done!!

 

[Carpathia]

Nice job man!! Now we need to find a con to go to for when you are done!!

There's one in Peoria on January 4, Anime-ZAP. It's kind of small and we'd probably be the only spartans there, but Peoria is just a town away from where I usually am during the weekends. I was thinking about going to that, and I MIGHT be able to offer you a room (If you don't mind an air mattress).

 

[ViperB77]

Carpathia! I just got through your thread today, and WOW, you're doing great!! If only I could catch up to my standards...

 

[Carpathia]

Dude!! Everything is coming out really aweswome!!

Thanks! Getting closer all the time.

All the parts seem to have great proportions to each other. Nice job scaling. Usually the thighs end up giant or sticking too far out the sides of the hips. The better pants really clean up the lines.

Redshirt

Changing the pants was a good idea. Getting rid of the bulky/bunched-up cloth really helps clean up the look of the suit. Armour parts are looking amazing as well! I cannot wait to see the torso and the completed build!

I agree that the new pants make a huge difference, so much that I have purchased a new shirt as well. The sleeves of the old shirt are pretty baggy, much like the old pants, and now they don't fit very well with the new pants. I'll just have to see if the new shirt makes my arms look out of proportion, and what I need to do if it does.

Nice job man. Seeing you're build makes me want to work harder on my build. Keep up the good work, you're almost there! (You probably get this a lot)

Carpathia! I just got through your thread today, and WOW, you're doing great!! If only I could catch up to my standards...

Thanks! It's flattering to hear that my work is motivating others.

No update at the moment other than the fact that I got a new shirt, a Fila training shirt (to match my Fila pants). The sleeves have thumb holes, so no more holding onto the sleeve as I put my gauntlets on!

The knee pads I was looking at were a bust. The seller had some pretty horrible reviews and I didn't want to deal with that. So, when I'm not working on my torso, I'll be researching and beginning to build game-accurate knee pads (and possibly something for my elbows).

I may or may not have anything to post tonight, depending on the weather, but keep an eye out.

 

[Macattack64]

There's one in Peoria on January 4, Anime-ZAP. It's kind of small and we'd probably be the only spartans there, but Peoria is just a town away from where I usually am during the weekends. I was thinking about going to that, and I MIGHT be able to offer you a room (If you don't mind an air mattress).

I don't think I'll be in classes. I'll have to check closer to the date but I don't mind an air mattress at all!
Looks like it's a 3 hour drive from my hometown.

 

[Tafoya007]

keep u[p the good work, you gave me a lot of ideas to try out thanks

 

[Carpathia]

keep u[p the good work, you gave me a lot of ideas to try out thanks

Thanks! I've got yet another idea for you in this post, so read on.

Update

I FINALLY picked these up the other day...

So, tonight I started to resin the torso. I started at the underarm areas since those are the weakest points. However, I may have to get some new resin, because it is taking forever to cure, even after blasting it with a heat gun. I didn't try shaking the can up, so if it's not cured here within an hour, I'll apply a thin coat over top the wet resin to see if it will cure. The same thing was happening when I was glassing my cod piece, so it might be that the resin is getting old and needed the shake-up. No pictures of the torso since it's outside curing as I type this.

So, here is the real update. I've been toying around with this for quite some time. After seeing Cereal Killl3r's creation of these details...

I knew I needed to make them as well. However, I started to think about how we, non-rondo-gods, could pull off that detail with a bit more ease. My first solution was to export the torso model (with L3X's permission, and model the detail separately.

While I was thinking about that, another thought was burning through my head, how to reconnect the torso halves once they are separated. I've seen many successful attempts by other members, but after I came up with the detail solution above, I started to think how I could integrate them together. So, I started to toy around with the model in Sketchup with the goal of developing an interlocking system that also served as the detail in the above picture. After a few minutes of modeling, this is the first iteration...

This is essentially the detail in pep with a tapering, interlocking post that would fit into a female end, each attached to the respective half of the torso. By installing neodymium magnets (or rare earth magnets) inside each half of the interlocking system, you would have a detail that not only held the two halves together, but also aligned the entire piece.

I exported this model into pep to see how difficult something like this would be to build and here is the result...

And here is how the two halves fit together...

There are some adjustments to be made, which I knew going into building this part. Mostly I wanted to see how difficult it would be, and I'm happy to say, not very difficult at all. So, after a few adjustments to the 3D model and a few more prototypes, this should be ready to install into my torso by the time I separate it!

