Justin's first Mark VI build

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Denjus

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Okay, so here's the deal. This is technically my second Mark VI build; I started one when I was about 15 (6 years ago) and pretty much had the whole thing pepped and ready to glass, but I couldn't really move further with the suit because I lacked the resources. But now, I'm able to fund the project on my own, and I have a better knowledge of the tools at my disposal. So I'm going through with it this time! My deadline is October 30th, I'd like it to be done by Halloween.

I did a test piece (Crackhead's Right Shin model) to see roughly how long it'd take me to get a piece from pep work to finished product. It didn't come out well lol. It's been a while since I've done anything with Fiberglass matte, so I ended up covering the whole inside of the piece all in one go. It was very messy and not very evenly applied. It didn't occur to me that I'd have a much better time working in small increments throughout the piece. So, I went to home depot, picked up some fiberglass cloth (much cleaner than the matte; easier to handle) and had another go with the right bicep. It's drying right now, but I can already tell that i've done a much better job with it. The pep work is the best I've done so far, taking the time to score my edges before I fold them made a world of difference, and I will never skip that step again. Can only get better from here right? Now that I have the experience?

Needless to say I'm very excited about the project. I'm going to be putting in lights throughout the armor (not just in the helmet, but in the thighs, chest, and biceps as well), magnets in the back of the chestpiece to hold the MA5C that I'll eventually create to accompany the suit, and other details... lots of details.

I'll keep everyone that reads this thread up to speed on what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, etc. And I know there are a plethora of other Mark VI threads you'd probably rather look at, but...

It's my favorite suit design. So that's what I'm making.


Thanks for reading!
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Yellow piece is the right bicep, Green piece is a test piece that won't be used in the final. Will post more pictures of the bicep once the glass dries
 

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My only concern is getting too caught up about your deadline, don't rush take your time and do your research. I don't have much experience with bondo and resin but I know my helmet took me an entire week from pep to finished product.
Good luck on your project!
 
My only concern is getting too caught up about your deadline, don't rush take your time and do your research. I don't have much experience with bondo and resin but I know my helmet took me an entire week from pep to finished product.
Good luck on your project!

Thanks man, I'll definitely keep that in mind and slow down a bit!
 
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Few progress shots. Silver piece is the right bicep, yellow is the left bicep, just finished up with the matte process on it so it's drying right now.
I sprayed the right bicep with silver primer so that I can see the imperfections in the pepakura more clearly. Looks pretty slick if you ask me! Going to pool some reference material and try to vary the soft and hard edges in the armor according to how it looks on the in-game model.

Thanks for looking!
 
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decent sized update on the suit; painted the biceps, decided to go with ultramarine blue, my favorite color. didn't need to do much bondo work since the pep work was pretty clean. I think i'm going to go back in to round some stuff out though.

Forearms are pepped, glassed, and primed. Very excited, both arms are almost complete!

Picked up some thin sheets of styrofoam (for detail work) and all the electrical supplies I need to add LEDs to the biceps and chest.

Also picked up a hot glue gun, and to pad my armor i'm going to use some cushion foam that I took from some furniture we're throwing away. I have plenty of it, I'm hoping it makes it through the whole project.

Once again, thanks for looking. Will finish up the handplates, then i'm on to the leg pieces, starting with the thigh! (which will be an HD piece, my first one)
 
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Long time no update!
I haven't worked on this thing in like 3 weeks lol. I need to get crackin'!
Arms are done. Just gotta paint/detail 'em. I'm going to the Ohio State University with a buddy of mine for Halloween, so the paint job I'm planning is OSU colors. Red with white decal work. Maybe an OSU logo on the shoulders, or a small one on the helmet. or both! I'm very excited, this is gonna be fun.
I started the Hauberk. 12 hours of straight work, and i'm done with the pepakura. Crazy thing happened, all the numbers are on the inside, and all the glue tabs are on the outside... Not quite sure how this happened. I did the folding correctly, and I don't remember clicking anything that would invert the piece... It's like all the valley folds were changed to mountain folds and vice-versa. Ah well, It worked out in the end. I'll finish up the glassing tomorrow morning and move to the codpiece.
 
1011600_970711602955597_3218979815804871795_n.jpg10635766_970711666288924_8434158114102886243_n.jpg10703782_970711699622254_4501792964350707236_n.jpg Ignore the messy basement -___-
Here's what I have done so far! The helmet needs a few more finishing touches, such as the floating faces and the lights, but it's looking pretty slick if you ask me.
I know I said I'd do the codpiece next but I really wanted to knock out the helm. It's an HD build helm, took a loooot of hours.
Buckles should be coming in the mail soon. My shoulderpads won't float away from my body once I get them attached to the undersuit, so that's exciting.
Oh, speaking of undersuits... I need to do a little more research, but I think I'm going to be cutting fabric and placing it on the undersuit in key areas where it's more noticeable than others (the stomach area would be one example, with the wide strip of hexagonal pattern that shows between the codpiece and the bottom of the chestplate). Don't know how i'll attach it, I can't sew. Believe me, I've tried. Maybe I'll just use hot glue...

mmmm... Hot glue...

'Til next time!
 
That armor realy good. I can see on the helmet you've done some nice scratched effects, but have you considered doing a wash effect for the shadows? something like this
(Go to about 7 minutes)
 
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Yes, I will be blackwashing all of my armor pieces :) that's actually the tutorial i used for painting my armor! he has some great videos on his channel. Thanks for the link! And I agree, I'm liking the way the color is coming out
 
Love the cleanness of the build. It all looks amazing. Looking forward to the energy sword and see where that goes
 
First sword blade pulls came out really well. Going to do a bit more sanding along the edges and pick myself up some tissue paper to diffuse the LED's more and then I'll have some pictures. Also used Rustoleum frost glass spray, so i'm hoping that in combination with the tissue paper it will diffuse the light to the point where it glows, rather than shines. Very excited about this part of the project, this is my first time forming plastic and the results have been satisfactory so far
 
10629564_977406935619397_8759111691796947789_n.jpg10345547_977406962286061_6941993554417808817_n.jpg It... It worked... I got all 4 blades pulled :D More pictures soon! I work all day tomorrow so probably a late-night update tomorrow night with detail pics of the helm which is done now

Cheers!
 
1959272_978382862188471_1668342324658360039_n.jpgAll 4 blades together, now its time for me to figure out my lighting rig and how i'm going to paint the acrylic. It's all coming together... muahahahaha...
 
I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing any kind of Mk armor. the effort and time you and everyone else puts into their armor is fantastic.
 
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