Can anyone answer my questions, and help me start my first build?

[Takanuva]

I absolutely love the 343i MJOLNIR designs, and want to build a Master Chief suit, it looks like a proper hulking tank of a suit, aside from the lack of a cod piece. I've read through LilTyrant's build thread, and numerous tutorials on pepakura suits on sites like Instructables, and have some experience with Pepakura (2 mask props from Bionicle, Kanohi Avokhii, and Kanohi Kakama, masks of Takanuva, my namesake, and Pohatu, one of the origInal 6 Toa Mata, for any curious fans).

From what I can tell, the only really difficult parts of the build should be the helmet and codpiece, which I plan to take from the Halo 3 pepakura files. The main problem is most of the links I've found on here for Halo 4 Mk IV, most of them are either HD files, which I'm scared to touch, especially after seeing Robot Chicken's ultimate H3 build he's doing for his son, or expired links.

I have a few more questions: What's the best way to scale it to my body and proportions? I'm kinda built-fat, and have some similar proportions and muscularity to John, aside from height. I'm 5'4, 5'5 with boots, and have a 36" chest,32" waist, 13" biceps, and I haven't measured my calves, thighs, or forearms.

And how durable is fiberglass armor? I haven't had good experiences with foam in the past, though I do like the durability. Can you army crawl, go prone, run, and jump in fiberglass armor? Can you sit down normally? Are there any alternate ways of reinforcing pepakura for those qualities, without sacrificing rigidity, like foam?

I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to form/functionality, and I love to have some sort of durability, or practicality in props and costumes, like the one guy here making a metal set of Iron Man armor. Any reccomended tutorials for making an undersuit? Any answers would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[Reclaimara]

Why is the crotch piece supposed to be difficult?
And Spartans and Chief still HAVE COD piece. It's just built into the undersuit to enhance mobility, unlike the previous Marks, which was restricting to movement.

Scaling is trial and error. You may pep a part once or few more times. You may want to scale it to height.

I would never crawl in my armor. You damage it, the paint and all through that. These are costumes, not protection armor, but you can just go prone if you want, crawl too. I could jump and run in my armor too, but well... it's a costume. You want it to look good.

Well, depending on your costume, you can sit down, if the parts allow you - it's very individual. A stormtrooper won't be able to sit down comfortably, no matter of how his armor is built.

I hope you're aware fiberglass is hard and rigid. It isn't flexible AT ALL, unlike foam. So, you can't sacrifice rigidity at all... but you should know that if you already done some masks.

 

[Takanuva]

Thank you for the reply. I understand and am willing to accept the limitations of pepakura and fiberglass, and likely won't use this as any more than a costume. Though being able to do those things could help a lot with posing, for conventions and photographs.

The main reason I want to use the Halo 3 Mark IV codpiece is mainly for aesthetics, as that's one of my sore points with Halo 4 and 5, and the new armor designs, as well as for ease of mounting to the undersuit. I was referring to sacrificing the rigidity of fiberglass for other build methods, like foam, or wood glue. I've even seen someone here who built a set from sheet styrene.

In a perfect world, I'd have a set made from cast aluminum, but stuff like that isn't quite possible without a foundry/smelter, and other metal working tools, which I won't have for a while. What alternate methods to finishing pepakura are there?

 

[PerniciousDuke]

I'd say as long as you build the mobility into the suit you will get what you are looking for. What you need to avoid is doing fast sudden or abrasive movements like crawling or running. Sure, you could do them, but you would risk chipping the armor or scratching the paint job, all of which takes time to repair, but with slow movements a lot will be possible so long as you test and cut away material in the creation process with those movements in mind.

I'm still a little confused what game you want to make from H3 or H4. As for the HD stuff, don't sweat it. After a few assemblies you'll get the hang of it. As for RobotChicken, he did an Ultra HD, which is pretty insane.

As to your undersuit question... Cm Palmer recently put up a great tutorial on how she did hers.

