Commander Sarah Palmer - Scout variant of the MJOLNIR GEN2

Crimmson said:

Check the first post of my thread in the 3d modeling section. I believe I should have the scout stuff in there. Just rummage through the first two posts. I alao believe someone uploade some more near the end of my thread as well. Have fun

oohh yeah.
edit:

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Gah! Thank you so much for editing in the direct links! This has saved me so much time, and it means I won't have to drive to every single coffee shop in this city to get each file. Crimmson, you are a gem of super awesome!

So I have taken a look at the chest piece, scaled it to (hopefully) my proportions, and taken a good hard look at the unfold. I noticed that the unfold appears to only have pieces for one half of the model, which makes sense as it is symmetrical, but the one piece of the front that continues over both sides looks to be missing. It is the upper face of the piece that sits below the waistline at the front; I will try to upload a screen shot of it in a bit. My question is, am I better off to just leave it and cut a custom piece to fit when the rest of it is put together, or should I attempt to re-do the unfold myself? As I am a noob at pepakura I am hoping to not make this all much more difficult by creating a bad unfold.

Thanks again for the files.

Danielle_J!NX said:

Thank you. That sounds like a brilliant idea.

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Awesome, now I just need to bust out the undersuits for me and the hubby super fast so I can really dive into the pep stuff before you get too far ahead.

Gah! Deciding how to incorporate armor strapping, CPU cooling tubing and patches, and electronics into undersuits ON THE DOUBLE.

GeekGuardianDee said:

Gah! Thank you so much for editing in the direct links! This has saved me so much time, and it means I won't have to drive to every single coffee shop in this city to get each file. Crimmson, you are a gem of super awesome!

So I have taken a look at the chest piece, scaled it to (hopefully) my proportions, and taken a good hard look at the unfold. I noticed that the unfold appears to only have pieces for one half of the model, which makes sense as it is symmetrical, but the one piece of the front that continues over both sides looks to be missing. It is the upper face of the piece that sits below the waistline at the front; I will try to upload a screen shot of it in a bit. My question is, am I better off to just leave it and cut a custom piece to fit when the rest of it is put together, or should I attempt to re-do the unfold myself? As I am a noob at pepakura I am hoping to not make this all much more difficult by creating a bad unfold.

Thanks again for the files.

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you are welcome. I believe the second chest file has everything included as it was unfolded for pep, but you should still be able to use it. the first one was unfolded for foam, I don't do foam builds so, I hate to admit, but I didn't even open it. sorry. good luck on your build

Really looking forwards to seeing this develop! looks like a lot of thought has gone in to it already, good luck!

Tom117 said:

Really looking forwards to seeing this develop! looks like a lot of thought has gone in to it already, good luck!

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Lol, you don't know the half of it! I am compiling my notes to organize my thoughts for the first big update - five pages of notes and ten pages of reference sketches. YIKES!

Bioshutt said:

welcome to the 405th Infantry Division Sarah Palmer looks like a fun build. What do you plan on building it with?

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I just realized that I hadn't replied to your question yet, Bioshutt. I apologize for being so thoughtless. I have gone back and forth a number of times debating the merits of foam vs. fibreglass pep, and finally have chosen to go with fibreglass. All other considerations aside, I just don't think foam will have the structural integrity to hold the various components that I am planning to integrate into the build. The CPU cooling system alone requires a pump, radiator, fans, tank, and power supply, some of which will weigh enough to warp foam over time.

Honestly, you should ask my hubby how long it took for me to come to this conclusion. It has been a yo-yo debate over the last couple of weeks. One day I was sure we were gonna do fibreglass, the next foam, etc. Luckily we didn't rush out and order any of the materials, not until I have enough planning done to make a final decision. I am pretty sure that I've reached that stage in the planning now.

I also really like the idea of being able to compare the methods with another build done in foam. Since Jinx has already started out on her foam build for Sarah Palmer, I will take on the fibreglass and we'll see how we fare through the process.

I love your formatting, now hurry up and make your armor so I can love it too!!!
JK, take your time (well, moderately take your time since you do have a deadline...), and if you mess up, no worries, things can be fixed or replaced.

