First Pep Attempt/ my ODST WIP

[Hyena]

Its like origami on crack.
I snapped a few pics from my phone, but until i find my camera, there will be little posted here. It is such an annoyance to do that from me pocket machine.

At this point, i have the shoulders built and resined. The left lower plate of the shoulder has been fiberglassed, i am planning on doing two layers to all pieces. I have started building the torso up.

Later tonight i will post some more pics if i can either find my camera or liberate some one else's. I will also add notes for material used as well as keep a log here of the total economic cost put into this project so that those who are considering doing this will have a better understanding of what they have gotten themselves into.

Here is a pic as proof that i have started.

The paper is for the twin set of shoulders. The second one for some bloody reason printed out without the edge ident numbers, so i had to do the pair simultaneously. After have done so, i think it may have been easier then doing one and then the other.

It may have been bad gluing skill, but I managed to use up two and a half tubes of Locktite brand superglue building the two shoulders.

And in case you wanted to know, that bit of taped up pvc with the wires sticking out of it was at one point a home made shock rod. But you can only feed so much energy through the parts of disposible cameras before you burn out the capacitors...


I plan on building the helmet last, that way i will have the most experience before beginning the most noticed piece. For the helmet i plan on adding four white LEDs, two to each side. As well as a dual fan cooling system to the inside. I will post up my wiring diagram later for that.

I had initially tried using chopsticks to indent the crease lines, but ended up switching to a dead mecha pencil. The indent mad by the sticks was far too wide. The curse of leaving me engi drafting kit and school is that I am left with a ruler i liberated from a friend. Idiots dont know the wonders of a metal edge. Or a proper straight edge.
Do not use these flexible rulers, they=waste.

Updates to come hopefully later today

 

[Hyena]

Bit of an afterthought: if you see me do something wrong, feel free to throw out a "You IDIOT! it supposed to be like this...". My goal is to have this project perfect for halloween 2011, so i am willing to redo things as is neccesary.

I have been printing this on cardstock bought at walmart.

And while i have been doing the resin and fiberglass work i was wearing a pair af nitride coated latex gloves and what looks to be a dust mask that has been rated for protection against particles as well as paint and solvent fumes.

 

[nil8]

I had initially tried using chopsticks to indent the crease lines, but ended up switching to a dead mecha pencil. The indent mad by the sticks was far too wide.

I've been using a pen and a ruler across the dotted lines to make a score line on all the fold lines, that seems to work really well. also might I recommend using masking tape on the inside of the whole thing to help reinforce structural integrity (the fiberglass and padding will cover over most of that). Oh and instead of hot glue I've been using super glue on all my contact points it's a little less messy, drys quicker and is a lot less hot (I'm slightly ADD so I would sometimes forget about the glue gun, I have the burns on my arm to prove it). Hope that helps a bit...us n00bs gotta stick together.

 

[Hyena]

As i thought i had said in my first post, i have been using super glue. But i shall try the pen and the masking tape.

The reason i had not been using a pen thus far hasss been for the sake of preserving the visible lines. I wish to be able to check to make sure that i am folding the the correct direction. But i shall give a try to the ball point. If it makes my life easier i will continue on with that.

 

[Hyena]

photo update

I convinced one of my roomates to email me a few pics he had taken up to this point, so now i post them here.

Here is the start of the upper torso piece. This picture was taken too early in the process, currently it is almost done. When i get home i plan on finishing it and taking a pic with it held up to me, that way the good people of this site could tell me whether or not they think it is sized properly. I should do the same with the shoulder bits.

This is working on the shoulder, at this point i was fiberglassing the first piece. I had cut the mat down into smaller pieces, but after doing this i found they should have been about half that size. Here you can see the now dedicated fiberglassing towel. For some reason i had thought i could keep from damaging the towel when i had started (yet i had chosen to use the towel to protect the porch... Logic fail...)

Here is the fiberglassed shoulder bit. Not the best work, but with a little cut and trim i could have it ready for the second layer in a little amount of time.

