Dead Space 2 Advanced RIG; Start to Finish

[Kasaron]

The Objective
Build the full Advanced RIG from Dead Space 2; with helmet and gun, in enough time to be finished by May 16 with time to spare.

The Plan
The build will be broken up into stages, based off of time and resources; and conducted on a rigid schedule. The segments of the build are the Gun, the RIG, and the Helm. Most of the parts will be made with negative-mold vacuum forming (if resources and skill allow), pepakura (using styrene), along with the use of a 3D Printer (Cheating? You bet. Effective? Hell yes.).

The Breakdown
Since I’m doing this on a strict schedule; each part is set up to be built as efficiently as possible; with the part with the least amount of skill needed at the beginning, so that as I progress and get more used to my tools, I can make better, more important pieces.

Gun
The gun will be mostly 3D printed, with styrene parts where required. It will have 3 Lasers in a targeting formation, along with a set of Bright LEDs to flash when the trigger is pulled. Possibly will have the holographic ammo counter, but if so, it will probably be stationary (no countdown) unless I can find a way to do it without ruining the overall look. Possibly will have sound, but that is time/space/expense dependent. This build should take about 15-30 days, if not less.

RIG
The meat of the build; the armor will be made of vacuum-formed parts almost exclusively, to cut down on time and expense, and improve overall quality. If feasible, negative modls will be utilized to impart better surface quality/detail. It will also have a health bar, locator device, holographic HUD, and stasis gauge. This should take 2 months.

Helm
The crown jewel, as it were, of the build, this will be made last; hopefully so that even if it fails, I’ll still look like Issac. It also allows me to really use all my skills in making this; anything learnt making the armor or gun will be utilized here. The eye slits should light and still allow the helmet to be functional and usable (in other words, I can navigate in it without much duress), as will the forehead light function. This will take up any remaining time, and possibly time thereafter for additional conventions.

So far;
Gun:

3D Printing is Pretty much done, now to figure out how to take each bit and bob and place them together to work. Some pre-planning has made this easier; but there is a lot of cleaning to be done. The gun ended up a bit big, but I'll be using some tricks to help it fit a better.

RIG: In the process of being planned; measurements are being taken, and I'll be buying the parts for a vacuum forming machine. Any help on this subject, especially on negative molds, would be supremely appreciated. In addition, any models or images of the armor would equally be appreciated, especially the actual 3D model of the RIG proper.
Advanced RIG
UnderSuit

Helm: Currently on the back-burner, I have ideas on how to make the eyes glow and still have a usable helm, most involve a 1-way mirror film on the metallic parts of the lens, allowing me to see through those parts while EL panels light the rest. Any ideas are welcome.

Comments are welcome, suggestions are appreciated, information is golden.

 

[Mangoes7]

that sounds great! how are you going to make the helmet? jw.
good luck with your project.

 

[aktaylorh]

Sounds like you've got yourself one hell of a plan. Keep us updated and pictures are always a plus!

 

[Kasaron]

Actually, I had to finagle a bit to get some shots; but I do have a few. First off is the 3d model of what I have ready for print so far, the only thing missing is the battery pack and the arms; which I need to play with a bit to get working.

And here's the gun parts printing. This is only half of the parts I have to print. Tomorrow I'll pull 'em out of the printer and start the next batch.

 

[aktaylorh]

Thats pretty sweet. Is that your 3d printer?

 

[Kasaron]

Not really; It's my work's but I use it pretty freely. In most cases I get permission; but in this case I'm doing the gun on the down-low; since my boss might have a problem with me printing it. Less he worries, the better for everyone. At any rate; the trigger, and front plates are all printing now; I'll print the remainder over my three-day weekend after replacing the print head.

 

[Kasaron]

First print is done!

 

[aktaylorh]

Looks good! I wish i had one of those.

 

[Hugh Holder]

Not really; It's my work's but I use it pretty freely. In most cases I get permission; but in this case I'm doing the gun on the down-low; since my boss might have a problem with me printing it. Less he worries, the better for everyone. At any rate; the trigger, and front plates are all printing now; I'll print the remainder over my three-day weekend after replacing the print head.

Looks great! Though you do realize that this can be considered stealing from the company you work for? I've worked with a laser scanning company before, and our 3D printing department keeps a close eye on material usage. I know that stuff isn't cheap, even on a small scale.