I'm like 100% sure that you've probably read through everything I'm about to say from someone here on the forums in other threads. You seem extremely thorough, methodical, and like I said, I already love your formatting. But I'm going to say some things that I feel like everyone should hear, especially when it is directed specifically at them.

For your questions on Pepakura, I'm not sure if you've seen this scaling tutorial, but if not, you should check it out:
http://halogoddess.weebly.com/scale-your-armor-in-pepakura.html
Remember to give yourself room for padding for all your parts. They will have a thickness to them as you fill them with resin.
Ideally with helmets, you want to add 2" to the height of your head.
In the Pepakura Designer, there is a Measuring tool that allows you measure between two points so you can get your scale better, USE IT. It will definitely help in making sure that you get things the proper proportions. Lots of people have issues with the thighs whether they are too big (and just simply look too big) or they are too small and you can't wear them high enough.

Don't forget about your undersuit.
Girls have been kicking ass at making undersuits and those that have made them have been putting all the guys to shame.
I hope to see the same from you and I encourage you to focus on making one.
Keep in mind though, that you may want to consider adding additional padding to bulk yourself up a bit.
If you decide to fill your figure out in certain areas (like the shoulders and arms) make sure you keep this in mind, because if you do, but forget about it when trying to come up with a size for your biceps you will probably have some issues trying to get them to fit with one another.

This one has a H4 undersuit in it:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/40847-ChefBZD-s-foam-Master-Chief-WIP-(pic-heavy)
and this one also has an Undersuit in it (in fact, I think Brad started the H4 undersuit trend, and I think the source files are in the thread if you haven't already found them):
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/36909-H4-Chief-Scratch-Foam-Armor-Build


My #1 recommendation is to avoid starting with the helmet, especially if you are going with the Pepakura/Fiberglass method. Tackle an easier piece first. Helmets are extremely detailed. Forearms and hand plates are a great place to start.
A lot of people also tend to enjoy making boots, for boots, I recommend a hybrid approach, and if you'd like to read through Carpathia's thread (sorry, I know its long) he gives a lot of details about his boots having made both from fiberglass and from foam.
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...k-VI-Armor-Master-Chief-Going-into-Cryostasis!


I don't know your background (but I'm sure its awesome... and I have a feeling it is engineering related based on your signature and the way you type ), but always remember, especially with your 1st build, it is okay to mess up the 1st time. Get some practice in and make some random things before trying to tackle and be a perfectionist for the build you want to do. I have to remind myself of this sometimes too.
If something seems too hard and daunting, just jump right in, do what you can before asking for help, and if you fail, learning how to fail is a lesson we need to learn.

I'm so OCD and anal about all my projects, that for this one, I've lost 28-lbs for my build which is still waiting on me to finish getting down to 10% bodyfat before I even start the build.

Good luck, feel free to ask questions, we are here to help and then praise you for your awesomeness once you start posting pics haha.
I'm sure you'll do great!!!

I've subscribed, so basically you have to do awesome now

Nice to see another Palmer in the works, and a fiberglass approach as well. Yesterday I was just forced to retire mine (a foam build), the 8th full day in the sun in the Canada Day crowd saw it's end, besides the foam wasn't strong enough to carry my battery pack or my P.A. Speaker.

I didn't check to see what helmet you had picked out, but there are two variants of the Halo 4 Scout helmet floating around, and one is more game accurate than the other, so keep and eye out.

PhoenixArmoury said:

Nice to see another Palmer in the works, and a fiberglass approach as well. Yesterday I was just forced to retire mine (a foam build), the 8th full day in the sun in the Canada Day crowd saw it's end, besides the foam wasn't strong enough to carry my battery pack or my P.A. Speaker.

I didn't check to see what helmet you had picked out, but there are two variants of the Halo 4 Scout helmet floating around, and one is more game accurate than the other, so keep and eye out.

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Yeah I think if I did my suit in foam I would be pretty pissed when it started to fall apart, so fibreglass will be better in that respect.

If you happen to have to link to the file handy, I would appreciate it. I can only access the forums via 3G right now, so it makes finding these files a bit more difficult.

I can't find the link, but I have the file. 4Shared is being mean to me and won't let me upload anything, so I'll get it to you tonight after work.

