Group ODST project: The Ravens

Hey there guys. We are Heedless Of Ruin, a group of three costumers from London who have decided to finally get off our collective rears and form a squad of ODSTs. Well, not quite a full squad, but definitely a fireteam. We've been planning on doing something like this ever since Mass Effect 1 came out, so I'm pretty sure you can agree with us that this is well overdue!

We are:

Livi: ONI specialist
Will be based heavily on Dare's armour from ODST

Will: Designated marksman
Based on Romeo from ODST

Zac: Trooper
Standard ODST armour

Planning:
This is mainly Zac's job, (currently typing). I have the most experience with armour, as in my other hobby I joust in medieval plate armour. Studying armour has been what I do for the last 10 years, so I'm prototyping my armour with the help of the others for building etc, and then we'll build the other two armours after that. We're going to be building the armours mostly out of foam, and they need to stand up to Convention conditions, plus give full movement and be comfortable. My experience tells me that means we won't be re-using too many templates, but getting the process sorted with the first suit will definitely help for the second and third.

For this build we'll be using the tutorials made by the lovely Frontline trooper, although I'll be making changes to the designs based on my experience in armour, and ease of build. One big change is that we will be using three different thickness of foam, rather than just one, which should make detailing a lot easier.

First, I watched through the entire build. I think it's important to know everything you can about something like this before you start, a bit like reading a whole recipe before you get started with the ingredients. I also sketched out the different parts of an ODST's cuirass:



Then using the basic shapes given we drew out the patterns for the large pieces:




It was very important for me that the cuirass should end at the ribcage, as although foam is softer than steel I know from experience how uncomfortable things get if the cuirass goes onto the abdomen. We took loads of measurements at this stage, as a mistake with these pieces would be costly due to being the largest parts of the armour.



Progress
Yesterday we started working on the foam. Having tried on the paper template, here is the front piece drawn onto the foam.



For the next harnesses we're going to change the side pieces where they meet the backplates to be further out at the top than the bottom. This will assist with pushing the chest further out, especially important if needing to run etc in the harness. For this suit the side connectors will be on adjustable straps to allow some in and out.



You can see from this test fitting that the back of the neck is really too low. We didn't catch this during this test fitting, but we will move it up on the other harnesses. For this one we will add some additional plates on the inside of the neck to look like an undersuit or something like that.







The progress as it is at the moment. We discussed how we want the armour to work, and we've decided we want it all to buckle together. As such the shoulder straps are hot glued to the backplate, but not yet attached to the front. they will velcro down over the shoulder seams which will be held together by small buckles.

The kidney plates will be similarly attached to the front plate, and velcro'd to the backplate , either over or in between the buckles.




So next steps are to pick up some buckles, straps and velcro, then move onto the armour plates. Off to the shops now, but any comments or criticisms will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading! I hope my extra long post is made worth it by the pictures.

Zac
ODST stationed aboard UNSC Frigate Heedless of Ruin.

Wow! Your cuts are very clean...Great job!

Great job guys! I can't wait to see how this goes!

I love seeing the ODSTs mobilizing. Keep up the good work!

Thanks guys. The dark foam is really easy to get nice cuts on. The lighter foam is softer and more difficult to cut, but can be tidied up relatively easily with a dremel, which has worked well enough so far.

Zac here again with some progress pictures:





I've added straps to the cuirass. Most of the buckles have fake straps and are just hot glued to the foam, but the male parts of the under arm straps do have adjustable elastic straps. These make it a lot more comfortable than just a hard join, and will allow it to be worn all day.

Unfortunately the cuirass has begun to lose some of its shape. I'm going to have to carefully go back in with a heatgun and reshape, cooling it quickly with water. Will need to be careful that I don't undo all of the gluing, but it should be ok: The places where I need to shape are quite far away from the straps.



I also templated and built the chest plate. We're not 100% happy with it. I'll have another look at it tomorrow and see how I feel about it then. C and C welcome.=

Hey guys. Wouldn't normally double post but if there's pictures I feel OK about it.



I went back in with a heat gun and reshaped the sides. They now have a lot more curve to them which is nice. On the next two, we'll get more shape before gluing, as I wasn't quite able to get the curve I'd like without going dangerously near the buckles. On the plus side, this doesn't matter at all when it's on, as it forms around my body.

I've sprayed the whole cuirass with halfords own version of plastidip. Seeing how that works out will be interesting for the rest of the builds, because it'll be a lot cheaper than going for the brand.



I've added the straps to the shoulder pieces now, and they now velcro down to the front. I haven't glued the back of the shoulder straps yet, because I want some of those quirky strap holders they use before I do. I think this really helps to make the shoulders look right, and the little bit of metal added will also add interest to the build. The back shown above really needs something else lower down. I wonder if I should build a backpack for my guy?



The kidney plates have also had straps added after being plastidipped. I wasn't sure about the shiny straps until I saw them on, and now I really like them. They give a nice difference in finish against the matt plates.

I finished the chest plate, but decided I didn't like it, so have ditched it and I'll make a new piece. Next on the list while I work out how to do that is the shoulder plates. I have them patterned, hopefully I can get them cut and glued tomorrow.

C&C welcome. Thanks for stopping by.

Progress is looking fantastic
I like all the planning going into it

great job, can't wait to see the finished project

Nice work! Yes it's a good idea to learn all that you can before starting your build, but I also find that it slows you way down on the time that you start. So theres no harm in jumping into a project, it's definitely one of the fastest ways to learn.

Hey guys. Thanks for the comments. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so get discouraged easily, so getting encouragement is great. Had a bit more work to do recently, so armour has taken a side seat, but had a start at a sidearm today:


Halo magnum WIP by zachos2, on Flickr


First cut the basic shape out of extra dense foam


Halo magnum WIP by zachos2, on Flickr


Then started shaping with a knife. It's now ready for a thin coat or two of filler, then a good sand before I add extra details. hopefully when I get a product I'm happy with I'll have a go at casting this so we can all three have one.

All the best

Zac
ODST stationed aboard Heedless of Ruin.