Halo Reach Kat - Foam Armor *FINISHED* 10/31/11

[calladar]

how is the fit? mine for my wifes just seems to be (for lack of a better word) front heavy. once i was able to size it to her hight and shoulders the depth just seems to be off.. really didn't notice this until she put it on the other day when she was trying on all the different pieces and just seems a little off.

 

[DesertFare]

wow~! looking great so far

 

[noble 1]

do you have to make any adjustments in scaling for foam armor or should you just scale it like you normally would

 

[Road Kill]

awesome!!! it looks great, keep up the fantastic work =D

 

[kolinrulz]

awsome work on the foam armoring! I probably need to look into that method.

 

[HaloGoddess]

how is the fit? mine for my wifes just seems to be (for lack of a better word) front heavy. once i was able to size it to her hight and shoulders the depth just seems to be off.. really didn't notice this until she put it on the other day when she was trying on all the different pieces and just seems a little off.

I seem to be having an issue with the depth as well. The width seems to be just fine and so does the height, but the depth is too much. I'm pretty small, standing at only 5'4" and weighing about 120lbs, the depth is ridiculous. I don't plan on wearing something super thick for under armor so I now have an issue with this. I'm kind of mad because I used so much foam already and it's not like I can afford more right now.

Did you use L3X's file for the torso? I think what he MIGHT have done was take his male torso and just sort of "slim" it down and called it the female version. That is a no-no because if you pay VERY CLOSE attention, you will notice that there are some differences between the 2 chestplates. They may be subtle, but if you have a male and female torso picture side by side of the same views and look back and forth at them, you will start to notice the differences. Girls don't have broad shoulders like men, so that will cause the torso to be designed differently. Plus the female chestplate in Reach just has a different overall shape, albeit may be slight, but still different none the less.

 

[HaloGoddess]

Okay, so a while back, I pepped the shoulder pieces for Kat. Since they were in good condition considering they sat around for a few months, I decided to just use these instead of building them out of foam.

Also, since it's still too cold for any type of rondo-ing, I did a pretty quick, crappy job on these. I used the hot glue method to sort of strengthen these. They are not super hard or anything, but I also did not put a bunch of glue sticks in a pan and heat them up to melt them. I just used my hot glue gun and just made sure to cover everything. Since I need a back in order to attach them to the bicep pieces, I used some foam, cut it to size and glued it in place.

As for the paint job, it was quick and crappy. If you can't tell, I'm not too happy about my build. I don't like my chestplate and since I want to see if it's possible to have a costume finished for a convention, I'm basically rushing this and trying to just make it look decent so I can hopefully wear this. The convention is part of my birthday present and I REALLY want to have this done.

I have attempted THREE builds and STILL have not finished a single one!!!

Since I don't have all the time in the world and sort of want to just hurry and be done with this, that explains the crappy job I did on these shoulder pieces. Enjoy............I guess. :\

 

[M071]

Good work so far, I enjoy reading your posts! They are never short on detail and the method of construction along with anything you have learned. Even if this is your 3rd attempt very impressed how you keep working towards your goal. Keep up the work!! 3rd time is the charm

 

[calladar]

I seem to be having an issue with the depth as well. The width seems to be just fine and so does the height, but the depth is too much. I'm pretty small, standing at only 5'4" and weighing about 120lbs, the depth is ridiculous. I don't plan on wearing something super thick for under armor so I now have an issue with this. I'm kind of mad because I used so much foam already and it's not like I can afford more right now.

Did you use L3X's file for the torso? I think what he MIGHT have done was take his male torso and just sort of "slim" it down and called it the female version. That is a no-no because if you pay VERY CLOSE attention, you will notice that there are some differences between the 2 chest plates. They may be subtle, but if you have a male and female torso picture side by side of the same views and look back and forth at them, you will start to notice the differences. Girls don't have broad shoulders like men, so that will cause the torso to be designed differently. Plus the female chestplate in Reach just has a different overall shape, albeit may be slight, but still different none the less.

wow the shoulders look great.

i used the same file that acenat used for hers. i just redid the unfold for the foam. but even then once you straighten it all out and line it all up it is deep. going to go with it because i do not feel like starting over again and there is soooo much i have to do.

 

[Yankee]

I like how you assembled your chest, that will be helpful for my projects.

Do you have a shot of the angled edges of your pieces before jointing? So far the methods of cutting the foam I've been trying work out okay in the end but require more hot glue filling than I would prefer and don't look as clean in the end.

 

[AbbyWanKenobi]

Now that is freakishly awesome!
I'll be using your thread as a reference for when I do my Kat build, for sure!

 

[LongShot X]

I agree! This is looking awesome and want to see more!

Cheers!

 

[HaloGoddess]

I would like some advice...

