BLACKULA727
Well-Known Member
This truly is amazing!! Why is spitfire still a noob? Just saying. Awesome job on the thighs and weathering. I look forward on the final product, Great work!
Spitfire22V's LD Mark VI build - Now Completed
- Thread starter Spitfire22V
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Spitfire22V
Well-Known Member
Thank you all for the nice comments! They truly are excellent motivation to continue making progress, especially coming from you guys with some of the best armor/helmets I've seen on this site! 
So, I decided to tackle the shoulders next, as I realized I have quite a bit of work to do to them before they will be finished.
First thing's first: Bondo + sanding. Luckily these didn't need too much Bondo, since the Pep piece, especially in the pauldron area, is pretty accurate, and you need to keep those existing corners.
However, the bicep area required considerable smoothing, and still doesn't look 100% accurate. I will add a cardboard detail piece to help make it look better, but I don't think I will be able to achieve the same look as the high-def piece. I'm ok with that I suppose.
Shoulder pieces primered
Next, I started constructing the .50 cal sniper bullet holders. I based these slightly off of Jun's shoulder armor, but for the most part just sketched it out myself.
The 2 pieces that actually hold the bullet are EVA foam sandwiched between very thin plywood. The holes are slightly undersize to hold the bullets snug, yet still easily removable. (Note, of course I still need to buy a 3rd bullet)
The base is simple a piece of foamboard that I tricked out with some carbon fiber. All the pieces need some Bondo to smooth out the corners/sides, and will be glued + screwed together and onto the LEFT shoulder piece.
**Now, I have a question and I hope to get some advice from you guys. My shoulder pieces are a little too big, but I still plan on using them anyway. However, to minimize the amount of foam padding I need for a snug fit, I'm thinking about filling in the area behind the pauldron, or covering it over or something (see photo), especially since my shoulder pieces will rise a bit above the top of my shoulders. What do you guys think would be the best way to accomplish this? Expanding foam, foamboard?
The effect I'm going for is similar to DogWizard's shoulder pieces, seen in this photo from his strapping tutorial:
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Finally, for Roadkiller and others who are interested in making similar foam inner thigh pieces here are some more photos of the process and a link to the material I purchased. It might not be exactly the same, but it's simply black vinyl on huge rolls. They should have several different kinds, so pick the one you feel works best.
Vinyl from JoAnn's Fabrics
The material (yes, it's way more than I needed!)
Back view of some of the pieces prior to gluing them closed. You can see how I trimmed the corners to minimize overlap, as well as the slits I made to get the vinyl to follow the inside curves.
Well, I'm a little disappointed that I won't be able to work on this for a few days, as I was really motivated, had lots of momentum going and was overall making good progress. Hopefully I can pick up where I left off when I return from the roadtrip. I expect to be back working on this next Monday.
Thanks for stopping by!
So, I decided to tackle the shoulders next, as I realized I have quite a bit of work to do to them before they will be finished.
First thing's first: Bondo + sanding. Luckily these didn't need too much Bondo, since the Pep piece, especially in the pauldron area, is pretty accurate, and you need to keep those existing corners.
However, the bicep area required considerable smoothing, and still doesn't look 100% accurate. I will add a cardboard detail piece to help make it look better, but I don't think I will be able to achieve the same look as the high-def piece. I'm ok with that I suppose.
Shoulder pieces primered
Next, I started constructing the .50 cal sniper bullet holders. I based these slightly off of Jun's shoulder armor, but for the most part just sketched it out myself.
The 2 pieces that actually hold the bullet are EVA foam sandwiched between very thin plywood. The holes are slightly undersize to hold the bullets snug, yet still easily removable. (Note, of course I still need to buy a 3rd bullet)
The base is simple a piece of foamboard that I tricked out with some carbon fiber. All the pieces need some Bondo to smooth out the corners/sides, and will be glued + screwed together and onto the LEFT shoulder piece.
**Now, I have a question and I hope to get some advice from you guys. My shoulder pieces are a little too big, but I still plan on using them anyway. However, to minimize the amount of foam padding I need for a snug fit, I'm thinking about filling in the area behind the pauldron, or covering it over or something (see photo), especially since my shoulder pieces will rise a bit above the top of my shoulders. What do you guys think would be the best way to accomplish this? Expanding foam, foamboard?
