not sure if i should 3d print the undersuit for my mk4 armor

[uesb]

I'm currently unsure if it would benefit me to 3d print the undersuit of the MK4 armor in a flexible print material, or if i should just go with wearing normal clothes as an undersuit. Cost isn't an issue for me, and I don't really want to alter a piece of clothing if its avoidable. This is my first time printing and my first time creating a costume in general. Recommendations?

 

[Cadet]

I would not recommend printing the entire undersuit. Printable Flexible materials have come a long way, but they are still not nearly flexible enough for you to have the range of motion you would need.

Several folks will 3D print a neck seal in flexible materials like TPU, like SSGLordBert, but once you get down to the Torso and limbs, you are going to want much more flexibility. The armor is also going to cover large sections of the body, so, you don't need to print the whole undersuit anyway.

What most folks who are going for an accurate as possible undersuit will do is to make "gaskets" where the details are only present in the gaps between the armor components, like at the elbows, knees, shoulders, and abdomen, and everywhere else is plain, moisture wicking material. It is common to do this in a latex or foam rubber material. The user will 3D print or sculpt he detail section, then make a mold, then cast it in the extremely flexible material and attach or glue that to a base compression or moisture wicking suit or material.

It's for the Mark VV/Infinite Chief, but marinesniper did this process for his undersuit:

Under suits mk vii and master chief

I am almost done printing the under suit off master chief infinite and I am in the process of body work on the mark 7 under suit I will cast both of these in latex rubber so they will be really flexible

www.405th.com

You can also explore the option of cutting the undersuit details out of thin EVA foam and gluing them directly to a set of compression style clothing, like Spidermonkey60 has done for several suits.

 

[Spidermonkey60]

I would not recommend printing the entire undersuit. Printable Flexible materials have come a long way, but they are still not nearly flexible enough for you to have the range of motion you would need.

Several folks will 3D print a neck seal in flexible materials like TPU, like SSGLordBert, but once you get down to the Torso and limbs, you are going to want much more flexibility. The armor is also going to cover large sections of the body, so, you don't need to print the whole undersuit anyway.

What most folks who are going for an accurate as possible undersuit will do is to make "gaskets" where the details are only present in the gaps between the armor components, like at the elbows, knees, shoulders, and abdomen, and everywhere else is plain, moisture wicking material. It is common to do this in a latex or foam rubber material. The user will 3D print or sculpt he detail section, then make a mold, then cast it in the extremely flexible material and attach or glue that to a base compression or moisture wicking suit or material.

It's for the Mark VV/Infinite Chief, but marinesniper did this process for his undersuit:

Under suits mk vii and master chief

I am almost done printing the under suit off master chief infinite and I am in the process of body work on the mark 7 under suit I will cast both of these in latex rubber so they will be really flexible

www.405th.com

You can also explore the option of cutting the undersuit details out of thin EVA foam and gluing them directly to a set of compression style clothing, like Spidermonkey60 has done for several suits.

I’ve actually done a mk 4 undersuit once for a customer back when I did commissions. Its all freehand

 

[Cadet]

I was ready to say you had done a Mark IV, Andrew, but then I couldn't find any pictures and wasn't sure if I was confusing myself .

 

[N8TEBB]

I’ve actually done a mk 4 undersuit once for a customer back when I did commissions. Its all freehand
View attachment 342487

I must know how you did that texture!

 

[Spidermonkey60]

I must know how you did that texture!

Freehand with an exacto. I hate myself

 

[OFiveTwo]

I'm currently unsure if it would benefit me to 3d print the undersuit of the MK4 armor in a flexible print material, or if i should just go with wearing normal clothes as an undersuit. Cost isn't an issue for me, and I don't really want to alter a piece of clothing if its avoidable. This is my first time printing and my first time creating a costume in general. Recommendations?

Coming from someone who has done this, it is doable, however you will have the limitations people are talking about above. The main issue with TPU is it just doesn't stretch like cloth, it bends, so when you have a torso printed from TPU it's sort of like wearing a flexible soda can; you can bend one way, but the material on the other side will just fold, not stretch.

That being said, it IS doable! My Gen 2 suit had a TPU core, thighs, and knees that I really liked!

(Undersuit Files by the amazing MoeSizzlac)
It can be done, you just have to really tune your printer and have VERY clean prints. Any flaws in the TPU print will be points of weakness when you're bending and twisting. Make sure that your TPU pieces not only fit up to the armor, but actually extend past it - this negates issues where your armor snags on the undersuit itself.

These prints were SUPER thin (I think 1-2 walls with 0-3% infil) and lasted me a good amount of time (the real issue was the amount of time I spent filming TikToks, I basically lived in the suit for a while)
Feel free to send me any questions you have!

 

[uesb]

Coming from someone who has done this, it is doable, however you will have the limitations people are talking about above. The main issue with TPU is it just doesn't stretch like cloth, it bends, so when you have a torso printed from TPU it's sort of like wearing a flexible soda can; you can bend one way, but the material on the other side will just fold, not stretch.

That being said, it IS doable! My Gen 2 suit had a TPU core, thighs, and knees that I really liked!

View attachment 342558

(Undersuit Files by the amazing MoeSizzlac)
It can be done, you just have to really tune your printer and have VERY clean prints. Any flaws in the TPU print will be points of weakness when you're bending and twisting. Make sure that your TPU pieces not only fit up to the armor, but actually extend past it - this negates issues where your armor snags on the undersuit itself.

These prints were SUPER thin (I think 1-2 walls with 0-3% infil) and lasted me a good amount of time (the real issue was the amount of time I spent filming TikToks, I basically lived in the suit for a while)
Feel free to send me any questions you have!

bro that looks sick, i just checked out your tiktok and man those convention pics are fire. like i said, im new to 3d printing. is flex pla less flexible than tpu? i would assume so but i'm gonna try printing a small part in flex pla tomorrow and see how it feels. thank you for the advice though, it definitely has given me a lot to think about.