Galactic Armory ODST Build Thread

[Major Props]

Hey folks!

I'm Jamie, one of the propmakers at Galactic Armory, the YouTube channel and propmaking studio. I'm excited to start this build thread on the forums to document our progress and to connect with all you amazing folks in the 405th community!

A little about us first: you may already be familiar with our propmaking videos, our 3D print files, or Aaron, my boss, who crafted a life-sized Master Chief statue and is currently working on a life-sized Arbiter to accompany him. While we're active members of the Star Wars costuming group, the 501st, we realized we've never embarked on a costume project in our second love: the Halo universe!

As luck would have it, we're already collaborating with the legendary kit maker Sean Bradley on another project. And it hit us like a bolt of lightning—why not create Halo 3 ODST costumes for our next big project? We absolutely adore their tacti-cool aesthetic, the rich lore surrounding them, and the endless customization possibilities. It's the perfect project for us to dive into headfirst. To make things even more exciting, we've set ourselves a deadline: we plan to debut these costumes at DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia on August 31st, which, as of today, is just 61 days away!

Both kits are well underway, and we'll be releasing new 3D files and merchandise to complement this series. We're thrilled to have you join us on this build journey and follow along with our progress. I promise to update this log regularly to keep you in the loop. Meanwhile, you can catch Episode 0 of our build series below. In this episode, we discuss our characters, equipment, and goals for this build!

Thank you for taking the time to read this log, and I look forward to getting to know this amazing community better in the weeks to come!

Cheers,

Jamie/Major Props

 

[Draxes]

Oh man, I am in the middle of 3D printing your Master Chief Armor. If there is a chance you could also throw in that amazing armor that would be great. I have lots of modifications I made to the files you provided which I think could be helpful for you to provide to others. I'll contact you when I have it all complete. I did a full breakdown of the armor to fit my Bambu X1C...well sized that will fit me (6'4" 210lbs). Could also be helpful to others. I'll also do a writeup here on the 405th of my whole process and everything I used to build the armor.

 

[N8TEBB]

YOOOOO I love the videos you guys make!! They helped me so much when I made my Mandalorian suit!! Knowing you guys, those ODST's you are going to make are going to be SICK! I only wish I lived closed to Atlanta, as it's a 12-hour drive at best from Canada XD. Maybe one day I'll be able to see your costumes in person. Until then, you bet I'll be keeping an eye on this thread and the YT channel to see what y'all are cooking up!

 

[TorrinNorixius]

much like Draxes here, i am also making your Master Chief armor. I can't wait to see the progress on these ODST suits and all you are doing with the Misfit squad! Just don't get so caught up in the work that you forget to have fun!

 

[Kahn 319]

Cant wait to see how your build turns out, no doubt it will be great, id expect no less from you guys. I love your mandolorian halo mashup helmets currently working on the heavy mando/halo one its been fun, happy crafting!

 

[Major Props]

Part 2 - Unboxing and Trimming.

Time for a new update! We received our kits from Sean, and I cannot explain to you folks how expertly they were packaged! If you watch our video, it looks like we were plucking our kit out of the TARDIS or a bag of holding! Everything we needed was neatly packed into a single box, including the helmet and visor. Whilst the smaller box had both of our backpacks and an extra gift for both of us, a perfectly casted UNSC branded knife!

From my experience working on Star Wars vacuum formed kits, I could immediately tell how intuitively these kits were designed, which really helped ease my fears because Mr Bradley's 88-page instruction manual really psyched me out. With the help of our 2 interns, Scott and Andrew, Aaron and I were able to get both of our kits trimmed in around 2.5 hours, keeping all of those lovely HIPS off-cuts to use as glue further down the line.

This is a really quick update, as there is only so much I can talk about opening up packages and using little scissors on plastic. But buckle up, because we have a slew of major updates on the horizon, along with many, many more exciting videos to share with you all!
Cheers,

Jamie/Major Props

 

[SalLyrisse]

because Mr Bradley's 88-page instruction manual really psyched me out.

Oh I felt this in my soul. Opened that PDF for the first time and my head started spinning!

 

[CosplayInClutch]

Excited to finally meet you guys in person. Hope the crunch is going well for you guys, we have just under a month and a half left and I know I'll be panicking the closer we get. I've been itching for more and more updates on the armor itself.

 

[Major Props]

Part 3 - Sidearms

Here we are with a weaponry-focused update! This time the sidearms of both Aaron and myself. The classic suppressed SMG for me and the SOCOM pistol for the bossman. They are entirely 3D printed, using a BambuLabs X1C and the Elegoo Saturn and Jupiter for resin parts. Files by Dungeons & Starships (@dungeonsandstarships) • Instagram photos and videos.