The effect I'm going for is similar to DogWizard's shoulder pieces, seen in this photo from his strapping tutorial:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, for Roadkiller and others who are interested in making similar foam inner thigh pieces here are some more photos of the process and a link to the material I purchased. It might not be exactly the same, but it's simply black vinyl on huge rolls. They should have several different kinds, so pick the one you feel works best.
Vinyl from JoAnn's Fabrics
The material (yes, it's way more than I needed!)
Back view of some of the pieces prior to gluing them closed. You can see how I trimmed the corners to minimize overlap, as well as the slits I made to get the vinyl to follow the inside curves.
Well, I'm a little disappointed that I won't be able to work on this for a few days, as I was really motivated, had lots of momentum going and was overall making good progress. Hopefully I can pick up where I left off when I return from the roadtrip. I expect to be back working on this next Monday.
Thanks for stopping by!
Looking good. It's pretty much what I did with mine, though I glued all three segments together then covered with the faux leather leaving a good portion of the fabric over on the edges, then reinforced the fabric side of the faux leather with cotton gauze. Main reason being is that I actually screwed the inserts to the armour rather than gluing. simply because as it's an area that will flex gluing the length of the inserts puts a lot of stress on it when you move about from the torsion, and the fabric will give over a short amount of time, and the cotton gauze prevents it from tearing over a good amount of time...It's a tip I picked up from making silicone masks
Spitfire22V
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the comments guys! Jdosko, I can't really post the LD detail templates since they are things that are sketched up on the spot, and then generally all thrown away when I finish making the pieces. Sorry
Well, I got back from my Florida road-trip on Monday, which my friends and I called a successful failure. Meaning, we didn't see the Shuttle launch (it has been postponed to Tuesday, May 10 I believe), but still had a crazy good time!
Anyway, I arrived back and picked up right where I left off: finishing the shoulders. As of this morning, they are all finished minus padding and strapping (which I'll do all at once at the end when I finish all the pieces).
When I left, the shoulders were in primer. I did some more work to them before final paint, such as adding a detail piece to the biceps, as well as cutting a notch in the same area (per my reference photos). Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of those specific things, but you can see them if you look carefully. Here are the shoulders with final color on.
Next, I masked off two areas for black paint:
1. The rectangle on the right shoulder which is the base of my emblem.
2. The black lines, which are supposed to be indented areas, like in the HD piece. I could have built this area up with cardboard to get a similar effect, but decided it was not worth the effort. Painting them worked well enough for me.
With my sister's help, I created a vinyl stencil of my emblem. This was sprayed white, with the secondary color being a pale green.
Now I have my Reach emblem on my armor! (I've been using this emblem since Halo 2)
Next steps were black wash, dry-brushing scratches, and finally clear coat.
Finally, I had to install the sniper bullet holder.
Last time, it was about half-finished. I Bondo-ed the edges to smooth them out, sanded, primered, and painted them silver. After weathering and clear-coating, I epoxied it all together, and also installed screws for even more security. I added some vinyl material (same as the inner thigh padding) and screws to add to the detail.
Here it is with the bullets installed. The foam creates a secure, but easily removable fit. (I borrowed the 3rd bullet from a friend who had one too; still haven't bought my own 3rd one).
Finally, I glued on the attachment to the left shoulder using hot glue.
Also, for added security, 4 screws were installed from the inside (those 3 bullets together are heavy!)
Here are the finished shoulders!
Yes, the left shoulder is quite heavy, so I will have to strap it securely. However, it came out just about as good as I hoped! Also, I am very satisfied with the look of the right shoulder with my painted on emblem.
I have also just about finish sanding a greave and forearm piece. Today I might finish sanding them completely, but I will probably tackle the forearms next.
Thanks for stopping by!
Well, I got back from my Florida road-trip on Monday, which my friends and I called a successful failure. Meaning, we didn't see the Shuttle launch (it has been postponed to Tuesday, May 10 I believe), but still had a crazy good time!
Anyway, I arrived back and picked up right where I left off: finishing the shoulders. As of this morning, they are all finished minus padding and strapping (which I'll do all at once at the end when I finish all the pieces).
When I left, the shoulders were in primer. I did some more work to them before final paint, such as adding a detail piece to the biceps, as well as cutting a notch in the same area (per my reference photos). Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of those specific things, but you can see them if you look carefully. Here are the shoulders with final color on.
Next, I masked off two areas for black paint:
1. The rectangle on the right shoulder which is the base of my emblem.
2. The black lines, which are supposed to be indented areas, like in the HD piece. I could have built this area up with cardboard to get a similar effect, but decided it was not worth the effort. Painting them worked well enough for me.