In a perfect world, yes metal would be amazing. If you are really looking for functionality within reason, then I would think that you would need to cast. Look into movie costumes. The stunt acts in movies can be demanding and the suits have to be able to take abuse. I believe they cast in materials that have more give to them. So you would make a pepakura costume and then cast each piece, essentially making two costumes so the cost is much higher, plus sometimes the original mold can be ruined in the process (just gueessing on that part).

Anyways... Welcome to the 405th!

 

[Reclaimara]

Thank you for the reply. I understand and am willing to accept the limitations of pepakura and fiberglass, and likely won't use this as any more than a costume. Though being able to do those things could help a lot with posing, for conventions and photographs.

The main reason I want to use the Halo 3 Mark IV codpiece is mainly for aesthetics, as that's one of my sore points with Halo 4 and 5, and the new armor designs, as well as for ease of mounting to the undersuit. I was referring to sacrificing the rigidity of fiberglass for other build methods, like foam, or wood glue. I've even seen someone here who built a set from sheet styrene.

In a perfect world, I'd have a set made from cast aluminum, but stuff like that isn't quite possible without a foundry/smelter, and other metal working tools, which I won't have for a while. What alternate methods to finishing pepakura are there?

I meant you CAN crawl, jump or run with fiberglass costume. Going prone and crawling will be just less comfortable because it's all hard and depending on your padding it will go into your body, it's not flexible and soft foam.
But as for durability - it will withstand it with no problem.
If you do the pieces bit thicker, there is no risk of them chipping or anything, BUT you can scratch them, meaning you're scratching your paint. Meaning you'll have to fix it later on.
Again, it's a costume. You want it to look nice.

And mobility - it all depends on your build. You wouldn't be able to do anything in W40k armor, while you're pretty mobile in GEN2 armor. If you do some compromises, you'll be even fully mobile in it - crouching, sitting, leaning, etc.

I dunno if you'd prefer the weight of a full cast aluminium and wearing it for hours.

@PerniciousDuke - Takanuva wants to make Halo 4 armor with Halo 3 space diaper.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Duke - Takanuva wants to make Halo 4 armor with Halo 3 space diaper.

Ah, I see. That makes sense. You can't go wrong with the space diaper.

Would be interesting to see the two combined. Do you plan to do a mock up Takanuva ? I would be curious to see what it would look like.

 

[Takanuva]

Ah, I see. That makes sense. You can't go wrong with the space diaper.

Would be interesting to see the two combined. Do you plan to do a mock up Takanuva ? I would be curious to see what it would look like.

I got the idea after seeing this photo album from the Halo subreddit. I don't have a mockup, as I unfortunately don't have a copy of Photoshop, and can't figure out the selection tools in Gimp to save my life. It should be relatively easy right, using a Halo 3 Mk IV file for the space diaper, and using Halo 4/5 Mk IV for the rest of the armor?:confused

I have the glue, knife, printer, and cutting board all ready to go, I just need to find and scale files. CommanderPalmer, nice tutorial for the suit, I'll hopefully follow something similar. It looks amazing, I'll have to keep note of that sponge technique for when I paint it. I'll have to get a morphsuit, though I'm trying to learn sewing so I can eventually do an awesome one like LilTyrant , that detail work with the marine vinyl and mesh is incredible.

 

[serenko3]

first off welcome to the 405th!! Second don't let pepakura scare you. as you go through other forum posts you will see that your not just limited to fiberglass and foam for instance rondo, chicken wire, 2 part plastics such as styrospray 1000 or envirotech, pvc, kydex and many other items that can be used to fit your needs. Also one more thing if helmets are absolutely not your thing you could always purchase one.

 

[Takanuva]

I'm definitely wanting to go full hog on this build, I'm planning on starting with smaller pieces like gloves, shins, and boots, before I work my way up to bigger stuff like the helmet and chest piece, and I'll probably build the H3 space diaper, and the normal H4 cospiece to see which one I like better.. It's definitely going to be a fiberglass build, and I'm seeing if there are any reinforcements I could add to it, to minimize chipping and scratching damage during regular wear. I'm working on getting in shape in the meantime while I build, that way I have a bit more of a Spartany physique by the time I'm done.

