Revenant1988's MK V Build (WIP)

Hello 405th.

I decided to post my thread a tad differently than the norm here. My suit is 90% done, and needs only detail such as LED's and strapping adjustments. What I am going to do is post my progress pics in stages, with explanations for the way I did things and the products I used. I also plan to post the data I kept for the cost of building my suit to give the really new an idea on how much money this truly sucks up. I wanted to do it this way to make it easier for people to browse right at the beginning. As such, I am going to "reserve" the next 3 posts, and edit them later when I am at home. From there, my posts will be as I go on the detail phase.

I also have a list of people I need to thank, and I promise I will do that in my next post. I just don't have the list in front of me at the moment and I am at work. Suffice to say, I did this with help, even if they didn't physically help me and they deserve credit for the ideas I tweaked from them.

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EDIT
Here is a list of all the other members I would like to thank. These are the threads (in no particular order) that inspired me to even start working on this project and the others are threads that I referenced and idea or help from. Thank you, for your help, and sharing your info.

Fudz073
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/33507-Halo-Combat-Evolved-Mk.-V-Build...-so-far-(Pic-Heavy)

JUSTINIAN 117
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/...s-MARK-V-BUILD

Spitfire22V
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/31247-Spitfire22V-s-LD-Mark-VI-build-WIP

Flying Spartan
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/29377-Halo-Combat-Evolved-Mark-V-Armor-(WIP)

BLACKULA727
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/31352-Visor-Install-amp-Detail-Tutorial

matth101
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/25086-Starting-Spartan-Mk.-V-project

LongShot-X
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/25298-LongShot-X-s-Mark-VI-HD-MJOLNIR-Armor-WIP

thorssoli
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/7138-Thorssoli's-MkVI-Costume-Buildup
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Now, on to the build

I've been here a while, mostly just as a ghost getting info and inspiration where I need it. For some time after first seeing the indy mogul video a few years ago, I've wanted to make my own suit. I guess you could say I started this project 2 years ago, but I didn't truly start working on it until August of 2011.

I had originally started out building a Halo 3 version of the MK V. I peped two helmets, but was not happy with them. I moved on to other pieces and while they were good, I kinda just let life get in the way of my project.

Then H:CEA was announced, and given a launch date, and suddenly, I had purpose again. I decided that I was starting off too hard with the Halo 3 version. I knew what I would have to do to be successful at this project, so I decided to go with the classic Combat Evolved MK V. I also figured it would be neat anyway since it was the Anniversary release of that title, so it worked itself out, I think. I looked at what I had, what I needed, and I decided that if I gave every waking moment of free time I had to this project, I could finish it in time for November 15th.

And I did. I made certain compromises in order to hit my date.

1.) No time for a gun. It will wait.
2.) No time for LEDs. It will wait.
3.) No time for anything else other than work, eat and sleep.

I chose to do my Spartan in White, since that has been my color since the CE days. Also, because my favorite halo figure is that color, and it was great source material!

Here is the result below. (I'm sorry for the smartphone pics, my digital died that night and this is all I had.)

(The sword is not mine, but a fan at the gamestop that night that let me take a pic with it)


I have a neck cover, but it was hot so I didn't wear it.





Getting ready at home

I am missing the low back plate. I will explain what happened to that soon lol
ALSO, don’t pay too much attention to my ankles in this one, I was bending my feet in the boots at the time it was taken haha!







Overall, for having this much done in 3 months, I am very, very happy. I also think I did great with the scaling. (Except the boots, those were free hand nightmares lol). Thanks for looking, and comments are appreciated!

The Pep Stage

The method I used for the entire suit is 90% Fiberglass. The only thing that is not currently fiberglass on my build are the boots. I did glass a set, but I made a mistake with them that I did not catch in time to make a new set so I decided to free hand foam the boots. They turned out OK for being done in a day, but they are horrible and I hate them

The files that I used are from Rhinoc. I had originally started with the MOZ files that are pretty common, but then I stumbled onto his purely by chance. I gotta say, that I love those files. The helmet is really well done; plenty of space to get my head through without needing to cut the helmet into two separate pieces. Rhinoc, if you see this, you did an AWESOME job with the files. The detail that was added made it a ton easier in the bondo stage.

