another noob with an HD MKVI build

[agordon117]

I really appreciate that pig. And tbh i didn't think it would be this detailed either. I'm bummed about my sound system though as that was a big part of my build. Sure i'll get it done but not for h4 release.

 

[agordon117]

well, apparently the thigh straps magically shifted how they sit on me between the 8000 times I tried on the chest/back with the thighs and now. so after spending a frustrated (x 10 ^ 23) 30 minutes trying to get the chest to close and stay closed I sent my family on the way to go to the party without me. I don't have time to waste showing off an incomplete costume when the real deadline is 5 days away. I'm sitting here trying to stop blowing steam out of my ears before I do anything stupid. one thing is for sure though, I'm not wasting my time trying to work with these padded undersuits when tolerances are already tight. I'm just going straight under armor top and bottoms and I'll pad my pieces where needed. quite frankly I'm trying to plan my attack for keeping the stupid shins and boot tops in place and I've got nothing. well I'm gonna go stare at the trouble pieces for a while and hopefully come up with a solution. I don't know what else to do at this point.

 

[Skullptura]

Yeah things get away from us pretty easily. The trick is to NOT get too focused as the simple solutions tend to get missed. I tend to do that. But you will finish it. You will be awesome and you will post your awesomeness....... we hope

 

[agordon117]

Thanks for the pickmeup. it was much needed. i'm redoing the thigh straps with 1.5" nylon instead of the thicker load bearing straps. should work fine. shins will get a strap that loops around the back of my knee. boots are up in the air

 

[agordon117]

alright so on the schedule for today is to add some straps to the shins, grind off the current metal bracket on the right side of the chest and make a new one (it's just not holding and it will be quicker to make a new one and rondo it in place than it will be to fiddle with this one. I did redo the thigh straps last night. they came out really well. I ditched the load bearing suspenders for 1.5" nylon straps that cross benind my neck and go from the back of one thigh to the front of the other (attaching by parachute clips). then I used the 2" nylon belt to go around my midsection and hold the straps close to my body (it was either use the 2" belt to hold the straps or run straps from my shoulders to the belt and then from the belt to the thighs). works much better. I just need to fix that clip on the right side of the chest and I'm golden. I may also have to move the clip from right on my neck to somewhere closer to the shoulders on the shoulder strap. unfortunately I have a calc 3 test tomorrow and a lab report for physics due in 2 hours so I'm limited on time. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[Skullptura]

Do you feel that the straps rub a bit? It seems like they would. Does it feel comfortable when its all on?

 

[agordon117]

Well, the only comfortable parts of the armor are the boots, gloves, forearms, and helmet but as for the straps rubbing, they don't really. Not like the suspenders did anyway. The thighs barely fit so i have to keep tension on them to hold them up. It's not like i have to yank them up and intpplace but it's also not like stepping into a pair of loose althetic shorts. I'll worry about what rubs, chafes, and pinches after i get everything on and in place.

Also, i selected a bigger magnet (read "stonger") for the right top of the chest (to the wearer) and a beefier bracket for it to attach to. It makes sense that the right side needs to be stronger because i reach forward with my right arm more than my left.

 

[agordon117]

Okay so i'm in most of my armor right now and i'm gonna try to get some pics of everything minus the boots, but how in the world am i supposed to make the shoulder and thigh straps stay in place without adding bulk/ using the pressure suit? i'll give it that i walked up two flights of stairs (very akward for a spartan without a 6 foot jump) but i can't have that happening on monday night. pics being taken now

 

[agordon117]

okay, that last question still stands, but I'm posting some pics now of the completed (for the purposes of H4 release) suit. for obvious reasons, I wasn't going to wear the boots that had already been worn outside on my bedroom carpet, but you'll have plenty of pics of them at the release. it's just another part that makes walking more akward. that's all. Before I unveil the pics, I'd like to thank a few people for helping me through this build. Longshot-X for the motivation, lots of build tips, and answering questions I had IN MY OWN THREAD! CEREAL_KILL3R (I think i got that right) for the inspiration to add things like the armor lock and the weird details on the tops of the power cells. Carpathiavh for numerous tips and more motivation to add details to the chest. And many others but I just don't want to write a novel at 1:00AM. If you helped me at some point, you know who you are, and I couldn't have gotten here without you. Shown below is the creation that was born of about $800 and about 3000 hours (those 10 scrapped pieces at the beginning of the build were about half of that). It was well worth every cent and every second. I had the whole suit on for about 10 minutes before I even saw myself in a mirror, and when I finally did, I had to reattach my jaw. that wasn't so hard since it was still in my helmet, but it definitely dropped. unfortunately, it seems the chest battery (front) was low so the leds were dim. and I have to remove some padding on the forearms so I can slide them up a little further, but other than that, I'm really pleased with the suit. I'm puzzled as to how I'm suddenly wider with straps that don't add any thickness to me in any position and I'm debating whether trimming some of the "above arm" areas on the backpack will help the chest seat a little better and fit a little looser but as with all armor, this needs its own tweaks and they will get done in due time. In the mean time, allow me to introduce Spartan "Shotgunsfury117"

looks like I have a straggling strap there. I'll be fixing that.

