OFiveTwo
Member
3/1/2024
So, you want to make a Halo suit, huh? Well, you've come to the right place!!
My name is OFiveTwo, and over the past three years, I’ve spent A LOT of time making the iconic Spartan armor from the Halo games. There's something about the sci-fi aesthetic, the armored defender of humanity that keeps pulling me back again and again. I’ve spent hours studying the form, analyzing different components, styles, and samples across all the Halo media I can get my gloves on.
You could say I know a thing or two about Mjolnir.
But for as long as I’ve made armor, People have asked me one question more frequently than any other:
How do you do it?? How do you make Halo armor?
Well fear not, my little lieblings, the time has come. I’m gonna show you.
However, I’m not aiming for this to be a normal tutorial. There are quite literally DOZENS of other cosplay and 3D printing tutorials, all which can take you through the steps efficiently and quickly. They’re all brilliant in their own right, but I’ve found that sometimes they can be a bit..
…hard to chew.
Our approach is going to be collaborative. I can tell you the process from start to finish, but if you get bored halfway through, then the whole thing is a wash. Instead, we’re going to do this in chunks. Each week, on Friday, I’ll be uploading the next part of this tutorial with a realistic goal of something YOU can do over the next seven days.
But OFiveTwo, how are you gonna to make sure it's a realistic time frame? The voices ask
Well, silly voices, I’ll be making a suit alongside you. I’ll be following the exact same steps, running into the exact same problems, within the exact same timeframe. Every success, solution, and failure will be real, and I aim to help you guys as you stumble across issues that I couldn’t even anticipate!
So get excited! Because it doesn't matter what point you find this tutorial, you’ll be able to make your armor alongside me, week by week, until you have a finished suit that even the Chief himself would be proud of.
A bonus of this is what I’m calling the “Bob Ross Method”. For those of you guys brave enough to be following this tutorial in REAL TIME, each week I’d like to give you a chance to showcase your work! This thread is dedicated to facilitating this, and I encourage you to post questions, comments, and photos of your progress here! I'd like to showcase people's progress each week, so if you post here, chances are you'll make it in the video!
Starting the tutorial a bit late? Don’t worry! Any progress is progress, and I’m happy to add anyone following along to the next episode.
Still with me? Good. Let’s gets get started.
CONCEPT AND CREALITY
A rather large part of this tutorial is going to be focused on 3D printing, which is the process of melting plastic along a path layer by layer, until it results in a 3-dimensional object. Don’t worry, I know that sounds intense, but it’s really pretty simple. You download an .stl file which holds the data for a digital 3D object, put that file into a program called a slicer which turns the .stl into language a 3D printer can read. The 3D printer then takes this, and using some filament, turns that language into a real-life object!
I’m explaining the individual parts of the process to answer some of the “whys” that might come up soon, but in reality 3D printing is isn’t too challenging as long as your willing to problem-solve! You’ll need to get comfortable with some basic tools and troubleshooting, but hey, I graduated with a theatre major.
If I can do it, I KNOW you can do it.
“But OFiveTwo, what kind of printer should I buy? I literally know nothing about 3D printi-”
PRINTER
The 3D printer you choose is going to be your workhorse for a lot of this project, and there are a TON of options. Recently, there's been an explosion of printer improvements, which is ultimately good for us, but can make picking out the right printer for you a bit more challenging. I’ve got a few recommendations that have worked for me, but I encourage you to read reviews and ask around! Usually there's a pretty good consensus across the board on what a good starter printer is, but if you’re up to the challenge, I’ve found that being ambitious can ultimately pay off.
My first printer was my Creality CR10s. I got it in 2019, upgraded the heck out of it, and I have run it almost day and night for the past four years.
It has a build volume of 300x300x400mm, which notably is big enough for most helmets and armor pieces to be printed in one go.
Note: this is NOT necessarily better. Printing larger things takes more filament and more investment, and no matter what, there will ALWAYS be something that can’t fit on your printer in one piece. I love this printer, and it’s served me well over the years, but experience has shown me that my favorite printers have actually been the smaller, more consistent machines.