I started like most everyone else. First I did the helmet. At this point I had a lot of practice peping previous files, and the MK V itself is a very easy model. When I scaled my files, I made sure to account for areas where I would have the undersuit on. Here are some shots from that stage:

I love this helmet!




In order to preserve the details in the vents and prevent any warping, I stuck small pieces of balsa wood in them. They fit perfectly just from pressure, no glue. I left these in just past the the fiberglass stage. They did great, and the vents never lost shape or depth.

The pieces in the plastic tub are leftovers from my failed MK VI try. I did reuse these pieces for testing resin, glass, and bondo as I had never worked with them before. **Having test pieces if you are a noob is a GREAT way to learn how to use resin, bondo etc. This helped me find cure times and amounts to use.





This is a shot of me testing the chest pep over the under suit. I got this one on the first try!! Don't forget to do this for your pieces or it could cost you dearly.



Here is where things got tricky for me. I had some trouble with a few of the pieces. These would be the Shins, thighs, and forearms. What I found was that while I scaled each piece to my body length wise (as opposed to using one master scale for the whole suit), the pieces would at times be too deep or wide. Apparently, if you scale the master chief down to my height of 5'8, it assumes that my calf muscles must be the same size lol SO, I did this:



I took a few sections out of the pep'd model and then re-joined them. This allowed me to keep the pep the correct length, while making it fit around me. By doing it in the pep stage, I could glue paper to it to fill in any holes, or add any additions like I did on the shin bottom to cover my ankle a bit. I also did this on the chest piece to make it fit me better as you'll see that I don't have DD's on my chest LOL

I also had to do it on the thighs on the inside. Luckily for me, Rhinoc's files allowed me to cut at the natural seams and bends, so joining the ends together was very easy. Better to do this early at the pep, than to do it later at the glass stage.







This is pretty much how the pep stage went. I'm not going to include any more pics of this as everyone else has seen pep before and I don't really have anything to add. This stage went quick but I must admit, I was SO SO happy when it was over.

RESIN AND FIBERGLASS

At first, I was very nervous about using fiberglass because I had never worked with it before. I was very aware of the chemical dangers it presented, but luckily for me, I had a large work area and I did go out and buy the necessary safety equipment. Here is what I had to work with:




The initial supply list. I think I ended up doubling this by the end.


Then I had to go out and buy the safety equipment. I bought the resperator for organic fumes from Lowes. I think I went through two additional refills for this mask. The suit is a set of disposable TYVEK coveralls I had from work that we were not using. In the end, I preferred using these to buying a set of coveralls that I'd have to put in the washer. I used 3 of these through the entire build.



Here is the helmet after it was resin'd and glassed on the inside.


When I started, I used the fiberglass cloth. I thought that it would be easier to work with and to a point it was, but I had to use several layers to get it to feel as strong I wanted it to be. By mistake, on a supply run I bought a kit and it included fiberglass mat which is MUCH stronger, but soaks up a ton more resin. In the end, I did a hybrid of the glass. I used two layers of the cloth to fill in the detail areas better as it was thinner to work with, and then over that I did two layers of Mat. This gave me the thickness and strength I was looking for.



To speed up the process and cure times on the pieces, I created a heat box to put them in. This was just a cardboard box lined with aluminum foil. I then took the lid of the box and cut a hole that allowed me to put a work light in it. This took a two hour cure time down to literally 15 min.

I know Fudz also used this method in his build, but this is one thing we both did at the same time haha


I had some trouble finding the appropriate amount of catalyst for the resin a few times. This was most caused by the temperature change around me. Basically, what worked one week in September, did NOT work a week later in October. I didn't loose much resin, but there were a few cups that I did that went quick.

The method I used for the resin was measuring an ounce of liquid in a dixie cup, and then making that mark on all the cups I used after. This saved me a ton of money, and I just throw the cup away after I use it.

I resin'd all my pieces at once. This saved me a lot of time trying to meet the deadline. The only draw back I had with this, is that I didn't test fit the pieces during this process. In hindsight, had I tested them during, I would not have lost the cod piece and boots to warping. They did not warp much, but since I fitted them so close to me, there was no room for adjustment.

