I think its time for a RESTART

So I'm posting in the new recruit section as I have never finished a Halo project. While in college i had attempted to start numerous projects but never had the time to go through with it. Now that I am out of school i have the time to finally dig in deep to costuming. For me the resurgence started with joining the 501st and getting to do a bunch of charity work so far. But, given the nature of the 501st there wasn't a lot of room for creativity. So I started looking into doing a Halo themed project again and this time decided to get serious. Of course this brought up another issue, my Star Wars costumes are kits for the most part, minimal resource creation required, which is great for where i currently live. I don't really have the room (or probably the permission) to do a lot of the fiber-glassing and silicone work, and don't have a garage at this time. I was fortunate that a member of the 501st pointed me to where i could find a kit for an ODST Trooper, which is one of my favorite looks of all time. So i have bit the bullet and purchased a helmet pull. In three weeks I will hopefully have it on my desk to start cleaning it and prepping it for paint and a visor. Then it will be off to figure out the armor and under suit, and of course a few weapons. Wish me luck, I want to finally have a HALO themed costume. Time to get down and dirty.

Helmet: Purchased
Armor: TBD
Under Suit: TBD (Have some stuff here in the house that might be usable)
Gloves: TBD (I'm probably going to use full gloves not the fingerless)
Boots: I own a pair of black military style boots, this will be first option
Accessories: TBD (Big can of worms this is)
Weapons: TBD (Probably a pistol and silenced SMG to start)

The other big question is color scheme and any symbols i want to use on the helmet and armor. Will need to dig into some reference on what ODSTs usually have.

Does anyone know where one could get a kit for any of the HALO weapons? I have the ability to at least build a kit. As far as wood working tools or the like, I am out of luck.

Thanks everyone

Depends on what weapon you want.
You said you want to purchase an ODST kit. Sean Bradley kit, I guess?
Also, you already purchased a helmet... ODST I presume?

If you want full ODST, I guess Sean Bradley could have a weapon or point you where you can get weapons which the ODSTs carry.
Otherwise you can check etsy or facebook groups like Halo Props.

Many people buy kits castings or build themselves - foam or paper and resin, however seeing you're 501st and you want to purchase an ODST kit... I guess you rather have high end instead of building a weapon yourself, right?

Yes, I have been in contact with Sean Bradley and have purchased a helmet through him and will probably end up purchasing armor through him as his seems to be very high quality. The helmet is ODST Rookie style. I really enjoy the painting and weathering and am really looking forward to getting a hold of the piece. I have seen some weapons on ETSY from a Branfuhr Studios (I may be misspelling that). The Armor bits i definitely want to be high end, but i was unsure if there was any stigma on buying things rather than starting from pep or foam. I know that the 501st community involves lots of fan made kits for sale and that it is pretty common for kits to be purchased. I wasn't sure about here.

My assumption is as long as i pay (obviously) the creators and openly mention them and thank them for their hard work it would be acceptable. I am not looking for completed things, I am not against trimming and sanding plastics and resins, doing reinforcement work, or painting and basically treating it as a model kit. I just have concern for my ability and current surroundings to let me start into the process of making my own bucks and molds and the like.

I eventually do want to build a weapon but im probably not getting my housing situation figured out until early next year. (I'm looking for my first home - primary requirement is a garage haha).

I have seen some awesome templates and well made videos helping people build marine armor or some of the simpler armors out of foam and will probably try my hand at marine foam armor as well.

As far as specific weapons, the M6C/SOCOM and M7S Caseless Submachine Gun are my first two targets.

the TL;DR of this is I am currently far more involved in the world of the 501st, i want to add HALO to my costuming world, ODSTs are my favorite so i'd like to piece together a nice costume, but i don't want to be a jerk and go about this in a way the community disapproves of.

Also as another point are any of the BOOmco blasters worth modding? as far as look is concerned? Could be a cheap alternative. the UNSC and Covenant Pistols as well as the needler look good.

Darkhorn0 said:

Also as another point are any of the BOOmco blasters worth modding? as far as look is concerned? Could be a cheap alternative. the UNSC and Covenant Pistols as well as the needler look good.

Click to expand...

yeah the BOOMco blasters when painted look great aside from the Covenant Carbine (its tiny) I recommend getting the Magnum and Needler

Awesome yeah, i thought the needler and Magnum looked good. Plasma pistol doesn't look bad, and the look of the spiker is right, i was just betting it would be small like the carbine. Anyone seen the SMG or Assault Rifle?

Also whats the deal with realistic and spartan sized weapons?

So as I wait on my helmet which i should see in September, I decided I wanted to keep the Halo love going and celebrate my birthday in style by going to Toys R Us. Turns out they price match their own web page and their competitors so I was able to walk out with a Magnum, Plasma Pistol, and Needler for $50 total. I also Bought a set of replacement crystals for the needler off us ETSY.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/385406778/deluxe-needles-for-boomco-needler-dart?ref=listing-shop-header-0

These fit into the spots on top and will light up with the built in lights. So that should be cool. I'll have to start painting the blasters up. These will be my place holders until i get the ability to get better models.

