ODST Dare Foam Build (Pic heavy)

[Bexi]

Everything is looking good so far but the shin is looking a little boxy to me. I have done an Oni Op before but not out of foam. Spartan-005 has done the shins out of foam before and he used Hugh's shin files and converted them into foam friendly.

Thanks! I checked out your build, it’s beautiful! I’m jealous of your paint job. And Spartan-005’s shins are awesome. Thanks for the heads up!

nice work good to see another ODST and i havent seen a Dare build yet and im interested to see how the ab section comes out, any ideas?

Yep

Hardeners dont quite work on foam. the foam is used to be light weight and flexible. hardening it would kinda defeat that purpose and it would just end up cracking. best thing to use on it is some pastidip. it just helps seal everything up and easier to paint.

Awesome work! love it.
Oh and i hope i didnt intrude none Bexi.

No worries, you gave a great answer!

Got another quick update for all you folks I finished off the last missing pieces on the chest plate and I made my hip plates, then lastly, my crowning glory, I scratchbuilt the ab plate. I am thrilled with how good it came out.



Here’s one of my hip plates


This was the easy part. I have a few awesome reference pics, so I made templates for the big pieces.

Then I had to deal with that awkward little middle piece. I ended up gluing about 10 layers of foamies together starting in the middle. Each layer got smaller giving it that cool layered fan effect.


Once I had all the components together I glued everything on top of another piece of foam.

I then trimmed it up and heat shaped it.




That’s all for now! Stay frosty 405th.

 

[LCBeagle]

How come the foam in the last pic looks so much glossier than in the pic before? Did you use a sander or something?

 

[Zat German]

How come the foam in the last pic looks so much glossier than in the pic before? Did you use a sander or something?

Looks the same way as mine when I use a heat gun on it to "seal" the foam. Gamemaster came up with this idea first, I believe. It is not a seal like Plasti-Dip or Liquid Nails Clear Seal for painting but it does clear off all the tiny puffs of foam that are on the surface of the foam. This makes the foam absorb less Plasti-Dip(when using the spray on kind) and/or paint. It also gives better cuts when using a hot knife to cut the foam. It is basically lowering the surface area of the foam at a microscopic level as well as closing any tiny holes which absorb paint.

 

[Fudz073]

Love the tutorial! I've been looking everywhere for one but to no avail. Appreciate the time you took to make it. I'll definitely be using foam for the legs of my mk V. Suits looking awesome btw. Keep up the great work! Can't wait to see it finished.

 

[RTGCBT]

Awesome build so far. And i do have a question. Was it hard to make the Hip plates out of Foam? Because i have a pair made of resin and fiber glass but they are a pain to maneuver in and are mostly for posing. So i was considering making some out of foam that will allow me to travel around easier.

 

[SimFam]

That ab plate looks awesome i really like how its all starting to look.

 

[Bexi]

How come the foam in the last pic looks so much glossier than in the pic before? Did you use a sander or something?

No sander, but I did use heat to shape it and that makes the pieces sort of melt a bit and get that nice shiny finish. As Zac explained it'll also help make painting easier.

Awesome build so far. And i do have a question. Was it hard to make the Hip plates out of Foam? Because i have a pair made of resin and fiber glass but they are a pain to maneuver in and are mostly for posing. So i was considering making some out of foam that will allow me to travel around easier.

They hip plates were one of the easiest pieces I've made so far. I used Hugh's pep file and simplified it to this as my template

Just trace it onto the foam, the outside is all one piece, and the inside is just cut out then recessed halfway and glued in place. Then I used a bit of heat to curve it to my hip a little better. It took about 45 minutes to finish both.

That ab plate looks awesome i really like how its all starting to look.

Thank you! Me too I might put up a full tutorial later including all my templates if anybobdy’s interested.

I might actually have this suit done by Halo Anniversery! Sweeeeet!

 

[Bexi]

Update time again. A million thanks to Spartan 087 for pointing me in the right direction for making better shins and also thanks to Spartan 005 for the awesome pictures in his odst build thread. They gave me a ton of the references I needed to make these new shins possible.
Have some Pics!

A boot!


Shin and boot side view.


All together now!


Aaaaand from the front.

More to come.