Here are all the pieces laid out:





The glassing process went really well for the most part, except of the chest I messed up.

Basically, what I did was after I glassed it to my liking, I put it in the heat box. It barely fit. Well, when I covered it an put the light on it, it got hot enough that it burned and scorched the paper. You can kinda see it on the piece on the left, the brown discoloration in the center. I still have that piece, so I'll try to get a pic up of what happens when you do something stupid lol.
So, I had to crank out another chest. I pep'd it in a day and had it glassed a day later, but it really threw off my schedule and pissed me off.

Here is a shot of my shins and the boots I did outta foam. The black marks you see are JB weld that I used to fill the holes from cutting the paper.



The boots..... don't get me started on them. I messed up bad on the glassed boots and did not have enough time to make new ones. I decided to use some foam that I had. I put these together in a day. I didn't have time to do much else. I didn't even use the pep templates, I just free-handed them. Poorly. Here is the result below. These are the least favorite part of my build.





These are really rough. I did melt the foam with an iron to make it smooth around the edges, and I added enough to give me 2 inches of height. I also took a DREMEL sanding bit to them and rounded out where I could. Since my tennis shoes are under them, I could not round them out any better. It was also SUPER messy. Sanding foam.......lesson learned.

I had problems painting them. I had some enamel paint that coated them good, but it ran a bit too. If I used normal spray paint, I had to do about 5 coats, and its still not enough. If anyone could tell me how they paint their foam armor, I'd appreciate the insight.

Other than that, I don't have any pieces to show that have anything different. Fiberglass is fiberglass I guess.

BONDO, SAND, REPEAT

So. Bondo. This was my least favorite part of the build. Most of my frustration here was caused by how much Bondo I wasted. I Bought two cans of Bondo Gold. I don't know if there is much difference in the gold vs the light weight, but it was in small quantity and only a $1 more than the regular body filler. Has anyone else used this? Is there a difference?
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/wc...age//N3591/large/7100029_bnd_233_pri_larg.jpg

When I mixed it, it would turn into a mustard yellow color instead of the pink that other people mention. It would get redder if I used more catalyst, but that caused it to become more brittle. I wasted a little more than 1/2 a can of it. I found it very difficult to measure out proper amounts, and I had trouble applying it. As a result, I would mix too much and then have to throw it away
If that didn't happen, It would cure fast when I apply it and would not be smooth so I'd have to sand the crap out of it. The Dremel Multi-Max helped with this tremendously, but some areas I could not use it so I had to do it by hand. It was a pain.


Here is a shot of the hand plate I tested on my first time. I took my Dremel and used the metal brush attachment and grinding stone to score lines into it to promote better adhesion between the outer resin and the bondo.






My buddy Matt trying it on


Ok. I have to say something: I don't understand Spot Putty. It didn't work for me at all for the most part. I would use it to fill any small pin holes, or small chunks missing and let it cure all day, and then when I would sand, it would just come right out. I'm sure I was doing something wrong, but it was so frustrating to have to go back and just but bondo on it, and try again. A couple of times I used JB weld since you can sand it easily and it did well, but its expensive to use on a large scale like that.

I don't have any other pics of the bondo stage. Its pretty self explanatory. You put it on, let it dry, sand it down, do it again. BORING. MESSY. BLAH.

I really like the end result on your suit. It turned out quite well and it looked very sharp. Nicely done, nicely done indeed.

so are you able to put on the HD rhionic helmet without cutting out the back or haveing to make the helmet too big?

nice work, I like how you did the boots. Good Job.

@ Lance Criminal + sirnaut, Thanks for the compliments! I hate my boots though and I can't wait to re-do them

Sky_Walker said:

so are you able to put on the HD rhionic helmet without cutting out the back or haveing to make the helmet too big?

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For me, yes. If I recall correctly, he did something with this file to enable that. You'd have to check his thread to be sure. I did make one alteration to it but that was more cosmetic than functional. There is a small lip that runs along the bottom of the helmet- I did Dremel this out. I could not glass it well, and it also got in the way on the motorcycle helmet liner I'm trying to fit in there. I'll try to get a pic up of what I'm talking about, but definitely check out his files, they are awesome.