I'm a bit nervous that I'll outgrow it by the time it's built, since I've heard it can sometimes take over a year on some pepakura builds though, since I'm 16, and have a good 5-6 years of puberty and growing left. I got Pepakura designer working on my Mac, I found the files, got 150 sheets of cardstock, I just need to figure out scaling, and getting the pieces arranged as best I can to minimize paper used.

Any advice for those, to get the scale bulletproof before I print? And do I have to arrange the pieces by hand? The auto arrange feature spreads it out over 18 pages, just for the shin.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

I got the idea after seeing this photo album from the Halo subreddit.It should be relatively easy right, using a Halo 3 Mk IV file for the space diaper, and using Halo 4/5 Mk IV for the rest of the armor?:confused

Yeah, it would be easy, just more to pep. I was mostly curious how they looked together and your reddit link cleared that up. I think with the right H4 permutation it could look good. The problem that I see is that the H3 cod is so bulky it won't blend well with the rest of the suit. If you pull up a H3 MC image you'll note that the cod piece is quite different than the one in that reddit picture. So either picking the right H4 permutation to match the cod piece or modifying the cod piece to match I think would be the key.

For your scaling, unfortunately there is no one method that works the best for everyone. There are quite a few methods and tutorials on the site that will get you started. Most people will tell you that one your first couple pieces 2-4 attempts are not uncommon. But, after you've had a few tries you'll figure out what works for you. Personally, I try scale using as many methods that I can find for a particular piece and then after getting the different measurements I find the mean. I find that eliminates at least one or two of the attempts off the bat, and then from there I inspect the piece in the 3d model using the measure distance tool to try to get an idea of what it will be like combined with holding up a ruler to my body for visualization.

If that all didn't make sense I'll break it down with examples. One way to measure the head is in a downward curve, which will give you your helmet height to include padding. Lets say this is 280 mm. Then I'll use the scale model method with a printout and get a measurement of 320. I find the mean of the measurements and start with 300mm. (These numbers are just an example.) Now entered in pepakura I use the measure tool to find the distance of openings and sections that might touch other pieces of armor etc. I hold the ruler up to me to see if the distance is good, like will my arm fit through the hole, will it bump into my shoulder piece. The more you can rule out before printing the less printing you'll have to do. Feel free to PM me if you need more specific help.

 

[Reclaimara]

I agree with Duke.
Also, that space diaper reduces the mobility a lot, especially with armor like Chief's from Halo 4/5, you won't be able to lean down... and you can forget about sitting unless you'll be able to take it off quickly.

I'm also not commenting about the looks, because it's ones preference. I don't like space diaper, but other people do.

 

[Takanuva]

Thanks for the advice. I have the shin scaled out and everything. It's 4.8 inches wide at the widest part of my calf, though it might be a tiny bit of a tight fit. It's also 15 inches tall in the front, from my kneecap to just above my ankle. I also got all the parts arranged into 12 pages, which only took me the better part of 2-3 hours over the past two days. I think I'm going to get started now.

 

[Reclaimara]

Good luck!

 

[Takanuva]

Is double posting okay? I figured I'd give an update. I foolishly made the decision to buy a pack of foam sheets, to try scratchbuilding instead of a printer cartridge. So I'm waiting for that, I'm going to get the cartridge so I can start printing, cutting, and gluing tomorrow.

I'm going to try one of the shins which I have scaled to about 457 mm in height, though I might increase a tiny bit to compensate for padding and sizing, now that I know how to work the program. Using the measurement tool, my shins are 4 inches wide, which might not be enough to fit my calves inside of the armor. Oddly enough, only print to PDF works on my computer, contrary to everything else I can find, which says that only printing should work.

