First Time Reach Build [PIC HEAVY]

[Dox]

Hi there! rather than necroing a very old and very littered thread I started a while ago, I thought I'd start fresh! Hello, my name is Michael, and I decided to begin a project after being motivated by the opportunity to wear a friends suit, (Pics attached!).

The suit will be based on the Carter suit, (Or rather, Carter helmet), with some modifications thrown in here and there for flavour. Today marked the day that I finished my first ever pepakura helmet! I've attached some pictures, and have a few fairly important questions!

These are just some flavour shots!

This is where I have an issue, the helmet is peppered with holes in the areas where paper meets, (Bad folding on my part). Will I need to scrap this helmet and remake? Or can I patch them fairly easily somehow? Or does it not even matter when I get to the resin stage, will having resin seep into the inside as a result of these holes be a bad thing?

Finally, my friend-of-a-friends ODST suit, which I had the privilege of wearing to work on Halo launch, as you can see, it's stunning, and if you can see this Waz than you have my love and admiration!

Apologies for the super long post! I'm considering making a brief 'guide' of sorts, things I picked up along the way that I learned the hard way, so that others don't have to! If this sort of thing would be appreciated please let me know!

 

[Evilpenguin]

i have seen people use standard filler on the back to cover the holes from the inside as it were...

 

[Dox]

i have seen people use standard filler on the back to cover the holes from the inside as it were...

Standard filler? Like putty? Thanks mate!

 

[Dox]

Time for an update! I've finished the first bicep, and am well on my way to completing the second!
I've attached a picture, taken from my horrible webcam again, however everything from now will be crisp and clean thanks to my new camera!

I just wanted to take the time to list down some of the things I've picked up thus far, for my benefit and for the benefit of anyone who happens to stumble across this thread, as these little pointers went a LONG way in improving the overall quality of my pepping.

1. SCORE SCORE SCORE

And no I'm not talking soccer! Scoring made the difference between ugly, rounding, warping folds and crisp, clean angular folds. I picked up a hobby knife and surgical blade set from an arts and crafts store for $4, there's no excuse to not have one! Not only do they make scoring easy, but cutting out fine little bits and pieces are so much easier to cut free!

I should add that when scoring, I found it especially helpful to score on the top for valleys and underneath for mountains. It may sound confusing or difficult, but as long as you cut along the edges carefully, when you flip the piece you can have a very accurate idea of the lines you need to score. The reason I found scoring on both sides useful was again for aesthetic appeal and for ease. I made a horribly quick little diagram below to try and hint at what I mean.

So basically, if you cut the top, and fold downwards, you're fine, because the cut acts to separate the paper enough that it folds cleanly, as well as obviously guiding the fold itself. A problem arises when you try and score in the opposite direction, because in cutting the paper you're slightly releasing tension, and when you try to fold against the cut, the result is an angled edge that, if you haven't bent it prior to gluing, can lead to really awkward situations where half the piece your trying to attach is glued, and the other isn't attaching properly because the flap won't reach up.

2. Pep in front of your computer!

The biggest problem I had with my biceps was the small fiddly details that decorate the outer portion. These pieces are small, and due to the simple nature of pepakura, often flawed in their design, meaning that the flaps of some pieces overlaps with segments of the actual visible piece.

When handling these tiny little pieces with my cumbersome hands and terrible eyesight, I made multiple mistakes, because I couldn't read the numbers, or couldn't easily interpret whether I was supposed to cut or fold a particular piece. Having the pepakura files open in front of you gives you the ability to zoom in and suss out each piece really nicely, which led to my second bicep being a masterwork by comparison to the first. The picture above sort of shows the difference in terms of how easy it is to see what one piece looks like by comparison to the other!

I have to go to training now but I'll continue when I get back!

 

[Tenebrus]

Pepping in front of your computer is also an excellent idea simply because you can hit up youtube and listen to music seriously though, your right, i consider it an absolute must to have the file open on your PC. Also for scoring it doesn't have to be as hard as your making it out, i use a very dull letter opener to score and i get perfect folds everytime. the trick is to be careful when folding and use a ruler

 

[Dox]

Pepping in front of your computer is also an excellent idea simply because you can hit up youtube and listen to music seriously though, your right, i consider it an absolute must to have the file open on your PC. Also for scoring it doesn't have to be as hard as your making it out, i use a very dull letter opener to score and i get perfect folds everytime. the trick is to be careful when folding and use a ruler

That too, or the latest episode of the Walking Dead... heh. I know, I just did it badly the first few times, and quickly came to respect the power of proper scoring, you're totally right though!

