1st Build WandererTJ's Mjolnir Mk. V (Custom) - S-128 - [Hybrid Build] [Pic Heavy]

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Forearm textures are located on their own unique texture map. If I haven't uploaded this file to the Archive, let me know and I'll be sure to update accordingly. However, for your own benefit, here's the file you'll want.

I definitely don't think I've seen that at all!
I have the texture pack that I also downloaded a while back, and the forearms are not in it. Just the attachments for everything and the helmets.
I couldn't get it to appear in my extracts either, and mine don't look colorful like yours do. Do you have one for the undersuit?
I have the whited out diffuse and the purple zbump, but that's all. I made that grey one by overlaying the two and taking the color saturation out of the zbump.
 
I have the texture pack that I also downloaded a while back, and the forearms are not in it. Just the attachments for everything and the helmets.

I'll have to review these files myself and see what's up with them. In the meantime, I think you'll be able to make better use out of these files for the base pieces of your Mk V set.
 

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I'll have to review these files myself and see what's up with them. In the meantime, I think you'll be able to make better use out of these files for the base pieces of your Mk V set.

They are just too beautiful... :cry
So awesome!

Thanks a lot Chernobyl! :)
 
Wowwwowowow the detail you put into everything is really great! It looks so good.

I was too lazy to read through everyone's comments and see if anyone had suggested this, but you were saying when you posted about the forearms, how you were trying to figure out how to make nice clean detail lines, and I was going to suggest just scoring the top of the foam with your knife, the heating it with the heat gun, and it expands the edges of the cuts and makes a nice little line. Of course it's smarter to do it on pieces that haven't been glued yet, because the heat gun will reheat the glue and pieces will come apart.

Btw, this is zeldaxlove14
 
Wowwwowowow the detail you put into everything is really great! It looks so good.

I was too lazy to read through everyone's comments and see if anyone had suggested this, but you were saying when you posted about the forearms, how you were trying to figure out how to make nice clean detail lines, and I was going to suggest just scoring the top of the foam with your knife, the heating it with the heat gun, and it expands the edges of the cuts and makes a nice little line. Of course it's smarter to do it on pieces that haven't been glued yet, because the heat gun will reheat the glue and pieces will come apart.

Btw, this is zeldaxlove14

Welcome to the 405th! :)
Once you make sure you validate your email (if you haven't already), you will be able to access the File Archive to download things.

Yeah, I've ran into a few issues when trying to create detailed/recessed lines; going to give my wood burner another attempt soon, so hopefully it'll go well.
The first/last time I used it was with Forearm Attempt #1, and it was.... bad.

I have been able to successfully do what you are suggesting though! :)

I did it first with the Handplates, and they turned out fair looking, I mean, they look right as far as the game is concerned, but they just look a bit bland when compared with the rest of the armor.
The second time I did it, was with my Shin Guards. The detail lines look great, but since I use Hot Glue 100% of the time, I did have issues with the glue on my other seams. I had to smooth them back down with the tip of my hot glue gun, and those were the lucky seams, had some other ones that weren't as lucky and they went from looking great to a little messy looking.

My boots are lacking some of the detail lines I think they deserve, and I've been debating on how I want to do them, because the last thing I need is for them to come undone when all their seams aren't pretty to begin with.

Starting with my thighs, I've started to pre-heat my foam before I cut or shape it at all.
1) To go ahead and get the pores sealed for painting, and
2) To go ahead and get the surface shrinkage out of the way.

I noticed when making my Shin Guards that when you heat the upper surface of the foam, it shrinks causing the edges to look slightly expanded, which is a horror when trying to get good looking seams, because you are then trying to attach two curved surfaces together rather than two flat surfaces. The result is that when you think the glue has settled and let go, your seams spread out.
You can fix it by dremeling down those curves, but that adds unexpected work in areas where it occurs.

Now, in doing this, I don't expect that it will get rid of all the shrinking that occurs, but hopefully it'll be enough that I won't continue to have the issue for after I've made a cut and then I decide I need to heat it up to bend the foam.

When making the shins, it was like:
Hold glued pieces for 2 minutes
Let go
Wait for 2 minutes
Glance at seam (and this is where it always goes wrong)
The seam, upon being looked at, pops open a xenomorph chestburster.
Everytime...
 
