My Noob Tale

[Kissker]

405th - we have a problem





So either the years of Disuse of my fiberglass (the color was thick syrup amber) or it's hardener has turned the batch un-usable. It simply won't harden - I put at least 2x the amount of hardener in it - managed to harden to a gel/partially hardened batch in my container - (PS, don't use plastic containers...the smoke and fumes were bad... and very toxic... and melted the plastic) but parts still didn't get completely solid. Good thing I used the "this forearm looks too small to fit my hand into properly" sized forearm to test on, and not a shin whicn I think will work even though it seems a bit small for my muscular calves....





Well.. this is a bummer. Not sure if it's the fiberglass that's the issue, or if I simply need to add more hardener to the next batch.... Oh and.. yea.. the resin had solidified in the cap making it impossible to pour out normally.... so... I used a sledge hammer and a chisel to pop 2 holes in the container to pour it out...so me thinks the resin went bad.





OH yea.. more words of wisdom.. don't use those cheap spongey brushes either.. they really suck for fiberglass spreading.. yes you CAN use them, but they will get saturated with the junk and eventually twist up and cause the sponge to tear off with the weight, invest in some cheap-o bristle brushes. Leave the sponges for paint.



Just a little progress report on sizing/printing and the like:

Helmet - Printed (20 Pages)

Torso -

Bicept Left - Printed (7 Pages)

Bicept Right - (7 Pages)

Forearm Left - Printed (5 Pages)

Forearm Right - Printed (5 Pages)

Crotch -

Thighs -

Shin Left - Printed (15 Pages HD)

Shin Right - Pepped (15 pages HD)

Boot Left - Printed (9 Pages)

Boot Right - Pepped (9 Pages)

Hand plate Left - Pepped (1/2 page)

Hand plate Right - printed (1/2 page)

Assualt Rifle - Printed (18 Pages, reduced 10% to fit)





Any experienced Peppers on this - I am not exactly sure how I am to connect my shin parts, but I have a few ideas like splitting down the sides and using some elastic banding to do it, butif I think it's too small...I don't really want a gap showing... anyone got any ideas to see if it's too small before I finish the shins? (Finish as in Fiberglass)





On the funny side. Master Chief is one huge fella, I forgot to scale the Right Thigh and finished it - slipped it on to realize just how HUGE it was on me. I can't bend my knee with it actually cutting into my crotch (way higher then a normal fit would be) lolz... my bad.. got ahead of myself I guess. Oh well, good thing I still got time til the big day.



*Edit*

So I used some hot glue and ended up burning my first finger pretty badly spreading it thinly, then I managed to slice into it with a razor blade (a rusty one at that I was moving.. not even pep related ><) so my first finger is pretty much an uncomfy bit to work with, but that won't stop me!



Last night I got my left boot and left forearm done (forearm was redone since the fiberglass never cured hard, and made a bit bigger)



I got the right forearm in front of me being scored/cut out which should be done in about 3 hours. Left handplate is pepped, turned out quite nice too (non HD model) After my right forearm I think I'll take the 1 hour to do the right handplate and finish that off. Then I plan to hit my left bicept and test for size (before I print the right one)



Been having mixed luck with the whole Print out someone in the suit you want, measure, and scale method... supposedly the most accurate but the Crotch, boots, forearms and maybe shins didn't quite work to that - had to increase size for various reasons. (not in shape, muscular calves, thicker wrists, etc)



Anyway, back to work. hope to get some pictures of it standing up someplace soon - kinda need to construct a dummy to put it on.

 

[Kissker]

Ahhahhhhhh! Frustration.





So.. 3 Forearms created, and non are sized the way I was trying. First one way too small, second a little better along with the third, but even the best is about 30mm to small and has to be re-printed again.



Will be trying a 4th size of 324H and hopefully it will fit right >.< now I definately need to buy more paper.



This is also a full day of work set back.. so that's not cool either.. this scaling thing is proving most difficult... 9.8 was the "scale for me" but the forearms need to be 10.8 apparently, the boots 11.8 ... I might try the helmet next just to see how out of scale it is.... this is definately going to set me back a few days of work.



