ODSTCody
Member
ANNOUNCEMENT/EDIT: My original concept has since shifted away from the original radio operator I was intending on making. Therefore, I'm going to be broadening this into just a thread chronicling my work on my first fully-functional ODST costume.
A couple of years ago, I took a shot at a Mark IV Spartan build that… wasn’t especially successful. I wound up bailing on that project (which I discarded due to both its failure, and because I was moving and needing to lighten the load) and sort of drifting from project to project until gaining access to 3D printing.
When I got my first 3D printer, I started a Colonial Marine (from Aliens) build, but while taking a pause from that (due to a variety of complications, including the aforementioned move), I replayed Halo 3: ODST, and my childhood obsession with the Helljumpers was rekindled. With so many successful ODST cosplays here and elsewhere, and lots of available files and documentation on how people put their costumes together, I’m feeling a bit inspired and have the feeling that I could actually finish this.
Of course, being me, I want to stand out and do something a bit novel. Therefore, this will follow in BAG's footsteps (based on their pararescue ODST project, which was a bit inspirational for this) of doing something sort of outside the norm from what we’ve seen – my ODST will be a radio operator.
This is some concept art I did, featuring clone trooper armor-like patterned markings in a few different color combinations (can’t decide which one to pick though – any input in the comments would be noted). The two most prominent things here are Mickey’s radio backpack and the CNM on Buck’s helmet, both of which make for a nice comm technician sort of look, I think.
Now, as for the actual build:
A lot of people start with the helmet, but I opted to try and start simple. I printed these three pieces of one of the shoulders (purchased from SkookumProps on Etsy, which I cannot recommend enough – the only thing better than the products is the customer support and service quality. I’ll be buying more parts for this from SP, no doubt about it). Though I like the two unique ODST shoulder variants (the ones worn by Mickey and Romeo), both shoulders for this will be stock ODST shoulders.
This afternoon, I used the uppermost part of the shoulder as a test subject for this really interesting video I saw on using acetone to thin out Bondo filler and make it thin enough to just spread on with a paintbrush. I tried that, and my results were nothing short of fantastic.
For anyone who hasn't tried this, I recommend this method. It's not only easier to apply via a brush, it's easier to sand, is more resource-efficient (you need to squirt a decent amount of putty into the mixing cup, but you'll ultimately be using less than you would if you were trying to manually glob it on and spread it via finger or craft stick) and it takes less time to dry.
For the time being, this is all I’ve got to share, since I need softer sandpaper, and what Bondo I was using was A) a year old; and B) almost empty, meaning that it was quite difficult to squeeze remained of it out of the tube. A trip to my local hardware store to pick up more is in the future, it seems.
A couple of years ago, I took a shot at a Mark IV Spartan build that… wasn’t especially successful. I wound up bailing on that project (which I discarded due to both its failure, and because I was moving and needing to lighten the load) and sort of drifting from project to project until gaining access to 3D printing.
When I got my first 3D printer, I started a Colonial Marine (from Aliens) build, but while taking a pause from that (due to a variety of complications, including the aforementioned move), I replayed Halo 3: ODST, and my childhood obsession with the Helljumpers was rekindled. With so many successful ODST cosplays here and elsewhere, and lots of available files and documentation on how people put their costumes together, I’m feeling a bit inspired and have the feeling that I could actually finish this.
Of course, being me, I want to stand out and do something a bit novel. Therefore, this will follow in BAG's footsteps (based on their pararescue ODST project, which was a bit inspirational for this) of doing something sort of outside the norm from what we’ve seen – my ODST will be a radio operator.
This is some concept art I did, featuring clone trooper armor-like patterned markings in a few different color combinations (can’t decide which one to pick though – any input in the comments would be noted). The two most prominent things here are Mickey’s radio backpack and the CNM on Buck’s helmet, both of which make for a nice comm technician sort of look, I think.
Now, as for the actual build:
A lot of people start with the helmet, but I opted to try and start simple. I printed these three pieces of one of the shoulders (purchased from SkookumProps on Etsy, which I cannot recommend enough – the only thing better than the products is the customer support and service quality. I’ll be buying more parts for this from SP, no doubt about it). Though I like the two unique ODST shoulder variants (the ones worn by Mickey and Romeo), both shoulders for this will be stock ODST shoulders.
This afternoon, I used the uppermost part of the shoulder as a test subject for this really interesting video I saw on using acetone to thin out Bondo filler and make it thin enough to just spread on with a paintbrush. I tried that, and my results were nothing short of fantastic.
For anyone who hasn't tried this, I recommend this method. It's not only easier to apply via a brush, it's easier to sand, is more resource-efficient (you need to squirt a decent amount of putty into the mixing cup, but you'll ultimately be using less than you would if you were trying to manually glob it on and spread it via finger or craft stick) and it takes less time to dry.
For the time being, this is all I’ve got to share, since I need softer sandpaper, and what Bondo I was using was A) a year old; and B) almost empty, meaning that it was quite difficult to squeeze remained of it out of the tube. A trip to my local hardware store to pick up more is in the future, it seems.
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