They are just too beautiful... :cry
So awesome!

Thanks a lot Chernobyl! :)

You're welcome. Like I said, I'll have to review the files that are on the Archive and see if I can't streamline the number of Packs there are, whilst simultaneously managing the content within to ensure that the integrity is still sound.

The seam, upon being looked at, pops open a xenomorph chestburster. Everytime...

Welcome to the Copenhagen Interpretation. Simple solution is to not look at it and treat it like Schrödinger's Cat - if you haven't seen it burst, it hasn't burst yet.

Science.
 
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Welcome to the Copenhagen Interpretation. Simple solution is to not look at it and treat it like Schrödinger's Cat - if you haven't seen it burst, it hasn't burst yet.
Science.

Thank you for bringing Schrödinger's Cat into this thread, definitely needed, it gave me a good chuckle.



I know I'm behind on updates, but I didn't realize I was like 2 weeks behind...

I will still be doing a detailed post for each of my armor pieces, I need to take more pictures of what I have, but until I get to them, here's this:
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20150707_025629-b WandererTJ.jpg
 
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You put a lot of thought into all of this, I never thought if heating the foam before cutting and bending it. And yeah hot gluing seams can be a pain in the butt, I usually don't spend just a ton of time making them look perfectly clean, except on the boots. I have even less detail on my boots than you do, and the reason I did that was because I was trying to avoid making them too large, so I figured I could make them look good enough when I painted. Even though nobody pays just a ton of attention to the boots, it still bothers me. I just got 4" wedge shoes to build a cover around out of foam, and I had to try it a few times before I finally got them to where they didn't look awkwardly big, but I decided not to risk it with putting a bunch of details on them.
 
You put a lot of thought into all of this, I never thought if heating the foam before cutting and bending it. And yeah hot gluing seams can be a pain in the butt, I usually don't spend just a ton of time making them look perfectly clean, except on the boots. I have even less detail on my boots than you do, and the reason I did that was because I was trying to avoid making them too large, so I figured I could make them look good enough when I painted. Even though nobody pays just a ton of attention to the boots, it still bothers me. I just got 4" wedge shoes to build a cover around out of foam, and I had to try it a few times before I finally got them to where they didn't look awkwardly big, but I decided not to risk it with putting a bunch of details on them.

Yeah, I definitely do my best to plan this kind of stuff out. Remembering to book a hotel when you get badges for a convention though... lol fogettaboutit.
Hard stuff is easy for me, and the obvious and easy stuff for most people is hard to me.

And If it makes you feel better, I pay attention to people's boots. :p


While this next part is in response to you, I'm also addressing everyone else...

While I always say that a good quality helmet is always at the center of what makes a build great, proportions for the rest of the armor is crucial as well.
If you're rocking a giant torso but have tiny legs, things don't seem to add up right when people (or just me) look at a build.

Spartan models are very oddly proportioned:
• Their clavicals and scapulas stick out to the point where there is about a 2'' gap between their torsos and their arms,
• they all have child bearing hips with amazing thigh gap, the Halo Reach legs are....awkward to say the least (though perhaps my issue was the models I used, but without the lower FJ/Para knee insert, my Grenadier knees, when positioned on the shins like they should be, only cover the bottom half of my knee cap),
• their midsections are very short, and
• they seem to all have seemingly short necks, though perhaps it is an illusion given off by the torso and the helmet together, but I would also assume that based on the size of their deltoids that it is possible that they do just have short necks.

I think much of the proportion issues between the game model and an anatomically correct human come from the shoulders and the pelvis/hips.
Ideally, you want your thigh armor to sit up about 2-3'' above where your legs fold with your torso at the top, otherwise you are likely to see a major gap between them and your codpiece/belt.
That's in addition to the gap you will already have over your midsection (stomach/abs).
I'm going to try and close some of this gap by choosing to do my codpiece/belt last, that way I can try and position it where the gaps are fairly even.
I would still expect that I'm going to end up with a rather large codpiece, which is slightly off-putting, but it'll be better than seeing moose knuckles sticking out from my pants.