So many inconsistancies... I wonder where they came from....





There will definately be a tutorial/Tip page I create after I finish this holding all my notes for Peppers... I am sure future generation of pepsters will find it useful to read my notes and not go through all this... why one doesn't exist now is a mystery.. could have saved ME the hassles.



Failed parts List:

Right Thigh (way too big)

Right Boot (too small)

Right Shin ?

Left Shin ?

Left Forearm#1 (way too small)

Left Forearm#2 (too small)

Right Forearm#1 (Too small)

Crotch/Cod (too small)



(shins are only possibly failed... I will have to test fit to find out... but things don't look good for them)

 

[SnoweyShadow]

Keep up the hard work Kissker. The determination to do the best you can and seeing what you want the finished product to be and when will help keep you motivated. I plan on starting on my ODST piece (finally) within the next couple of days or so, already grabbed the underarmour that I hope works for it.



You're an inspiration so far, keep up your hard work.

 

[SPARTAN II]

Well, I've always been of the opinion that R&D is half the battle to any armour build. That includes determining the cost and amount of supplies and tools needed, as well as proper sizing. It looks like you've pretty well got it down pat.



Though you haven't done much with the Pep piece yet (nice clean folds on the shin, btw), I'd say you're off to a promising start there, Kissker. Like SnoweyShadow said, just keep yourself motivated with this project, and it'll be done before you know it

 

[kahmaui]

Two years ago I was just like you, rushing to get my costume done by HALO-ween. I didn't even smooth the outside with bondo. In fact I made the same scaling mistake you did, chest piece, shoulders, shoes, shins, all way too big.



I had printed all the pieces and had some friends cut them all out before I noticed they were too big. I took a drastic step and decided to just cut the pieces instead of re-doing them because I was in a rush. My armor is ok, but it only looks like the Master Chief if you have one eye closed and squinting.



Not sure why your pieces are not all too big or all too small, that's weird. Maybe the program is re-sizing (print to fit)?



I live in a condo now, and it looks like I'll never be able to redo my armor. I definitely recommend you take your time and be safe. If you really want something for HALO-ween, in my humble opinion, the helmet is the most important piece.



Even though my armor doesn't look that good and I wish my helmet had more detail, I still have a huge feeling of accomplishment when I wear it. Keep up the hard work, in the end, it will all be worth it!

 

[Kissker]

Ah thanks for some replies, self motivation only gets me so far, then I stall and go onto sites for more support, and seeing replies (not that I get any, but even flaming comments) really help me keep going.





The shins appear to be alright in scale of 9.8, I made the left one and kept the back "unzipped" on a few of the tabs, and wrapped it around my leg+Thick sweat pants and still had room for padding/fiberglass (probably a little "too much" room, but I can always over pad) so that took a bunch of worry off too. Left shin isn't 100% pepped yet, 6 pieces left minus supports and the circles (as stated before, the circles are going to be done another way)



I also got the left bicept done.. I am concearned with it being too big. I cut about a 3cm strip out from the "under arm" to tighten it around the shirt - but I don't think it fits right- I need to look at how the bicept is secured onto the suit before choosing to re-pep it a few cm shorter or not. Putting it on, it kinda feels like it should be how it is, the top shoulder goes up over my shoulder a bit, it wraps around my bicept pretty snug with that 3cm cut out (but can easily be re-added/modified) I think it just feels funny cuz it flops a bit (being paper and not solid like metal) and it's not secured in place - so it can wiggle twist and fall down, if I place the "bottom" of the bicept where my elbow bends (on the inside of course) and bend my elbow - it touches but doesn't cut into my bend.





I'll edit this with pictures in a moment.





