Undersuits

Does anyone have a good way of making an undersuit and maybe a few pics of it? I'm building a Mjolnir mk VI suit. I started so far with cutting craft foam pieces and gluing them together, then I'm going to get a lycra suit that I can then strap them to. Any input is welcome and appreciated greatly.

Signing off,
Dagger

Are you making a halo 4 or halo 3 suit, both are refered to as mark 6 at times, and i think that lycra may deteriorate with use, i plan on using latex over some material

I'm making the Halo 3 suit, how would you apply the latex? The thought of using it went across my mind but I don't have a better way of application other than brushes, this would result in brush-strokes which I wouldn't want.

the latex idea isn't a bad one. the best way to do it imo would probably be to make a whole heap of little flat moulds in the shapes of the layers and pour the latex into them, making the layers about 2-3mm thick. when they dry you could then apply them to the fabric undersuit with some kind of latex friendly polyurethane glue. or you could cut the pieces out of foam of about the same thickness and layer them on in the same way. i have seen quite a few undersuits made of vinyl, but they tend to not be breathable. i would checkout what film studios use, specifically the "Batsuit" (Batman) starting from the the 1989 film onwards. you can hide patches under the hard armour parts too that allow for moisture to escape and your skin to breath. hope this helps.

In my opinion, Stiilus has touched on one of the main things that has to be kept in mind when constructing an undersuit: breathability. I would be very cautious with using latex for the undersuit, as it is not in any way "breathable," and that means it will hold in all the moisture (namely sweat) and with it, the body odor that accompanies said moisture. Also, latex isn't absorbent, which means that swampiness is going to stay locked against your skin, and that's going to get nasty pretty quick (and you may well unleash a stank that can stun an adult bull moose when you peel that suit off at the end of the day).

Relying too heavily on foam won't be much better. Granted it is more absorbent, but it's not a good "wicking" material, so instead of having all that moisture sealed against your skin, it's basically going to become imbedded in your suit.

Spandex/lycra and similar fabrics that are characterized by their elasticity are probably your best bet. They come in many colors and "finishes" that can make the material look rubbery, leathery, metallic, glossy, or dull. You can incorporate thin EVA foam (craft foam, or "foamies) or you could even use thin foam padding (similar to upholstery foam), which can be essentially "carved" into the desired shape, and then sewn between layers of lycra/spandex to give the suit shape while still being more breathable than EVA. My thought has been to use a "heat gear" type underarmor (the type made to be worn in warmer weather) and have as many of the undersuit details be attached to the hard armor (for example the undersuit "padding" along the waistsband of the Reach cod/belt assembly).

Whatever you go with, though, be mindful of where you can get away with, as Stiilus suggested, patches of open, breathable material. If you have a full latex/vinyl undersuit, and then put EVA/fiberglass hard armor on top of that, you're looking at a high risk of basically smothering yourself in your own suit. For Halo armor, the chest, back, shins and thighs are good places to put in as much mesh as you can get away with. A patch of breathable (but still modest) material behind the codpiece is also advisable, as that is one of the areas of the body that generates a lot of heat and will feel very, very uncomfortable to say the least if it gets that "swampy" feeling.

The nice thing about a costume undersuit is you only need to make the portions that will be visible. My own Mk VI undersuit is made from vinyl, but only covers my abdomen, lower back and shoulders.

Thanks guys! I really appreciated the help! I think I'm going to go with strapping foam pieces to a lycra suit, then I still get breathability through any patches that don't have foam. Even so, my foam pieces have around 1-2 mm gaps in between each "plate".