With my sister's help, I created a vinyl stencil of my emblem. This was sprayed white, with the secondary color being a pale green.
Now I have my Reach emblem on my armor! (I've been using this emblem since Halo 2)
Next steps were black wash, dry-brushing scratches, and finally clear coat.
Finally, I had to install the sniper bullet holder.
Last time, it was about half-finished. I Bondo-ed the edges to smooth them out, sanded, primered, and painted them silver. After weathering and clear-coating, I epoxied it all together, and also installed screws for even more security. I added some vinyl material (same as the inner thigh padding) and screws to add to the detail.
Here it is with the bullets installed. The foam creates a secure, but easily removable fit. (I borrowed the 3rd bullet from a friend who had one too; still haven't bought my own 3rd one).
Finally, I glued on the attachment to the left shoulder using hot glue.
Also, for added security, 4 screws were installed from the inside (those 3 bullets together are heavy!)
Here are the finished shoulders!
Yes, the left shoulder is quite heavy, so I will have to strap it securely. However, it came out just about as good as I hoped! Also, I am very satisfied with the look of the right shoulder with my painted on emblem.
I have also just about finish sanding a greave and forearm piece. Today I might finish sanding them completely, but I will probably tackle the forearms next.
Thanks for stopping by!
BLACKULA727
Well-Known Member
Dude!!! This is straight up McNasty. I love it! Great work.
LongShot X
Well-Known Member
Blackula just took the words right out of my mouth.
All I can add to that is McAwesome work.
All I can add to that is McAwesome work.
Spitfire22V
Well-Known Member
Thanks, hope it will help when you get to that point! Just some extra tips:
1. I glued the plywood sides directly to both sides of a piece of foam, then cut out the foam. This ensured a cleaner, closer cut of the foam.
2. When cutting out the holes for the bullets, make them a tiny bit undersize so that they provide that grip when the bullet pushes on the foam.
Blackula just took the words right out of my mouth.
All I can add to that is McAwesome work.
Thanks guys, always glad to see you guys following my thread!
Ok, time for another update. I just finished putting the finishing touches on the forearms, and they are 100% complete
**Forearm completion**
To be honest, not much to say here, because it's the same old steps as I've been doing before.
Primer coat. Had some imperfections to fix with Bondo, so I did that pretty easily, then did a final sanding (should have been doing more of this on the other finished pieces) and a final primer coat.
Final color on.
Masked out the areas to be painted black. The black angular line area is where the low-def file really falls short, but I made the best of it as I could.
Black detail areas painted.
Black wash, dry-brushing, and clear coat. At this point, the forearms are just about finished, except for the shotgun shell holder.
Spitfire22V
Well-Known Member
**Shotshell holder completion**
I decided to split the update into 2 parts since I had quite a bit of pictures I wanted to show for this.
Originally, I was going to purchase a commercial off-the-shelf shotshell holder and just attach it, but I decided to make my own for the following reasons:
1. Allowed more flexibility in the design since I could make it look however I wanted.
2. I really enjoy handcrafting things like this.
3. It's cheaper that way.
The holder is constructed of plywood, and I simply used a strap of the vinyl from the inner thigh pads to actually hold and secure the shells.
It started off as simply a piece of plywood, on which I added more wood to build it up.
I made the bottom recessed because I knew I would need to hide the extra vinyl underneath.
Next, I Bondo-ed and sanded it smooth, which got rid of the grain of the wood, and blended it all to make it look like one piece.
After a primer coat and more sanding, I measured out where I needed to cut the slots for the vinyl to pass through.
The Dremel with a large carbide cutting wheel did quick work of cutting the slots. At this point, I couldn't resist anymore and had to try it out to make sure it would all work. The vinyl strap is simply threaded through the slots, holding the shells tight against the base.
Yup, it works!
The shotshells are simply 12 gauge empty hulls that I brought back home from the skeet shooting range.
The bottom crimps were closed up and sealed off with a dab of hot glue.
Final coat of silver paint on the holder.
I added some detail text on the side of the holder (again freehand because it's too small to stencil). It looks pretty sloppy from such a close-up view, but it doesn't look that bad from normal viewing distance. The black wash hid a lot of it anyway.
I used the information from Halopedia.
Soellkraft 8 Gauge shell
Weathered the holder.
Putting in the shells for real this time.
A view from underneath showing the vinyl. It was all secured with hot glue.
I hot glued a rectangle of EVA foam underneath the holder, and then hot glued that to the right forearm piece. All finished!
