Deciding what armor to build

[mrschief]

Well hello and a good morning to all of my fellow Midwesterners!
I've trolled this site for years, but only today decided to join. Oops. (sorry about that.)
I decided to join though because I could really use the help and community support as I embark on my first build!
I've been playing with the idea of doing a Chief build for years, and as my username suggests, I really really love him. However, I'm a 5' 2", 117 lbs. little nothin' of a girl. Not exactly 7'1" Spartan-II material. (but I am good USAF material, apparently.) Ultimately, I would love to do a Halo 4 Chief build. As much as I hated that armor at first, it grew on me to the point where it's now my favorite. But I'm worried about how it would look on me considering my tinyness. Then, for the sake of accuracy in size and height, I thought about not doing a Chief build, and instead, doing a build of my Spartan-III from Reach. I'm leaning more towards her currently because...well...I based her armor on my life and work, and I love her look overall.
My issue is that I haven't been able to find all the necessary pepakura files for her unique armor pieces. Perhaps they exist and I'm too stupid to find them (which is entirely possible), or they just don't exist.
As much as I love John (which is to Sanghelios and back a thousand times) and would love to be the Master Chief, I...well....am small.

I'd love any feedback or advice on how to pick what armor to make. My brother and dad have years of experience in automotives, carpentry, and general fabricating and manufacturing, my brother especially has a talent for fiberglass and bondo work; my mom even was a seamstress, so any sewing I would have to do for an undersuit wouldn't be an issue. So it's not really a matter of which armor would be easier or which is too complex for a first build, it's just me being indecisive, like always!

I can't wait to take this Great Journey with the wonderful 405th community!

Hugs and plasma cannons,
Mrs. Chief

 

[Chiefwannabe]

Well its really up to you on which armor you what to build. I would probably start with the reach build as it would be far less complicated than the halo 4/5 Master Chief armor. As for the files, I bet my entire ODST costume that they're in the 405th file archive ( I really hope that they are now)
Anyway I wish you luck with your build and I cant wait too see it in action !!

 

[Reclaimara]

How to pick armor YOU want to build?
Simple.
YOU do it.

JUST DO IT!

 

[Jme]

I don't know about you MrsChief, but I think this guy looks badass!



Don't worry about your size, I'm sure you will look amazing and love whatever armour you build.

If you love Master Chief, make his armour, the files are there and the help is here.

I would love to see your reach armour though, it sounds pretty cool.


"I'm just a witness"

 

[mrschief]

Good Afternoon!

Thanks for replying to this, all of you!

After some thought last night (and some rounds of Firefight) I decided to go with my Spartan-III. I found all of the necessary files in the archives (mostly from Kat builds). Once I figure out this...strange problem I'm having with Pepakura viewer, I'm heading to Staples for some cardstock and ink!

Also, that little Chief is the cutest thing I've ever seen. If my future kids don't think they're going to be Spartans, they're pretty wrong lol.

Hugs and plasma cannons,
Mrs. Chief

 

[Jme]

You'll want to get Pepakura Designer (also free) so that you can re-size the files.


"I'm just a witness"

 

[mrschief]

Got it!
i'm just having trouble because I'm only finding foam files of the female default chest, female default handplate, female codpiece, female shin, and the spine detail. I printed the foam file of the handplate and the filler pieces that were off the page (to get them on it I just clicked undo unfold and then unfolded it again...not sure if that's correct) and they're fitting pretty well together. I just worry about doing this with something more complex, like the torso.

Hugs and plasma cannons,
Mrs. Chief

 

[Reclaimara]

You can use default files. I mean, COD is the biggest difference, but thighs, arms, etc. - they don't differ or gender, so you can use these as well.
I'd recommend starting with something simple and small - boots perhaps? So you'll get experience and knowledge to do some bigger parts.
I'm doing my first build too and this is how I started - boots, shins, thighs, forearms, arms and saved helmet and chest for last. It was great, because I learned everything while doing smaller parts and I wasn't crushed with such huge project as chest.

