2nd Master Chief Suit (COMPLETED)

[josiahpeters]

I'm done! YAY!!!

5:30am this morning...

So I almost finished my suit for the Halo 3 launch. I rushed it as fast as I could and got the back, chest, groin and helmet pieces cast by the morning of the 25th, sadly I didn't finish.

The problem was, Halo 3 was out... 500 games later and I'm back to working on the suit. I'm almost done too!!! Here's a teaser I tried on one entire half of the suit to make sure the pieces fit.... lol Here's what it looks like

Hopefully done in time for halloween.

For the launch of Halo 2 I created http://josiahpeters.com/mc using cardboard, a hot glue gun, expanding insulation foam and bondo. The total cost for that project was around $100. And it took around 3 months off and on time.

This time around I've got more money and less time. And after looking through tutorials on the site and suggestions and other costume sites I've decided on my process.

So far I'm making a mold of myself using Saran Wrap and Packing tape. I've got a few pictures of the progress so far. I tried to make the tape form stronger by using insulation foam but that didn't work. Should I try coating it with a couple layers of fiberglass and resin?

Armor Process:

Make a form of my body out of Saran Wrap / Packing Tape
Sculpt armor on top of the form using clay
Make molds of the clay armor pieces
Cast the molds using fiberglass and resin
Sand / Dremel
Use body filler to smooth out
Paint
Battle Damage?

Undersuit:

Use a polypro under armor type under suit
Sew velcro / webbing into the suit to hold armor pieces
using plastic clip buckles and velcro to attach the suit


A couple questions for you veterans,
Should I use plaster to create the molds for the clay? Or should I use latex + fiberglass / resin for my molds.

Any hints, tips, and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I've posted several pics from my body form creating process.


Oh yeah. I'm gonna try and get this finished before the halo 3 launch...

-Mad Cow

 

[GruntOfAction]

For the launch of Halo 2 I created http://josiahpeters.com/mc using cardboard, a hot glue gun, expanding insulation foam and bondo. The total cost for that project was around $100. And it took around 3 months off and on time.

This time around I've got more money and less time. And after looking through tutorials on the site and suggestions and other costume sites I've decided on my process.

So far I'm making a mold of myself using Saran Wrap and Packing tape. I've got a few pictures of the progress so far. I tried to make the tape form stronger by using insulation foam but that didn't work. Should I try coating it with a couple layers of fiberglass and resin?

Armor Process:

Make a form of my body out of Saran Wrap / Packing Tape
Sculpt armor on top of the form using clay
Make molds of the clay armor pieces
Cast the molds using fiberglass and resin
Sand / Dremel
Use body filler to smooth out
Paint
Battle Damage?

Undersuit:

Use a polypro under armor type under suit
Sew velcro / webbing into the suit to hold armor pieces
using plastic clip buckles and velcro to attach the suit
A couple questions for you veterans,
Should I use plaster to create the molds for the clay? Or should I use latex + fiberglass / resin for my molds.

Any hints, tips, and feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I've posted several pics from my body form creating process.
Oh yeah. I'm gonna try and get this finished before the halo 3 launch...

-Mad Cow

Is that a mirror or a 2 way chalk board? lol..
Good luck getting it done...*cough17daysleft*cough*

 

[callmemasterchief]

Sounds like my plans exactly! keep me posted and tell me if you'll be selling your 3 suit out of the molds you make! Hope it looks great.

 

[josiahpeters]

Is that a mirror or a 2 way chalk board? lol..
Good luck getting it done...*cough17daysleft*cough*

its just a mirror. I hadn't realized that one of my friends recently wrote "L2B Less of a tool" on there.... /sigh

 

[joshua61991]

You could try to use vaccum forming, at least I think it is good from other peoples work with it but personally IDK. Good luck man thats a short amount of time. I can't remember where I saw it but a guy used putty to get a battle worn look. Putty can easily look really beat up, it is soooo hard to make a wall with a big hole in it not look like a crazed belt sander attacked it. So either use putty or find a crazy belt sander.

 

[josiahpeters]

More pictures, this time of progress on the helmet. I'm sculpting it out of clay. Hopefully I'll have the helmet done by tomorrow. More pics to come...

Also, yeah the sculpting is a little off. If anyone notices a real flaw with it let me know. Things i have to fix for sure are the jaw line. As well as around the ears. Feedback is appreciated!!!