Okay, so I have been watching this item on ebay for quite some time now. This guy has a lot of these visors available and I was wanting to get it for the visor for my helmet, however, I like the more silver look of the one that Kat actually has for her visor. This one seems to look more gold. What do you think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360236580262&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

It's not a bad price, but I don't know if I should get that one or try to find one that is more accurate to Kat's visor. I would prefer to stick with a visor that is pretty cheap. I don't feel like paying $30 or more for a visor.

 

[Bryce Youtsey]

I would like some advice...

Okay, so I have been watching this item on ebay for quite some time now. This guy has a lot of these visors available and I was wanting to get it for the visor for my helmet, however, I like the more silver look of the one that Kat actually has for her visor. This one seems to look more gold. What do you think?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360236580262&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

It's not a bad price, but I don't know if I should get that one or try to find one that is more accurate to Kat's visor. I would prefer to stick with a visor that is pretty cheap. I don't feel like paying $30 or more for a visor.

Just because I like to costumize things. Id get the gold one if you really like it. If I was doing a Kat Helmet I would get the Gold so yeah haha

 

[calladar]

see if you can get a hight measurement of the visor.. the one i got for my wifes just barely was tall enough. i had about 1/4 inch to spare on top and bottom. worked out great but if i had gotten a shorter one it would have gone into the bin for another build.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026R5QNQ that is the one i used. couple dollars more expensive.

 

[HaloGoddess]

see if you can get a hight measurement of the visor.. the one i got for my wifes just barely was tall enough. i had about 1/4 inch to spare on top and bottom. worked out great but if i had gotten a shorter one it would have gone into the bin for another build.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026R5QNQ that is the one i used. couple dollars more expensive.

OOOoooo, now I like THAT one!

Also, since my last post, I did some more searching. I found a few more visors. One was the cheapest I've found yet!

First, there is this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320675325430&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT
It looks alright, but I'm not too crazy about the TOTAL cost. I am also not thrilled about where it's coming from. :\

Second, I got this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0446710531&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT
I like the idea of the anti scratch, but it looks too small and might not fit the helmet. Also since the image looks funny, I can't get a better idea as to what to expect with this visor.

Last there is this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0546643887&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT
I am a BIG fan of the price and it looks like it might be a good fit for the helmet.

Oh, and calladar, I also have a pretty small head, thus causing my helmet to most likely be small. The circumference of my head is roughly 21 inches.

 

[calladar]

about the same as my wifes. she too has a small mellon. i can't even come close to getting her helmet on my bobble head.

the third one for the price in not too bad but the first one the shipping is unreal hell be better off going to a bike shop and paying full price. i like the second one i would just be concerned with the hight of it.. looks like it is a short visor. not to mention ebay scares me.. lol

 

[HaloGoddess]

Yeah, that first one is coming from Korea so maybe that might be why the shipping is so much? Anyway, I have decided to get teh 3rd one. I asked a question since I wanted to know if I was wearing a helmet with this visor, if my face could NOT be seen by people trying to look in. That was a couple days ago now and I still have not heard anything. It is pretty cheap so I am just gonna buy it and hope for the best. There are only 2 left and for that price, I kind of don't want to miss out on it! XD

 

[TyrDropProps]

If you're still having issues with seams then maybe you could try masking off the 2 pieces that come together and fill the gap with silicone caulk. Smooth it even with the 2 pieces then peel the tape away before its completely cured to(hopefully) have a nice clean edge.

I haven't tried this myself but it seems like it would work in theory.

 

[HaloGoddess]

Here is a little update.

No pics since they really are not worth it. XD

Managed to buy some more foam so I can start working again. I ALMOST fit ALL the pieces for BOTH shins on ONE piece of foam!! I was really hoping to use just one piece so I could try to get more done with the couple sheets I have left.

My armor is going to look funny because I have the blue foam and the black foam now. haha

I am REALLY dieing for a heat knife. I just keep tearing at the foam with the blade I got since it dulls so quickly and I can't really afford to get a heat knife. I have a chance of getting a soldering iron from my dad since he has one that he doesn't need anymore so I will be able to use that for some detail lines.

I am working A LOT and that is taking time away from working on this. Plus ForgedReclaimer hasn't been around in awhile and I knew he was reworking the female thigh pieces after I gave him some better reference pictures. I am also STILL dieing for someone to model a MORE accurate version of Kat's helmet now that the game is out. The models that exist were made BEFORE the game and since then, nobody has worked on making a better one. I would try and model it myself in Blender since I know a LITTLE about the program, but I have NO CLUE on how to start! XD

tl;dr
Got more foam.
Work is taking up much needed time to work on this.
Might be getting a soldering iron.
FR is MIA. XD
Want to see a better Kat helmet.

So yeah, that's about it. I'll keep you guys posted when I manage to put a shin together. Right now I am just trying to get all the pieces cut out and once I get time off work, I'll start glueing.