For example, the machine that I will GLADLY be using for this tutorial is the Bambu Lab P1S. If you know anything about 3D printing, you’re probably familiar with Bambu Labs taking the market by storm. With actual automatic leveling and stupid high print speeds, I really have had few qualms over the past 6 months I’ve used this printer. Certainly smaller than the CR10s, what it lacks in size it makes up for in ridiculous consistency. Some of the best prints I’ve ever had have come from this machine, which took a shocking fifteen minutes to set up and run.
You'd think they'd sponsor me for this post!
SO, my official suggestion for a starter 3D printer?! It’s tried, tested, and best of all, FAMOUSLY inexpensive for people looking to explore the hobby.
What is this mystery printer? Say it with me! THE ENDER 3!
Seriously, if you’re looking for something to get you started, I cannot recommend this enough. While certainly on the slower side compared to recent printers, the Ender 3 is truly the little machine that could. As long as you're fine with a little more “hands on tinkering” you’ll snag a fantastic printer at one of the lowest prices you can find: Microcenter often have Ender 3’s listed for 100 bucks in-store.
FILAMENT
All 3D printers use plastic-based filament as raw material, and the most common and easy to use material is PLA! PLA stands for Polylactic Acid. I don’t know what that means, but I do know PLA is literally the cheapest and most widely available filament for 3D printing use. It’s also biodegradable (under the right conditions) and doesn’t emit toxic fumes like some other plastics (stares menacingly at ABS).
For just starting out, definitely get a kilogram spool of 1.75 PLA This is the filament’s diameter, and it’s very important. There are different diameters of filament, and not all of them fit into standard printers. Trust me, the last thing you want is to try and fit something into a hole it has no business fitting into. Hehe.
A good thing to keep in mind for PLA is melting temperature. PLA is a strong plastic, but is a little more sensitive to temperature than other plastics like PETG or ABS. I’ve seen parts left inside cars in the summer warp from the heat, so take care not to leave any loose armor pieces out on a sunny summer's day.
Whatever printer and filament you end up getting, don’t be worried if you don’t get a perfect print right away! The hobby of 3D printing is all about tinkering, so don’t shy away from problems that show up! There are literally SO MANY VIDEOS on YouTube that can help you fix problems, so believe in yourself and do some research! You got this.
COMPUTER
…just…just get like any computer. Mine is nine years old and sounds like a turbo jet.
Here’s where we come to your first bit of homework! Yes, you’re getting homework for this. No it’s not graded, but if no one does it, I will slowly slip into a deeper and darker mental state, wondering what my life has amounted to bring me to a point where my main purpose in life is to act like a glorified mascot while ocean levels continue to rise and I sit in my desolate room doing nothing of significance-
…get a printer. Your homework is to get a printer.
And some filament.
…and maybe give me a hug.
—-------------------------------------------------------------
DESIGN
Now onto the REALLY fun stuff!
Chances are you already know EXACTLY what kind of armor you’d like to make. However, we gotta take those ideas in your head and make them a reality! To do this, we’re going to be looking for .stl files of the armor parts you want! These are 3D files you can view on your computer, and what your new 3D printer will use to actually make things!
There’s TONS of files out there, many of them free! If you click on the *Forums* tab above, you can navigate your way to the 405th's Free 3D Model Index, where there is a HUGE collection of free armor and prop files that people have generously made for the community. Make sure if you use these you thank the author of the files for their hard work!
Seriously. MoeSizzlac has worked TOO DAMN HARD not to get some recognition.
If you’re finding yourself not being able to find the exact file you want, there are also quite a few modelers who sell files on Etsy! InstinctCreative, Titlewave design, and so many others make just absolutely GORGEOUS files. And remember, if you can’t find something specific, just ask! There are TONS of people on the 405th forums who are eager to help, some of whom will even take model requests!
Liiiike STREET VIPER YES I KNOW ITS WEIRD DONT YELL AT ME
So you’ve got your files, you’ve got your printer, guess we load the files up and start printing, right?-
WRONG. DONT YOU DARE, DONT YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU PRINTED YOUR ARMOR WITHOUT CHECKING THE SIZING, I WILL DROP THROUGH YOUR ROOF AND MAKE YOU SAND ARMOR PLATES FOR TEN HOURS STRAIGHT
Chances are, unless you had custom files made specifically for you, the files you now have are NOT scaled to your body. Scaling 3D files is ESSENTIAL to not only have a good looking cosplay, but also a comfortable one! You can do this by taking some measuring tape and trying to eyeball it, but there's a program that is gonna save you SO much time.
