ODST Dare Foam Build (Pic heavy)

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Bexi

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Due to lack of time and money I had to put my MKVI on hold. I ran out of money for all the hardening and shaping supplies :(. I have however, decided to splurge the 10 bucks and grab a pack of foam and see if I what I can do with an ODST (Dare) build.

It seems to be a much faster method and undoubtedly cheaper. Without all the added costs of hardening and re-shaping, I think that I’ll actually be able to afford it.

I got a 4 pack of foam mats at harbor freight for 10 dollars. Other than that, the only supplies I’m using are hot glue, my xacto knife, sandpaper(and my trusty dremel), and some craft foam, and eventually some acrylic paints. All of which I already own. I do anticipate having to buy one more pack of foam, but I’ll deal with that when I come to it.

The first piece I tried to make was a knee because it was the smallest and simplest piece. It turned out terribly, but I learned a lot from it. Here’s knee 2.0.

smallknee.jpg


One lesson I’ve already learned is not to let my cats near the foam mats. Mine love the feel of it and the use it as a scratch pad. :/ Therefore my armor will be battle damaged.

So far I've made a thigh, a shin, and a knee, I used hughs models to make the templates for them the thigh and knee. The shin was scratchbuilt. I haven't added the small details to it yet.

Thigh:
1005305y.jpg


1005307p.jpg


Shin:
1005301u.jpg


All together now:

1005295.jpg


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I’m going to be using a combination of butchered pep files and a lot of scratch building, so we’ll see what kind of magic I can make. I don’t have a deadline on this one, it’s purely for fun and to de-stress. Wish me luck! :)
 
Hi again!
I think you are progressing much better on the ODST build...I'm sad to hear you are holding the MK-VI, but hey it happens to me all the time. I hope you finnish this one! Goodluck...
 
wow that looks great! makes me wanna try out some of the pieces I am doing in foam

I know how it is about running out of money for the supplies....I ran out of hardener today...bleh...

keep it up tho great wirk!
 
Sweet build! I've been looking into these foam builds and am always impressed with detail achieved. Might give it a try after my current build. Keep up the awesome work. can't wait to see more!
 
Nice work! The only things I make that arent foam now are helmets! VIVA LE FOAM!!
 
Thanks for all the support guys!

Nice work! The only things I make that arent foam now are helmets! VIVA LE FOAM!!

I may actually be attempting the helmet out of foam, but we’ll see how much initiative I actually have haha. Belakor’s model doesn’t look too incredibly horrible so I may give it a shot. The helmet’s going to be the last thing I build though. I’m going to do all the armor and the headset, and then figure out my helmet.

So I have a little update for today,


I added my detailing to my knee and shin, and I also heat shaped the knee and attached my strap to keep it on. Here’s some pics:

1005317n.jpg


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1005315j.jpg


1005313n.jpg


Knee fits much better now :) I also trimmed the shin a bit to give it some curve at the top so it will look more accurate.

Note: the colors used don’t really represent the colors that this will actually be, it’s just the color foam I had handy.

1005321.jpg


I also took a whack at Dare’s chestplate. It is scratchbuilt. I didn’t want to use a pep file for my templates because Dare’s chest plate is actually shaped differently from normal ODSTs. Here’s how it’s looking so far :) What do you think?
 
Pretty sweet! It's crazy that you can achieve that much detail with foam padding. This may be a stupid question, but what do you use to cut and shape it?
 
Pretty sweet! It's crazy that you can achieve that much detail with foam padding. This may be a stupid question, but what do you use to cut and shape it?

That's not a stupid question. I've been using scissors and an exacto knife to cut it but that leaves the edges very rough so I've also been sending the edges with very coarse grained sandpaper. I'm shaping it with a combination of brute force and heat. If I need a lot of curve I hold the piece over my stove burner until it gets very soft and malleable. I then just hold it in place until it cools.

Update!

I'm still working on the chest plate, and I've made a forearm, but I'm probably going to re-make it. I've finished making a few more pieces. They include my back/torso, right thigh, belt buckle, and cod plate.

Here are some pics:


Yucky Forearm. Will be re-making once I have more foam.


Belt, Cod, and thighs.


Back torso armor.


Back and thighs.

I've run out of foam, but I'm headed to harbor freight in the morning. I love how fast I'm able to to make progress on this :) Stay tuned for more!
 
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Because there’s no written tutorial for foam yet I thought I’d post the steps I'm using to go from a pep file to mostly finished product.

Step 1: Decide what you’re going to make. I’m going with Hugh’s ODST Belt Buckle.
Step 2. Open the selected file in pep designer.

Step 3. Make sure the file is scaled correctly.
Step 4. Move any pieces you’re not going to be using off the page. Connect any pieces that can be connected (none for me in this case)

Step 4. Print out your new template. (I use regular printer paper)

Step 5. Cut out your pieces.
Step 6. Tape the pieces onto your foam and trace them in pen.
Step 7. Cut out the foam pieces (I use scissors and an xacto knife)

Step 8. Sand the edges of your foam pieces.

Step 9. Arrange the pieces how you want them to look.

Step 10. Using a thin layer of hot glue, glue your pieces together.

Step 11. Heat sealing is an optional step. To do this I turn on the burner of my stove at its highest heat and hold the foam over it until it becomes soft. Then I shape it how I want it, in this case, a slight curve. Hold it in this shape until it’s cool.

Step 12. Paint!
 
Wow this is looking better than I expected! Even though you say the forarm is not so good I thing it looks great! Although its probably not game accurate...I can't tell cause I don't have any pics of Dare! I love the tutorial along with the progress! Keep it up...
 
Everything is looking good so far but the shin is looking a little boxy to me. I have done an Oni Op before but not out of foam. Spartan-005 has done the shins out of foam before and he used Hugh's shin files and converted them into foam friendly.
 
nice work good to see another ODST and i havent seen a Dare build yet and im interested to see how the ab section comes out, any ideas?
 
Just one question about using foam, Bexi. Are you able to coat it with a hardener like with the pepakura in order to have a more solid armor? Or will those chemicals break it down? Might be a stupid question, but if you can, I might go this route.

By the way, this looks f'n awesome! :D
 
Just one question about using foam, Bexi. Are you able to coat it with a hardener like with the pepakura in order to have a more solid armor? Or will those chemicals break it down? Might be a stupid question, but if you can, I might go this route.
Hardeners dont quite work on foam. the foam is used to be light weight and flexible. hardening it would kinda defeat that purpose and it would just end up cracking. best thing to use on it is some pastidip. it just helps seal everything up and easier to paint.

Awesome work! love it.
Oh and i hope i didnt intrude none Bexi.
 
You have some really nice foam work going here, I love the amount of detail you're getting.
 
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