So - "done" pieces are:

Left Boot

Right Boot

Left Shin

Right Shin

Left Bicept(possibly with some fine-tuning)

1 Handplate (never did get to that otherone..lol..forearm mischief and all)





The helmet is going to be the biggest challenge really, even if it's sized right, I have something most Armor-Wearers don't have - a ponytail of about 22 inches. Adding that with a mask or otherway to hold it down in place, plus some padding and such might cut it too small for my "head size" I am also concearned with the visor. Due to the nature of this suit I can wear my "ninja hood" and go without a helmet if I need be, however I think I have plenty of time to get a workable helmet.



And actually this is my first pep project ever, before I joined the 405th here I had never even heard of the program. I adapt quickly, helps in gettin killtastic scores too. Lol.



Pictures, in no particular order, related to the conversation we just had (including shots of the bicept on me for sizing and the inner side of the bend)



(If you can't read it, it's just saying that the circled bit is the 3cm piece I clipped to size, and it's attached so I don't lose it)

 

[kokujo17]

Looking good their, just so you know pep 2 works with I think all of the mark VI files & everything is in cm unlike pep 3 in mm. With the forearm size it about one to two inchs longer then your arm & put that your size in mm as the H. I also did the same thing with the shin plate to get the right size.

 

[Kissker]

I don't mind MM- it's more accurate that way anyway. 10mm to 1 cm isn't hard to remember either for conversions, it's just the odd ratios that has me thinking.





all the H/W/Depth stuff isn't real clear in pep either - when someone measures their forearm and it's say wrist to elbow 27cm (the actual elbow, not the inside) when you put that into the "H" - it scales all to fit in that-right? so the elbow piece that is supposed to stick out, is shortened instead. (least that's how mine came out)



H must be the 'total height' of the part- meaning the highest part is measured with the lowest, I noticed this on the boot as well, since 14.4cm (144mm) fit my foot only with sock on, I needed to measure and find out what went down.



The 'toe stubs' on the sides are what is the width, so the widest part of the boot is what is used for the measurement of the boot W - makes since, but hard to remember when your measuring your parts, and you don't know how big the toe stub should be, and since it is all auto-adjusted for ratios when you change the W, you could easily make your part way too huge.



Accurate measurements are very important in all things, especially pep, but not knowing where/how to measure seems to be the problem of most the errors on this site "my part doesn't fit" "it's too big/small" etc. Not just scaling itself as most believed. I hope once I get done, all my notes will make a good thread for "what really to measure" and "here's what to do to make it more accurate" for everyone, and can be applied to more projects, not just Mark VI armor.



I gotta get ready for work. gonna take the helmet with me to score and pre-pep on my breaks, but won't get much done tonight.





Also- my right shin seems to have met disaster while I slept, so I will have to remake it. Gonna have to put a sign up that says "Touch these and die" for my roomies to understand.. since "Iam putting 300 hours into my costume" didn't seem to get the idea across clearly. What a waste of 15hours.

 

[Xander]

looking good man. I feel your pain on the long day of Pep work. Today I managed to knock out a redo of my left forearm (i forgot to scale the fist one so I had a chief size body part as well) the left bicep, left calf, and left shin. I will knock out the left boot tomorrow, and I already have my crotch done so I would like to think to myself I am half way done. (even though I know im not because the chest piece and helmet are going to take forever). Anyway.. as I was saying. I feel your pain and keep on fighting the good fight. I am trying to get mine done by the 24th of october for our annual halloween party. Luckly for me I onlt go to school two days a week so I have more than enough time to work on my costume, although it looks like tomorrow will mainly be studying.

 

[Xander]

upon reading a bit more of your thread I have a question.



After you fiberlgassed the inside how much room would you say you lost? As in, were you adding an inch of thickness to the inside of your armor, or just a quarter inch. Right now I would say my armor fits snug on the thighs, probably good on the arms and bicep, and the calf is a small bit snug as well. I figured if I really needed too all i would need to do is make one small cut to loosen it up, but once again, i was just wondering how much room you lost on the inside.



Most of the bulk comes from resin and bondo on the outside of the armor right?

 

[mr happy]

looks good hope you get at least enough done for haloween.