The SOCOM was entirely printed in resin, as a few huge pieces. The Jupiter is an absolutely MONOLITHIC printer, and I was able to print the entire pistol in two prints, and have it finished in 2 days total!

You would think that the SMG would have taken a whole lot longer as it was a bigger gun and printed in filament, but it really didn't! The BambuLabs X1C is just magic. The print quality feels like cheating, as all it takes is a couple coats of filler primer and a wet sand for it to be completely ready for painting. The future of 3D printing is really amazing for us propmakers.

These projects took next to no work to make, and yet they look SO damn good. We instantly felt like ODSTs just by having these iconic weapons in our hands!

Keep an eye out for our next video however, as we open up the armoury to get the big guns!

 

[xPointbreakx]

This is exciting to watch unfold, I'll be following along closely as I just ordered a kit from Sean myself.

 

[Major Props]

Part 4 - Primaries

With less than a month left until DragonCon, updates will be coming thick and fast! With this update, our armory is complete!

For my build, I went with the classic BR55 Battle Rifle from Halo 3, and Aaron with the M45 Shotgun from Halo Reach. Both of these items were printed on the BambuLabs X1C, which made post-processing an absolute walk in the park. We managed to get this entire table of weapons done in 2 weeks whilst we worked on the armour kits.

Check out our video below, explaining how easy post-processing is with these printers, and the two different directions we went for painting and weathering prop weaponry.

Keep an eye out for our next video update in the next few days, as we move on to the iconic ODST helmet!

 

[Major Props]

Part 5 - Helmets

Got an exciting new update for you folks! It's objectively the most iconic part of the ODST build: The helmet!

We got our raw resin casts and visors from Sean Bradley, which were absolutely awesome to work with and customise. Aaron went for a Spartan Carter inspired colour scheme, using blues and blacks, and I went for a more classic military inspired scheme, using Nato greens and off-white. We kept a consistent base colour across all of our kits (and every other person who is part of our community's 'Misfit Squad'), using the dark grey Montana Gold 'Basalt'.

We'll be adding further customisation in the future, but for now we hope that this guide will help everyone else complete their own ODST helmet, or even use the advice given in this video to complete any other resin casted project! Keep an eye out for one of the last videos in this build series, the construction of our full kits! Not long now until DragonCon, we're on the home stretch!

 

[Major Props]

Part 6 - Armour

Here we go, our last post before the full suit up! This time it is the armour build and full paint job!

This kit was extremely easy to put together, all thanks to the copious use of rivets! 90% of this kit is just hard riveted together, using overlapping armour pieces or shims. It makes the kit flexible but sturdy, and means we can quickly get to the fun part: the painting and weathering!

The paint method we used is as follows:
1. Base coat of Rustoleum Aluminum spray.
2. Apply liquid latex in random spots and edges for scratches.
3. Apply coat of Montana Gold 'Basalt' spray.
4. Mask off detail areas and apply your personal colour scheme, in my case Montana Gold 'NATO Green' and 'Marble'
5. Scratch off latex, revealing the metal base coat.
6. Apply an all-over wash of black oil paint, mixed with mineral spirits.
7. Dry-brush silver metallic paint onto all hard edges.
8. Apply clear coat to seal in all your hard work!

After finishing this process on both of our kits, we are left with all of THIS:

And you can follow along with this entire process in our newest video, which will be the penultimate build video before DragonCon in just over a week!

 

[LesChriserables]

I've been following along the build series and it looks so awesome! I've seen a few previews of you guys all suited up.

Is the last episode going to talk about the soft parts and all the other pieces you guys sourced for your ODSTs?

I'm unable to go to Dragoncon but this series has inspired me to make my own ODST here in New Zealand. I can't wait to see your finished suits from the con. Also, can we get a review video after Dragon on things you might've done differently, lessons learned, or some such?

 

[Instinct Vlad]

So glad this all came together. See you guys tomorrow!

 

[Major Props]

Part 7 - The Final Suit Up!

Here we are team, we made it just in time! We are leaving for DragonCon tomorrow, all the adjustments have been made, and the kit has been through so many iterations of trial and error, but it's as ready as it can be!

Between making our weaponry, making my own kit, then using what I learnt to make Aaron's, and doing multiple tests fits to get the proportions right, this entire build took 3 months. We are so proud of how our costumes turned out, being able to wear a full kit from Halo has always been a dream of mine, but I never thought I would be able to pull it off as well as I did. My inner child is SO happy right now!!

You can watch the full suit-up in the video below, and let me tell you, it's a fun video!

Speaking of, the next video will be the last of the series: it will be all about our time in DragonCon, meeting all of you, and our review of the kits once we have had a whole day wearing them!

 

[N8TEBB]

Those suits look PHENOMINAL!! Great job guys!! I only wish I was able to come down to Atlanta to see you! Oh well, maybe next year