Next, I'll be working on finishing the shin pieces. They are mostly sanded down, as I've been also working on them these past few days. Hopefully they shouldn't take too long to finish up.
Thanks for stopping by!
I decided to split the update into 2 parts since I had quite a bit of pictures I wanted to show for this.
Originally, I was going to purchase a commercial off-the-shelf shotshell holder and just attach it, but I decided to make my own for the following reasons:
1. Allowed more flexibility in the design since I could make it look however I wanted.
2. I really enjoy handcrafting things like this.
3. It's cheaper that way.
The holder is constructed of plywood, and I simply used a strap of the vinyl from the inner thigh pads to actually hold and secure the shells.
It started off as simply a piece of plywood, on which I added more wood to build it up.
I made the bottom recessed because I knew I would need to hide the extra vinyl underneath.
Next, I Bondo-ed and sanded it smooth, which got rid of the grain of the wood, and blended it all to make it look like one piece.
After a primer coat and more sanding, I measured out where I needed to cut the slots for the vinyl to pass through.
The Dremel with a large carbide cutting wheel did quick work of cutting the slots. At this point, I couldn't resist anymore and had to try it out to make sure it would all work. The vinyl strap is simply threaded through the slots, holding the shells tight against the base.
Yup, it works!
The shotshells are simply 12 gauge empty hulls that I brought back home from the skeet shooting range.
The bottom crimps were closed up and sealed off with a dab of hot glue.
Final coat of silver paint on the holder.
I added some detail text on the side of the holder (again freehand because it's too small to stencil). It looks pretty sloppy from such a close-up view, but it doesn't look that bad from normal viewing distance. The black wash hid a lot of it anyway.
I used the information from Halopedia.
Soellkraft 8 Gauge shell
Weathered the holder.
Putting in the shells for real this time.
A view from underneath showing the vinyl. It was all secured with hot glue.
I hot glued a rectangle of EVA foam underneath the holder, and then hot glued that to the right forearm piece. All finished!
Next, I'll be working on finishing the shin pieces. They are mostly sanded down, as I've been also working on them these past few days. Hopefully they shouldn't take too long to finish up.
Thanks for stopping by!
JUSTINIAN 117
Well-Known Member
This is coming out really good. Keep it up. I love the shoulders.
Constrictor
Active Member
Wow! They're looking really badass man!
LikeLighting
New Member
Looks great! I can't wait to see the finished kit!
thorn696
Sr Member
Well...it looks like you're gone and made another wonderful part AGAIN!!!!! Hmm lets see,
(X)the detail work is out of this world.
(X)Paint work looking like something out of a movie.
(X)done faster then it takes most people to pep it.
Yulp its a Spitfire22V's masterpiece. Keep up the great work, and keep us posted.
(X)the detail work is out of this world.
(X)Paint work looking like something out of a movie.
(X)done faster then it takes most people to pep it.
Yulp its a Spitfire22V's masterpiece. Keep up the great work, and keep us posted.
LongShot X
Well-Known Member
OMG... Very well done job on the shotshell holder!
Excellent tutorial and a great idea for adding details to the forearm.
Love how the painting is turning out. I'd swear that its looks like I did it!
Im still very impressed with how your build is going.
Kudos
Excellent tutorial and a great idea for adding details to the forearm.
Love how the painting is turning out. I'd swear that its looks like I did it!
Im still very impressed with how your build is going.
Kudos
Spitfire22V
Well-Known Member
Thank you all so much for the comments! It's greatly appreciated and greatly motivating.
Kevin, the paint job on your suit looks superb, so I'll definitely try to emulate that. However, I think the green that I am using is slightly darker than yours (it's "Italian Olive"). I've also noticed that the entire appearance/color of a piece changes dramatically as I go from base coat, to black wash, to clear coat. In the end though, I'm satisfied with how it looks.
Kevin, the paint job on your suit looks superb, so I'll definitely try to emulate that. However, I think the green that I am using is slightly darker than yours (it's "Italian Olive"). I've also noticed that the entire appearance/color of a piece changes dramatically as I go from base coat, to black wash, to clear coat. In the end though, I'm satisfied with how it looks.
BaronVonReicher
Member
This is fantastic work! I like how you've made the bullet and shotgun shell holders yourself. Very nice!
Russett
Active Member
This is very nice so far! hopefully mine turns out half as cool as yours.
