J326 Spartan III Armor Version 2 WIP [Foam]

Looking good J! The front does look a tad wonky, but that's probably 'cos it's lying down, rather then being worn... other then that, tis rather awesome

The armor looks fantastic. Im getting ideas for how i want to my armor now. Also the video of the spartan graduating is epic. Keep up the great armor work.

Update. Gave the chest piece its coat of paint. went with a Sage Green that has a bit of gloss to it. Going to detail and weather it when i get the chance.

Your chest piece looks very clean and well put together. Very nice job!

That is looking crazy good man!
You make me want to build a Foam spartan III!

That looks great!

Update! Pic heavy. Ok so I got to "weathering" my chest piece. I didn't make any scratches or gashes into it I wanted a very subtle weathering so I took a sponge sprayed a deep shade of gray into the scouring side and brushed it around the chest piece. Kind of hard to see in the pics but it came out pretty well.






I also finished the Bicep pieces and the intricate parts were tough to figure out. I didnt put in that piece that connects the bicep to the under armor yet because i want to try a different way of making them. or leave that area open for just velcro with foam on top of it.




This was the second of the two biceps to be made and in the pics any part that is black is where i used the thin craft foam because they were small and flexible enough to be manipulated into those areas rather then carve out the thick eva foam for them.


going to update more tomorrow if possible. Today the biceps get a coated with plasti dip

nice looking foam work. You're build is coming along nicely

this is very well done my friend, keep up the awesome work

That looks beautiful. It's almost hard to believe that you are using foam for it...

Update! Picture Heavy and results of an experiment. Ok so there were some unfortunate things that happened and the paint in a few spots started to crack after i bent them so since i didn't primer the thing i guess that's why. but after a while i felt that Plasti Dip spray makes the foam rigid but it still doesn't get rid of the "grittiness" that is the foam itself and im sure some Foam builders would have noticed. And since I wanted a smoother finish I asked Aicosu who made awesome DA2 costumes on Deviantart what she used to seal her foam. she told me she used Mod podge. I think Mod podge was mentioned on the forum before but never put into practice since Plasti dip became dominant. So i decided to try an experiment!

(now if you like the grittiness you can disregard this method)
I got some mod podge (gloss type) and put 5 layers over a scrap piece of foam with a foam brush then primed and painted it. The thing had a nicer shine and smoother feel to it then just straight plasti dip. Now For those of you who don't want the brush texture to show up, Mod podge IS wet sandable with 400 grit when you put atleast 5 layers onto it. And with some time and care you can get it as smooth as you want it to. I just didn't wet sand because I was experimenting.
I was able to borrow a nicer camera for my shots to show my results
here is the scrap foam with 5 layers of mod podge and primer and paint


I liked the way mod podge felt so I decided to run another test to see if I could just apply it to foam that was already plasti dipped. Since I plasti dipped my bicep pieces before I was told about the Mod podge i decided use a part of it. On the Left of the bicep is straight Plasti dip then Primer and Paint and the Right side is 5 layers of Mod podge and then primer and Paint. As you can see the Plasti dip side is Gritty and the right side with mod podge is more glossy and you'll have to take my word that it feels smoother .



So I just Proceeded to Use this Method. Now if you already Painted the armor when it was plasti dipped You can still Mod podge over it, wet sand it and primer and paint.
Here is the Bicep Piece after I Mod podged it and then wet sanded it smoother. then primed and Painted (this was two nights ago)

Today I got time so Here is One bicep Primed and Painted with two coats) then Weathered. Took this shot with one not weathered for comparison.

Now these are shots with both weathered



So im satisfied with the results and I'm going to be using mod podge to seal the foam where i want a really smooth texture. You can Sand and layer as much as you need to get it as smooth as you want it. Be sure to Primer the Mod Podge because it IS water based.
Also if you build enough layers of Mod Podge you can essentially get Rid of seams.
I am now painting my Chest Piece and will Update when its all finished. Hope this Info has helped any New or existing Foam builders.
(side experiment I don't have the pic cuz i lost the scap foam i did it on. I mod podged it wet sanded it and then Plasti dipped over that. The plasti dip retains the smooth texture but then it is no longer wet sandable since when i tried, the plasti dip layer just came off. It might not happen with multiple layers of plasti dip but I didn't want to try)

Looks great. I like the Mod Podge Info. Thanks for posting it.

Nice, rly good work keep it up. Rly like how u paint it

Mod Podge is a great Sealer. Plasti Dip has its limits. It doesn't really make the foam ridgid though. I have some pieces that flex without paint cracking but yeah, mod podge over all is a better sealer and gives a better finish. Your Part looks awesome. I wouldn't really mind the texture at all. It's just a foam costume and it does get rid of the seams which is a huge bonus

price is a huge difference as well
mod podge gallon jug $22

spray can of plastidip $12-15

there is also Rosco Flexbond.
http://www.rosco.com/us/scenic/flexbond.cfm

Bro, your chestplate looks pretty Boss.

Looking good so fair. Keep us posted.

Update! Pictures of Chest piece repainted after i applied mod Podge. and Thanks to all for the comments! Also i was wondering if Rhinoc's gauntlet is the most accurate or if there is another that others are using that is more game accurate?









Another pic with the Mark VI helmet, fixed the minor warping with a hair dryer.

This is some really nice foam work. I'm even learning a few tricks that I can use when I get to the foam part of my build, Thanks for posting this. I'm looking forward to seeing you're next update

Your foam work is really good. Very professional looking. Nice work J.

BAT MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!

In other news:
Perhaps you could add some detail by NOT modge podging certain areas on purpose, is that what you did there?