 

[mrschief]

Yeah, I'm finding these filler pieces are making it harder and harder to work with. :unsure
From what I can tell from reference pictures, there are some differences between female and male in these pieces, but....I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and use the male patterns. And I'm definitely going to start small! At first I really wanted to start with the helmet until I realized if I screw that up, I'm going to be disappointed overall.
Thanks for all the help, your build is beautiful and you've definitely earned a like on Facebook!

Hugs and plasma cannons,
Mrs. Chief

 

[HaloGoddess]

I can tell you right now from experience that with a tiny build, you MIGHT discover that you have to modify pieces as you build them. Had a MAJOR issue when I started my H3 Hayabusa build. The forearms were a PAIN because it was mostly designed for a buff man arm! LOL I also did a Kat build and didn't have many issues. I did have to slightly modify the torso to fit me so I was more happy with it. The best thing about working with foam is that it is more forgiving and easier to modify than a full pepakura build. Adjustments made with foam are a lot easier to do too.

 

[Reclaimara]

Yeah, I'm finding these filler pieces are making it harder and harder to work with. :unsure
From what I can tell from reference pictures, there are some differences between female and male in these pieces, but....I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and use the male patterns. And I'm definitely going to start small! At first I really wanted to start with the helmet until I realized if I screw that up, I'm going to be disappointed overall.
Thanks for all the help, your build is beautiful and you've definitely earned a like on Facebook!

Hugs and plasma cannons,
Mrs. Chief

I did a quick model comparison, first found images on Google. The biggest difference is actually just the chest - females have slimmer shoulders, while males have broader, so that's why the chest is more narrow and the bottom piece is longer. Other that that the forearms are a little bit slimmer - I personally would prefer the bigger forearms, but it's just me. Other than that - I was actually mistaken - the COD piece is unisex, they are the same in female and male version.
The thighs are mostly the same, just at the bottom the female version is slightly more narrow.



I personally would suggest to wait with the helmet - helmet is like a center-piece of your build, people look at the head a lot and it's nice to have a nice helmet that you are personally satisfied with. But it's just a suggestion not meant to demotivate you.

Thanks! ^^

 

[mrschief]

Hey guys!
So I decided, since I'm a massive perfectionist, I'm going to start this whole build by doing an undersuit. I have a lot of experience with sewing, so it would be nice to start familiar AND be able to alter the armor around the undersuit so it all fits together nicely.
As much as I'm impressed by some foam builds, and foam's versatility (AND HOW CHEAP IT IS!!!!), I would rather have something that's hard/solid. The prospect of foam wrinkling or denting just scares me. :wacko
I'm looking at LilTyrant's Kat build for a lot of the inspiration. Hopefully I have the time to pull this all off before Halloween.
Thank you all again for all the advice!

Hugs and plasma cannons,
Mrs. Chief

 

[mrschief]

...I take back my previous statement.
I feel like foam is the best option after looking at LilTyrant's Kat again.
And I know nothing about foam.

 

[Chiefwannabe]

If you need any tips for foam I suggest the following members

EVAkura, BMP Props, TheBradinator ,Danielle JINX and FlyinPhil.

I have no idea why the links are not working but Im sure you can find them.
Sorry!!
Anyway I hope these guys can help you with your build!

 

[mrschief]

No worries! Thanks for the support!
I've been up for...22 hours now trying to plan this build out, lol. I feel like I have enough references and such to start, I just gotta wait until all the stores open!
I'm too excited to the point where I can't sleep. I just got out of bed after googling frosted window tinting and acrylics/plexi-glass and now I'm on the hunt for my HDMI cable to take some nicer pictures of my girl in Reach.
You all have been so immensely helpful and I'm so anxious to start!

Hugs and plasma cannons,
Mrs. Chief

 

[JD of Asgard]

Well it's all about research for me. There were a few armor types that I wanted to build but they were way too advanced for my skill level at the time. But in the end I just picked the armor type I defaulted to the most in the games: Recon.