 

[chwbcc1]

The shins appear to be alright in scale of 9.8, I made the left one and kept the back "unzipped" on a few of the tabs, and wrapped it around my leg+Thick sweat pants and still had room for padding/fiberglass (probably a little "too much" room, but I can always over pad) so that took a bunch of worry off too. Left shin isn't 100% pepped yet, 6 pieces left minus supports and the circles (as stated before, the circles are going to be done another way)

What method are you using to scale your armor? Have you tried this?



Find out your height in inches.

Divided it by 86

multiply it by 31.9.

Go to Pepakura Designer, open the helmet, and go to the "scale by specifying value".

Enter the number you found in step 3 in the assembled height box. This is the height of the helmet in centimeters.



NOTE: Add 2 inches to your height to compensate for loss during the fiberglass steps and the padding steps.



So for me the math come out like this:



6'4" = 198 centimeters

 

[Kissker]

Xander - I have fiberglassed before and plan to use fibercloth on most parts, this only adds about 1/4 inch at most - the shins will probably have matting as well adding more, I may also decide to Liquid Plastic Roll the parts. And yes you should plan to make it bigger just because it does take away a bit of yoru movement room. (which is why I kept the 3cm part I cut from the bicept for trial sizing)







chwbcc - hadn't tried that one yet, for one, I don't understand why it would work. I am not in any way proportioned like Da'Chief, I am a Tank of a Geek and it's not like I train to keep in shape. (so muscletone, size, shape is all different) Using that math the helmet comes to 269mm tall (26.9CM) Judging by the other method- my helm needs to be... 29.4cm tall (both include room for padding) Of the two, I will be going with the larger numbers, for one, I plan to add more then just padding to my helmet, and room is important. (fans, wires, switches, leds, tubing, speakers, microphone etc) since my general width (my hips/torso/etc) is much larger then Chief's - the larger helmet won't look horrific on me, my torso armor is going to be huge compared to most of the ones seen. My "bust" so to speak is 48inches, shoulder to shoulder is about 22inches. So adding a couple of inches for padding/comfort, 50inch bust with a 24inch shoulder span. (24 inches, that's 2feet people... lol) and these measurements don't allow much room for complex movements - so yea...big armor. (Imagine how big it'll be when I make my Gears of war suit.... that armor is huge to start with!)



My head is 23inches around, my neck is 17. Can you guess who bought a measuring tape last night? Lol.







I seem to have become ill as well, slept some 12 hours and then awoke abruptly to rush to the bathroom (I won't fill you in on the details ) But.. once again.. I am determined.. so a bit slower in my work, but I will progress.







Ahhhhh many hours later.



Been working on the helmet, and have some progress photos. Over 5 hours construction time so far... well anyway, tell me what you think. It was built to 29.4cm (The estimated scale of 9.8) and although it doesn't have the dome yet - it feels like it's going to be only "slightly" big, so add padding and fiberglass and be pretty good fit.







Cheater clips: (these things SOOOO come in handy for Pep work... buy some!)

Been a few more hours and I am gonna go make some Breakfast (now 10AM) but here's a couple more pictures of progress.

Oh and on the contrary to belief from the pictures, I hate coke, it's just the only pop we have in the house right now.. bleh.







*Another Update*



Too... much... daft punk... concentration was broken.. .lol

 

[McCaboose]

Niiicccee! keep it up!

also, I HAVE THAT YELLOW ROBOT COIN BANK! ITS AWESOME!

 

[Kissker]

Lol I had ol' robie there for years... I can't even remember when I got him.







And finally. 10 hours, 15 minutes in, I have a helmet. It needs some shape work (little warped in the visor area) but it goes on, and has room for everything (hopefully not TOO much room, lol)



Gonna go get some sleep now.. maybe...



Here's a couple of pics.

Oh yea, and word of advice, that red USB video camera - sucks. Don't buy one. (glad mine was free, but even then.. man am I disapointed.)

 

[Xander]

Looking good, as I said before, I am not looking forward to tackling that helmet. I think I am going to leave it for last. I need to knock out the right leg pieces today, then the chest.. and then that bad boy. Im kinda scared lol.