I've been rambling slightly here, jumping to the point...
Halo Reach Builds:
1) Forearms should be as long as you can make them, aim to get 90° bend articulation in the joint.
- - • At the front of the Forearm, your arm should be closer to the inner side of the armor than the outer side, there will be some gap on the outer side
2) Your handplates should be either thick like the game model or mounted at an angle to cover up the gap at the wrist created by the Forearm.
3) Biceps should sit as absolutely high as possible. They should be somewhat uncomfortably tucked into your armpit.
- - • At lot of the time things look off is when people let their bicep armor sink/slide down, it creates a lot of unwanted gap.
4) In addition to the bicep, consider adding padding onto the tops of your shoulders/deltoids.
- - • This can partially fix the issue for people with overly long necks
- - • This can be somewhat addressed if you use the Koshima7 or the DawnUnderHeaven model for the shoulder Undersuit parts from the Torso
5) To combat the proportion issues of the upper body vs lower body:
5a) Starting with the boots, you want to add some height, in doing so your boots will end up being fairly bulky, which is actually a good thing
5b) For your shins, you want them to also be bulky, this is so that they flow with the boots. Worry about making them long enough to cover your lower legs, rather than fitting snuggly, this isn't a GEN2-Spartan-IV build
5c) Knees & Ankles: With the Boots and Shin Guards the way they are, you might find yourself deciding to bulk your knees/ankles out a bit (using armor (motorcycle/soccer) or padding) so it doesn't look like you've skipped Leg Day.
5d) Thighs: Should sit higher than you probably think they should, you should aim to try an get the inner side of them to fit as closely to your crotch area as possible. Consider some compromise for flexibility, you may want to lower them somewhat so you can bend at the hips and crouch down.​

That's just my opinion anyways...
 
Dude we need to play Halo!!!

We remembered hotels and everything, but didn't sign up for the parade quickly enough and it reached it capacity, so that'd my bad. And you better not pay attention to my boots, they don't have enough details.
And yeah I totally agree with all of that. Proportions have been a little difficult for me, but it's not too bad since I am skinny enough that I can build on a lot to my armor (Not including the shoes) And it not look awkwardly huge.
 
QuinniePooh, definitely sometime when I'm not busy! I haven't really been able to play much these past few months. Once I commit to one thing, others tend to lose priority so I can get that one thing done.
I am still rocking the Xbox 360 though... I have a backlog of about 60 games I need to play before considering what I want in terms of a Next-Gen console. :wacko Lol.
Sigh... why did I ever become a hardcore completionist/gamerscore fanatic? Currently boasting 95,200 GS ;)

Honestly, I'm not sure why, but a lot of the female builds definitely seem to get away with not being super bulky. Not sure if it's because most of what they do is scratch built and their armor just fits them better or what.
I suppose that as long as your armor sits on your right, super skinny builds can come across looking really good with a kind of Neon Genesis Evangellion kind of look, while the bulkier builds should aim to end up more like a Warhammer 40K look.

I think I'll be hitting it somewhere in the middle, which will hopefully be good.



In other news, got my Torso scaled and templates printed, decided on using the L3X Female torso (it's a bit more elongated than the male version), it was a toss up between it and the Koshima07 model, which I will likely still reference for the shoulder undersuit components.

All I can say is that I sure hope it fits in the end...
 
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I can't wait to see how your chest piece looks. All your other stuff so far looks fantastic, so I bet you're gonna nail the chest piece. I completely winged it with my first suit, and especially the chest piece. Somehow it still ended up okay, but I should of spent more time on it, and I would have if I wasn't in a rush to get everything done before dragoncon.

And can I friend you on the 360, and you can just get back to it whenever your build is complete and you have time? I kicked butt in halo when I was like...12, because after completing the campaign, I just played online all the time, but then I went through a stretch of hardly playing, and I didn't play at all when I was making my first suit, and now I lose all the time. o_O

And jeeez man, I have like just over 8000 GS. XD
 
QuinniePooh, for sure, feel free to add me. (Gamertag shown on the left)

Also, I think you should totally create a thread and post pictures of your builds!



Just added more details to my boots :)
Got some practice in with my wood engraver and finally put it to work.

