First ever Halo Costume! (ODST WIP)

[MistahFox]

Hello everyone, this is the (Halo 3: ODST) ODST armor I've been working on with a friend for a while. It's my first post here, I joined the forum because I was recommended to join by Angus314 when I met him at a convention. I thought I'd post my progress here for now if anyone's interested, I think that's what this forum is for, to post interesting builds and help each other out!
I've been using the Heroes Workshop Pepakura files for this build, with the 343 Rookie cosplay guide as a reference and I've had good success so far. My previous cosplay experience has been building Stormtrooper armor for the 501st, so this is my first time working with EVA foam. I'm only half way done with the main armor pieces, but it was enough to pull together in time for Fan Expo Denver.
The only thing I need advice right now is how I should be attaching all of the pieces together, mainly the shoulders, thighs and abdomen. Stormtrooper armor has straps that connect each armor piece together at the shoulder bridges, except for the thighs which use separate suspenders, so I want to know if people use a similar setup for ODSTs or something else. Also I want to know how to shape a Visor, I've been using an XCOSER helmet with the Icon props flexible visor material to replace the horrible stock one.
Thanks everyone and I look forward to doing more with the 405th!

 

[PlanetAlexander]

Hey Angus314, does that orange guy look familiar to you?
Welcome to the 405th MistahFox! Your ODST is coming along swell so far, looking forward to seeing more progress. For the ODST helmet, I've never made one (yet) but I've seen a couple of ways to do the visor. The first is to take a material such as plexiglass and cut out the different sections in it, then glue it together (the ODST helmets are nice in that you don't need to make the visor material stretch in different ways). Another way is to vacuum form it, which if you don't have a vacuuformer, some members here might be able to help you out.

 

[S229]

So i've built two ODSTs in my time as a costume maker (not very long), but for connections, i normally use polypro straps (similar to the thin straps you see on backpacks) and i use them for the thigh pieces. For the suit you see in my profile pic, i was wearing a belt and i ran the strap from the top of the thigh piece to the belt. As for the shoulders, i've seen people use the straps to connect up from the top of the shoulder piece up into the chest. Keep in mind, I'm not well funded, so this is a very cheap solution that i found to work. For your abdomen, i've found that just attaching the abdomen directly to the chest/plate works well and i did that myself in my latest build (profile pic). Also, just a small tip, i would recommend keeping a lot of extra blades around, and just keep a sharp blade in general for cutting EVA foam (it keeps the edges and seams looking cleaner). But, all in all, you have got some good progress, and i'm excited to see how it turns out! Welcome to the 405th, MistahFox!

Quick Question: How did you make your helmet? it looks fantastic!

 

[MistahFox]

So i've built two ODSTs in my time as a costume maker (not very long), but for connections, i normally use polypro straps (similar to the thin straps you see on backpacks) and i use them for the thigh pieces. For the suit you see in my profile pic, i was wearing a belt and i ran the strap from the top of the thigh piece to the belt. As for the shoulders, i've seen people use the straps to connect up from the top of the shoulder piece up into the chest. Keep in mind, I'm not well funded, so this is a very cheap solution that i found to work. For your abdomen, i've found that just attaching the abdomen directly to the chest/plate works well and i did that myself in my latest build (profile pic). Also, just a small tip, i would recommend keeping a lot of extra blades around, and just keep a sharp blade in general for cutting EVA foam (it keeps the edges and seams looking cleaner). But, all in all, you have got some good progress, and i'm excited to see how it turns out! Welcome to the 405th, MistahFox!

Quick Question: How did you make your helmet? it looks fantastic!

Thanks for the advice! Yeah I've learned the wisdom of keeping sharp blades for EVA foam by now...
As for the helmet, XCOSER made an ODST helmet and Master Chief helmet as a promotion for Halo Infinite, and I bought three (One for myself, one for my friend for last Christmas and one extra) before they sold out. (I noticed it wasn't exactly the same as the Halo 3 or Reach helmets, so I predicted it was from Halo Infinite and from the armor leaks I was totally right)
My dad helped me paint it camouflaged with the colors 343 specified in the Cosplay guide. I used a dremel with one of those drill bits made for cutting to dig out the vent holes, and put an old scarf in them to make them look like vents, then put some fans behind them and that stops the visor from fogging up. The default visor they come with is shaped perfectly, but people can see through it so I had to replace it using the IconProps visor material. They say you can't vacuum form it, so I'll have to cut it manually.
NEW...HEX Pattern.......flexible Visors. | Etsy