The Epic Journey Begins! MK VI Armor Progression

Hello everyone!

I would say this is my first post, but I just introduced myself in the appropriate sticky thread, so feel free to check that out.

I've been reading the 405th for weeks now, and have patiently been reading and studying up on everything there is to know about making your own custom tailored Halo armor. So after all the weeks of reading, I've decided it's time to actually start participating in the community! Exciting right?!

So....I'm starting the epic journey of creating my very own set of the ever so popular MK VI armor. The journey will be long...really long, as I'm sure most of you know. I have no deadline to meet, so I have no time constraints. However, my anticipation is to have the suit finished and polished by this time next year. So, the pressure of time should not affect the quality that I'm shooting for.

There is some major inspiration here on this site, Longshot, Phillydon21, Drgfyre4...just to name a few. All of you guys are my heroes, and a major motivation to me. I hope to make something to be worthy of those standards. Shoot for the sky right?!

I'll also say, that I have no prior experience with pepakura whatsoever. Or costume making in general, so this journey will be a veeeeerrrry long learning experience as well. But I've never been so determined, or motivated to see a project through to it's end.

So without further adieu. Here's my first attempt at pepakura. I will not end up using this piece, mainly because I did not write down the scale I used when I printed it. So to avoid having two irregular thigh pieces, I'll just end up using this as a learning project...and re-pep them later. Also...I lost one piece, which I'm sure you'll notice. :eek And sorry for the bad quality, only had an iPad on hand at the time.









It's not perfect by any means, but I did at least get experience from it. Look forward to updating you guys with the progess, hopefully you guys..and galls will stick with me to the end!!

Thanks for reading, and good luck with everyone's projects!!

looks good so far, keep up the work

Its a start. And anything that you get experience from is a good thing. I personally did almost the whole beta suit as test run pieces, and it helped allot. I'd love to see another great build, So keep us posted.

So, between college and work, and with the help of a good friend, I managed to finish the left shin.

I think I got lucky with the scale, fits great! I'm also content with the quality, for only being my second pep piece. I can only improve from here. Next step, complete the right shin. Hopefully I'll remember to add some pics of me wearing the piece, so you guys can have an idea of the scale. I'll keep you guys posted!

Now that's some really nice looking pep work on the shin.

It does look like it's a bit too big. Maybe go with a measurement halfway in between what you used for the too small and the too big ones?

Agreed, that seems like the most logical thing to do. So I took the measurements, and I'll see how it turns out. Gonna be a long painful process of re-pepping lots of the same pieces, but I guess that's all part of the process.

And I looked at your progress Bexi, and I must say your pepping, sizing, and everything looks fantastic! Keep it up!

theres a big issue with scaling the shins (at least for what i've found.) It seems that the shin gets really wide and not quite as tall. So then when you scale it taller it just gets super wide. Anyway, I think you might want to try and find a medium length between the small shin and the big shin that you did. Otherwise everything else is looking good and I'll make sure to bookmark/ start following this thread!
Keep it up

Finally got the shin size right, and found a use for those old boots after all. I may cover up the tan color with a quick pass of spray paint, if it becomes an issue. Poor quality pic..I know.

looks awesome man =D keep up the great work

Glad you got the shins the right size. It looks great so far keep up the good work.

Thanks for the compliments.

I may put a coat of resin on these two pieces here soon. I read that a piece shrinks a little after you resin it. Is this true? And if it does, how much do they normally shrink? The shin piece I'd be ok if it shrank a little, but the thigh piece fits just right, and I feel that if it were a little smaller, it may not look right in proportion to everything else.

Hosed said:

Thanks for the compliments.

I may put a coat of resin on these two pieces here soon. I read that a piece shrinks a little after you resin it. Is this true? And if it does, how much do they normally shrink? The shin piece I'd be ok if it shrank a little, but the thigh piece fits just right, and I feel that if it were a little smaller, it may not look right in proportion to everything else.

Click to expand...

Uhh I havent ever heard of that happening before I mean your piece can warp so again ive never heard of pieces shinking from resining.

Your piece wont shrink from the resin. However, you should be weary of warping, because that can really mess up your piece. What you'll want to do to avoid it is set the piece against something that will keep it straight. Also, a lot of HD pieces will have support struts in the pep that will also greatly assist against warping. Hope this helps!

I went ahead and resined some of the peps that were to small for me to use, and you guys were right, there was no shrinking involved. I get to paranoid when dealing with little details.

I'm slowly, but surely, getting all my pep work done. I'll be sure to post pics once they're all complete.

Welcome to the 405th Hosed!

Glad that your "determined" to see this through. From what I read in your 1st post, its the same determination that I had when I started my project as a
noob. I still feel like I'm a noob too. Kudos on your determination to see this through.

Higdog is correct. Warping is usually the biggest concern and the solution is to use the support struts to prevent it.

Can't wait to see future progress reports.

Cheers!

LongShot-X said:

Welcome to the 405th Hosed!

Glad that your "determined" to see this through. From what I read in your 1st post, its the same determination that I had when I started my project as a
noob. I still feel like I'm a noob too. Kudos on your determination to see this through.

Higdog is correct. Warping is usually the biggest concern and the solution is to use the support struts to prevent it.

Can't wait to see future progress reports.

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Really appreciate the comment LongShot! I refer to your site, and your thread multiple times a week..if not daily haha. It really helps to keep me motivated. Watching your video never fails to get those inspirational juices flowing! Your work is beyond fantastic!


Still working on the peps, trying my best to keep them clean and accurate. But work and school come first. I'll update with pics soon as I feel I have enough pieces completed.

Not much of an update, but I got the Thigh pieces resined today.

Before.







After Resin. Can't really tell the color differece with the light. But they have one coat of resin all done.







And I just glued some Popsicle sticks in there, so I had something to hold onto.

I know it's been a while since an update, but I am still working. Currently I have both shins and thighs complete and resined.

My question now is, I've started work on the helmet, and all the sizes in terms of height, depth and width all seem right. (scaled at 460 mm heigh) But the opening for my head is a tight fit. Anyone have this issue? I hate to repep the entire thing. Hoping that I can trim off excess around the opening once the helm is hardened.

I'll upload pics as soon as I have the entire helm complete.

Nearing completion with the helm. Here's just a few pics of what I've got left to finish. College has been keeping me busy, so I have very little time to work on it. Should be finished with the pep work this weekend. And cell phone quality photos again...