First Build: COG Armor

[Scynthe]

Hey all, I've been lurking these forums for a while now but just started my first build now. There is a con coming up and I decided I wanted to go big and build a suit of armor for a costume. It's more ambitious than any previous costume/prop builds that I've done. On top of that I have a relatively short time to complete this as the con is in less than a month.

I started earlier this week and as of tonight I have finished assembling the shins and torso.

I can't quite fit my shoulder in through the bottom so I will have to devise a way of splitting it to get in once I harden it. Any suggestions?

As for the lancer, depending on how much time i have left, I will either modify this Nerf Longstrike I snagged for a buck at a liquidation place, or build one from scratch with MDF.

Scynthe

 

[Scynthe]

Since I've completed the pieces I'm going to make from pep I decided to start looking at the other pieces I'll need. First stop? Thighs. I had some foam mats left over from a combat vest I made for my nephew to play around in and figured I'd use that.

First step was designing the thigh piece. I took a look at some pics of the Fenix action figure and drew something that resembled it onto bristol board.

Then I transfered it to the foam and cut the pieces out.

Curved the pieces a bit with the heat gun and then glued together.

Some thin pieces of foam to mark out plates and some paint and it should look pretty decent I hope!

 

[Lex]

Nice pep work, looking good already. The COG armor will be my next build after the things i have going on right now. Already made the knee pads (Carmine's), gauntlets and shoulder pads

Can i ask if you used the default sizing of the chest armor or if you scaled it yourself? Im just wondering how the default is for size if you dont bother to scale it to yourself, if you used the default it is it relatively big or small for size? If its not that big i'd have to scale it up but the trouble im having with that is when i increase the chest width scale it ups the height of the armor way too much and it would be like down to my waist or even lower (im not tall unfortunately which doesnt help) so was wondering how it was for you

Sorry to ask but im just a noob trying to scale for the first time (other builds i just used default but with chest armor i think i'd need to scale or risk spending ages pepping default to find it doesnt fit) and as this is your first build im wondering how it is on you. Look forward to seeing your progress on this, nice foam work too


As for your shoulder not fitting in the bottom, instead of splitting it could you not just dremel around the opening bit by bit til you can slip your shoulders through? Same process as not being able to get your head into a helmet i suppose people suggest just to dremel around it til it fits. Just an idea anyway

 

[Scynthe]

I used the default scale that came with the pep and it looks like it should fit fine. I almost got into it last night, but was afraid of ripping the paper, I'll experiment once I harden it and see if I can manage to trim some to fit my shoulder in. For reference I'm 6' 215lb with broad shoulders. The shins when over my boots come to just below my knee.

 

[Lex]

Thank you. Thats lucky then it nearly fits you, would suck to spend ages on a build to have it not fit at all. I was just wondering on the default size as i like to get away without having to rescale. I usually wear size xl in t-shirts so roughly 46-48" chest so my only concern with the scaling is the chest width if it would fit me, as i said i tried rescaling the width but the height went way too high to proportion the change. What size would you estimate it might fit up to (any chance of fitting me on default)? Im around the same weight as you but not as tall. Thats a problem as well with just the pep is trying it on for size without it ripping, i only just fit my head in my helmet and less and it would probably have ripped with my trying to get it on. Sounds like yours will be fine, good luck with the builds

 

[Scynthe]

I just checked and I have a 41-42" chest. The bottom opening is around 42" and that (aside from the neck) is the narrowest part. Of course if you trim some of the bottom off you can add a few inches on.

Here is a pic of the size of the chest in relation to myself if this helps:

 

[Lex]

Appreciate it thank you. Looks like i'll probably have to scale it up slightly then to fit me which will unfortunately make it longer but maybe i could dremel some of the bottom off later on.. Would help if i was tall as that wouldnt matter as much but on me it would seem alot longer. Trimming as much as i could off the opening would help depending on the inside width of the fullest part of the chest. Would help if you could scale each part individually i know that would put the proportion off slightly but it would make for a more accurate fit. I'll have to just try scaling up slightly and see how it turns out and just hope i can fit into it. Thanks for the info was helpful

That is good for your first build. Look forward to following your progress as i will be making this myself and seeing the finished result

 

[Scynthe]

The inside cavity of this thing looks massive. Try maybe a 10% increase in scale?

Right now I'm working on making a belt and cod piece from foam. I know that there are pep versions of these but I'm just not a fan of them.

 

[Lex]

Massive sounds good lol. Hard to tell from pics even with rotating the 3D model around in Pep. The opening shouldnt be a problem as i can dremel it if its too small was just concerned by the chest width once inside the armor. I will try a 10% increase and hope for the best. I appreciate your help thank you. Sorry to invade your thread with it though

For those pieces i'd say foam would be a better option anyway, more flexible and easier to wear than hardened paper would be. Probably more comfortable too. I cant really work with foam but i might give it a try sometime using the pep pieces as templates. The thing with foam is knowing where to make the folds etc so it looks right. You already have a good start with the thigh piece in foam. Good luck with the rest will be watching for any progress you post

 

[Scynthe]

Thanks

I worked a ton today so I didn't have much time to work on the build, but I did manage to make some progress on the cod piece. I shaped the base plate out of foam, bevelled the edges and curved it a little.

Then I cut out some foamies based on the general shape of the plates on the codpiece from the figure reference pics.

EDIT:
I spent a bit of time rearranging the plates and thought this looked better. Not quite the same as the reference pic, but meh I like it better.

 

[Scynthe]

Worked again all day so didn't get much done on the costume Yeah, working on a Sunday sucks! Anywho, I managed to bevel the edges on the thigh pieces and got a bit of work on the belt done.

Here's a pic of the belt and codpiece as they sit now. The centre of the belt will glow blue when finished.

 

[R3Dracoon]

That's awesome dude

 

[Lex]

Looking good I need to get me some foam for the gears armor, it needs it really or it wll look flat. Gives a much better 3D look and probably alot more comfortable to wear too. I like the belt, doesnt look exactly like the game models which personally i like gives it a more custom look instead of just replicating the game versions as most people do. Im going to make my armor a bit custom, kinda combining Carmine/Baird's standard armor with the shoulders (light units) from Marcus's armor. Need to learn how to do led's for this build. The glowing belt sounds a nice touch keep it up

 

[llinformerll]

Wow. This is very sweet man. You deserve way more views than your getting.

 

[Inara07gt]

hey i love to work you've done it looks awesome, but where did you find the pep files for the shins/boots I've searched everywhere and cant find them? i love how your thigh and cod pieces look, they turned out great i cant wait to see how the whole thing looks once finished.