as an answer to Longshot-X's "Darth Chief" I present "Jedi Master Chief".

my game face (best I could muster after seeing myself suited up anyway)

How I really feel.

I just keep thinking how I can't believe I actually built that with my own hands. I was always the sucky one in art class, 3d art (or art for those who can't draw) in high school, and even projects for school. But after seeing this, my limits are only what I can imagine. I'm truly ecstatic at what I've accomplished and you can bet I'll be the first one in line for halo 4 on monday. I tend to rant when I get tired, so that's all for now. Shotgunsfury117 over and out.

 

[PlayByMyOwnRule]

Dude all I can say is well done.

 

[Jason 078]

That looks good.

 

[Spartan_127]

Suit looks great. Definitely take your time to be proud of your achievements. It's well diserved. I bet you'll have a blast at the H4 release. Don't know what to tell you about the strapping issue you were having though.

 

[agordon117]

Thanks guys. I need some opinions on whether to trim the backpiece so it seats down and backward (at the top) a little bit or do i just trim so it goes straight downward? I can't tell exactly how much the chest needs to go down from the angle-distorted pics but it does look like it has to go down.

As for my strapping issue, i seriously won't believe that no one has kept their straps perfectly in place without using a pressure suit if someone tries to tell me that. There has to be a way to keep them together. Not everyone uses a pressure suit.

 

[rickrtickr]

great job on the suit so far. as far as the strapping issue goes try adding a small pad or something simmiler to the pressure points.

 

[agordon117]

I'm not worried about it being padded. It's keeping the straps up that i'm worried about. Although, given my findings with the shins (that the foam pads have a super high coefficient of static friction with the under armor) that actually might keep them in place better. At any rate, i'm going to be spending a lot of time tweaking the pads and straps this weekend. That much is clear.

 

[agordon117]

Had a sucessful public outing at gamestop. Sucessful meaning i snapped the epoxy off of one magnet, one shoulder strap, lost a toe of a boot, and... no that's it actually. Really i couldn't be happier with it because i know all of those things will be perfect by monday. The common factor in all of the broken stuff is improperly bonded adhesives. Epoxy does not like to stick to fiberglass or rondo, so i'll be reinforcing straps with robdo all weekend. Not sure what to do for the toes of the boots as nowhere local sells shoe goo. Anyway, i'll get the few pics i have up as soon as i get them.

 

[agordon117]

Well guys, of the 4 issues i was having 3 are fixed. It finally hit me after my hours of working on the suit that if 1 magnet on each side of the chest straps (1 left front, 1 left rear and repeat for the right) connected by a hard drive bracket had strength of "x" that 2 magnets stacked on top of each other in each spot would have strength of about "2x". It was a #facepalm moment but at the same time i'm glad i figured it out when i did. Issues 2 and 3 were just straps coming loose and issue 4 was the left toe coming off. Won't know how that held till morning.

 

[LongShot X]

Congrats Spartan Shotgunsfury117!
I'm very impressed at what you have created. Very well done!
One day we, will have to meet and have a dual between Darth Chief and Jedi Master Chief. That would make for some fantastic pics/videos.

Super cheers!

 

[agordon117]

Thanks for that longshot. and i'm not entirely sure how a duel in a chief suit would go. i like to use my whole range of motion when dueling but,my whole range of motion in the chief suit isn't very good. at any rate, we'd have to do it behind closed doors. most people wouldn't be able to fathom the amount of awesome seeing us both at the same time with lightsabers and we might get charged with manslaughter when their heads exploded.

 

[agordon117]

More pics. These were taken after the previous issues were solved but still inside so no boots. I still need to figure out how to keep the straps in place without a pressure suit (mainly the shoulder straps sliding backward is an issue) but other than that, i'm ready for h4 release night.

And me holding my first pep

Left rear codpiece strap appears to need tightened to center everything


That's all for now. I'm sure i'll have tons of pics from the release so stay tuned.