Sorry to go off-topic but this was bugging me,
Does anyone know why they took my Cancel emblem out of reach? i was not very happy with that
Sorry to go off-topic but this was bugging me,
Does anyone know why they took my Cancel emblem out of reach? i was not very happy with that
Spitfire22V
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the comments guys, very appreciated!
I don't know why they removed emblems! I don't see the reason why. I remember that my Drone emblem was missing in the Reach Beta, but it made it into the full game. Sorry yours didn't!
Ok guys, major update here.
Both the greaves/shins and the codpiece are finished! All that's left to finish is the chest, which will probably take the most time out of all the pieces other than the helmet.
On to the photos:
Greaves final sanded and buckle detail added.
Codpiece final sanded, and butt plate detail piece added, as well as side pouch details.
I picked up a $5 utility belt from Lowes to use for the codpiece. It's 2 inches in width with a heavy duty plastic buckle. Seems like it will work just fine. Just need to get a pair of suspenders and figure out how to attach them to the belt to support all the lower body pieces.
This is where I decided to separate the codpiece. The Dremel did a quick job of the cuts. It also leaves me with some gaps between the 2 pieces for some things I'm going to add later.
Greaves in primer.
Final color with detail pieces painted black.
Black-washed, weathered, and clear-coated. All finished!
Codpiece in primer.
Had to do a bit of extra Bondo to smooth out the top of the pouch areas. The cardboard detail piece I added does not cover the entire top, just the front. I figured it would be easier to Bondo and blend the edges than create a piece that does cover the top.
Codpiece in final color and side pouch detail painted black.
Black-washed, weathered, and clear-coated. All finished!
I couldn't resist resting the greaves on the boots to see the effect so far. I got pretty excited after seeing it! Actually, I'm just overall getting more and more excited the closer I get to finishing!
I will use some of that corrugated plastic tubing (the same that was used for the boots) as a separator between the boots and greaves.
Also, finally got some more work done on the Magnum! I've been ignoring it for some time now, don't know why I didn't feel like working on it as much. Probably because I wanted to work on the armor more. Now that the armor is nearing completion, it was time to pick it back up.
I sanded the edges a little, and created wooden detail pieces, such as the trigger and handguard. Still has a lot of work to do on it.
That's all for now! I'll be working on the chest piece, and some other details, as well as probably ordering a few other items I need for the suit as a whole. I feel confident that I can completely finish the suit within the month.
Thanks for stopping by!
I don't know why they removed emblems! I don't see the reason why. I remember that my Drone emblem was missing in the Reach Beta, but it made it into the full game. Sorry yours didn't!
Ok guys, major update here.
Both the greaves/shins and the codpiece are finished! All that's left to finish is the chest, which will probably take the most time out of all the pieces other than the helmet.
On to the photos:
Greaves final sanded and buckle detail added.
Codpiece final sanded, and butt plate detail piece added, as well as side pouch details.
I picked up a $5 utility belt from Lowes to use for the codpiece. It's 2 inches in width with a heavy duty plastic buckle. Seems like it will work just fine. Just need to get a pair of suspenders and figure out how to attach them to the belt to support all the lower body pieces.
This is where I decided to separate the codpiece. The Dremel did a quick job of the cuts. It also leaves me with some gaps between the 2 pieces for some things I'm going to add later.
Greaves in primer.
Final color with detail pieces painted black.
Black-washed, weathered, and clear-coated. All finished!
Codpiece in primer.
Had to do a bit of extra Bondo to smooth out the top of the pouch areas. The cardboard detail piece I added does not cover the entire top, just the front. I figured it would be easier to Bondo and blend the edges than create a piece that does cover the top.
Codpiece in final color and side pouch detail painted black.
Black-washed, weathered, and clear-coated. All finished!
I couldn't resist resting the greaves on the boots to see the effect so far. I got pretty excited after seeing it! Actually, I'm just overall getting more and more excited the closer I get to finishing!
I will use some of that corrugated plastic tubing (the same that was used for the boots) as a separator between the boots and greaves.
Also, finally got some more work done on the Magnum! I've been ignoring it for some time now, don't know why I didn't feel like working on it as much. Probably because I wanted to work on the armor more. Now that the armor is nearing completion, it was time to pick it back up.
I sanded the edges a little, and created wooden detail pieces, such as the trigger and handguard. Still has a lot of work to do on it.
That's all for now! I'll be working on the chest piece, and some other details, as well as probably ordering a few other items I need for the suit as a whole. I feel confident that I can completely finish the suit within the month.
Thanks for stopping by!
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