Spartan Warrior's Reach Build

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Spartan Warrior

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So this is my first time making armor, I have been working on this build for almost 8 months, though it only went full force a couple months ago due to life and work.

So as it stands now all the armor is assembled except for the helmet, I actually built one (Reach Operator) only to find it was a bit too big and so I need to redo it. I also need to work on building out the undersuit, hoping to have both those done within the next month. I'm going ahead and plastidipping some of the pieces, did the thighs, shins, shoulders, and hand and knee plates tonight.

Here are some photos I took before I started plastidipping:

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Looking good! Can you post pics of your process on the operator helmet? I need to be able to do that for my upcoming custom spartan build...
 
Thanks, I'm definitely excited to almost have it finished!

BorosBoss, the armor is for my brother, and he's decided since we are going to have to remake the helmet that he wants to switch to a Mark V B. It will still be a foam helmet; I'll be happy to take some pictures from each step of the process for you.
 
Well folks, I've run into a snag with the plastidipping. I'm getting some nasty looking texture on my armor. From what I understand texture usually happens from spraying from too far away, but I am consistently 4-6 inches when I spray. I used 4 light coats, is the problem caused by not putting it down heavy enough?

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I imagine I can hit my armor with some xylene to try to smooth things out, though unfortunately I was in go-go-go mode and didn't address this problem before I applied primer to several pieces. Do you think I would still be able to use xylene on the primer?
 
Given that a fair bit of the faom's original colour is still coming through, I would say so. From when I used it I remember needing to apply far more than I anticipated to achieve the look I saw in the builds of others. I found that spraying layers just thick enough to build an even gloss were sufficient/necessary.
 
Thanks for the input m00sem4n, it does appear that I'll need to put it on heavier. I think I'm actually going to switch over to the brush on version of the plastidip, I remember several 405th members saying that they got a smoother finish using that over the spray.

So I already had dipped the boots, forearms, and cod piece, so I'll just apply a layer of xylene then brush on a fresh coat of plastidip. The shins, thighs, and biceps/shoulders already have primer on them, would it still work to apply Xylene to those? If not, would a light sanding with fine grit paper possibly help?
 
Build looking good :), best of luck to you with the rest. I hope it turns out good for you. Im interested in seeing the brush on version of the plasti-dip :)
 
Thanks Mstruvmgc, I'm definitely excited to be at the home stretch!

So last night I was looking at the pieces that were plastidipped, then at the pieces that also had primer on them. The plastidip pieces did have some texture and could definitely be a little smoother, but overall they didn't seem too bad. The pieces with primer on them were a good bit worse, with much thicker texture on them. I originally thought it might just be because the grey primer showed texture more because of being a lighter color, but now I'm starting to wonder if the primer is part of the problem. I've done some reading and it seems that spray on primer can cause texture issues if there is too much humidity, which it was humid the day I sprayed all this on. I'm going to take some test pieces and try to see where everything is going wrong. If it is the primer I will probably try wet sanding it with very fine sand paper (I'll definitely try that on a test piece first though). Will post my findings in a couple days!
 
Hey again, dipped parts can definitely be gone over with xylene, and it's not a bad idea to add some to the brush on plastidip, especially in the earlier layers. I wouldn't ever advise taking sandpaper to the dip, on just primed foam it should be fine though.

Good luck to you, hope there's no more bumps in the road!
 
Thanks ErMac, it's coming along!

Okay, so I took some test foam pieces and tried to find what the issue was with the plastidip and primer. I took three pieces, one with 4 light coats of plastidip, the second with 2 lights coats followed by 2 heavy coats. The third piece I decided to rough up a bit with some sand paper (I use spackle for edge sealing so I sand it afterwards). I then applied two coats of primer, here are the results!

This is the 4 light coats piece, after plastidip and then after primer.
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This is the 2 light coats, 2 heavy coats.
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This is the piece that was sanded, then had 2 light coats, then 2 heavy.

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None of the pieces were heat sealed, which I probably should have done to close up the pores. There is some obvious texture to each piece, but they all were pretty smooth to the touch. I think the two pieces that had the 2 lights coats followed by 2 heavy coats definitively turned out a bit better. Since this experiment went pretty well I'll hold off buying brush on plastidip for now. Ultimately I didn't receive the gritty texture that you can see on the shin piece earlier in the thread. My only theory at this point is that the humidity was higher the day I sprayed the other pieces which affected the primer.

To try to fix those pieces with the texture I am experimenting with wet sanding. I got some 600 grit wet sandpaper, and I did a little test this evening. I was able to rub off the texture and get a smooth finish; I was definitely being very gentle to make sure I didn't damage the plastidip underneath. I only tested a few areas on one of the thigh pieces, but it did go well enough that I'm going to carefully use it on all the armor pieces that have the bad texture. I also have some 1500 grit paper that I may try after using the 600 to get it even smoother. I'll keep you posted!
 
The build is still progressing, the past two weeks have been spent working on the new helmet, which is finally done! It was made using eva foam with 2mm, 3mm, and 5mm craft foam for some of the smaller details. I was having some trouble with the helmet being warped in the cheek area where it connects to the jaw piece, so I ended up using some pop-sickle sticks and glue to hold it to the proper shape. Even though it won't show once the visor is in place, I'll go ahead and cover those with some padding or craft foam.

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Definitely glad to have that done, I find the helmet is one of most difficult and slow pieces to build. So I just need to plastidip the chest and helmet, then I'll be moving on to painting!
 
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