This thread has many of the models from Halo 4 in it:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/41200-RELEASE-Halo-4-Armour-Assets

Better yet, they seem to all be in .obj format!
So you can modify them if you would like, but otherwise, I'm sure that there are unfolded pep files within the thread for each of the files.

WandererTJ said:

I love your formatting, now hurry up and make your armor so I can love it too!!!
JK, take your time (well, moderately take your time since you do have a deadline...), and if you mess up, no worries, things can be fixed or replaced.

Click to expand...

Thanks, when I came to the forums I noticed that it was pretty difficult to navigate through the really good build threads. I hoped that reserving some space at the beginning would give everyone a chance to find the good stuff whenever they need it. As for hurrying up, well since I am a mom of a preschooler, own my own engineering business, and am making this (and my husband's scout build) in my 'spare time' it may be awhile. Because I already have limited time I am taking a lot of time on the planning end of things.

WandererTJ said:

I'm like 100% sure that you've probably read through everything I'm about to say from someone here on the forums in other threads. You seem extremely thorough, methodical, and like I said, I already love your formatting. But I'm going to say some things that I feel like everyone should hear, especially when it is directed specifically at them.

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Well I was working hard on reading through everything on the site, and searching madly to find and link good ideas together; so much so that the site banned my home IP and flagged it as a spam account. Once that happened my research slowed considerably (had to read the forum via 3G on my iPad). That being said, I really appreciate that you've taken the time to list these resources here; many of them I had found, but if I wasn't such a research nerd this would have saved me a ton of mishaps I am certain.

WandererTJ said:

For your questions on Pepakura, I'm not sure if you've seen this scaling tutorial, but if not, you should check it out:
http://halogoddess.weebly.com/scale-your-armor-in-pepakura.html
Remember to give yourself room for padding for all your parts. They will have a thickness to them as you fill them with resin.
Ideally with helmets, you want to add 2" to the height of your head.
In the Pepakura Designer, there is a Measuring tool that allows you measure between two points so you can get your scale better, USE IT. It will definitely help in making sure that you get things the proper proportions. Lots of people have issues with the thighs whether they are too big (and just simply look too big) or they are too small and you can't wear them high enough.

Click to expand...

Between Halogoddess' tutorial and the scaling video on the 405th wiki (Direct Link) from Cereal Kill3r I think I have a fairly good grasp of how to scale the models. Realistically though, I suspect I will measure, add some extra for the bulk of the undersuit, scale, print, pep, try-on, and make a new set based on adjustments after actually trying on the pieces. So I figure I will pep the full suit at least twice, maybe even more times for certain pieces. Especially since I plan to incorporate a million cool things into this suit and will need to ensure that all of the on-board systems will have spaces available.

WandererTJ said:

Don't forget about your undersuit.
Girls have been kicking ass at making undersuits and those that have made them have been putting all the guys to shame.
I hope to see the same from you and I encourage you to focus on making one.
Keep in mind though, that you may want to consider adding additional padding to bulk yourself up a bit.
If you decide to fill your figure out in certain areas (like the shoulders and arms) make sure you keep this in mind, because if you do, but forget about it when trying to come up with a size for your biceps you will probably have some issues trying to get them to fit with one another.

This one has a H4 undersuit in it:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/40847-ChefBZD-s-foam-Master-Chief-WIP-(pic-heavy)
and this one also has an Undersuit in it (in fact, I think Brad started the H4 undersuit trend, and I think the source files are in the thread if you haven't already found them):
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/36909-H4-Chief-Scratch-Foam-Armor-Build

Click to expand...

Yeah the undersuit has really become the focus of my first update. I have diagrammed out the undersuit about 6 times, and made a pattern. Of course, once I made the pattern I found a better model and started all over again. When I post the link to the update (which I have been writing diligently while being blocked from the forum) you can have a look at the undersuit planning and let me know what you think.

WandererTJ said:

My #1 recommendation is to avoid starting with the helmet, especially if you are going with the Pepakura/Fiberglass method. Tackle an easier piece first. Helmets are extremely detailed. Forearms and hand plates are a great place to start.
A lot of people also tend to enjoy making boots, for boots, I recommend a hybrid approach, and if you'd like to read through Carpathia's thread (sorry, I know its long) he gives a lot of details about his boots having made both from fiberglass and from foam.
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...k-VI-Armor-Master-Chief-Going-into-Cryostasis!

