Gears of War 3: Marcus Fenix Build

[DuffmasterFresh]

One day I put a bandanna on my head backwards and it just so happened that I also had grown out a soul patch for facial hair to test out the look. I tilted my head and thought, "Damn, if I was 6'2 with tree trunk sized arms, a huge facial scar, and a chiseled jaw I might look kind of like Marcus Fenix." Immediately my dreams were crushed when I took a step back and my true 5'8 height with average muscle came into view. Finally, my dreams exploded when I realized I probably look nothing like him and I was just trying to flatter myself. Whatever, it worked. Now here I am in front of all of you hoping I actually find time between my job and college classes to build a Marcus Fenix costume to be finished by this Halloween. Crazy? Fk yeah.

So let's get this Crazy Cole Train rolling. Here is where I am at:
*I just measured my dimensions in a very half a$$ fashion because no one was home to help me and I was using a tape measure, not one of those soft ones.
*I have a 3D Pepakura model of the Marcus Fenix Gears 3 chest armor thanks to Kyre. Even when he lost the file to a hard drive issue, he unfolded a backup copy to get it to me. I give him my many thanks so if you see him tell him thank you for me.
*I will be using a PDF file layout of the boots from the super awesome Baird thread. I want the quality of my build to match his in detail, color and awesomeness.
*I have card stock paper somewhere from when I wanted to do a Halo Armor build... just need to find it.
*I have a gym membership in hopes I can build out my arm muscles a bit.

Here are my body dimensions in inches. These are the closest measurements I could get by myself, I will update them when I find someone to help me out. The pep file has a chest width of 13.3 inches (338mm). My shoulder blades are 15.5 inches wide or so (393mm). I adjusted the pep model width and all the parts no longer line up on the paper, so idk if I have to fix that myself or if there is an auto align feature.

I went online and spent a good few hours finding the most high resolution images of Marcus Fenix from Gears 3 at all angles. I am having a hard time figuring out where his armor rests on his body. For example, does the chest armor go to his naval or further down? It looks damn near impossible to move ones torso in his setup, this may be an issue later.


I plan to build it using card stock paper like with everything else, however, the final version of the suit I want to build in foam for durability and ease of creating details with a dremel. Should I make a full paper model first to get sizing right and then begin on a foam version? That is probably what I will do.

All thoughts, opinions, hints, tips, tricks, etc. is welcome! This is my first build. I have a Rubies pre-made Halo costume that I modified and fiber glassed, but it's not the same as doing this from scratch.

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

Reserved for whatever because people do that sometimes.

 

[TheRabbit]

Start doing push ups and curls!

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

Start doing push ups and curls!

I have a full routine planned out to trim down and bulk up. However, it will be hard to find time to bulk up, work, go to school, and work on the costume. We will see though haha.

Right now I am reviewing all of my project pictures of Marcus. It does not help that these characters are not to human proportions. I fear that the chest plate might have too much depth at the arm cutouts, which would make my arms looks VERY small.

 

[TheRabbit]

That seems to be the problem with GoW builds. The people wearing the gear end up looking disproportionately scrawny.

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

I'm pouring over reference pictures I found from google, specifically the backpack of Marcus Fenix. If my info is correct, the maximum width of Kyre's pep file is centered at the back plate right at the shoulders on Marcus's armor. I plan to tape the tabs on the pep files together to check accuracy, and then disassemble it and make everything out of foam, unless the pep went over flawlessly. So I need to scale this first and, as a bit of a perfectionist, I want this to be as exact as I can get it.

As you can see, the width of the backpack does not go beyond his broad shoulders...but where does it stop? It almost seems like it stops at where his should blades would be... or arm pits, but it's hard to tell. Where should I measure myself to make this as exact as possible and do you guys think I should add an inch too it? I DONT want those flap things to go beyond my own shoulders if at all possible.

Here are my dimensions overlayed on Marcus. This helps me get an idea as to how I can visualize his armor width.

Another quick photoshop job and I overlayed his armor from another pic and tried to match the size as close as I could, this definitely helps me get an even better idea! My guess is the glowing armor part should be 2.5 to 3 inches wide.

On a side note, I had a stroke of genius... or perhaps a stroke of dangerous. When measuring myself, I realized a soft ruler picks up my curves, and thus could add distance. Pep files I assume are absolute distances with no interruptions, so from one point to another in a straight line. I discovered how I can do this! I can take the clamp and VERY CAREFULLY get a measurement, remove the clamp and then measure between it's jaws. It's a large clamp so the bar doesn't hit my neck but allows the jaws to get on it lightly. I was also able to measure my armpit distance without my chest getting in the way. This is great for measureing almost all parts of the body where a standard or soft ruler just can't get accurate results. I won't be making a mannequin of myself for this build, so this is all I could think up. It's essentially very large measuring calipers.

As they say, measure twice, cut once!

 

[reedac56]

Looking good so far, looking forward to how it comes out. always good to measure twice and cut once as my dad would say.