I wouldn't even think about using the rapid prototyping equipment at the company I work for now. We use them to create life size aircraft parts for test fitting, but anything sent to the machine is stored and can be traced back. And I know that Auditors love checking up on a machine that uses almost $1000 for every 30 cubic inches of plastic :/

I'm sure you know what you're doing, but I'd be careful. It's not worth getting fired over. Anyways, good luck with your project! By the way, I don't consider 3D printers or CNC to be cheating ^_^

 

[Akademee]

this 3d printer is a first for me on the 405th!

 

[Kasaron]

Since we're a community college, we have alot of students printing stuff without much issue; we've actually got a surplus from last semester that we need to waste so that the auditors don't start clamping down on our materials budget. Hell, someone just printed out a scale model of their house out of solid ABS plastic not two days before this!! The main reason I'm doing this a bit secretly is because of the nature of the object being printed; the higher ups above this department don't like it when we mention anything that can be vaguely considered a weapon. Hence; the actual file is labeled "PlasmaCutter" or "Remote Handle". That said, if this fails, I will be using a more traditional method or two to make the rest fo the gun assembly; but only if the current attempt gets scuttled by a bad printhead or somesuch.

Second part is printing; but I won't have an update until Tuesday on it; so instead, I'd like opinions on how to go about with other things. I'm thinking I may need to get my hands on a airbrush of some kind so that I can paint this properly, especially the visor. If anyone has any data on negative molding that I'm missing, I'd appreciate it, for now the plan is to make a master out of foam, make a mold out of the vacuum former, then make a cast using that as the mold in the vacuum former. It may be a bit resource intensive; so I may just stick to a single cast on most parts, and keep the negative mold mainly for any areas of high detail. Also, I'll probably purchase a laser and acrylic tube this week or next; I wanna start on the electronics for the locator beam very soon, and am concerned about how well the laser will be bent by an acrylic rod.

 

[Kasaron]

So, the handle printed. It's a bit big on me, but that'll work, since part of the costume is likely going to involve rubberized gloves.






I'll be cleaning the parts over the weekend, expect more info as time progresses. If anyone has the 3D model for the Dead Space 2 Advanced RIG/Suit (like, ripped from the game), I'd really appreciate that massively. Otherwise, expect that to be the next thing I tackle.

 

[aktaylorh]

Looking sweet man!

 

[180spaz]

very nice man

 

[Kasaron]

Well, this is what happens when you aren't paying total attention to something.

It turns out that many pieces from the gun are practically useless; I've ripped the in-game models and it seems like the scaling is quite a bit off compared to what I have. That said, the entire frontal assembly is right on, and might even be able to be articulated! So it's a very good-new/bad-news situation. I've managed to rip the actual game files for most of the armor, making this build INFINITELY easier; since now I have a frame of reference for my sculpt. I'll build a quick armature to host this model, and then I'll see about scaling separate bits to fit my porportions better. Today I'll be buying some foam-working tools, some sheetrock (the low-dust kind, I'm thinking) and some foam to start on the actual armor pieces.

If anyone needs the files themselves, beware they are EXTREMELY hard to unwrap(much of the armor is integral to the bodysuit), and I'm not going to bother Pepping or unwrapping them unless I need to.

Cheers, hopefully an update to come very soon.

 

[GLaDOS]

Well, this is what happens when you aren't paying total attention to something.

It turns out that many pieces from the gun are practically useless; I've ripped the in-game models and it seems like the scaling is quite a bit off compared to what I have. That said, the entire frontal assembly is right on, and might even be able to be articulated! So it's a very good-new/bad-news situation. I've managed to rip the actual game files for most of the armor, making this build INFINITELY easier; since now I have a frame of reference for my sculpt. I'll build a quick armature to host this model, and then I'll see about scaling separate bits to fit my porportions better. Today I'll be buying some foam-working tools, some sheetrock (the low-dust kind, I'm thinking) and some foam to start on the actual armor pieces.

If anyone needs the files themselves, beware they are EXTREMELY hard to unwrap(much of the armor is integral to the bodysuit), and I'm not going to bother Pepping or unwrapping them unless I need to.

Cheers, hopefully an update to come very soon.

i can try grouping every little pieces of the armor if you want?
ive got a very usefull technique for that and a lot of free time on my hands right now
dont bother to send the advanced suit file, i already have it.
Btw, i was wondering if you would be willing to tell me how you managed to crack the format ? and maybe provide me with some help on that
thnx in advance

 

[AI Blue Fox]

GLaDOS, the last post was in febuary of 2011. People please check the dates of the last post to see if the thread is dead or not.