Post DragonCon & the Road to Deployment

[LightsbrSamurai]

Hey y’all!

DragonCon was crazy- a stress test of my first halo cosplay, the first time I had ever walked in any kind of parade, and I got to meet up with bunch of friends for the first time! I also made some new ones, and I look forward to seeing them again at future conventions!

With this experience came knowledge, however, and I am building a checklist of things that I will be doing to improve my kit.

• Revamping the Boot Covers (and getting new boots)
• Adding elastic and decorations to the shins.
• Decking out the helmet with full electronics which will include but not be limited to: fans, voice mod and speakers, lights.
• Adding an antenna like Bucks to my helmet, and some custom modifications that I am currently sorting out/drawing up.
• Adding decals to my armor which will include but not be limited to: blood type decal, squad decal, and a custom decal reminiscent of decals pilots would put on the sides of their B-17’s during WWII.
• Adding reinforcement to the thigh plates (they broke during the DragonCon parade bc the glue melted).
• Finding a way to support the belt and thigh plates via either a vest or suspenders.
• Repair/replace the knee pad on my right shin (snapped off during the parade)
• Redo/revamp my approach to the forearms/elbows. They cut into my wrists, and the goal is to be in functional, comfortable armor… or as much as you can be. Haha.
• Potentially reprint the entirety of my chest rig at a larger size- either that, or redo the rigging and straps for the entire chest rig so that it doesn’t dig into my stomach and side in certain places
• Find a better way to rig the shoulder bells so that they don’t slide around on my arm- they kept touching themselves behind my shoulders instead of staying in line with my collar.
• Print and rig up a backpack. (May potentially do a bullfrog jump pack. We will see.)
• Printer weapon that’s larger than a SOCOM and have it ready to go with me. Thinking M90 shotgun like Sarge from RVB, but idk- again, we shall see.
• Add more greeblies to my armor. As a good friend of mine said during the con: “the moment you give a service member a kit, it is no longer standard issue because they immediately start messing with it. ODST’s should be no different.”

That is a rough list of changes I want to make before I march with that kit again. The nice thing is that most of those items are not super high in cost monetarily- but we shall see.

As the title of the post says, though, I am also getting on the road to Deployment! It is now a dream of mine to get Ezra “Crash” Hawks deployed as a kit so that I can partake in 405th events in a more formal capacity. I would like this checklist to be complete before I deploy him, hence the title.

Wish me luck!

 

[LesChriserables]

It's crazy how much you learn from the first con!

Sounds like you could really benefit from a vest system. One thing I found really cool after meeting a bunch of other halo cosplayers was learning how they rigged their undersuits. It makes such a world of difference.

Good luck on your road to deployment! I'll be following all the way

 

[zomb1e]

That is some great info. I am planning on making dragoncon next year hopefully with a full suit ready to go. I can't wait to see your progress

 

[LightsbrSamurai]

That is some great info. I am planning on making dragoncon next year hopefully with a full suit ready to go. I can't wait to see your progress

Thanks! Good luck! It’s quite a process, and it takes quite a bit of effort and time, but in the end, it is so totally worth it.

One thing I will recommend that is not on that list that I forgot to add because it was 1 AM when I was making it is compression shorts. Under armor or wicking compression shorts.

I made the mistake of not wearing those, and let’s just say that chafing is a real thing that people deal with when they have armor strapped to their legs…

• Add compression shorts to my gear bag so I can wear those under my costume.

 

[Instinct Vlad]

Definitely down to Armor Party sometime in the wintertime to get things banged out! I've got a handful of adjustments to make myself. Was good to see ya in the kit and hanging out with the squad!

 

[Asgardianhammer]

Great writeup and learning experience. Even as a veteran I am still kit improving. Amazing how much you learn first go.

I have nothing but faith you will get it done and good luck on your improvements. I have zero doubts deployment will go well for you!

 

[BrightestDayACX]

It was an honor to march with you.

 

[JTF4]

Your build looks great! I'm so sad I couldn't make it out to DragonCon this year.

Decking out the helmet with full electronics which will include but not be limited to: fans, voice mod and speakers, lights.

I HIGHLY recommend the fans . They're a lifesaver when you're wearing your helmet for an extended period of time.