 

[Kissker]

Well I re-printed my right shin, although all this hardcore working on this has caused the scoring/cutting/burning with hotglue gun has caused my first fingertip to go a little numb...and yet sensitive as well.. it's and odd feeling.



I have a little planner to try to get everything done with 3 days left for bondo/sand/bondo/sand/bondo/sanding and then 1 day to paint, and I got a little slack. I figured the Torso will take 2 days (since the helmet took 10 hours, I'd imagine my torso taking 15-30) and I still need to do forearms and right bicept and cod...





on the bright side I plan to use some bondo putty to do some quick work on the seams and do all my fiberglassing in like 1-2 days.





Should prolly order my bodysuit, gloves and visor today before work... hmm...







**Edit**



Alright awoke a bit early today, probably pay for it later tonight at work, but I wanted to get ahead of schedule if I could.



At the current schedule with work and all I am predicting to be fiberglassing on the 18th.

3 days of bondo/sanding.... 2 days of adding misc parts (lights,bells, whistles) and a day of painting.. predicted with good weather to be done by the 25th. Cutting it a tad close in my book.







**Edit the second**



Alright. 4 hours to re-make the right shin. Now to print the left forearm... a 4th time...(4.. right? is that what I am on now? 1 too small.. 2 kinda small.. so yea... this will be 4..)



Here's a lil picture:

Still gotta do arms, torso and cod, and a weapon, but least it looks like progress. Lol.





Printed the cod and left forearm - but now it's time to head to work, so I'll be back whenever I get back.

 

[Kissker]

Ah.. my luck finally caught up to me.



Tried going to work last night but my car couldn't make it.. turns out it was sold to me beyond broken and I just didn't know until the wear and tear nearly made my wheel fly off.



I am not supposed to drive it at all due to the HIGH risk of the wheel flying off (the joint is completely rusted through) and it just started to wobble last night.





So... this project may be slighly postponed...car is fallin apart ><



Also I know there is a noob list of supplies like a H suspenders and stuff- but locations to find these things would be great since Iam not the typical guy and have no idea where to find some of this stuff, especially around me with what stores I have available, anything I don't have to order online, means I can get in person, and that will make things run smoother.



Not gonna worry about LED's right now - just underarmor and armor needs, wanna get the suit in "finished" condition then I can add bells and whistles later (even after haloween).



I have a 1 piece body suit ordered for the main black underneath - so hopefully it gets here. I plan to do some of the details with cheap craft foam so that covers the under armor itself, but strapping/webbing, buckles, the bookshelf rivet things...yea... and athe load bearing H suspenders and swat belt - those I have no idea where to find, plus gloves... walmart doesn't have any pvc gloves right now.



**Edit**

I don'tknow if it's the Interstella 5555 playing in the background or what, but I have decided to go for broke.... I am gonna get the new car, AND finish my suit.



So now, back to work, gotta stay on target and get the 4th left forearm done today (and god willin, it will be the right size this time!)









**Edit**



Woot another edit with pictures!





So I stayed up a little later then I wanted, and got the Left Forearm (the 4th)done - it SHOULD fit fine, maybe need a little sanding around the wrist for movement, and I managed to pop out a Left Thigh too, measuring around my knee area with Jeans on came out to be the same circumference as the hole that will be on that area so a tight fit with jeans (or in my case, it'll be loose with the body suit on, but again may need a tad sanding)

*Later Update*

I gotta head to work kinda soon, and I been ordering underarmor parts and such all day and not pepping (figured I shoudl since they take like 2 weeks to ship here)



Got- full body suit, gloves, suspenders, belt, LEDs, 9v bat clips, resistors, webbing, buckles... pretty much all of it.. still need a visor but can't decide between dark smoke and silver mirror finishes..... I'll think about it all night.



Here's a pic with the Pep-finished helmet, with a camera balanced on my head to simulate the padding thickness. Fits pretty darn straight on perfect IMHO... then again.. I am biased.



and yes I know the visor needs some work since it got warped a bit, but it's not glassed yet, so there's time.

