Clothar Odst Build

[CLOTHAR]

Well I have been interested in building armour for some time now. This ODST build is my first real attempt. I built myself the helmet over this last week using pepakura models. Turns out that is pretty time consuming. The cutting and scoring took the longest. I glued it all up this weekend and it turned out pretty well. (I am not sure what most people use for glue, but I brushe don wood glues and it worked very well)



This week I move into my new place; so between that, work and the fact that ODST releases this week, progress may be slow. But so far this seems like a hobby I could really get into.



The helmet turned out pretty good so far. There are a few assymmetrical spots, and its seems skinny, so I need to add some support to it. I am not going the traditional fibre glass route. I think I will spray foam the inside to make it rigid, then I will do all the detailing and smoothing with clay. From that I can mold and cast it. That is the plan, but I am new to this, so we will see what happens.



[attachment=122469200009a.JPG]



Let me know what you think.

 

[mr happy]

Looking good keep it up. Hope to see more progress soon

 

[MIRAGE]

looks good...but it looks kinda small on you,do you have room for padding or liner?

 

[Daniel Greco]

Yeah it does look small.

 

[CLOTHAR]

Yeah, I think it might be a tad small, but that is a good thing. I plan on doing all the smoothing and details with clay, so that will make it a bit larger. My mold will be built off that, so it should fit about right... That's the plan at least. I would hate to have to build a new one.

 

[Daniel Greco]

Yeah, I think it might be a tad small, but that is a good thing. I plan on doing all the smoothing and details with clay, so that will make it a bit larger. My mold will be built off that, so it should fit about right... That's the plan at least. I would hate to have to build a new one.

Don't you have to put things on the inside?

 

[drgon47]

Be carefull with foam, as if you get too much it will blow your model up and spew everywhere. I suggest if you dont want to fiberglass it, mud it (bondo + resin). Super easy. Did my helmet today in a hour or so. Hard as a rock.

 

[CLOTHAR]

Greco:

This build is strictly to make a mold, I won't be wearing the pep model as a finished product.



Drgon47:

Thanks for the heads up on the foam. I have used it in the past and yeah it can get crazy! I still think its my best option, as I need to fix a few warped areas, and working inside out might be easiest. Although the bondo/resin idea sounds interesting. I will have to read up on that.

 

[Burk]

:cool Well if it is to small, just finish it up anyway and give it to your kid,wife, or girlfriend.



Just use it for practice. I have a couple of wrong sized pieces myself. A couple of them I went a head and use them to get the methods down.



Still looks good though. Keep up the good work.

 

[ODST 7]

dude lookin good im going 2 look in to spraying foam an the clay thot about both so tell us how it works out

 

[haji]

seems like its being compressed, try to buff it out-wards

 

[CLOTHAR]

I added a quick spacer to try fix the 'skinny factor'. I used a folded up piece of card stock as a beam. I think it looks much better. This is just a quick fix. I will make the fine adjustments once I get some foam, to stiffen it up. Sadly I probably won't have a chance to work on it for a while as I have to deal with all the stuff one needs to deal with when bying a home.



[attachment=122789210010.JPG]

[attachment=122809210012.JPG]

 

[haji]

dead on man, nice fix

 

[Shade88]

Good Job!

 

[CLOTHAR]

Well I have been busy with moving in, and travelling the last little while so I have little to no material progress. However I have much pondering progress. Since building this model, and playing the game, I can see too many differences. I have looked at the "rookie" model as well and it is better in some areas but worse in others. Don't get me wrong, huge props to those who built the models, very skilled peeps. But the game helmet has different shaping to it. After thinking over various ways to modify an existing model I have come up with this:



I think i will try make a solid foam model, using the pep'd helmet as a template. From there I can shave away problem areas, and build up other areas with clay or some other mystery material. I know this is going to be similar to resin/bondo method, but I am curious how other materials will behave. And I don't think bondo would be as forgiving with the amount of modification I am planning.



Other than that I am planning to start pepping the other pieces. Only problem with that, is that some of the models are getting updated as more time is spent with the game models. So some pieces may be on hold while better pep models are developed.



Happy HALOween everyone! I hope you can have some fun with your costumes, mine is a long way out.

 

[CLOTHAR]

EDIT (just noticed I double posted - oops)



Well I have finally had a bit of time over the last while to make some progress (also, the fact that it is between -30C and -50C right now, keeps me inside mostly). I find that Scaling these pieces is the toughest part. I built a chest piece based on the "scaled for 6 ft person" givens, but no dice. It was too small for my 6 ft frame, and I am by no means a thick individual. SO I have started to scale these pieces much more diligently. That being said I have finished the shoulder/bicep piece... well it is pepped. It needs a few little touchups, and then all the other fun stuff.





shoulder.jpg (2.5 MB)





shoulder_on.jpg (2.2 MB)





shoulder_on2.jpg (2.2 MB)



I am happy with it right now.

Tips and criticism welcome.



Cheers,

 

[P03SAUCEZ]

great pep on the shoulder. looks clean.



wat'd you scale it to?

 

[CLOTHAR]

Thanks. I think I am slowly getting better at this, keyword - slowly.



I went to 290mm for the height. Scale factor was 36.503016. But be careful, that scale factor doesn't necessarily work with all the other pieces. I created a scaled drawing and am scaling all the pieces based on that.

 

[P03SAUCEZ]

gotcha man. thanks.

 

[CLOTHAR]

Holidays brought me some time to get some work done. First off I was able to Pep the 'torso' piece. Scaling was weird... overall it seems to be roughly the right size, however the neck hole is tiny. I am usually the guy with the tiny cranium, but there was no way I was getting that on, and I didn't even build the collar! So it is on hold, but I think it is salvagable.

From there I built the chest piece. I had done one earlier, but it was too small and too roundy. I went with a three piece version from Skullcany Girl and Ral Partha, and like it much better. it seems more like tank armour to me, which rocks. I have also started on the stomach packs. the middle one is built, and the other two are in the works. I am happy to finally get some progress done. Now for pics:

Yes, yes I know, the torso piece goes on your back, but seriously, try taking a picture of your own back, it is not easy.

Remember the chest is in three pieces, so it will look different once I tack it all together, but it leaves room for tweaking the size.

Also, I need to find or build a mannequine (how the eff do you spell that) to store this stuff on and make pictures easier.

Happy new year, may it bring good armor to us all!