PRIMING AND PAINTING

I have never painted anything before. At least, I've never spray painted anything before. I knew some basic things about the process, but I had no idea how to choose the right paint to the right primer and things like that. So, it was back to my test pieces to figure out how to do it. This is the look I was shooting for:

I have this figure, and it is still my favorite

Here is the in game shot of that figure.


I had difficulty finding the color I wanted in a spray paint. The figure that I hold in my hand is more off white than bright white, and the game model definitely has discoloration on it. I at first tried using KRYLON NICKLE as the cap color matched the figure really well, but it was to metallic to use on the armor. I looked at things like egg shell, and other shades of white, but ultimately I went with KRYLON FLAT WHITE, and I'm happy with it.

Once I had a piece bondo'd the way I liked it or at least to the point where I couldn't make it any better, it was then time to prime it. At this point, it was getting colder outside so I could not leave the garage doors to the warehouse open. This means that while I had a wide open and pretty well ventilated area, I was still fiberglassing, bondoing, and painting in an enclosed space, so I pretty much looked like this for two months:

I changed the filter on my mask as soon as I could start to smell hints of things I could not smell before. I went through 3 total at $15 a pop, but you can't put a price on your safety, and I don't want cancer or nerve damage later. Be safe, kids!

For my setup, I just took an old tarp I had and attached it to the wall and floor where I would be painting. Worked pretty well.


Here is a shot of a shoulder with the primer drying on it



My priming process went like this:

After it was bondo'd to my liking, I sprayed it with one good coat of RUSTOLEUM SELF ETCHING (AUTOMOTIVE) PRIMER. Then, I went back and took out as many of the imperfections that the Primer revealed that I could. Once that was done, I sprayed it with another coat of the etching primer, and then sanded it with a medium grit sand paper

When that was done, I sprayed it with a coat of RUSTOLEUM FILLER PRIMER. This primer was really easy to sand and is supposed to fill in any small imperfections.

Here are the cod and ab pieces


I did not use the cod piece at the end, and I'll explain why when I get there. I only used 1/2 the ab plate due to a problem as well, but that piece I can fix.

The painting process varied from piece to piece, depending on how I wanted to detail it. I'll put those in the next post as I'm running out of space in this one.

MOAR PAINTING

As I said last, painting was new for me and deciding how to tackle the process was a challenge for me. Some pieces, it made more sense to spray it with its primary color first, and then tape off areas and spray the black details.. Other pieces were the complete opposite!

The forearms were the first pieces with detail that I tried



First, I sprayed these with a layer of black on the detail areas, and when it was dry taped it off, then started with the white. One thing I noticed, it was easy to coat the primer in black paint, than white. It would take 5-6 passes with white and only 1-2 with the black. As such, I used 9 cans of flat white, and only one can of black.




The shoulders were second, and went the same way. These pieces were 90% white and that made them really easy.



On the MK V (classic) there are a few small areas on the thighs and forearms that are brown, so I made sure I got those details as best I could. I did them in the same process, painted the brown detail, taped it off. Then prainted the black detail, taped it off. Then painted the full white. I only had to touch up a few small areas.





One thing I realized at this point, I wish I would NOT have cut out the light holes in the pep stage. It would have been easier to cut them out before I painted. That's just my opinion.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but looking back its still a bit fuzzy..........

Here is a shot of the chest. For the chest, there were only a few small black areas like the sides of the chest, the collar, and the thin slits on the back (I will explain how I split the chest it in a bit)


I was short on time by the time I did the helmet and did not snap any pics of the painting process. I only have one with its first coat of etching primer


Once the pieces were painted and I was satisfied with them, I gave them all liberal coats of a clear coat. I did not want my suit to look shiny at all, so I went with Flat black and Flat white. The clear coat was satin, and it gave them just the right amount of sheen and shine I was looking for. My next post will cover how I did my chest, and how I did the visor in the helmet. Stay tuned.

Great job.

For sealing the foam, most people spray it with plastidip. Then they use whatever color paint for the base coat.

Overall it looks like you had everything done very well. It pays to read a lot before you start something.

JUSTINIAN 117 said:

Great job.

