First reach armor pep..

[Cloviz]

Hey guys names Cloviz,

ok after my buddy i met of the gears of war facebook page told me he made his own Cog armor and told me how it was done i was inspired to make my own halo reach armor. i have the helmet, torso, shoulders, shoulder attachments, 1 forearm, cod, and both thighs done so far....my goal is to have it done before the halo 4 release. while it is still early in the process i want to find the best way to harden the armor without fiberglass. i refuse to use the stuff after making a Gears of War 3 hammerburst. hate the stuff. Anyhow I messed up on 1 of my forearms and decided to try the hot glue method...it held its shape and is sturdier, but do i coat the outside with anything? i got smoothcast 320 do i just 'paint' that on the outside then and im good to go? or is it better to just paint the outside with fiberglass resin and slush the inside with the smoothcast? its like -40 degrees here in North Dakota so all outside work is basically a no go.


i will be posting pics here shortly after i get my camera back from a buddy.

 

[SergantTinkers]

I would assume if it looks good and is satisfactory to your standards, then by all means, paint it. Just make sure you have done whatever reinforcing, coating, and prepping on the INSIDE of the armor as well.

On a side note, you should reconsider using resin. The method (as far as I can tell, I have yet to actually start some projects, but have done a lot of research) is a very effective form of making your armor highly durable (providing you have given your work enough of a coating). Don't give up on the idea, as it will quite possibly be your best option, unless there is another alternative I am currently not aware of. As for weapons, I am not as sure. I believe they would be the same, or at least very similar.

For a good video on putting resin on your armor, see:

 

[Rex 084]

If temperature is an issue, I'd recommend just using the smooth cast. it's something you can use indoors. Though, if you plan on bondoing at all you're going to need to wait till the weather warms up. Bad fumes, like the resin. If you have a garage, you could possibly build a hotbox and use both resin and bondo during the winter.

Rex out.

 

[Cloviz]

If temperature is an issue, I'd recommend just using the smooth cast. it's something you can use indoors. Though, if you plan on bondoing at all you're going to need to wait till the weather warms up. Bad fumes, like the resin. If you have a garage, you could possibly build a hotbox and use both resin and bondo during the winter.

Rex out.

No I'm in an apartment so no garage and so how exactly should I use the smooth cast? I've watched videos were they showed how they slushed it but never a video that showed the finished product before the bondo. So I really have no way of telling how durable the stuff gets? Thats why I came here in hopes of finding someone of exp in using smooth cast. Also can anyone tell me if the smooth cast produces any "stinky" fumes like the resin did? And also how flammable if at all is smooth cast?

Also how exactly would one slush smooth cast for a torso?

 

[thorn696]

Smooth cast has very little fums. As for using I painted it on my chest plate then slush'd it around on the inside. You have to be real careful on the mix tho or you will get an oily film on you're part.

 

[Cloviz]

Smooth cast has very little fums. As for using I painted it on my chest plate then slush'd it around on the inside. You have to be real careful on the mix tho or you will get an oily film on you're part.

Awesome and I just googled the flash point of the smoothcast at over 200 degrees. How durable was the smoothcast after it was fully cured? And upon further examining my pieces tonight I stupidly used the hot glue method on the wrong forearm. Way to go me.... Is there any fixing this or am I looking to make a brand new forearm? The inside is covered top to bottom and every nook with hot glue... I suppose I can paint the outside with smoothcast and it should be fine right?

 

[Rex 084]

Yeah, you can. A few coats shoud do you ok without losing much detail, especially since you plan on bondoing it anyway. You should check out Been Streeper's vids on smoothcast. They are absolutely awesome and very informative. Those vids are what pretty much sold me on smoothcast.

 

[Cloviz]

Yeah, you can. A few coats shoud do you ok without losing much detail, especially since you plan on bondoing it anyway. You should check out Been Streeper's vids on smoothcast. They are absolutely awesome and very informative. Those vids are what pretty much sold me on smoothcast.

Are his videos on YouTube or can I do a search for the
On here

 

[Rex 084]

Youtube. There are links to them here, but damned if i can find them. :-/

Edit: It's Ben Streeper, not Been Streeper. my typing sux after being up for 22 hours, lol

 

[Cloviz]

Youtube. There are links to them here, but damned if i can find them. :-/

Edit: It's Ben Streeper, not Been Streeper. my typing sux after being up for 22 hours, lol

Hey thanks man I'll check out the videos when I'm on break at work. I will defiantly post some pictures tomorrow but for now it's bedtime. I appreciate the help I'm getting from this community

 

[acasualbanana]

Looking forward to it dude

 

[Cloviz]

Hey sorry I've been out with the flu but good news I've still been pepping my armor. I've finished two shins and a boot. Expect pictures tomorrow! I can't wait to post them. I also have another question about hardening with the smoothcast 321: will it stick to hot glue?

 

[Cloviz]

sorry for the double post but it is time to post some pictures...yes sir!

Helmet...first thing i pepped; notice the horrible unevenness of the lines?

Torso...the second piece i pepped; again notice the bad lines and before you ask about the fancy colors let me answer first. walmart was out of white paper and i was too excited to wait for the next shipment.

The Shoulders....i had some problems with these as they were too small but my Mom(a huge Star Trek fan who sewed her own uniforms) helped me resize it to fit my "big, beefy biceps" ill update with a picture of the back later.

The shoulder attachments....CQC is the right side... i hated the Grenadier as it was rounded and that irritated me.

Cod Piece- i spent at least an hour measuring for a perfect fit and after I was done glueing; i found out that i needed to gain at least 45lbs for it to fit so it was mom to the rescue with a quick snip of the scissors for an easy fix. will post pictures to show the fix.

The thighs....mmmmm....after i finished one side I decided to move away from using Gorilla brand superglue to hot glue. i prefer the hot glue so much more!

The shins...front and side view...i forgot to take a picture of the knee piece that came with the download but oh well.

THE GOAL(colors may change as well as visor color)

EDIT: well I hardened the helmet with smooth cast 321 two coats on the outside and so far one coat on the inside. I used a hard bristle paint brush to coat the outside which resulted in a lot of drips so one the next piece I'll used a more expensive soft bristle brush to see if that will yield better results. I plan on slushing another coat on the inside for a little more stability. Also be careful if you must use a heat gun to freshape warped areas as it will smoke a lot and smell horrible. I will post picItures hopefully later tomorrow once it is fully cured.

criticism even extreme ones are welcome.

 

[LNB AKA Killer 7]

Good work sir. hehe