Click to expand...

Thanks for this advice, I had already planned to avoid the helmet at first, as I have recruited an embedded systems prof at the local university to help integrate a HUD system with the suit. We are putting together a proposal to see if we can get funding to purchase a couple pairs of Google glass to integrate into the helmet. Did I mention that I have some AMAZING nerd friends?

As for the boots I am hoping to integrate the 3 block flexible boot system (visit thread here) and, hopefully, make the back block large enough to conceal a lantern battery, or at the very least a battery pack of 9 volts, into each boot.

WandererTJ said:

I don't know your background (but I'm sure its awesome... and I have a feeling it is engineering related based on your signature and the way you type ), but always remember, especially with your 1st build, it is okay to mess up the 1st time. Get some practice in and make some random things before trying to tackle and be a perfectionist for the build you want to do. I have to remind myself of this sometimes too.
If something seems too hard and daunting, just jump right in, do what you can before asking for help, and if you fail, learning how to fail is a lesson we need to learn.

Click to expand...

Yes my professional background is engineering, and messing up is how we learn (at least with HALO suits no one's gonna get killed). With that background and my costuming experience I figure I will be planning a ton, making it once, and then making it again the right way. Which is fine by me.

WandererTJ said:

I'm so OCD and anal about all my projects, that for this one, I've lost 28-lbs for my build which is still waiting on me to finish getting down to 10% bodyfat before I even start the build.

Click to expand...

LOL that's just like me. I want to do Ms. Marvel and Wonder Woman costumes, but decided I needed to tone away my leftover baby belly before I could start patterning them out. My solution: this brutal pain. What crazy lengths we will go for our hobbies, eh?

WandererTJ said:

Good luck, feel free to ask questions, we are here to help and then praise you for your awesomeness once you start posting pics haha.
I'm sure you'll do great!!!

I've subscribed, so basically you have to do awesome now

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Thanks again for taking the time and handing me all of this support and resources. I hope the awesomeness lives up to expectations!

GeekGuardianDee said:

Thanks, when I came to the forums I noticed that it was pretty difficult to navigate through the really good build threads. I hoped that reserving some space at the beginning would give everyone a chance to find the good stuff whenever they need it. As for hurrying up, well since I am a mom of a preschooler, own my own engineering business, and am making this (and my husband's scout build) in my 'spare time' it may be awhile. Because I already have limited time I am taking a lot of time on the planning end of things.

Click to expand...

What does your business do? If it's more fun than pumps, pumping equipment, oil and gas, and all the other things I have to do, I might just have to find the time to come up to Canada. Haha!
I'm actually a mechanical engineer, so it's good to find other engineers on the forums

Don't forget to relax! We can get too involved into our projects sometimes, especially when we love what we are working on.

I'm glad that the new ownership came in when it did. It's going to be good to see your updates!

GeekGuardianDee said:

.......Especially since I plan to incorporate a million cool things into this suit and will need to ensure that all of the on-board systems will have spaces available.

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Oh RLY???
You're going to have to beat me!!! (See bottom link in my signature. I haven't detailed the build process I am planning yet, but it is at least a list of all the features I plan to add)

GeekGuardianDee said:

Thanks for this advice, I had already planned to avoid the helmet at first, as I have recruited an embedded systems prof at the local university to help integrate a HUD system with the suit. We are putting together a proposal to see if we can get funding to purchase a couple pairs of Google glass to integrate into the helmet. Did I mention that I have some AMAZING nerd friends?
As for the boots I am hoping to integrate the 3 block flexible boot system (visit thread here) and, hopefully, make the back block large enough to conceal a lantern battery, or at the very least a battery pack of 9 volts, into each boot.

Click to expand...

Soooo.... yeah.... I might not be dropping $1500 into my helmet (assuming that's the price Google Glass is still going for).
I won't claim defeat though!

As for the batteries, don't you think those might be a bit heavy to carry around in your boots?

GeekGuardianDee said:

Yes my professional background is engineering, and messing up is how we learn (at least with HALO suits no one's gonna get killed). With that background and my costuming experience I figure I will be planning a ton, making it once, and then making it again the right way. Which is fine by me.

Click to expand...

