Drgnfyre4 Mk Vi Progress Thread

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Drgnfyre4

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Finally getting around to posting my progress thread of my MK VI armor. I am using 110 lb cardstock. For the most part the files are MrOreos unfolds and I do my raised relief detailing with sheet styrene. My preferred method of construction after pep is to do two coats of fiberglass resin on the outside of the pepped piece This makes a nice sealing layer for the outside of the cardstock. I then pour small batches of casting resin purchased from Silpak.com. I gently hand rotocast this until the entire inside is coated. The resin soaks into the inside layer of the cardstock and bonds to it essentialy in the way it would fiberglass matt. I am able to do this in about two or so coats until I have the desired thickness and strength. It aso leaves the inside of the pieces glass smooth, so no annoying fiberglass spikes to deal with. My parts are VERY durable and strong. I have had to work on this project off and on due to my business which is DragonfyreEntertainment.com So progress will be off and on between working on customer jobs.

masterchiefhelm1.jpg


Note the symmetry on the helmet pep. I tend to reinforce broad surface area pieces by glueing a second layer of 110 cardstock to the inside as I am building the piece. This hels to avoid warpage and creates a sturdier more crisp model.I also swear by using Zap A Gap medium thickness cyranoacrylite glue. I also keep a bottle of spray Zip Kicker handy. I run a bead of the CA glue along my seam, press the edges together and then wipe with a paper towel...this helps to draw the moisture of the CA glue into the adhereing pieces and makes it set fast and also hardens that joined adge. This causes my seams to become a support structure and also helps to insure that my pep is more rigid and stable than other glueing methods. Before people speculate and have wild theories be advised I have worked profesionaly in film and television doing props and costumes for over ten years so that is where most of my experience using materials comes from.



TORSO.jpg


Torso appears large as it is on a female mannequin form, and I am also not exactly a small guy.



009.jpg


handback1.jpg




I decided to scratchbuild the handback out of styrene as I could get sharper detail than my pep was yielding. This was then molded in silicone and then cast in resin.



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These bicep and shoulder pieces will get super detailed with sheet styrene to add in the crisp ridges and plate details. I prefer the control I get over the detail sharpness by adding that in after the base pep shape is done. These parts are still in progress.



002.jpg


Forearms being built up. Details are a combination of sheet styrene and epoxy putty.

FOREARMS1.jpg


Forearms detailed and sanded. Base coated in light grey sandable primer.

FOREARMS2.jpg


Painted and weathered, still a little more detail paint to be added later.



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Upper legs pepped. I had to splice more cardstock into the inner thigh area as my thighs are thicker than the scale would allow for. I may still end up removing the inner thigh ridges and later sculpting them and casting in latex just for ease and comfort of moving around at conventions. I hate armor bites. Again thank you to MrOreo for his unfolds as they are ideal for the way I tend to finish of my pieces!



shins.jpg
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So there is obviously still a massive amount of work to be done. My goal is to have this up and ready for San Diego Comicon. I will update as I get more finished.
 
MrOreo123 said:
Awesome work! I really like how you were able to raise the detail level of these lo-def peps with the styrene!

Thanks man! Its your files that pretty much keep me going at this project. I just started on your smoother unfold of the Iron Man helmet by the way!
 
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Shade said:
Looks Amazing!!! But it looks like someone needs to update Armour WIP picture. :p

You are correct...that should bring it up to date for now.
 
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Got the handbacks painted up today. Ordered a cool set of paintball gloves to mount them on, those should arrive in a few days.

handbackspainted.jpg
 
So I managed to sneak in a little time this last week to work on this. I had to resize the chest armor and this time I got a much more satisfactory fit. I got two good coats of fiberglass resin on it before having to get back to work on other things.

fiberglassedtorso.jpg




Also managed to pick one of these up off of ebay for cheap to serve as inspiration to keep working on my suit...

halolegendaryeditioncopy.jpg
 
Managed to sneak in a little time away from work to get started on the bicep/shoulder armor. Used styrene strips to begin building on the detail. Hopefully this weekend I can get some time to do bondo work to get the bicep plate detailed out.

biceparmor1.jpg
 
Looking excellent man. Glad to see someone actually following through with their pep armor.
 
drgon47 said:
Looking excellent man. Glad to see someone actually following through with their pep armor.



Thanks Drgon47...I see a lot of folks get excited and do the pep work, and maybe only 1 in 20 that actually end up making any finished product.
 
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Drgnfyre4 said:
Thanks Drgon47...I see a lot of folks get excited and do the pep work, and maybe only 1 in 20 that actually end up making any finished product.



I don't think most people realize the commitment it takes to finish a suit of armour by pepakura. They get bored with cutting and glueing and give up when they realize they still need to resin, bondo and paint the stuff. I surely hope you don't give up, what you have so far looks fantastic.
 
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Very, very nice work. Wow great detail. I'm not a Halo guy so I couldn't tell which armor is which for most of these builds but this is looking great I'm sure it's up there with the best as far as you finishing and detailing for sure. :cool
 
Thanks Finhead, coming from someone with your talent that is high praise indeed.

Aceshigh, not to worry, this has to be done in time for San Diego Comicon. I just have to always set it aside to do customer work before I get to play on any of my own stuff.
 
I hope you show more of youre work in the future Drgnfyre4, as this and youre other threads are very good! I'll be watching this! I also checked out youre website. Very cool!
 
Took the afternoon off and got a little further with refining the shoulder armor parts. I still have to add a bit more detail and smooth out more surface area...

shoulderarmorprimer.jpg






"I hope you show more of youre work in the future Drgnfyre4, as this and youre other threads are very good! I'll be watching this! I also checked out youre website. Very cool!"



Thank you Kinjo!
 
Ive been having ago at my first helmet, and thats all I wanted to do. Know after seeing this I want to do a full suit now

Looks awsome mate i'll be watching this.

Welsh
 
Absolutely loving the detail. I've seen the styrene used before, but I've never actually used it myself. Is it sandable? What I've been using is illustration board (or the like), but I'm considering experimenting with styrene or even foamies. And good call on the doubling up of the cardstock for structure. I usually do the same, but with board to keep flat surfaces flat! Do you use any specific tools to get those sharp edges/grooves?



Keep up the awesome work. It's going to be an extraordinary build.
 
Nicktendo said:
Absolutely loving the detail. I've seen the styrene used before, but I've never actually used it myself. Is it sandable? What I've been using is illustration board (or the like), but I'm considering experimenting with styrene or even foamies. And good call on the doubling up of the cardstock for structure. I usually do the same, but with board to keep flat surfaces flat! Do you use any specific tools to get those sharp edges/grooves?



Keep up the awesome work. It's going to be an extraordinary build.

Styrene is completely sandable. It is the go to material for prop making scratch builds. It scores with an exacto knife and snaps cleanly along the scored edge so cutting shapes is fast.
 
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