Aztlan's Halo 4 Rogue + Binary Rifle + M6H + Exo-suit WIP, PIC HEAVY!

[Spartan214]

Could you possibly go into a little bit how you're using the elastic/and velcro? i.e. attaching etc.

 

[TomcatHeavy]

I am currently researching information (mostly safety) on the 3.5oz compressed gas duster cans. My theory is to mount them (2) into the exterior Rogue chest piece, and connect them to a rubberized chemical resistant hose that runs through my Exo-suit and next to my arterial areas. When the can is sprayed while inverted, it releases a gas which is extremely cold, which would then travel down the tubes and cool my body. My prediction is that I would have to perform two or three blasts (5-10 seconds each) every hour or so to help alleviate overheating. While performing my research so far, I have found that this is actually a documented and authorized use for this product, so I will not be breaking any laws! As if the "canned air police" roam around a convention! But just the same, I like to stay within the laws as they are generally there for a reason.

If my continued research and/or test runs give me an undesirable result, I will have to look into another option. This would most likely be some sort of radiator/fan cooled recirculating water system... ugh, more electronics = more batteries which equals more weight and higher costs!

Excellent thread here EVAcura! I've read, scoured Youtube, and lurked for the last week before joining and had planned to make an EVA suit using this very method; only thing is that I got the idea from a video on Youtube that left me hopeful but largely uneducated. Your presentation of the information, execution, and results vastly outshines that experience and I'm much more confident now - thanks for sharing your learning with us!

As far as cooling goes any chemical-safe rubber, surgical tubing, PVC, or vinyl will not exchange heat (or cold) well enough to matter. The closed-loop liquid system with water would work best if you are set on a closed-loop setup - water being 70 or so times more dense than air and able to be passed through thinner material overall, like bladders that would be more suitable to actually exchanging heat in those critical places. Here again, though - weight mounts up fast to the tune of 8 lbs per gallon of water, much less the water-handling system, heat sink, and power supply.

Of all of your options I would bid a ram-air setup would be the most efficient. There are no shortage of low/ optimized voltage high-efficiency, high-speed electric fans to be had and these could pull air out of as well as push air into a network of ventilated hoses. Plus, this option has the least amount of moving/ working parts, and likely would have the least amount of overall weight. Best of luck to your build, though - this suit is coming along with panache!

 

[Apothacary]

This is AMAZINGBALLS!

Your foam work baffles me. Makes me want to just give up even attempting to get better at foam work haha. (Don't know why). On a serious/wishfull-thinking note, I would pay money to take a course in college that teaches me this stuff. I know you've been sharing info, but I learn so much faster and more efficiently when there's somebody there to stop me when I'm doing it wrong, and show me the right way.

At a loss for words, and feeling hella inspired.

Superb work, keep it up!

 

[EVAkura]

Could you possibly go into a little bit how you're using the elastic/and velcro? i.e. attaching etc.

Sure thing! The piece pictured below is the front center part of the lower leg (shin area). This part had to be able to stretch way out to allow my foot to go through. I have used just Velcro in the past, with less than desirable results. So, I decided to use both woven elastic as well. The part shown in the first picture has 1" Velcro that I cut to make it 1/2" wide and runs the full length of the piece.



Then, the elastic on the inside, when my leg is inserted and the armor is in place, is attached just at the point where it has tension. Any movement and the elastic helps relieve the stress put on the Velcro. Important note: The closer the glued anchor points to the EVA are together, the more you limit the amount of stretch the elastic can provide. I know this sounds elementary, but finding the correct anchor points is always a challenge when you are attaching elastic banding internally. Also, you may notice that I not only glue the elastic strap to the EVA, but I reinforce it with a heavy bead that covers at least 1/2" of the band and also goes at least 1/4" onto the EVA. I can not afford to have these straps break off because I won't be able to get back to them after I seal everything up.

Excellent thread here EVAcura! I've read, scoured Youtube, and lurked for the last week before joining and had planned to make an EVA suit using this very method; only thing is that I got the idea from a video on Youtube that left me hopeful but largely uneducated. Your presentation of the information, execution, and results vastly outshines that experience and I'm much more confident now - thanks for sharing your learning with us!

As far as cooling goes any chemical-safe rubber, surgical tubing, PVC, or vinyl will not exchange heat (or cold) well enough to matter. The closed-loop liquid system with water would work best if you are set on a closed-loop setup - water being 70 or so times more dense than air and able to be passed through thinner material overall, like bladders that would be more suitable to actually exchanging heat in those critical places. Here again, though - weight mounts up fast to the tune of 8 lbs per gallon of water, much less the water-handling system, heat sink, and power supply.