 

[Deveralia]

I'm quite impressed with the thought you are putting into getting everything sized right, good luck with getting it done! I've thought about trying to put together an Valera build, but I've got to get my Halo armor done first. I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure!

 

[DocDailey]

The people who do Spartan armour builds aren't 7'2 and 250lbs of muscle...Make it fit you and it'll look just fine. As far as hitting th gym and eating right, do it anyways! If it helps you with your armour/is your motovation, then whatever works bud.

There is a measuring tool in Pep that allows you to measure corner to corner. It REALLY is very helpful. There is no way to get the size dead on balls accurate the 1st try. You can get damn close, but a little sizing up and down is par for the course. Get it dialed in and just make a really down and dirty pep build for sizeing purposes. You don't need to pep the whole thing, just the flat parts of the armour, neck area and 1 arm hole.

In my thread I made 3 chest pieces. Too big, bit too small, then perfect. Hopefully you don't have to do the same thing. Of coarse you can always luck out and do it right the first time

ps: The calipers are a great idea! Totally gonna steal that idea for later

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

UPDATE: I am currently on a one week vacation to just relax and get away from my busy life. I only have a few days left but I printed all of my parts and plan to start cutting some of them out. DocDailey had a great idea of doing a "dirty" pep build to check the sizing. I just might give it a try but I hope all of my measuring will prove that I don't need it.

45 pages later I have some parts. Printing this has made me realize how horrible this will be, I wish I had that machine that cuts these out, but whatever, I can handle it. There are a few microscopic parts that seem pointless, so perhaps that can be fixed for you guys in the future by unfolding it again before it's released to the public. I did find the Marcus Fenix statue and I measured it but I can't find the measurements, I think the car wash threw them away.

I'm quite impressed with the thought you are putting into getting everything sized right, good luck with getting it done! I've thought about trying to put together an Valera build, but I've got to get my Halo armor done first. I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure!

Definitely finish your Halo build first and then try a Valeria suit. I am trying to convince all of my female friends to tackle a Valeria costume but none of them are willing to put in the time and work it requires, I don't blame them.

The people who do Spartan armour builds aren't 7'2 and 250lbs of muscle...Make it fit you and it'll look just fine. As far as hitting th gym and eating right, do it anyways! If it helps you with your armour/is your motovation, then whatever works bud.

There is a measuring tool in Pep that allows you to measure corner to corner. It REALLY is very helpful. There is no way to get the size dead on balls accurate the 1st try. You can get damn close, but a little sizing up and down is par for the course. Get it dialed in and just make a really down and dirty pep build for sizeing purposes. You don't need to pep the whole thing, just the flat parts of the armour, neck area and 1 arm hole.

In my thread I made 3 chest pieces. Too big, bit too small, then perfect. Hopefully you don't have to do the same thing. Of coarse you can always luck out and do it right the first time

ps: The calipers are a great idea! Totally gonna steal that idea for later

I don't know much about Pepakura yet but I should have investigated more before printing out my parts. I also should have grouped my parts so each area was on the same page(s). But what's done is done. I was hitting the gym all last summer 2 hours a day, alas circumstances have put a stop to it but I am going to start up again.

Spartans are insanely tall, but at least somewhat proportionate. Marcus Fenix has tree trunk arms and legs that are relatively the same size, not to mention the insanely large boots. The biggest issue I see with Gears builds is that people have normal sized boots which throws everything off. The Baird build nailed it, hopefully I can size the boots to be proportionate but not overly large, they just need to be as wide as my own thighs and it should work.

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

I hear about double posting once in a while, sorry if this applies. I worked on cutting and gluing some parts together almost all day. Definitely takes time and my back hurts from huddling over the cutting board. One part I glued slightly off and I am worried it might ruin everything, we will find out. If it does, it was a nice test run.

I have never pepped anything before so I don't know how to deal with mistakes. For the most part, it's coming along well I think. It looks odd now, but the more I look at it, the more it might actually be sized nicely to my body. I have to remember that I am not 6'2" and the width of a tree trunk. Sizing is everything and even if it looks off at first, maybe the final product will be perfect. Hopefully my measuring paid off.

I am not super buff or anything but my body was built to lift weights and carry muscles, so maybe tons of working out can make me a decent Marcus. In the mean time, does this look like it might be a bit tight? I wont know till the back plate is done, that could be a few weeks it has tons of small parts.

The thing on the top right is the shoulder pad. It's a pain to work because it has lots of small parts to make a "slightly" raises lip for the lighting.

Side shot, you can see it's a bit odd looking but I have faith. Lots of sanding of the final product should get me what I desire.

This is what the back looks like for those curious how pep files come together and become glued. Definitely looks interesting, but the flats sticking up a tad should help resin stick to the paper, in comparison to it being completely smooth. But what do I know.

I am not sure how I will add the very small details once this is done. If this chest works, and I decide to fiberglass it, would I dremel in the details like foam?

 

[XMAN]

Bondo after fiber glass, then sand in the details after smoothing

 

[Kyre]

Also, use thin layers of Bondo. You don't want three inches of the stuff to have to sand through if you don't need to, trust me.

