BLUE S-452 Build

[Unity]

Out of curiosity, have you thought about making it out of foam? It takes away having to deal with the resin and fiberglass which is why I like it. It's still too cold in michigan to work with that stuff.

Anyway, nice work on what you got so far. Can't wait to see more progress on this.

Also, for that power pack on the lower back, there IS a file that exists for it already. I can't remember where it's at, but I have the file. Might save you some time instead of making a file of it yourself.

I agree . Foam is a great alternative too fiberglass and resin. I am using it as well at the moment (I live in northern mighigan and it is FREEZING!)

And Halogoddess - I think we should start a michigan 405th group!

 

[BlueSol]

Out of curiosity, have you thought about making it out of foam? It takes away having to deal with the resin and fiberglass which is why I like it. It's still too cold in michigan to work with that stuff.

Anyway, nice work on what you got so far. Can't wait to see more progress on this.

Also, for that power pack on the lower back, there IS a file that exists for it already. I can't remember where it's at, but I have the file. Might save you some time instead of making a file of it yourself.

Well the one other person I know here in MN that goes to cons has a mk. 6 suit out of foam, and it looks pretty good but I like the detail of the pep and I have a heated shop to do all my work. But I did purchase some foam to build my DMR out of because pep just doesn't work that great on solid objects.
And I already found the armor lock device thing on the reach file thread, and have since pepped it and fiberglassed it. I was originally going to put some orange LEDs in there but they're just not bright enough, so I've decided to buy a couple orange glow sticks and tape them in there haha.

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

 

[BlueSol]

I might need to sand down the knife a little more, and maybe user a more dull color for the blade. The knee guards look good though, IMO.

 

[BlueSol]

Hey guys, so I decided to take a break for a bit, I've been busting my ass trying to get this done by this weekend, and I've decided I want to take my time and make it look a lot better, so I'm shooting to have it done by the middle of May now, but here is a little tasted of what to come, I just threw it on without any foam, or straps or anything and it's of course missing some pieces that don't sit on by themselves. But here it is up to now:

 

[BlueSol]

UPDATE:
My girlfriend ran over my helmet with the office chair, don't ask me how or why the helmet was on the floor in the first place, but I just got done repairing it. Painted a few things.
Shin piece:

I'm very satisfied with this piece, it's been foamed and is ready to roll!
Forearm:

Still needs some more cosmetic work, I have to add a little gray to the black part and some more weathering onto the blue part.
I'm back to work, re-pepping some pieces I wasn't satisfied with, and started wiring some LEDs up for the lights on the suit. More updates soon.

 

[BlueSol]

Finished the forearm:

Biceps:

Operator shoulder:

 

[BlueSol]

Most of the suit is done but I'm not really satisfied with it so I think I might rebuild some pieces and do some re-sandind/painting. But here's the forearm with TACPAD:

CQC helmet almost ready for paint:

 

[uneditablepoly]

Hey, looks great so far! Btw, where did you get a pep file for the operator shoulder? I was just gonna wing it because it's so simple but if there's a file out there, that'd make my life a little easier.

 

[BlueSol]

CQC HELMET:

Might take some pictures with the whole suit on later it's more or less complete.

 

[BlueSol]

TADA!!!!

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.

 

[Jonus]

Things I like: the tacpad, shoulder straps (screw accuracy, I like 'em), painted details (specifically the pattern on the operator shoulder)

Something that could need revision: the brim above the visor looks a little uneven on the helmet. It could just be the lighting in the full armour pic or the painjob, because it looks fine in the bondo pic.

It's definitely a unique set of armour. I'm planning on eventually making the cqc for my wife, and this is the first one I've seen finished. I'm excited to make it now.

 

[BlueSol]

Things I like: the tacpad, shoulder straps (screw accuracy, I like 'em), painted details (specifically the pattern on the operator shoulder)

Something that could need revision: the brim above the visor looks a little uneven on the helmet. It could just be the lighting in the full armour pic or the painjob, because it looks fine in the bondo pic.

It's definitely a unique set of armour. I'm planning on eventually making the cqc for my wife, and this is the first one I've seen finished. I'm excited to make it now.

Thanks for the review! Yeah I put a thin layer of foam on the top side of the visor because the original visor lining was wiped out with all the bondo'ing and sanding. I'm going to trim it down today.
As for the torso, it was originally a patrol(jun's) chest but all the details ended up being really ugly so I changed it to the parafoil with the straps and knife strapped to the front. I think it turned out pretty well. I have to re-attach the tacpad, it came off and I'm still working on an efficient way to strap it to the forearm without making it permanent.

 

[BlueSol]

I'm waiting for my LEDs to come in the mail so I can light up the whole suit in the right places. I'm about to go buy some foam so I can make a new torso, and thighs. The torso is a little oversized, and the two thighs were the first pieces I pepped so they could be better. I've seen so many amazing projects these days with foam that I am excited to try it out. I'm almost done with the boots and the stomach piece, the one that was designed with the patrol torso I wasn't really into and I found a better file in the forum. I'll leave you guys with this:

 

[Convoy 828]

That's damn good!!!!!! I wish i could finish mine that quickly!!!

 

[The Red Baron]

Sooo cool

I'm in the middle of an armor build (not really that far yet, only shoulders and knees) and I was trying to find a CQC helmet pep file.
I love the way your armor looks, keep up the good work.
If you've got the CQC pep file, could you email to me?

I'd be much obliged. ​

 

[BlueSol]

UPDATE:
So I took some time off and I'm work to work on a foam rebuild of some pieces that didn't turn out so well. Here's my first piece, I'm still working on getting the foam techniques down. This was based off ForgedReclaimer's HD model:

More to come. I plan on doing the second thigh and a new torso.

 

[BlueSol]

Hey guys sorry updates have been so slow I've been busy. But I'm almost done with my new torso piece, I ran out of foam but I'm going to grab more tomorrow. Here's a pic of the front:

 

[BlueSol]

Chest piece is pretty much completely constructed, besides undersuit additions. Also started working on the LEDs so I'm nice a lit up for halloween. Got the lights in the biceps, kind of hard to see. I'm starting to get the hang of foam and I'm loving it!

 

[XxCrossFadexX]

You work damn fast!

 

[BlueSol]

So I'll show people a few pics of how I'm doing the lighting system. Just for the new people that might be having trouble.

So if you haven't seen Adam's led tutorial, he has a good one here:

But for the reach suit things are a little different than the MC armor.
I use the same dollar store lights:

Then take off the lens, plastic around the light and wires, and dremel off the other end of the clip so it is nice and flush.

As for the cover over the hole where the LED resides, double sided tape is a great diffuser as well as keeps the LED in place. From there, just use your friend the hot glue gun and secure the wire and plastic power piece in a convenient location. This worked well for me because my bicep pieces were pretty tight already and the full plastic piece didn't fit comfortably. Now it's in a nice spot and easy to access to turn on and off.

I know this is a pretty lame tutorial but I really couldn't find any in depth LED install tuts for the new Reach armor. I hope this has helped a little. I'll post some more pics once the torso has been painted and LEDs installed.