I was reading Serpent ZX's H3 MK IV build, and he noted that combining aluminum power with epoxy resin increased the rigidity and strength of one of his test suit builds. I'm going to research this elsewhere, if there's a easy way for me to get this to be less fragile, I'll take it.

Though that might require a slight upgrade in PPE, especially considering the size of the aluminum particulate, or whatever I choose. I'm taking Engineering courses right now in highschool (about to go into engineering 3, I'm a junior), and am trying to figure out how I can apply those skills and the machinery and tools to this project.

I'm also considering using registration pins and hardware to fasten the armor together. I saw someone else who did that here, but he quit updating partially through the helmet.

Turns out my Vault Boy cosplay for Halloween fell through though. Right now I'm about 50% (with my mom's help!) through a Deadpool costume, that I've chosen to do in different colors.

I'm going to keep actively posting here, and try to update regularly, even when I haven't made progress, or taken pictures. I know this seems kinda vapor-wareish, like most other abandoned threads here, but I have definite plans and goals, and intend to follow through with them, regardless of circumstances.

 

[Takanuva]

I started work on my first shin, though I'm not 100% sure if it'll fit. How clean is my pepping?

I just started some really small parts. I don't have an x-acto, just a utility knife from Home Depot. Wish me luck, I'll update tomorrow.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Any knife will do, just keep it sharp and be safe.......The one piece shown looks good, clean lines and the seams line up nicely. Not much to see actually. Need to see more of your work to give you any direction. Just remember a few things; This it your thread, you can post or not post. Also, consider you build as a marathon and not a sprint. Take as much time as you need or want. The suit will always be there for when you get back to it. Good luck in your build and good luck in school.

 

[Ashuraa]

As for scaling there is a new program out that is working on being good for scaling things. It is called Armorsmith Designer. It has a scale-able mannequin. So far the dimensions that are scale-able are over all height, length of each limb, length of torso, width of shoulders, and width of hips. More functions are coming. You can upload all the pieces of your pepakura armor to the program and save them as a costume. you can also view the pepakura files and print them from the Armorsmith. One other thing Armor smith does that pepakura does not is it will give you most of the angles that your pieces should be cut at if you are cutting in foam. It is in Beta testing now. It is not perfect yet, but it has come along way. It also allows you to scale in only one dimension instead of scaling in all directions like Pepakura.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Looking good so far! I agree with Dirtdives that we need to see more!! It is also awesome to hear that Armorsmith program is coming along. Thanks Ashuraa I think I will try to use that for my reach suit. I'm confident in scaling my pieces to fit, but I'm worried about the pieces in proportion to each other. I think that is where Armorsmith is going to be amazing.

Takanuva - double posting is when you create two messages in one thread within a short amount of time, which is frowned upon. General rule is that you are fine if it has been more than 24 hours, or if the updates are very large (pic heavy) or if someone has replied to your first post already. Otherwise to avoid a regular double post just go back and edit your first. So far I have not seen you double post. As for your build I am very interested to see your progress. I love to hear your plans to try to incorporate things you learn in class into your project. I think you might find a trick or two along the way and if anything else it will be yours and unique. Best of luck!

 

[Cedva Ko]

As for scaling there is a new program out that is working on being good for scaling things. It is called Armorsmith Designer. It has a scale-able mannequin. So far the dimensions that are scale-able are over all height, length of each limb, length of torso, width of shoulders, and width of hips. More functions are coming. You can upload all the pieces of your pepakura armor to the program and save them as a costume. you can also view the pepakura files and print them from the Armorsmith. One other thing Armor smith does that pepakura does not is it will give you most of the angles that your pieces should be cut at if you are cutting in foam. It is in Beta testing now. It is not perfect yet, but it has come along way. It also allows you to scale in only one dimension instead of scaling in all directions like Pepakura.

I need this program. Please provide a link

 

[PerniciousDuke]

I need this program. Please provide a link

Here you go.