You aren't trying hard enough Lol
Yeah, I would love to make my armor just once and have it be perfect the first time around. I'll have to wait and see what happens though.

GeekGuardianDee said:

LOL that's just like me. I want to do Ms. Marvel and Wonder Woman costumes, but decided I needed to tone away my leftover baby belly before I could start patterning them out. My solution: this brutal pain. What crazy lengths we will go for our hobbies, eh?

Click to expand...

Finally, a guide to help me work on my feminine figure! (I am only slightly sarcastic! I totally just bookmarked that link.)

---

Can't wait to see the undersuit, let me know when you post it! I'm subscribed, so I should see the thread if you make a new post.

Let me know if you have any further questions. I'll do what I can to help.

WandererTJ said:

What does your business do? If it's more fun than pumps, pumping equipment, oil and gas, and all the other things I have to do, I might just have to find the time to come up to Canada. Haha!
I'm actually a mechanical engineer, so it's good to find other engineers on the forums

Click to expand...

Building engineering, mainly focused on asset planning and facilities maintenance for multi-unit residential and commercial properties. Not super exciting, but very needed out here.

WandererTJ said:

Don't forget to relax! We can get too involved into our projects sometimes, especially when we love what we are working on.

Click to expand...

That's why I am doing this with my husband. He is super chill and great at letting me know when I need to step away and take a break.

WandererTJ said:

Oh RLY???
You're going to have to beat me!!! (See bottom link in my signature. I haven't detailed the build process I am planning yet, but it is at least a list of all the features I plan to add)

Click to expand...

*insert evil laugh here* Planned features: Water based body cooling system; LED lighting; Microphone and speakers (voice morphing optional); on board camera; fully integrated circuit board controlled by smart phone and communicating through bluetooth; beverage containment unit and delivery system; magnetic holsters for magnums; Google glass HUD visualizing facing direction, distance traveled, hydration and sustenance reminders, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, fatigue warning, tracking system for other 405th members within the area (most likely provided through an app), area map, targeting reticules for when magnums are un-holstered; and full smart phone integration (make phone calls, check emails, browse internet and social media). So, just a few...
Also, LongShot-X did integrate a magnetic holster for his shot gun on the shoulder of his torso piece (you mentioned this in your post). You could send him a message via Facebook if you wanted more information. Or you could come up to In-Conceivable (Victoria, BC, Canada I believe) and see him there.

WandererTJ said:

Soooo.... yeah.... I might not be dropping $1500 into my helmet (assuming that's the price Google Glass is still going for).
I won't claim defeat though!

As for the batteries, don't you think those might be a bit heavy to carry around in your boots?

Click to expand...

Well, neither am I, but the nice things about universities is that during March Madness they are ready to fund all kinds of crazy schemes. I am proposing to them that they fund the glasses, and perhaps some of the circuitry required; and then a class gets to program the functionality as project credit and my husband and I come to their open house for a couple of years to show off (via projector) how the university was able to integrate up and coming technology into their program in a totally fun and awesome way. I mean who wouldn't want to apply to the university that lets you play with HALO suits for course credit?

As for the batteries in the boots, I think a lantern battery is fairly comparable in weight to blocks of hard wood and definitely to thick rubber soles... Okay, so I went and weighed one, 1.25 lbs...So if I am able to carry all the gear the batteries aren't going to be the big deal. As I am familiar with having to wear super clunky chunky heels it will just be more of the same really.

WandererTJ said:

Yeah, I would love to make my armor just once and have it be perfect the first time around. I'll have to wait and see what happens though.

Click to expand...

Well LongShot-X was a noob and did great work right of the gate. So perfect isn't totally impossible, right? (<-insert sarcasm here)

WandererTJ said:

Finally, a guide to help me work on my feminine figure! (I am only slightly sarcastic! I totally just bookmarked that link.)

Click to expand...

My husband's doing this one with me too, and it kicks his ass just as hard as mine. As far as i'm concerned muscles are muscles and if your looking for muscles more than just being super thin (i'm practically skeletor already) than brutal workouts are how to do it.

WandererTJ said:

Let me know if you have any further questions. I'll do what I can to help.

Click to expand...

Thanks again!

Update #1 is Up!