—-------------------------------------------------------------
Armorsmith. It’s awesome. It’ll tell you exactly what measurements it needs, generate a little mannequin of you, and you can import and SLAP armor pieces onto it to really finetune not only the sizing, but also the overall design! Think of it as the customization screen for your real life armor! It’s really nice for helping you visualize what you’re working on. Create your mannequin, import the files into Armorsmith, slap them on your digital self and adjust the sizing to make it look nice! Word of warning though, if you’re the kind of person who spends HOURS in the customization menu, this is going to be very dangerous for you.
Thought you’d just get away with ONE homework assignment?! YOU FOOL! Now it is time for PART TWO!
Pick out your armor! Yeah I know you were gonna do it anyway, but I want to see what ya’ll are coming up with! Do your measurements, find your files, arrange your armor and take a screenshot! Post them in this thread, and you might have a chance of being showcased in next week's video!
—-------------------------------------------------------------
Before we wrap up on our first Tutorial post, I have two things to add:
Firstly, this tutorial is by no means a perfect process. There will always be things that I can do better, ways that I can improve my technique and craft. This series is simply my best effort to showcase my build process as it currently exists. If I make mistakes, let me know! If you have questions, ask away! There’s always room to improve and to push ourselves, and growing from our mistakes is part of that. Thank you in advance for your patience and support, I really couldn’t do this without you.
Secondly, as you may have seen in the poll at the top, I have several suit designs loaded up and ready to go SPECIFICALLY for this series! Now, against my better judgment, I’m going to leave it up to all of YOU to pick which suit you want to see me make!
Here are your options:
Mk VII
MK VI
MK V/b
MK IV
MIRAGE
ODST
RAKSHASA
Thank you guys so much for joining me on this journey. I’m really excited to see all the amazing armor you create.
So, you want to make a Halo suit, huh? Well, you've come to the right place!!
My name is OFiveTwo, and over the past three years, I’ve spent A LOT of time making the iconic Spartan armor from the Halo games. There's something about the sci-fi aesthetic, the armored defender of humanity that keeps pulling me back again and again. I’ve spent hours studying the form, analyzing different components, styles, and samples across all the Halo media I can get my gloves on.
You could say I know a thing or two about Mjolnir.
But for as long as I’ve made armor, People have asked me one question more frequently than any other:
How do you do it?? How do you make Halo armor?
Well fear not, my little lieblings, the time has come. I’m gonna show you.
However, I’m not aiming for this to be a normal tutorial. There are quite literally DOZENS of other cosplay and 3D printing tutorials, all which can take you through the steps efficiently and quickly. They’re all brilliant in their own right, but I’ve found that sometimes they can be a bit..
…hard to chew.
Our approach is going to be collaborative. I can tell you the process from start to finish, but if you get bored halfway through, then the whole thing is a wash. Instead, we’re going to do this in chunks. Each week, on Friday, I’ll be uploading the next part of this tutorial with a realistic goal of something YOU can do over the next seven days.
But OFiveTwo, how are you gonna to make sure it's a realistic time frame? The voices ask
Well, silly voices, I’ll be making a suit alongside you. I’ll be following the exact same steps, running into the exact same problems, within the exact same timeframe. Every success, solution, and failure will be real, and I aim to help you guys as you stumble across issues that I couldn’t even anticipate!
So get excited! Because it doesn't matter what point you find this tutorial, you’ll be able to make your armor alongside me, week by week, until you have a finished suit that even the Chief himself would be proud of.
A bonus of this is what I’m calling the “Bob Ross Method”. For those of you guys brave enough to be following this tutorial in REAL TIME, each week I’d like to give you a chance to showcase your work! This thread is dedicated to facilitating this, and I encourage you to post questions, comments, and photos of your progress here! I'd like to showcase people's progress each week, so if you post here, chances are you'll make it in the video!
