Schankerz' First Halo Reach Foam Build

[Schankerz]

Hello all, I'll keep this relatively brief. My school has this big project you have to do for your senior year and you can pick whatever topic you want as long as it can be done with over 80 hours, a paper, interview, etc, etc. So logically, I decided I'd fulfill my dream of making my own halo cosplay suit (I'm 6' 7 and a huge halo fan so cosplaying as a spartan has been something I've wanted to do for years). I have no experience in the field whatsoever which is why I came here to learn as much as I could from the best of the best in making Spartans. So after a month in the summer of watching and ready tutorials I got a basic idea of what to do, got what i needed and started work.

Now what armour (yes, I live in Canada) will I be attempting to forge? Well let me tell/show you.

This is a basic drawing of what I'm going for, the basic Reach armour with an ODST helmet (with some attachments) and shoulders as well as an assortment of pouches in the center.
I'll also be including the M6G Magnum and the M90 Shotgun.
The planned paint job will be a greyish black as a base and orange as my secondary coulour. (This has been my spartan colour scheme since H3)

This is the armour I'm basing mine off of.

As of the making of this post I've almost completed making both forearm pieces.



Of course I'll continue posting my progress and if anyone has any tips or suggestions I would be very, very happy to hear them!

 

[Sturmwulfe]

Good luck with this! Are you freehanding the templates or are you using pepakura?

 

[Schankerz]

Thank you! I'm doing a bit of both, I'm using pepakura for most of it but I go freelancer on a few parts that I feel could look better or be made easier for someone of my skill level.

 

[Jme]

Good luck and welcome to the 405th!

Nice pick on the armour style, I look forward to watching your progress.


"I don't know what is weirder - that you're fighting a stuffed animal, or that you seem to be losing." - Suzie

 

[ArmoredAmir]

Hey there! Part of your build is like mine (Link). The drawing looks great! Keep up the great work. I look forward to your future progress.

 

[Schankerz]

Thanks! I stumbled on that concept photo when I was scrolling through google images for ideas and knew I had to make mine similar to it when I saw it.

And as if now I've put the forearms on hold until I can get my hands on some craft foam for detailing and such so I've begun making the biceps, I've only put together 6 pieces but so far so good! I'll have pictures as soon as I have one done very soon! Thanks for the support guys!

 

[vivalablake89]

Looking great, keep up the awesome work! I've always wanted to recreate the concept art version of the reach armor especially the shin armor, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this build.

 

[Schankerz]

Alright folks, small update. The first Bicep is almost done and afterwards I'll be making the ODST shoulder piece that'll go on top of it.
But in the meantime I made a sketch of how I want the attachment for my ODST helmet will look like. (It's the attachment from the concept art I originally posted)

Hope you enjoy this sketch and I should have a picture of that bicep tonight! maybe even and ODST plate if I'm lucky.

 

[Schankerz]

Alright, took me a while but I got the bicep mostly finished and the ODST shoulder plate is cut out but has yet to be put together, a mission worthy of tomorrow.


Some other good news, I went out and got some craft foam today, detailing for the forearms is ready to begin!

 

[Schankerz]

Another small update: I was able to do quite a bit of detailing for my forearms at school today during spares and in between classes, turned out pretty good!
I'm adding a few more added on armour plates for both the look of the build and to cover up some major holes.

I'll have a lot of time to build this long weekend so I hope to have the other bicep with both ODST shoulder plates built and put together by the end!

 

[Sturmwulfe]

Looks awesome! Super excited to see how this goes

 

[Corweena]

Great progress. You've got a pretty good hand at foam for this being your first time. I picked it up fairly quickly myself as well, but it has a pretty steep learning curve to master clean cuts and such.

Will be following your progress.

 

[vivalablake89]

Nice clean cuts! the Gauntlets Look amazing! and that ODST shoulder is coming along nicely!

 

[Private Jenkins]

Nice work so far! its always harder free handing it as you go! good luck, cant wait to see it finished!
Just curious, what glue are you using?

 

[Schankerz]

I'm using Lepage contact cement, apply it to both sides wait about an hour/hour and a half and that stuff will stick together forever. If you're in the states I believe it's called Weldwood contact cement,Lepage is what it's called here in Canada. I am looking into using something else for the detailing just because it's a pain to wait so long for the contact cement to dry it's kind of a time waster when I'm only gluing really small pieces. I'm looking for either some kind of super glue that won't eat the foam or quick drying contact cement, still no luck on that though. :l

 

[Ruby]

Looks good so far! Those lines on the top shoulder piece look really good! It looks like there is basically no seam, I am impressed! Keep up the nice work!

 

[TurboCharizard]

I'm using Lepage contact cement, apply it to both sides wait about an hour/hour and a half and that stuff will stick together forever. If you're in the states I believe it's called Weldwood contact cement,Lepage is what it's called here in Canada. I am looking into using something else for the detailing just because it's a pain to wait so long for the contact cement to dry it's kind of a time waster when I'm only gluing really small pieces. I'm looking for either some kind of super glue that won't eat the foam or quick drying contact cement, still no luck on that though. :l

Aside from the dry/tacky time for LePage how would you say it is? As a fellow Canadian with no quick access to Barge cement I've been trying a few different options and am curious to how you're liking it. Did you try speeding up the drying with a cool air hair dryer?

 

[Jme]

Looking good Shankerz. Are you at Georgian?


"I don't know what is weirder - that you're fighting a stuffed animal, or that you seem to be losing." - Suzie

 

[Schankerz]

Aside from the time it takes to dry before you stick pieces together I highly recommend it. Besides, I have a system where I glue my pieces and while I wait for those to dry I start cutting out the next batch and by the time they're ready to be glued the others should be dry. No, I just let the glue do what it does, I'm not against the wait for bigger pieces it's just the smaller ones that are minor inconviences.

If you are looking into getting it I got mine at Home Depot, I'd recommend getting the 237 ml for about $10 I think it was. It may look small but trust me, with all the pieces I've done so far I haven't even used half of it.

- - - Updated - - -

Looking good Shankerz. Are you at Georgian?


"I don't know what is weirder - that you're fighting a stuffed animal, or that you seem to be losing." - Suzie

Thanks! No I don't, but I do go to a high school in Barrie just a few minutes from it, I have a few friends that go there though and I am considering going there myself next year.

Oh! Also happy Thanksgiving! (Would have posted in the Canadian Regiment but I can't yet soo... )

 

[Jme]

Happy Thanksgiving to you too! Awesome that you can work on this at your high school.


"I don't know what is weirder - that you're fighting a stuffed animal, or that you seem to be losing." - Suzie