For sealing the foam, most people spray it with plastidip. Then they use whatever color paint for the base coat.

Overall it looks like you had everything done very well. It pays to read a lot before you start something.

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Didn't know you could get plasti dip in a spray... I'll have to look at that, Thanks. Appreciate the compliments as well, I spent a very long time researching before I did anything, and it does give you an idea of the cost of something like this. Who knew, that using the search bar would tell me that any question I could have asked has pretty much already been answered? lol

I have a lot more to upload to share, but at the moment I'm enjoying a needed break from the build.

Brilliant work! Always good to see another Mark V suit!

Great job so far. All the pieces look really nice, though I personally think the boots look a little goofy and too big in the toe area (I would give them a little taper towards the front).

Regarding the painting process/colors, first of all, spray painting with spray cans is really straight-forward, so don't worry about that too much. You seem to have gotten the hang of it. Primers are simply used to prep surfaces for paint, provide a uniform base color, and promote paint adhesion. You can also lightly sand the primer layer, as they tend to have slight filling capabilities and will help smooth your final surface.

As for the white being too bright, don't forget that you can lightly "black-wash" your pieces to give them a dirty, used, battle-worn look. It will really mute the brightness of the white, but still give it a nice look. No one should mistake the end result for anything but a white base coat. A little goes a long way, so don't over-do it! Hope this helps a bit.

If you are using a flat white base, you can use regular old newspaper to give it a dirty look. Just take a piece and start wiping it down. Go slow until you see how it looks, then you can go crazy if you want.

Spitfire22V said:

Great job so far. All the pieces look really nice, though I personally think the boots look a little goofy and too big in the toe area (I would give them a little taper towards the front).

Regarding the painting process/colors, first of all, spray painting with spray cans is really straight-forward, so don't worry about that too much. You seem to have gotten the hang of it. Primers are simply used to prep surfaces for paint, provide a uniform base color, and promote paint adhesion. You can also lightly sand the primer layer, as they tend to have slight filling capabilities and will help smooth your final surface.

As for the white being too bright, don't forget that you can lightly "black-wash" your pieces to give them a dirty, used, battle-worn look. It will really mute the brightness of the white, but still give it a nice look. No one should mistake the end result for anything but a white base coat. A little goes a long way, so don't over-do it! Hope this helps a bit.

Click to expand...

Hey Spitfire!

The boots are horrible, and I hate them. I can't fix them anymore than they are, I can only redo them. The tennis shoes I have under the foam curl up a bit at the toe, and that messed with the foam, so they are blocky. I will redo them since I like the feel of the foam when I walk on it.

As for the white, its not that I don't like it, but it is a bit bright and the storm trooper comments I get are hilarious ^_^

I would like to do a MK VI with some custom pieces, and I'll do that suit in white too but I'll play a bit with the battle damage. I was able to replicate some of the pits you see in the classic armor's reference pics by messing with the bondo when it was applied. Nice touch, I think.

I'll have more pics up soon. I'm just a bit busy.

R8b said:

Brilliant work! Always good to see another Mark V suit!

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Thanks! I like the Orange on yours, very sharp! Nice contrast on the visor too.

Where are you in ohio? I'm in Columbus.

Yeah!!!! Bravo dude!!! Love it. Your suit came out freakin awesome! The white mk v looks awesome. Its cool to see all of Rhinoc's files built too, i think you're the first to complete an entire suit of his, and you did an AWESOME job man!! Congrats on a job well done, and its cool to see another Mk V come to life!

Freakin' sweet Man. Glad you made a thread for this. I was getting very curious of how your suit was coming out. I must say, It's awesome! I dare say, it's lookin' better than mine!!!

Fudz073 said:

Freakin' sweet Man. Glad you made a thread for this. I was getting very curious of how your suit was coming out. I must say, It's awesome! I dare say, it's lookin' better than mine!!!

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I would not say mine is better than yours, just different. I'm still pretty envious of your helmet. I have to add electronics to mine still, and fill in the gaps on the side of the visor. I like what you did with the styrenen. Right now I just have a couple of foamies filling in the gap as a temp. I think I might get another visor off ebay and try to cut the shapes to fill it in.

Enjoy the holiday break dude!