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

Alright, back from vacation. My pep work almost did not survive the plane flight. Carrying it around in the airports weakened it significantly. Oh well. I spent a good 10 hours working on it today. My glue gun here at home is A LOT hotter than the one I used while on vacation and it seems to dry a bit faster as well. This makes for burnt fingers and parts that are not perfectly aligned. Hopefully when I resin and sand everything it wont matter.

I made a rather important realization. This entire time I was gluing parts on to form one big pep part, as this is the objective. It gets hard to glue on parts the larger it gets. I started gluing a few parts together at a time and then gluing it to the main part. This made manipulating small parts a lot easier.

Now for some pics.

The back part sucked around that fin looking thing because of all the curves. Worth the effort though it looks great. I will construct more of the back till the half way point to make sure it fits me right.

I think it actually fits pretty good. I have a built chest so it works out nicely. If I was super skinny, my chest would not fill the chest of the armor and then I would need a lot of padding to compensate. I don't know if this would be too snug or not, so we will have to see.

This is to show the side of the armor under the armpit. These would be the straps according to the model. I might find a way to make them clip and unclip. A step at a time though.

I am starting to realize that to finish this pep alone could take a full 3 or 4 days in terms of work. The backpack build on this looks like it will be hell, not to mention the other shoulder pad. Oh well, I have a ton of patience and will get through this. I can be thankful it's not a full suit like the Halo builds.

I am growing a goatee out so I don't have to get a fake one. Hopefully a reverse bandanna will make me look close enough to him. Anyway, I might post higher quality pics later, it's always a pain to setup the tripod and try to get some shots.

 

[DocDailey]

Looks like you got the sizing right! Nicely done. I use 5sec super glue for all my pep pieces. But the fumes can be bad for you so I wear a respirator. Yes.....for the whole build. But the pep product is dead on balls acurate.

Is there not a HD pep file for this chest? I've seen alot fo foam builds and I kinda expected more out of the pep design portion......Not your fault, but there had to be a better file before you go doing any more work.

Also, I changed over to foam after a dozen or so pep pieces and can't express how much easier it is. I still do pep to figure out sizing and if the piece will fit, but then I edit the pep file and print out patterns for the foam. That part is not that bad in comparison to resin, bondo, and sanding.

 

[Kyre]

Doc, this file is straight from the third Gears of War game, ripped by BigJohn and unfolded by myself. Unless someone went through and edited the rip or built a whole new model from scratch, this is as HD as it gets...


Duff, the piece is looking great. Sorry to hear about the shoulder blade pad, but think of it this way- at least it isn't fully enclosed! Haha keep up the good work mate!

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

I have a few sheets of foam but I have not worked with it. I wouldn't know where to start to make the pep file foam worthy. I was definitely thinking of going foam. My biggest issue is that I want insane detail, so any route that gets me there is where I need to go.
I want my build to be as great as this one and hopefully proportioned right to me so it looks right in general to the actual Marcus. I will wear puffy pants to make my legs and boots all look one size haha.

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

I decided to shun civilization for today and try and get done the other side of the breast plate. I think I did a pretty good job in the time I had. My parent's think I am absolutely crazy for doing this project given how much work and school I have, especially with my Calculus class. Math is my worst subject unfortunately.

The right half of the torso I did today. It is now much easier to determine fit and get an idea as to how it looks. The very center of the torso by the neck you can see I have not filled that part in... BECAUSE it's like a battlefield of small impossible parts. I am tempted to crumple up paper and just glue it in there because that's how it will turn out anyway. Darn small parts should be illegal.

When I was holding it on my torso trying to line it up right, I was super confused by how far the armor stuck out from my chest. I referenced some pics of Marcus and realized it was suppose to stick out quite far. It has a V pattern for the collar part that leaves a ton of room between me and the armor. Hopefully padding will fill that in. My own shoulders are suppose to rest more on the back of the armors arm sockets it seems.

You can see the shoulder strap is not touching me much, I think padding is suppose to correct that as well according to pictures. It will be interesting to see how this goes, padding padding padding!

I really won't get an idea for fitment until it is complete. I had a brain blast moment and realized that if I completed the armor, I would not be able to actually get in it. So, I might need to cut it in half and strap it. I am might be having fitment issues at the very bottom of the torso, my own stomach may be too big for it, hard to tell right now but it concerns me, everything else seems just fine.

In another stroke of genius I added some super long match sticks to the inside of the armor for support, it was sagging under it's own weight heavily. The good thing about these long match sticks is that if I get angry enough at all the small parts I can just light the entire thing on fire easily.

Now that school has started I am having serious doubts that I will finish this and the belt, boots, and pants in time for Halloween. Oy, I really only have Saturdays to work on it, all other days are school and work and homework in the evening. Hopefully I wont give up. I might have to foam all the other parts.

 

[Mrs BlueV]

So Tight..lol.

 

[DuffmasterFresh]

Thank you! It is definitely a ton of work and I have serious doubt. But, it is a learning experience and my first pep so it's just how it has to be.