Prettyfloralbonnet's first MarkVI build finished

[thorn696]

Very nice write up. Very informative, and practical. Thank you for taking the time to tell us about, not only what you did but what went wrong and possible fixes. Its nice to have someone explain what it feels like to go on a walk like this. Thanks.

Boot noise: try a can of the soft latex "greatstuff". just go easy with it, it expands fast. This will limit the movement of the part and adsorb the noise, And is soft and flexible for ease of movement at the same time.

 

[momoss]

This looks like a great first build! Very nice bondo smoothing work...and yeah hot glue for pieces that take on stress is not a good idea...I learned that the hard way last year lol For those kind of straps rondo, f1 cement, epoxy, or gorilla glue are the only choices. When you walk the boots are gonna sound heavy and a bit clacky. I was able to quiet it down some by hotgluing some thick craft foam to the bottom of my toe caps but other then that theres not much you can do about boot noise.

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

There's another Zombie Walk on Oct. 15th in a nearby town. I plan on making some fixes and trying it again. The first thing I've started is adding red lighting to the pieces to give the impression that the suit is in a standby mode (only the shoulders are wired at this point). I also haven't black-washed the armor since I couldn't find a black paint that didn't dry almost on contact. Perhaps I'll mess around with the white+black dilluted paint that Adam showed in a video.

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

My first actual convention is Nebraskon on Nov. 4-6th. I've been working to correct some of the mounting problems and finish up the lighting. Also, I realized I needed a weapon so I started a sliced-foam shotgun from Gamemaster's WIP thread here: http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/31533-Sliced-Foam-H3-Shotgun-WIP
There aren't too many in progress pictures since I've kind of rushed this project this last week but here's the two I have so far.

Looks like I should fix the date on that camera one of these days too. Forgot to mention that since I had no experience with foam anything I went ahead and got the plans for Gamemaster's shotgun from his page here: http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-make-halo-weapons

 

[Gamemaster]

Your shotgun is looking very nice, cuts are smooth and your details are even. To stabalize the top barrel there is a shape on page4 marked "top front barrel wrap" cut from 3mm foamie. Wrap it around the barrel and glue it to the center and end of the top area. After you add the top barrel you can finish the front detail by adding the small half-oval shapes from 10mm foamie found on page8. Cut 2 and use 1 for each side, you can even carve them down a little with your hotknife to make them appear more rounded, and thus more game accurate.

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

Ah so that's what those things were for. Thanks for your help so far. I loved how your two shotguns looked and wanted to give it a try.

 

[Pyronari]

Looks good, I like the foam weapons. I need to read up on how to build stuff with foam.

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

I didn't quite get the flattened oval shape that Gamemaster's version has but I have to admit I was in a bit of a rush. I'm very happy with the way it's turned out so far and hopefully the plastidip and painting doesn't obscure the details too much.

 

[MEGATRON]

dayum that shotgun and well the whole build looks really good

 

[Gamemaster]

Excellent shotgun, great work on the details, I predict an epic looking weapon after paint.

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

Excellent shotgun, great work on the details, I predict an epic looking weapon after paint.

Perhaps a little less epic now that I've heard back from the con I'm attending this weekend. Fortunately, the shotgun will be allowed as long as I can come up with a paint scheme that doesn't make it look too real and it will have a bright green ribbon tied around the barrel to signify my agreement that it won't be pointed at anyone or used in a threatening manner.

 

[Gamemaster]

Perhaps you can get away with a nice paintjob and then wrapping it in green ribbon to resemble a candy cane and maybe a neon stopper in the barrel, like they use in paintball.

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

Normally, I wouldn't post pictures with just the base coat but I think it looks pretty awesome even with just the black plasti-dip spray. Hopefully, with some clever use of bright oranges, reds, and light greys I can make it look a little less realistic to be allowed at the con.

sorry about the fuzziness

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

Finally, the suit was at a stage I was comfortable with. I was installing LED's while at the hotel and worked on it right up until I put it on. Wandered around a bit and it was definitely one of the favorites since it was a smaller con.

Probably one of the best photos since the flash wasn't penetrating the visor and showing my face. (I'm on the left)

Hard to see that those are all lights with that camera flash but all of those white areas are 17000 MCD LED's and went a long ways to improving the look of the armor.

Lot's of high-fives and even hugs...have to find a better way to attach those hand plates so pieces don't go flying.

 

[Gamemaster]

Wow, just wow. To coin a phrase from our younger generation - "whoa dude, that armor is sick!"

 

[LongShot X]

I have to reitterate what Gamemaster said. "Whoa dude! That is one sick armor."

I love the LED's that you installed! It adds that extra WOW factor!

Very well done!

 

[Jonus]

This is a great set of armour. You look like a legit Master Chief, no denying it. And that shotgun is one of the best I've seen on here. Seriously, expert workmanship all around.

 

[Shade88]

This suit is all kinds of epic.

 

[Prettyfloralbonnet]

Thanks to the above! I really had no idea how it would all look until I put the thing on and am certainly pleased how it turned out. There are still problems I must solve such as floppy boots and still more belt sagging. For the see-through visor problem I've ordered an amber anti-fog film from the local motorcycle shop to potentially help prevent light from reflecting off my face when the flash goes off.

Also, keep in mind that shotgun came from patterns that I got through Gamemaster. It's his design and build, I merely copied it from his plans here: http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-make-halo-weapons

 

[Shadowshail]

You were talking about how you needed a better way to attach your gloves. Maybe try going out and getting a set of paintball gloves with the plastic backing and then just epoxy the handplate to the glove. Thats what i did and i even got some advice to weather the plastic pieces that went down the individual fingers and it looked amazing! If you get a good epoxy then it will stay on pretty nicely and if you want to re-use the gloves there are some that can just come off with a bit of pressure but keeps it on for normal wear and tear.