They still aren't perfect, but they are definitely better. Accidentally added a little "battle damage" while I was at it.
Still missing a few details here and there, but I've wanted to avoid bulking them up even more, so there is a chance that the details might get added during paint.
I also just wanted to get the boots done and over with. I spent to much time obsessing and pondering on how to make them.

Just realized there is a detail I added to my shins that shouldn't be there. On the upper rear side of the shin, there are two recessed bits in ForgedReclaimer's model, but after re-referencing several game images, it appears that the recessed bit should only be on the outer side of each shin, not the inner and outer... sigh.

About to add a few more details to the Thighs.
 
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I'll add you once I get online again. :)

And I thought about it, but I might wait till I start another project, since this one is nearly finished, I made my shoulder pieces either today, and so I just have to finish my helmet, do undercut details, and paint. And I guess I need to actually figure out what colors I'm gonna do. And I had a sniper rifle I was building that I guess I should finish too.. It's just not the best, also my first time building anything with wood, and It still looks nice, but I'm definitely gonna make a better one in the future.

And ooh can you post a picture of your boots with the little added detail? I need to engrave details into mine, probably. Because I'm not gonna be adding any foam onto them
 
Shin Guards & Knees - Built & Detailed

Got photos of the boots sent to you QuinniePooh, I'll be posting them here soon, trying to post in the order that I've built things though.
And without further ado...



Update Time! :)

Shin Guards & Knees - Built & Detailed
So the Shin Guards have definitely proved themselves to be very interesting in terms of building. They are relatively simple pieces, but the shapes of them make it difficult to get your seams to look spectacular.
While I am done with them for the most part, there are a few things I may go back and alter.
The 1st being that there should only be a single indention on the backs of them at the top, not one on either side.
The 2nd being a detail that I have left out that I will likely add with some 2mm foam. It's a small lip on the back of the Shin Guard above a recessed section.

Build Photos:
Progress Pics:
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Progress of Shin Guard before the Details were added

Although I was originally planning on using FJ/Para Knees, I ended up deciding to use Grenadier Knees.
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Grenadier Knee Progress Pics

In-game, the Grenadier Knee sits just about flush with the Shin Guard when the leg is straightened, but when I attempted that, the Grenadier Knee only came halfway up my actual kneecap. I think that the front of the Shin Guard may have been designed a little bit too low, it's hard to say, maybe it is just the proportions of the game characters, but it didn't feel right to me. So, I definitely wanted the Grenadier Knees on my knees, but that created a wide opening below them that I was unhappy with, so I opted to make the lower half of the FJ/Para Knees to fill that gap.
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Knee Mock-Up Testing: With Lower FJ/Para Knee Piece and Without

Completed Shin Guards:
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These images show the first Shin Guard with the knee pieces all mounted and a 360 of the other Shin Guard

(For full sized photos, be sure to check the thumbnails at the bottom of the post)



Model Used:

thumb-1082.png

http://www.405th.com/file-archive.php?do=download&downloadid=1082
Model by: ForgedReclaimer
Unfold by: L3X BLU3R1V3R​



Reference Images Used:
Shin - Female - Back (Forged Reclaimer).jpg Shin - Female - Side (Forged Reclaimer).jpg Shin - Male - Front 2 (Forged Reclaimer).jpg Shin - Male - Side 2 (Forged Reclaimer).jpg Shin - Male - Back 2 (Forged Reclaimer).jpg
reach_1508313_FullARMOR.jpg reach_266333_FullSHIN.jpg reach_266324_FullSHIN.jpg reach_11150404_FullSHINFJPARAKNEE.jpg Legs4.jpg
LilTyrant - Post_Calves_00.jpg Sepheus 13 - IMG_9753.jpg~original.jpg
Credits: ForgedReclaimer (5), Ruze789 (4), Brandon McClain (1), LilTyrant (1), Sepheus 13 (1)

Halo Reach Shin & Knee Textures - WandererTJ.png
Credits: Bungie​
 

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Looking really good, I'm jealous of those clean cuts you've got going on with your foam. My stuff's always so much cruder.

Those boots are just sneakers as a base?
 