Gotta still get some 2mm craft foams from.. well Walmart's prices went up 0.14 per .. so I might go to Joannes and pay 0.99 for a 2x as big sheet instead. (only like 0.05 more expensive and more flexible for large parts without seams) This foam will be used for the neckseal, armor joints, little padding in the helmet/armor and detail parts (with black hot glue)









**Edit*



Oh the humanity. I went to Wal-Mart before work, specifically for Rubber Cement, and ended up buying some glazing putty, black RTV silicone, Resin Hardener, and my Powerades to get through work - and totally forgot rubber cement, and now I am out, of my second bottle.... So now I gotta go make a special trip up to get some Rubber Cements.





??????Question for all those doing this before me, How many oz (each bottle here is 4oz) of Rubber Cement did you use for your suit?









Ahhhh back.



Just thought I would post some images of what is planned, one of those "special surprises" i mentioned earlier.

Take this:

Install it in one of these:

Run the wires to these:

Which are located in these:

Now those shoulder struts have an actual purpose.

 

[Kissker]

Oh man am I tired.



I just spent the last 20 hours (straight) on the Torso. All the parts are pepped now. Yay!. Tomarrow I will clean up the room a bit, and make sure I have supplies, and possibly start resin.

Some minor flaws but bondo will fix em







*Edit*



SO i got some parts for the underarmor/strapping today...my belt doesn't appear compatible with my suspenders though... the suspenders have hooks to go through O rings in the belt... the belt has no O rings.. just a solid belt.... hmmm... maybe I can add some D rings using a bit of my strapping to make the clips work...

 

[Kissker]

I know it's like triple post but I needed room for pictures....



Here's some of the work, and why you should get a self-healing mat to cut on (I knew what would happen, but figured Id get some pics for future generations, plus the desk is a POS so no biggy lol) and my Super Genius way of holding parts up, cheaply, and still providing weight management for pre-resin.



Why you need a mat:

Armor weight allocation:

Chest/Back parts:

\





*Edit*

Came into some bad luck though, went to fiberglass resin parts today, had time, had space, figured 8 hours and it could all be done- then clean up the garage and the owner could park in it...



fiberglass resin went bad.. of course.... and won't harden. Figured it might be the cold - but.. no luck. Adding a heater and a hair dryer to test out batches proved to gel, but never harden thin layers like I need. Needa run to wally world and get some more resin for $20ish bucks but sadly my vehicle is put on hold until it's repaired.. and no other vehicles around.



Losing time and hours I cleaned most of it up early... I can now quickly move stuff in case the owner needs her space.. little fumey but she'll be able to park just fine. Kinda disappointed.. nothing got done today.. and I really wanted resined tonight.



**Edit**

Ok bought some resin and got busy... managed to crank out 1 coat on everything but the helmet... I been up all day though and ranoutta gas...I needa go down and clean it up a bit too.. but so tired.... I'll be reinforcing the helmet with hot glue before resin- had some mishaps and don't want it occuring on something that complex...



No pictures, resining is a pretty quick process or you lose out onyour batch... I'll get one of the hanging parts if I can remember my camera..don't wanna go up and down the steps anymore then I have to.







**Edit**



Forgot the camera and stuff, and workin on understuit and my helmet before I resin it - the visor is curved a bit and it looks like it's trying to be like "Say what?!" so I wanna get it straighter before resin is applied.



Gonna work on my neckseal and stuff, hopefully got some better weather coming up to Resin in - trying to get a nice 50/60's day but may have to just tough it out in the garage.





Odd noticed thing- the neckseal in game switches orientation. While alive and not moving it is horizontally lined. while dead or flying through the air dead it is vertically lined... of the two vertical looks better so I think I will go with that... and the back doesn't appear ridged vertically, but one flat curved piece.



Also.. how come no one LED'ed the suit? the chest, shins, bicepts and back all have Lights in game...easily done by LEDs.