Starting the tutorial a bit late? Don’t worry! Any progress is progress, and I’m happy to add anyone following along to the next episode.
Still with me? Good. Let’s gets get started.
CONCEPT AND CREALITY
A rather large part of this tutorial is going to be focused on 3D printing, which is the process of melting plastic along a path layer by layer, until it results in a 3-dimensional object. Don’t worry, I know that sounds intense, but it’s really pretty simple. You download an .stl file which holds the data for a digital 3D object, put that file into a program called a slicer which turns the .stl into language a 3D printer can read. The 3D printer then takes this, and using some filament, turns that language into a real-life object!
I’m explaining the individual parts of the process to answer some of the “whys” that might come up soon, but in reality 3D printing is isn’t too challenging as long as your willing to problem-solve! You’ll need to get comfortable with some basic tools and troubleshooting, but hey, I graduated with a theatre major.
If I can do it, I KNOW you can do it.
“But OFiveTwo, what kind of printer should I buy? I literally know nothing about 3D printi-”
PRINTER
The 3D printer you choose is going to be your workhorse for a lot of this project, and there are a TON of options. Recently, there's been an explosion of printer improvements, which is ultimately good for us, but can make picking out the right printer for you a bit more challenging. I’ve got a few recommendations that have worked for me, but I encourage you to read reviews and ask around! Usually there's a pretty good consensus across the board on what a good starter printer is, but if you’re up to the challenge, I’ve found that being ambitious can ultimately pay off.
My first printer was my Creality CR10s. I got it in 2019, upgraded the heck out of it, and I have run it almost day and night for the past four years.
It has a build volume of 300x300x400mm, which notably is big enough for most helmets and armor pieces to be printed in one go.
Note: this is NOT necessarily better. Printing larger things takes more filament and more investment, and no matter what, there will ALWAYS be something that can’t fit on your printer in one piece. I love this printer, and it’s served me well over the years, but experience has shown me that my favorite printers have actually been the smaller, more consistent machines.
For example, the machine that I will GLADLY be using for this tutorial is the Bambu Lab P1S. If you know anything about 3D printing, you’re probably familiar with Bambu Labs taking the market by storm. With actual automatic leveling and stupid high print speeds, I really have had few qualms over the past 6 months I’ve used this printer. Certainly smaller than the CR10s, what it lacks in size it makes up for in ridiculous consistency. Some of the best prints I’ve ever had have come from this machine, which took a shocking fifteen minutes to set up and run.
You'd think they'd sponsor me for this post!
SO, my official suggestion for a starter 3D printer?! It’s tried, tested, and best of all, FAMOUSLY inexpensive for people looking to explore the hobby.
What is this mystery printer? Say it with me! THE ENDER 3!
Seriously, if you’re looking for something to get you started, I cannot recommend this enough. While certainly on the slower side compared to recent printers, the Ender 3 is truly the little machine that could. As long as you're fine with a little more “hands on tinkering” you’ll snag a fantastic printer at one of the lowest prices you can find: Microcenter often have Ender 3’s listed for 100 bucks in-store.
FILAMENT
All 3D printers use plastic-based filament as raw material, and the most common and easy to use material is PLA! PLA stands for Polylactic Acid. I don’t know what that means, but I do know PLA is literally the cheapest and most widely available filament for 3D printing use. It’s also biodegradable (under the right conditions) and doesn’t emit toxic fumes like some other plastics (stares menacingly at ABS).
For just starting out, definitely get a kilogram spool of 1.75 PLA This is the filament’s diameter, and it’s very important. There are different diameters of filament, and not all of them fit into standard printers. Trust me, the last thing you want is to try and fit something into a hole it has no business fitting into. Hehe.
A good thing to keep in mind for PLA is melting temperature. PLA is a strong plastic, but is a little more sensitive to temperature than other plastics like PETG or ABS. I’ve seen parts left inside cars in the summer warp from the heat, so take care not to leave any loose armor pieces out on a sunny summer's day.
Whatever printer and filament you end up getting, don’t be worried if you don’t get a perfect print right away! The hobby of 3D printing is all about tinkering, so don’t shy away from problems that show up! There are literally SO MANY VIDEOS on YouTube that can help you fix problems, so believe in yourself and do some research! You got this.