Check out the photos in Halo Props on FaceBook. There are some people that are modifying boomco weapons.
This is a pistol.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1307306745960333&set=g.528738863837600&type=1&theater

Foam is really easy to work with. I'd recommend buying some and messing around with it and see how you like it.

Yeah they look pretty good painted up. They will give me a cheap alternative to nice models at the moment. Just need to decide what paints im going to use for the guns and my helmet. I've seen a lot of people using a nickel spray paint on the helmets to start then gun metal and whatever color stripe they want as far as odst. Once i get the notification it has shipped im going to start purchasing paint.

Do people usually paint the insides of their helmets?

I've never painted the inside of my helmets. The layers of paint are decided by what tipe of look you want. If you want it to look new you can just use the paint you want people to see. If you want it to look beat up and well used then you will want to start with a aluminium or metallic base. Then maybe a black and then the colors you want on top. There are a lot of examples of how to distress armor on YouTube that will walk you through step by step.

BOOMco blaster pulled apart



Broke the front ugh will have to rig up a fix



first coat of metallic paint

So the paint i used bubbled up weird time to sand and repaint i suppose

- - - Updated - - -

fixed bubbling, prepping for grips, going to use plasti dip to get that real rubberized finish

I recommend using a primer first. It works wonders and will make your paint to stick a lot stronger and not chip off.

Yeah i thought the paint can said primer and paint.... wont be trusting that again

EDITED:

Well because i'm an idiot i forgot to take picture of the next step. Only a little paint came off with the tape thank goodness. The plast-dipped handle feels and looks great. So now ive taped up the handle and will respray the damaged parts. then i plan to hit it with a light spray of machine gray and then do a little dry brushing.

So it would seem everyday is a lesson learned. I havent tried to seal and weather the gun yet but overall im feeling kind of meh about the result. The paint i used will be in the trash bin soon as it was terrible. The plastidip is a cool idea but paint may be better for durability. Fortunately these are like 10$ guns so I can always go grab a different one and retry it. I'll finish it up this week and it will do for now. I'll take the lessons ive learned into the plasma pistol and needler. Does anyone know where i can get a shiny iridescent purple spray paint?

Darkhorn0 said:

Yes, I have been in contact with Sean Bradley and have purchased a helmet through him and will probably end up purchasing armor through him as his seems to be very high quality. The helmet is ODST Rookie style. I really enjoy the painting and weathering and am really looking forward to getting a hold of the piece. I have seen some weapons on ETSY from a Branfuhr Studios (I may be misspelling that). The Armor bits i definitely want to be high end, but i was unsure if there was any stigma on buying things rather than starting from pep or foam. I know that the 501st community involves lots of fan made kits for sale and that it is pretty common for kits to be purchased. I wasn't sure about here.

My assumption is as long as i pay (obviously) the creators and openly mention them and thank them for their hard work it would be acceptable. I am not looking for completed things, I am not against trimming and sanding plastics and resins, doing reinforcement work, or painting and basically treating it as a model kit. I just have concern for my ability and current surroundings to let me start into the process of making my own bucks and molds and the like.

I eventually do want to build a weapon but im probably not getting my housing situation figured out until early next year. (I'm looking for my first home - primary requirement is a garage haha).

I have seen some awesome templates and well made videos helping people build marine armor or some of the simpler armors out of foam and will probably try my hand at marine foam armor as well.

As far as specific weapons, the M6C/SOCOM and M7S Caseless Submachine Gun are my first two targets.

the TL;DR of this is I am currently far more involved in the world of the 501st, i want to add HALO to my costuming world, ODSTs are my favorite so i'd like to piece together a nice costume, but i don't want to be a jerk and go about this in a way the community disapproves of.

Click to expand...

I'm 501st as well and pretty much in the same situation as you. I've got a full sean bradley ODST kit and it is awesome, really enjoying working on it. I also have the M6C/SOCOM from branfuhr studios off etsy that you mentioned.

I'm trying to do up a detailed build thread of it, so swing by and ask any questions if you get stuck

seantrooper said:

I'm 501st as well and pretty much in the same situation as you. I've got a full Sean Bradley ODST kit and it is awesome, really enjoying working on it. I also have the M6C/SOCOM from branfuhr studios off etsy that you mentioned.

I'm trying to do up a detailed build thread of it, so swing by and ask any questions if you get stuck

Click to expand...

NICE, which garrison are you in? I'm Ohio Garrison TI-81491. Just recently got really deep into the costuming world. Finished up a Dan Laws Tie Pilot, I have two Anovos TKs in various states of completion, and I have a FO TK on the way. Decided to get back into Halo for a little more creativity. My Sean Bradley Helmet should ship any day now, and then I'll get the armor later.

I saw your thread and have been lurking on it, just hadn't posted anything yet. I'm sure i'll end up bothering you for some questions.

Awesome! I'm Redback Garrison, in Queensland, Australia. TK/TS/TC/CC-8079. Working on a Jawa now too

Good luck on your FO too, I'm very jealous. My next build for sure though!

Shoot away with any questions as you run into them for the ODST as well, it's a bit different to a TK for armour assembly, but you can apply a few of the same techniques. Working on the resin helmet is very similar to clones though, so good preparation there

Good luck, from my seat (as a noob) you are way ahead of the curve! good luck, and share any progress so I can keep up with how you're doing!