Of all of your options I would bid a ram-air setup would be the most efficient. There are no shortage of low/ optimized voltage high-efficiency, high-speed electric fans to be had and these could pull air out of as well as push air into a network of ventilated hoses. Plus, this option has the least amount of moving/ working parts, and likely would have the least amount of overall weight. Best of luck to your build, though - this suit is coming along with panache!

You are very welcome... so happy I could inspire!

I am still undecided on the cooling system as of now... heck, I might even rough it out with just a couple of cold packs!

Quick update on my progress. Reinforcements have been sanctioned by the finance department (my wife has allowed me to order additional EVA mats as my supply has gone critically low), and I purchased even more woven elastic band material. So far, I have used over 20 feet of it! I also may have locked down a supplier for translucent orange 1/16" polystyrene sheets so I can vacuum form the Rogue visor!!!! Needless to say, not much was done on the Exo-suit today. I managed to form the four pads that go above the lower leg. I also finished the sanding on the Binary rifle and have started the painting process. Picture updates should be tomorrow as I don't have much to show and want to wait until the rifle is completed.

 

[EVAkura]

This is AMAZINGBALLS!

Your foam work baffles me. Makes me want to just give up even attempting to get better at foam work haha. (Don't know why). On a serious/wishfull-thinking note, I would pay money to take a course in college that teaches me this stuff. I know you've been sharing info, but I learn so much faster and more efficiently when there's somebody there to stop me when I'm doing it wrong, and show me the right way.

At a loss for words, and feeling hella inspired.

Superb work, keep it up!

Thanks so much! This is a never ending learning experience, and the more we share our victories, the better we all get

Today I was up a 6:30am and immediately started painting the Binary rifle. I just finished working on it for the day (11:10pm). I may have taken an hours worth of breaks in all that time. Needless to say, I accomplished my goal. The whole rifle is painted minus the distressing bit. To me, that is where the magic happens. Also, I just want to note, not including the honeycomb parts, the whole thing was hand painted. I try to avoid rattle cans as much as possible since my skill level with them is generally rated in the negative!

As promised, here are some photos... but be forewarned... they are teasers! Finished pics will have to wait until tomorrow

Keeping with my color scheme, the upper barrel's base coat is burnt orange



The sides have a gloss black base coat, and a matte grey top coat



Back to the top barrel, now being prepped for the matte grey top coat



And lastly, finished top barrel design (picture came out horrible by the way. Hopefully tomorrow's pics will come out better)



Until tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by and as always, comments/criticism very welcome!

 

[EVAkura]

Well, no comments... and I can see why. My photos from yesterday left a LOT to be desired! I have a good excuse though... man, was I tired!

Today started at 6:30am and finished at 4:00pm. Just in time to catch the last rays of sunlight to help the clear coat dry enough to handle before bringing the rifle inside to cure.

IT IS FINISHED!!!!!!

I didn't expect painting to take over 25 hours, but it was so worth it! So, without rambling on any further... here is my prized and completed Binary Rifle.







Close ups showing the battle damage and distress, as well as the pattern on the upper barrel.





Now, back to the Exo-suit!

 

[elusch99]

Holy derpderps this is amazing! How well (or not so well) does the phone scope thing work?

 

[RYNO 666]

Holy @#%$&! I'm speechless.....

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk

 

[Darthdrow]

A beautiful piece of work. My hat's off to you. I cannot wait to see the rest of your project once it's complete. Every time I check on this post I get more inspired, and can't wait to start my own project (which hopefully will be next week ). Keep up the amazing work.

 

[foxleader]

looks up and smiles... this trooper would like the say. "you did good rookie."-buck.

 

[Zoogami Snowfox]

Very very very nice work man
Looks awesome.

 

[EVAkura]

Thanks y'all!!

Very very very nice work man
Looks awesome.

Hey, when you going to finish your Light Rifles!?!? I keep going back to your thread, but all I keep seeing is your armor progressing (quite awesomely at that!). Also, if you don't mind sharing, what file did you use for them?

 

[foxleader]

lets see I think he's wanting to get his armor done before the rifles evakura, I mean cosplay isn't cosplay with out some armor.

 

[Zoogami Snowfox]

Hey, when you going to finish your Light Rifles!?!? I keep going back to your thread, but all I keep seeing is your armor progressing (quite awesomely at that!). Also, if you don't mind sharing, what file did you use for them?

lets see I think he's wanting to get his armor done before the rifles evakura, I mean cosplay isn't cosplay with out some armor.

I haven't been doing any of the lightrifles at the moment due to waiting for my friend to finish the electronics for them.
With one of the circuits there is a minor issue so once that has been fixed, he will send them to me.
Once they arrive I can continue on making them, in the meantime I have been working on the armour, of which I should have all the pieces
completely painted today.