Alright, so the first update has been published, you can take a look here; COMMANDER SARAH PALMER – BUILD UPDATE #1.

Due to the difficulties with accessing the forums I chose to post this on my own website. I think I will continue to write the updates there and link them through here, the reserved posts at the beginning of this thread will continue to be updated as each update goes out. Hopefully this will still make it easy for everyone to find the information over at both sites.

Update #1 focuses on the planning steps of the body suit; not particularly exciting, but a necessary evil. Let me know what you think.

Progress Notes

So I have been working with the scout arm model (thanks Crimmson) in pepakura; unfolding it and attempting to get the correct scale. One thing I have noticed while measuring against the reference photos is that the elbow covering piece seems exceptionally long. From my quick measurements of the scout variant pictured over on Halopedia the overhang (portion extending past the elbow) is approximately 1/11th the size of the total arm length. The elbow covering piece then extends to approximately 18% of the total arm length. For my measurements these lengths would be:

• Arm Length: 260mm
• Elbow Overhang: 24mm
• Elbow Covering Piece: 21mm
• Remaining Arm Length: 239mm

So when I get the overall length set in pepakura designer (284mm) the portion of the piece that covers the arm should equal approximately 239mm. BUT it does not, it measures 187mm, which is a 50mm difference. What this effectively means is that only 72% of the length my arm is covered by the piece, not the 82% in the reference pics. I am formulating plans as to how to shrink the elbow covering portion. I suspect I will separate the pieces to create the two portions at different scales (will already have to do this for the hand pieces), but will have to mull over ideas for attaching them together again without critically affecting the overall look of the piece.

Thank goodness I received the unlock for pepakura designer, save function is my new best friend!

You might want to try and open the .obj of the model in a 3D soft modeling software (blender, 3dsmax, maya, lightwave3d, etc) and then try and stretch it around to your liking. There is an export feature that lets you export it to .obj.

Of course, if you do this, I think you'll probably have to unfold the piece again when you import it back into the Pepakura Designer (but that shouldn't be too big of an issue, especially if you look at how the original file you have was unfolded). It'll be a bit of a hassle laying everything back out on the paper again, but it will also serve as a good exercise and practice if you end up needing to do the same thing for the head or torso.

@ WandererTJ (sorry I can't click on the reply with quote button on your post right now)

You might want to try and open the .obj of the model in a 3D soft modeling software (blender, 3dsmax, maya, lightwave3d, etc) and then try and stretch it around to your liking. There is an export feature that lets you export it to .obj.

Of course, if you do this, I think you'll probably have to unfold the piece again when you import it back into the Pepakura Designer (but that shouldn't be too big of an issue, especially if you look at how the original file you have was unfolded). It'll be a bit of a hassle laying everything back out on the paper again, but it will also serve as a good exercise and practice if you end up needing to do the same thing for the head or torso.

Click to expand...

So the file I am using was originally an .obj file from crimmson (see links in his post earlier in this thread) so I will go back to that version and see how big of a mess I can make in blender.

I unfolded the file once, I can and will do it again. I cannot, however, make any claim to the quality of the unfold. LOL, learning as I go. Alright, off to my other computer, capable of running Blender.

Thanks.

Keep in mind those 3D files are from a computer game character and the scale will not match real human scaling. in most case you will have to alter either the 3D and then unfold it in Pepakura again or adjust the print out of the pep files afterward to match your body part. For example the forearm its best to match the desired length then add or subtract for the circumference. I work in the computer game industry and characters like people come in all shapes and sizes. Spartans are extremely tall and muscular unlike many of us lol

Blender - Make sure all your vertices are welded properly and your faces are not flipped. That seems to be a common thing from my experience.

Renraku - Dave

If you are going to be using bondo, I have some good techniques that worked out well for my helmet design. It was my first time using bondo and I have to say it came out nice.

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/39674-My-first-quot-Halo-Reach-helmet-and-armor-build-quot

Progress Notes

Well, 3D adjustments are done, scaled the elbow portion down to 70% and translated it to fit the arm piece like the original. I took it into pep designer and have done the cut-lines for the un-fold. Saving it here before continuing with the unfold and scaling. Here's a screenshot:


If you see any improvements I could make to the cuts, please let me know. I am sure it will be very useful for more complicated pieces.