I have also been working on a more generic interlocking system for the lower, underarm area, and one that can be used on a number of other torso models (as well as any other model that needs separation). This is something that will require less effort in the pep stage, but a little more effort in installing it into your armor. I have been toying around with this for longer, and it is a bit more developed in the 3D model, though I have not had the chance to build a prototype yet. Here is what that interlocking system looks like...

This is pretty well ready to print, but I'm a bit more confident that it will work without the need for multiple prototypes.

That's pretty much it for now. I just have to get the torso resined, then I can start glassing it. Let me know what you think and if anyone is interested in this locking system.

 

[mannyledesm]

what a great idea, I had the same thought but for holding a weapon to your back like in the game. I had been playing around with some magnets when it came to me. Amazing build.

 

[Seth Knight]

So this was your evil scheme! MAN THIS IS AWESOME! Please let me know when/if you release the pep model for those. I think they would work the same for a Mk 5 (reach) as well now that I look at it, there isn't much difference

I think the Mk 6 specific attacher would work for all Spartan armor, but that's just a thought to be proven yet.

EDIT: Yeah, I don't promote snapping people's necks, this was the only refference I could find quickly.

Seth

 

[waterdrag0n86]

if these do work for the mk5 i would definitely use them or just mod them so that they did. this was such a great idea. my skills with sketch-up are not up to par to yours yet...

 

[Carpathia]

Sweet!!!! After 14 incredibly long days of the forums being down, it's back! Thanks so much to the admin staff for working so hard to rid us of this malware!

I've got quite a bit to share, but I'll have to gather up all of my photos. Expect something tomorrow!!! Welcome back everyone!!!

 

[Ninjetsu NL]

Welcome back to you too! Man I missed the forum and these awesome threads!

 

[thorn696]

Wow... Looks awesome.

 

[Carpathia]

Wow... Looks awesome.

Thanks!

Now to the update. I've gotten the progress shots down to 18 pictures, so this will be a double post.

First, the torso progress. I got the torso resined shortly before the forums went down...

I was having a lot of trouble with the curing time of the resin. I think it was because the resin was either old or had settled on the shelf, but it took HOURS for the resin to fully cure, even though I was adding in extra hardener. However, it did cure, and I moved on to the glassing, which thankfully went more smoothly...

The resin cooperated very nicely for this part, and I ended up using the last few drops on the last piece of fiberglass I laid down, which were strips of fiberglass mat to further reinforce the separation points under the arms (shown in the last picture above). And speaking of separation...

I used an Xacto saw blade to cut the pieces apart, except where it would not reach, in which case I used my dremel. I used an Xacto blade because it takes away less material. If I had used my dremel for all the cuts, there would be a 1/16" bit of missing material and the fit would not be perfect. Here are the separation points...

And here is how it looks put back together...

You can barely tell that it was ever separated. Obviously there is some cleanup to do. I have to go in and remove all the glass that sticks out and cut away some of the bubbled area on the inside. Then, I've got to do a little adjusting. The torso fits pretty snug at my ribs right now and will need to be trimmed up a bit. I've got the areas I need trimmed away marked here...

This should free up enough space so it will fit perfectly around my ribs with the undersuit on. Also, I plan on trimming the neck piece down like this...

There I will be able to add in the details I wish to add in while still keeping enough to cover up the edges of my neck seal.

That's it for the torso for now. Today, I'll get to all the above mentioned cleanup and see about installing the re-connection devices.

On to the next part...

 

[Carpathia]

I had mentioned that my thighs move around a bit now that I have compression pants and they fit better. Well, they have a tendency to slip down over my knee as well. I am trying not to put undue tension on my undersuit with the strapping to the thighs. If the strapping from the undersuit to the thighs gets too tight, it pulls down on the undersuit, making it sit too low and the cod piece will not fit right. So, my solution is to supplement the tension from above with a bit of support from below in the form of knee pads. I originally looked online for airsoft or paintball knee pads, but was disappointed by what I found, so I did what I love to do, I designed my own. I sat down and studied reference pictures and started to sketch. Here is what i cam up with...

Essentially, this is a three-layered knee pad with a bit of foam under the last layer at the front to keep the thigh up while resembling the Mk VI knee undersuit in the game. I am currenly building a prototype out of vinyl and will put either elastic or knit fabric where I have labeled "elastic" on the sketch (the knit fabric is a suggestion from my wife). Here are a few progress shots of the prototype...

Like my undersuit, this will be hand-sewn since I don't have a sewing machine, so it may take a little while to get this one out.

Well, that's it! That's what I've been up to for the past few weeks. Thanks for looking and let me know what you think so far.