Boots - Built & Detailed

Cpl Shepard, hopefully this post will answer your question. ;)



Update Time! :)

Boots - Built & Detailed
So for starters, I'm 6'1''.
The shoes I'm using provide 1.25'' of height. (I chose to use my running/walking/marathon shoes because they are super comfortable)
The boots add an extra 1.75'' of height.
This brings me to 6'4'', without a helmet.

During the build of the boots, I found a use for the edges of those puzzle pieces that most people just toss away. I used them to piece together my heel.
I also frequently use them to clean off the tip of my hot glue gun so that I can level glue that has seeped out of a seam without smearing glue everywhere.

I chose to use pepakura of the game model to base my boots off of, and I do think it might be better to just scratch build a boot around your shoe until it is enclosed and hidden and then begin to add your details by adding craft foam over the top.

The boots took me a while, because I frequently found myself just trying to find a way to make them work.
The primary difficulty was that I had to add 0.9" around the front and at least 2'' around the back, and some of it didn't turn out quite right.

They aren't quite done yet, the tongues of my actual shoes stick out past the tops of the boots, so I need to extend those pieces a bit, and when worn the side stretch open slightly, so I need to add a piece on the inside so you can't see my shoes from the side. It's really not a big deal, pretty easy fix, just need to find the time for it.

Build Photos:
Progress Pics:
For the start of the boot, I use 2 full flat sheets, then I create a wedge for the back half, build up 5 high.
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Progress of the Boots

Special Design:
So, like a few have done before me, I chose to make use of a Clam-Shell design.
What this means, is that the shoe on the interior is not permanently fixed within the boot and can be removed at any time with ease.
It turns out that I didn't need the strap over the toe of the boot, the boot is actually super snug over the toes of my shoes.
As for the rear straps, I've actually started pulling it up over the heels of my running shoes, which is much more comfortable and makes sure that the heels of the boots stay flush with my shoes.
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Clam-Shell Boot Design

Completed Boots:
So like I said, I still need to raise the tongue up a bit, fill in the sides a bit more, and I'm debating whether or not I want to create the design on the bottom of the boots.
They aren't super pretty, but I think out of most my armor, they may have the most to gain from being painted.

During the build of the boots, I revisiting using my Wood Burner to add in details. I made one goof (battle damage) when my hand slipped, but all in all I'm glad I gave it a 2nd chance. I have a feeling that if I tried to do the cut and heat combo that it would have ruined all of my seams.
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These images show the one boot fixed while the other does a 360

(For full sized photos, be sure to check the thumbnails at the bottom of the post)



Model Used:

thumb-1083.png

http://www.405th.com/file-archive.php?do=download&downloadid=1083
Model by: Bungie
Extracted by: WandererTJ
Unfolded by: WandererTJ
Scaled To: 12'' Shoe
Unfold Type: Foam​



Reference Images Used:
FootDecalsandTexture.jpgreach_1458873_Full.jpg reach_1458871_Full.jpg reach_1458865_Full.jpg
Ravarkian BootReference.jpg Ravarkian 0918b0f8-283a-4a01-a3b4-4b9b713930c2_zps704b6b03.jpg Ravarkian ccb2a86c-c715-4100-a234-8236417eb51b_zpsbf8d6209.jpg Ravarkian 4c98ed13-3aaa-4d39-b351-2536ec4412b1_zps6fa6d406.jpg
LilTyrant Post_1_00.jpg LilTyrant Post_2_00.jpg LilTyrant Post_Open_00.jpg LilTyrant Post_3_00.jpg LilTyrant Post_Boots_00.jpg
Sepheus 13 IMG_9755.jpg~original.jpg IMG_00801.jpeg Ghost01 IMG_1077.jpgGhost01 IMG_1082.jpg

Credits: Brandon McClain (1), Ruze789 (3), Ravarkian (4), LilTyrant (5), Sepheus 13 (1), Unknown (1), Ghost01 (2)

Halo Reach Boot Textures & Details - WandererTJ.png Mk V Undersuit.jpg
Credits: Bungie​
 

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I really enjoy following this build. You have a strong attention for detail, and it shows in every post. The clam-shell boot method has certainly become a favourite. Keep it up! :cool
 
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