As for the file...
I haven't used one, they have been scratch built.
I took multiple pictures of the rifle from the game, and created the flat side design.
After that I used trancing paper to create the template layers.
I plan to release my templates after I finish them

 

[EVAkura]

So, the question for the day is: Is it possible to "bend" the FLAT side of EVA 90 degrees within three inches (7.5 cm) without any buckling?

I will provide the answer a bit later tonight as I am getting pretty close to completing the Exo-suit's "shoes"

 

[foxleader]

you can but you need to cut haft of it out so it will fold. and when I say haft I'm talking 45 degrees on each side.

 

[EVAkura]

I don't think I worded the question properly

Anyways... here is the update on the shoes. Unfortunately, I can not give a pattern on these since I am totally winging it. Only half the parts are using templates, and the rest are just free cut.



Bending the sides where the sole wraps upwards, plus adding the contour of the arch



Since I am not providing templates, I am providing lots of pictures. Here, the first outside part was attached.



Now the front outside part was assembled and attached. This piece and the previous one are not connected together at this time. They later had elastic straps attached on the inside to provide a pivot point. Also, this is the part I was referring to about bending the flat side 90 degrees without buckling. To add to the difficulty, it was a compound sweep.



This photo shows the inside two parts completed and installed. Again, the two parts were not permanently attached, they were connected with elastic straps again.



And where I am leaving off for the night. The top plate is just sitting there, but will be attached at multiple spots with elastic straps. I posed the shin portion of the Exo-suit to show scale and positioning.



So far, I am pretty pleased with the way they are coming out. They are really comfortable and rugged due to the fact that I am really paying attention to reinforcing where ever I can. I am still undecided if I am going to "plate" the soles so that I don't tear up the EVA ones.

Any ideas on that would be appreciated! Until tomorrow...

 

[Chernobyl]

If you want to reinforce the soles of your boots, car matting might go a ways to helping out, particularly if you can get one with a grip that resembles the grip on the sole. Some strong glue to hold it in place wouldn't go amiss, but that seems like a good way to ensure you've got hard-wearing soles that won't let you down on smooth floors.

 

[AlphaPrym]

Evakura, My son uses a product called "Shoe Goo" on his shoes to be able to continue wearing them and it lasts a long time. I've considered using it to create soles for Halo boots but just never got that far yet. It would bond readily to EVA and add a long lasting sole.
Two questions for you, first being, How are you going to stop the "arch" of you boot from crushing down and possibly tearing the boot apart while stepping down on it? My last question is, Can you make a video showing us how you are heating and bending some of those complex bends on you boots? Pictures are great but a video log would be outstanding and I'm sure others would agree much easier to understand.
Your build is amazing on you armor and weapons and extremely inspirational.
If I could vote any higher than 5 stars on your build I certainly would..

 

[EVAkura]

If you want to reinforce the soles of your boots, car matting might go a ways to helping out, particularly if you can get one with a grip that resembles the grip on the sole. Some strong glue to hold it in place wouldn't go amiss, but that seems like a good way to ensure you've got hard-wearing soles that won't let you down on smooth floors.

Excellent idea. I guess that is what they are made for, eh?! Taking lots of abuse from feet

Evakura, My son uses a product called "Shoe Goo" on his shoes to be able to continue wearing them and it lasts a long time. I've considered using it to create soles for Halo boots but just never got that far yet. It would bond readily to EVA and add a long lasting sole.
Two questions for you, first being, How are you going to stop the "arch" of you boot from crushing down and possibly tearing the boot apart while stepping down on it? My last question is, Can you make a video showing us how you are heating and bending some of those complex bends on you boots? Pictures are great but a video log would be outstanding and I'm sure others would agree much easier to understand.
Your build is amazing on you armor and weapons and extremely inspirational.
If I could vote any higher than 5 stars on your build I certainly would..

Thanks for the advice on that. I have a tube of Shoe Goo lying around somewhere. I think a test will be in order

To answer your questions. When I built the arch, I was left with one raised spot (the arch) and two low spots (the heel portion and the part forward of the arch). For the heel, I simply cut out another piece of EVA which fit in that section and cut an angle to match the arch, then adhered it to the base. I did the same with the front portion, but I also tapered it down before it got to the toes. When it was completed, the sole was level... which "should" prevent it from being pushed down when constant weight is applied. Considering the bottom is a single piece, and the two upper parts which make it level again have a large surface area for adhesion to that base, it work quite well... but only time will tell

Okee dokee... I made the video! Hopefully, this covers all of your questions concerning how I bend and form my EVA.

AlphaPrym: I added a bit about the arch in the shoes just for you!

Thank you for your comment and suggestion!