 

[Dox]

Apologies for the necro; just thought I'd post a few updates: I've almost finished pepping and resining everything. I've been through two torso pieces so far, both of which failed due to structural issues. I've remade the helmet, using a different, (More complicated), model that turned out much better. Things are on halt at the moment due to the cold, rainy weather here which has prevented me from doing any more resining.

Here are some pictures of progress, as well as a Mark 5 I'm making for a friend.

Bicep forearm, (Forearm having since been remade to a better model)

Remade helmet, turned out much nicer.

Helmet production line!

Mark 5 test fit, perfect!

The ODST in action!

 

[PHIL 907]

Looks great so far!

 

[Dox]

Hey all! Long time no update, the weather here has been awful, making glassing/resining very difficult. I've had lots of time to pep however, and have everything ready, and with recent improvements in the weather, I had the opportunity to go out and get some glassing done! Within the next 2-3 weeks I hope to be able to move on to the bondo/detailing segment.

I've also decided to shy away from doing a raw 'carter' build, and will instead be pursuing a customised Spartan, taking a bit of artistic license and turning my Spartan into something a little different, and hopefully very, very cool. I'll be basing it on this alternative drawing done by deviantart member Kaijugod22. I won't be modifying the actual armour too much, but in terms of paint scheme and general sense of battle-readiness this is the look I want to go for. Regardless; some pictures!

Third set of thighs, I'm just happy these ones are perfectly straight and even. Popsicle sticks do wonders.

Third helmet, and one I'm finally happy with. The wet weather we've had these last few months caused the back of it to crumple a bit, but it should be no drama to fix with bondo.

These handplates are perhaps a tad smaller than the ingame models, but I don't want them to be overbearing, we'll see how they come out.

Second pair of shins, had to remove two panels in each, they were way too large and I wasn't satisfied with how they sat, much better now that they're a bit more snug.

Third and final set of forearms, finally ones I'm happy with!

I will be replacing one of the shoulders with Emile's right shoulder, (The larger one), not 100% sure which, however.

I realise these sorts of pictures aren't terribly exciting, but they help chronicle the process and provide a sense of scale for the task I'm undertaking. Also; if anyone could tell me how to make the pictures just a tad smaller, I'd love you forever.

 

[edwardjlw]

Nice work so far, your pieces look really clean! I know what you're talking about with the weather, it's been very wet here in Adelaide the last few months. Things were starting to pick up again last week and I thought i might get some resining done, then we have the wettest weekend all season

Anyway good luck with your build, lookin really good so far, and I liked your idea of doing a customised version, add some extra flavour and personality to the suit

 

[Dox]

STOMPING TIME.

I'm opting to go with pep boots over foam boots simply because I can't foam, I don't know how, it doesn't work for me, I just can't. I have a few ideas in mind about how I'm going to make them rigid, but also quite pliable in terms of movement. Everything is glassed, except for the chest and cod, chest turned out beautifully, so happy I took the time to find a well supported piece, hopefully this one won't fall apart on me!

Rondo'd helmet today, and finished glassing everything but the torso,

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Everything is looking great! Keep up the good work

 

[kadet]

Yeah, carving blades RULE for smooth folding! Looking real good!

 

[Dox]

Attempted to start bondo work on the helmet; but had been watching too many American How-To's, in which the hardener you use is apparently a lot more powerful than the stuff we have over here! Alas, the top half of my helmet was gooped.

Today I scraped it all off, and before attempting to start again, cut his eyes out as punishment!

Also, I've been having camera problems, (Predominantly due to a lack of proper camera), however I recently realised that I had an iPad laying around the house, which takes photos.... So I'll be using that in future, Hooray for consistency!

 

[Dox]

Today I worked on the helmet and a little bit of one of the thighs, the first coat of poorly mixed bondo really made things, (And will no doubt continue to make things), difficult, however I slowly began sanding away at the almost as poorly applied second coat. In a bit of a desperate move to cover up the mistakes I'd made previously, and fill in the unnevenness that was present on the long, smooth parts across the top, I slopped a bit too much on. Sanded half down so you can see the difference.

Thigh piece slowly starting to take shape, that shape is 100% perfect (At least according to pep). The second thigh sagged a bit in the cold weather and doesn't have that beautiful crisp circle, so I'll have to heat it up and reshape it. Hooray!

 

[Chainsaw ninja]

Looks awesome man keep up the posts!

 

[U513]

is this a commander build? My favourite armour set in Reach! Like what i am seeing