-Cow

 

[josiahpeters]

Well I've finished my sculpting of the helmet. All that is left to do is smooth it out, make a mold and cast it with fiberglass and resin. Most places are closed on Sunday so I'll hopefully getting my casting plaster soon. I'll keep posting pics.

Feedback is always appreciated

-Cow

 

[Xavier]

awesome man!

 

[Digital Demise]

that was fast

 

[drgon47]

Wow! Ive been working on my sculpt. Well, I call it a sculpt. Its Pepekura with resin and clay on it. Im nowhere NEAR that detailed in that amount of time. Kudos!

 

[Archer]

Is it difficult to sculpt with the clay?

 

[Leadingspartan]

Looks like bluerealm has some competition. Good luck.

 

[papamurf812]

I really like it! How're you gonna harden the clay? After seeing this, it makes me wanna try to do stuff with clay. I always make miniatures and customize action figures with sculpey, but I never thought of making a full size mask. And I never thought it'd be this good.

 

[josiahpeters]

Is it difficult to sculpt with the clay?

Its really not very difficult to sculpt. although what I did was build layers of clay in the shape that I wanted, I hardly had to remove any clay and that was mostly for detail.

Looks like bluerealm has some competition. Good luck.

heh, thanks

I really like it! How're you gonna harden the clay? After seeing this, it makes me wanna try to do stuff with clay. I always make miniatures and customize action figures with sculpey, but I never thought of making a full size mask. And I never thought it'd be this good.

I'm not going to harden the clay. As a matter of fact I'm keeping it soft and moist so that it doesn't crack. The next step for me is getting HYDROCAL a specific kind of plaster that I'll use to make a mold. A small problem I'm running into, I'm not finding anyone around Boise Idaho that keeps it in stock. I'm probably going to have to order it which may take up to a week... >.<

I may end up using a sort of urathene or plastic for the mold. Anyways after I make the mold I'll cast the helmet with fiberglass and resin.

I've got a bit more "sculpting" to do as I noticed some of the detail I did was wrong.

Does anyone have really good reference pictures of the the Halo 3 MC? The ones I have been using are good but I'm having a hard time finding a top down view as well as a clean shot of the back.

----
Also, I figure the helmet is probably the hardest part to do and I've never really done this before so its a learning process. Once I get the helmet done I think everything will go much faster... hopefully me obtaining plaster wont screw me up for finishing this in the next two weeks... we'll see.

 

[BlueRealm]

looks good. keep it up

 

[Leadingspartan]

looks good. keep it up

now that ive noticed the front jaw looks kinda warped but how did you get the clay so smooth and round what clay is it?

 

[josiahpeters]

now that ive noticed the front jaw looks kinda warped but how did you get the clay so smooth and round what clay is it?

Yeah I wasn't happy with the jaw myself... thanks for reinforcing that it didnt look right... I thought maybe it was my eyes.

Because I don't have my plaster to cast the mold yet I decided to go back and fix the things I didn't like about the helmet. I extended the visor almost an inch to bring it closer to the halo 3 look. I also re-did the jaw, and the vents / louvers in the top of the helmet. Along with adding some more detail to the back.


Picture 1 and 2 show the detail re-filled in. 3 and 4 are after I smoothed everything out and then carved out the detail.

**Note to people trying to carve / sculpt something out of clay. I found that smoothing out the entire shape works better before carving out detail, then adding detail and then trying to smooth around it.**

 

[CGClone]

2 bits of advice.

DO NOT cast a mold with hydrocal. You will regret with all the undercuts. You wont get the clay out of it, it will bond with the clay and all your work down the drain. Silicone mold my friend, silicone.

Let the clay air harden. Its what its made to do. Modeling clays do not need to be fired. Pottery clays yes, modeling no. That misconception is constantly addressed on this forum LOL along with the difference between a mold, a cast, and a master. Softer clays suck at details. Roma plastina or Prima Platsina are your friends (types of clay). You will never get clay completely smooth.


Looks great, keep it up.

 

[josiahpeters]

DO NOT cast a mold with hydrocal. You will regret with all the undercuts. You wont get the clay out of it, it will bond with the clay and all your work down the drain. Silicone mold my friend, silicone.

This morning went to a place that does various forms of casting work. The guy I talked to also suggested casting with silicone. He was using a product called rebound 25.
http://www.smoothon.com/rebound.htm
He also advised against using hydrocal and any other plaster in this situation because of the difficulty releasing.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[drgon47]

My rebound 25 just came in the mail yesterday. Im almost finished with my sculpt.

Btw, looks awesome!