COMPUTER
…just…just get like any computer. Mine is nine years old and sounds like a turbo jet.
Here’s where we come to your first bit of homework! Yes, you’re getting homework for this. No it’s not graded, but if no one does it, I will slowly slip into a deeper and darker mental state, wondering what my life has amounted to bring me to a point where my main purpose in life is to act like a glorified mascot while ocean levels continue to rise and I sit in my desolate room doing nothing of significance-
…get a printer. Your homework is to get a printer.
And some filament.
…and maybe give me a hug.
—-------------------------------------------------------------
DESIGN
Now onto the REALLY fun stuff!
Chances are you already know EXACTLY what kind of armor you’d like to make. However, we gotta take those ideas in your head and make them a reality! To do this, we’re going to be looking for .stl files of the armor parts you want! These are 3D files you can view on your computer, and what your new 3D printer will use to actually make things!
There’s TONS of files out there, many of them free! If you click on the *Forums* tab above, you can navigate your way to the 405th's Free 3D Model Index, where there is a HUGE collection of free armor and prop files that people have generously made for the community. Make sure if you use these you thank the author of the files for their hard work!
Seriously. MoeSizzlac has worked TOO DAMN HARD not to get some recognition.
If you’re finding yourself not being able to find the exact file you want, there are also quite a few modelers who sell files on Etsy! InstinctCreative, Titlewave design, and so many others make just absolutely GORGEOUS files. And remember, if you can’t find something specific, just ask! There are TONS of people on the 405th forums who are eager to help, some of whom will even take model requests!
Liiiike STREET VIPER YES I KNOW ITS WEIRD DONT YELL AT ME
So you’ve got your files, you’ve got your printer, guess we load the files up and start printing, right?-
WRONG. DONT YOU DARE, DONT YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU PRINTED YOUR ARMOR WITHOUT CHECKING THE SIZING, I WILL DROP THROUGH YOUR ROOF AND MAKE YOU SAND ARMOR PLATES FOR TEN HOURS STRAIGHT
Chances are, unless you had custom files made specifically for you, the files you now have are NOT scaled to your body. Scaling 3D files is ESSENTIAL to not only have a good looking cosplay, but also a comfortable one! You can do this by taking some measuring tape and trying to eyeball it, but there's a program that is gonna save you SO much time.
—-------------------------------------------------------------
Armorsmith. It’s awesome. It’ll tell you exactly what measurements it needs, generate a little mannequin of you, and you can import and SLAP armor pieces onto it to really finetune not only the sizing, but also the overall design! Think of it as the customization screen for your real life armor! It’s really nice for helping you visualize what you’re working on. Create your mannequin, import the files into Armorsmith, slap them on your digital self and adjust the sizing to make it look nice! Word of warning though, if you’re the kind of person who spends HOURS in the customization menu, this is going to be very dangerous for you.
Thought you’d just get away with ONE homework assignment?! YOU FOOL! Now it is time for PART TWO!
Pick out your armor! Yeah I know you were gonna do it anyway, but I want to see what ya’ll are coming up with! Do your measurements, find your files, arrange your armor and take a screenshot! Post them in this thread, and you might have a chance of being showcased in next week's video!
—-------------------------------------------------------------
Before we wrap up on our first Tutorial post, I have two things to add:
Firstly, this tutorial is by no means a perfect process. There will always be things that I can do better, ways that I can improve my technique and craft. This series is simply my best effort to showcase my build process as it currently exists. If I make mistakes, let me know! If you have questions, ask away! There’s always room to improve and to push ourselves, and growing from our mistakes is part of that. Thank you in advance for your patience and support, I really couldn’t do this without you.
Secondly, as you may have seen in the poll at the top, I have several suit designs loaded up and ready to go SPECIFICALLY for this series! Now, against my better judgment, I’m going to leave it up to all of YOU to pick which suit you want to see me make!
Here are your options:
Mk VII
MK VI
MK V/b
MK IV
MIRAGE
ODST
RAKSHASA
Thank you guys so much for joining me on this journey. I’m really excited to see all the amazing armor you create.