 

[Carpathia]

I just came across this thread, and I've got to say that your new shins are very impressive, especially compared to your old ones. You've imporved your skill quite a lot since the beginning of this thread. I'll be keeping my eye on this one. Great job!

 

[Noskey]

I've seen some good builds with foam before, and this one is looking just as good, if not better! I'm really liking the look of the build since the beginning of this thread.

 

[SimFam]

Gosh i havent even started my shins. yours looks amazing by the way great work

 

[L3G3ND4RYFR34K]

Thanks for inspiring me!!!

I have decided to rebuild my odst in foam (i accidentally fiberglassed the outside of my pieces, will get back to them later), and i am doing a DARE build for my sister. She is into halo, a bit at least, so she will be going to the con with me, both as ODSTs. Thanks!

 

[ODST Blue]

Jealousness... I haz it. Every time I'd see someones build where they shaped their pieces with heat guns I would quietly complain to myself because I didn't have one, but when I read that part about how you use your stove I literally said out loud "Duh heat!!" lol Thanks for unintentionally hitting me with some knowledge, good luck on the rest of your build

 

[spartan005]

looks damn good girl. looks like you used just how i built my shins so much nicer no.

 

[Zat German]

Hey Bexi, you should definitely try building your Recon(I think it is the same thing as the DARE helmet, right?) out of 3mm foamies(I got mine at Hobby Lobby). I have been building an ODST out of them like Simfam and it is going really easy and really well. It looks a lot better than the one I started out of 1/2".

I have also been playing with techniques on scrap foam to make it a bit more rigid. So far the best way to do it seems to be Elmer's glue and crinkle cotton gauze, like in the Craft Foam Armor Tutorial.

 

[SimFam]

I really like that link Zat German. haha im glad i was checking up on this form haha I what to see how your helmet turns out.

 

[Stiilus]

the more foam builds i see, the more i want to try it out ... this looks amazing, fantastic work... if the benched mkvi is even half as good as this, then you will have an amazing collection of armour. keep it up...

 

[vshore100]

Bexi, your Dare build is coming along great. Nice foam work.

 

[Bexi]

Jealousness... I haz it. Every time I'd see someones build where they shaped their pieces with heat guns I would quietly complain to myself because I didn't have one, but when I read that part about how you use your stove I literally said out loud "Duh heat!!" lol Thanks for unintentionally hitting me with some knowledge, good luck on the rest of your build

Thanks and good luck using your stove! I’ve only had one disaster so far. I burned one of my knees pretty badly and had to scrap it. Defiantly be careful and wear gloves or use an oven mitt when you’re doing it.

looks damn good girl. looks like you used just how i built my shins so much nicer no.

Thanks! I was so happy when I saw the pictures on your build because I had absolutely no idea of how to make a decent shin.

Hey Bexi, you should definitely try building your Recon(I think it is the same thing as the DARE helmet, right?) out of 3mm foamies(I got mine at Hobby Lobby). I have been building an ODST out of them like Simfam and it is going really easy and really well. It looks a lot better than the one I started out of 1/2".

I have also been playing with techniques on scrap foam to make it a bit more rigid. So far the best way to do it seems to be Elmer's glue and crinkle cotton gauze, like in the Craft Foam Armor Tutorial.

Ooooo. I want to hug you. I made a helmet out of the floor mat foam, but it came out completely lopsided and I hate it. I will defiantly give the craft foam a try. Thank you for the link!

On the update front… not much. I made a cruddy helmet and that used up almost all the foam I had left so project’s on hold until wednesday (payday!) I have left to build, my forearms, 1 shin, butt pack, backpack, headset, and helmet. My closet’s full of epic. I’m hopefully going to be getting some paint soon too. I’m going for Dare’s in game color scheme. Black and silverish.

Here’s the helmet I tried…



I wish I liked it enough ot try to salvage it, but I really really don’t. The only thing ok about it was the scale. It came out so crooked and just looks yucky overall:/

It was a learning experience. Next one will be perfect. More to come after wednesday when I can buy more foam and some paint.

 

[SkullBoy13]

damn i just fell inlove with you....... I mean your armor xD best Dare Build I've ever seen! awesome job on the abdominal plates gudluck!