 

[Hyena]

So, cost thus far on this project.
This does not include sales tax.

fiberglass jelly= $11.97
fiberglass Resin= $14.97
fiberglass cloth= $4.47
fiberglass matt= $6.97
cardstock= $5.48
gloves= $3.78
brushes= $1.70
cups= $1.17
craft knife= $3.79

TOTAL= $52.60

I have tried both the fiberglass jelly and the resin. The jelly is harder to work with, but the end product does seem to be stronger. If you are worrie about end strength and dont mind the extra work i would suggest that. I tried both the fiberglass matt and the cloth. Though the cloth may look prettier, i believe that the matt is better suited to this type of work.
I used the cheap plastic cups from walmart to mix the chems used in this project.

 

[nirvana katana]

looks good so far. cant wait to see more

 

[xanzx]

Not looking too bad for a first attempt. I'm starting on my own ODST armor in the next couple of days (currently buying the materials needed) I've done pretty much the sizing for everything, except the chest plate which I'm still in doubt about how to size.. Anyway, hope to see a lot more from you, and good luck!

 

[Hyena]

xanzx, if you start a wip thread, post up a link here (I may not see it in the forum otherwise). Watching the progress of others is largely what keeps me working on mine.

SO i did a small bit of work on the chest plate. Have it nearly finished in the pep stage. Something odd about when i had printed this out. Most of the edge numbers had printed on the outside of the cut lines. (i may have mentioned this earlier, but, i have a picture for it now)

Here the chest piece is, as it sits now. It is not as warped as it appears in this picture (at least in my opinion).

I will finish pepping it tonight or tomorrow, then will post up a size comparison of this to my chest. To see if you the people of the 405th think it is either too big or too small.

 

[AI Blue Fox]

tip from past experience: do the hd shoulder, WAY more accurate and just as easy as the low def. other then that I just want to say use pens, a ruler, and hot glue gun. I did it your way then the hot glue way and the difference was mindblowing, only problem is if you dont get to positioning right you have to brush the hot glue guns tip over the spot glued until its movable. other then that it great.

 

[Hyena]

I have not yet tried hot glue but i will give it a go. The superglue, though beneficial with its strength and quick drying, is more an annoyance because i have to rip the paper to reposition the piece after i glue it. I will try it and post up the results.

 

[leet]

looks good sofar...

i meself use office depot store brand glue sticks.(drys in like 10 seconds so repositioning it is easy. worked for a entire suit...) and i have tryed the pen method. i forget what color goes to what fold and whatnot. what works for me is a Small flathead screw driver from home depot(came in my set...) its like a #1 in flathead sizing. works great against a metal ruler from office depot ontop of a exacto board.

 

[Hyena]

I had been informed (dont remember exactly by who...) that the resin would eat through the glue of glue sticks, that was my original first choice.
When i finish off my chest piece, i plan on using the pen method. Probably do mountain as red and valley as blue. That should be simple enough to remember. If that does not work for me i will try the screwdriver method.

 

[AI Blue Fox]

I of coarse didn't use resin, instead i used MORE HOT GLUE (painted melted hot glue into the inside) and istead oif bondo, I DID PLASTER! but ofcoarse im making vacuum formed molds as my final pieces. The problem with res is it is prone to warp unsupported pieces. for the pen colors, its red for vally folds and blue/black for mountain folds. even this helps dramatically.

 

[Hyena]

i currently lack the room for a vacuum table, otherwise i'd be all over that like white on rice.

At least with the small pieces i have resined thus far i have noticed no warping. I did get some warpage from superglue in the initial build stage, but none from the resin.

 

[Hyena]

i picked up a quart of 3m brand (I thought 3m made bondo, but if they did, whats the point in having a product thats the same under just the 3m logo?) fiberglass resin. I am going to try it and see if there is a difference in the end result.
Part of my goal with this, my first project, is to find the best materials and methods for myself to use. I say myself because some people like things that are different then others. So i shall find what works best for me and post the results up here.

 

[Hyena]

I tried a different brand of super glue, four tubes for one dollar. But this glue is horrible. It takes almost a minuete to dry and is incredibly runny. Its almost like water, just gets every where.

I have the torso built now.

And i have resined the outer side of it twice and the inner once. I plan on having all sides of each piece resined twice before i fiberglass. I want the added strength. I want this armor to be able to stand up to airsofting by the time i am done with it.

having to use up a cup and brush for each coat is annoying. Not so much the loss of the cup, mostly the brush. I may grab some acetone to make it so i can re-use them. But will the cost of a quart of acetone off set the cost of the amount of brushes i would use? i shall find out.