Gears of War Carmine HD build, first Pep, Complete! (pic heavy)

[Starkiller4299]

Hi all!

Like many here, I always thought that this would be something 'cool' to do, and at my ripe old age of 25 I finally found some small scraps of time to do it .

So, without further ado, here's some shiny pics of where I'm at!

Front:

Side:

Back:

Interior has been fiberglassed matted and rondo'd--both just for the S&G's. Tomorrow I dig into Bondo'ing the exterior. Fingers crosses, I'll get it sanded, and if I'm REALLY on my game, I'll get it primered. *Fingers crossed*

Thanks again for all the efforts of those who made the files!

//ps, do use a respirator if you Bondo. Probably woulda killed me by now, otherwise...and my roommates (who were inside) were still complaining of the smell :/

 

[Starkiller4299]

Started Bondoing the outside...So sad to see all the little details get covered...and know I'm going to need to dig them out with a file/sandpaper later :/.

 

[Starkiller4299]

Woof, managed to get all the areas Bondo's, at least a first coat. And a lot of the areas sanded down. But sanding alone took over 4 hours, and I'm still a few more from being done. With my deadline of Friday, not too sure I have the time to do another....siiiigh. I might need to get creative with some damage detail...

But in good news, it's actually starting to look like armor now!

 

[John Awesome]

Is that your first build? 'cause it doesn't look like that at all! That's one good GoW armor. Which Carmine are you planning on building?

 

[Starkiller4299]

Hahaha thanks! Yeah, it's my first pep, and I haven't really dabbled in foam much .

This is this the Clayton Carmine armor from the thread: http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/32083-A1TD-Gears-Of-War-3.-Re-opened.?p=615851#post615851. Sadly, due to time constraints, it looks like I won't be able to get a full armor set with hemlet, gauntlets, and greaves/boots. But the cool thing about Clayton is that you can kinda fake it till ya make it . But the torso really is key, imho.

Here's a couple shots of sanding, in progress:

Front:

Side/Back:

I still have several hours of sanding ahead of me, and I think I still need another coat of Bondo in some places (never mind Bondo putty...), but it's finally starting to shape up. Only sheer willpower is keeping me from going out and shooting spray paint onto this bad boy now!

 

[Starkiller4299]

Question to the masses:

how big a defect is the Bondo putty really good for? Autozone has REALLY big tubes of the stuff, reasonably priced, and by all accounts it's easier to sand down than Bondo itself. So how big of a 'spot repair' could I reasonably go with this stuff?

Or should I just suck it up and put down another layer of Bondo? Probably, the right answer, but I'm itch'n for some results!

 

[Starkiller4299]

OK, so I took a jump and just puttied the whole damn thing . Probably not the 'right' thing to do (the putty is not as sturdy as the Bondo itself) but BOY is it easier to sand!

Front, fully puttied:

Back, fully puttied:

Front, sanded:

Back, sanded:

The regular bondo almost required power tools to shape, once hard. Thank goodness I had a orbital sander! I picked up a Dremel, and it was pretty good for smaller, spot sanding as well. I would recommend having both available, if possible.

The putty, however, was really easy to sand. A sanding sponge, which did a boatload of nothing to the Bondo, was perfect for the putty. Power tools were actually overkill for this stuff...if you do decide to power up for this stuff, make sure you're at 220 or higher grit, or you'll gouge the work.

Tomorrow I vacuum and paint! Hopefully I can get this bad boy cut in half, LED'd, and strapped up before the party--errrr, deadline, on Friday . I'd love any advice on cutting it in half--I'm honestly scared snotless by the idea.

 

[Starkiller4299]

Finally, some paint!

Primered Front:

Primered Back (the camera color adjusted to grey, apparently)

Metal base coat, front:

Metal base coat, back:

I'll be putting on some paint highlights--brighter metal rings around the chest 'seals', armor damage, dirt, a BIG ol' Omen stencil, etc. I'll also be using some rivets to give the piece some 'pop' detail.

Again, I'd REALLY appreciate some advice on cutting this in half so I can fit inside...

 

[Kangabox]

Hmmm. For my War Machine build, I'm having a similar dillema with the chest piece as well.

For now it's a foam core, but I'm planning on coating most of the piece with polyurethane resin + FB cloth on the inside.

That being said, here's a pic of what I plan on doing, the pieces in Red are the ones I plan on leaving foam, the Orange line signifies where I want to cut it. The front and back pieces will be held together by buckles, straps, and 1 rare earth magnet on each side.

And here's the top view, again, the piece in Red is the piece I plan on leaving foam, and 2 buckles will attach it in place.

That's just some ideas thrown out there.

Either way, I would recommend the cutting points to be near the bottom as opposed to near the top, so the seams can be hidden..

If you can find any visible seams on the COG armor from in-game shots tho, use that to your advantage.

 

[Starkiller4299]

Thanks for the reply, Kanga . The unfortunate with this particular pep model is that it doesn't readily separate out into a 'front' or 'back portion, so you really need to build it as one piece. And since there's no good spot for a seam on top, I'd like to keep any cutting to the bottom part, like you recommend. But will the resined, glassed, Rondo'd, and Bondo'd armor be flexible enough to really let me get in? Hmmmmmm....

 

[Kangabox]

That doesn't sound too flexible, unfortunately :S

I'm seeing 2 attachment points;

1) A futuristic-looking attachment system on the shoulders

2) A seam on the side of the stomach.

 

[Redshirt]

Starkiller4299,
I kept my Halo 3 torso 1 piece and made it work, but it only goes on and off one way. There's a slim chance this will work for you. I reach in from below with crossed arms, left hand holding up the right shoulder from the inside, right holding the left. As I lower it over my head, my elbows protrude out their respective arm holes. Finally, I pop my hands clear as I get my head through the neck opening. The crossed arms narrow my shoulder profile enough to do the job. Failing that, I second the idea of putting your seams below the arms.

Good luck.

Redshirt

 

[Starkiller4299]

@ Redshirt:

AAAAAAAARRRRRRGH, your method was >< close to working! But the narrowest part of the waist caught on my chest, and just wouldn't budge past :/. Maybe half an inch more and I woulda gotten in.

This does give me hope, though. I may be able to get away with just one joint on one side. I guess I having nothing to do but try it tomorrow :/.

 

[onmi shift]

do what i did with a shin. cut the side and sew/glue/tape(what ever to hold it on)the ends of about 4-5 inches of elastic bands on the inside. one per side. made sure its being stretched just enough to keep it closed when settled but still loose enough to be stretched so you can fit it over you. either that or you can use buckles. but in my opinion those are harder yo reach in and buckle them.

 

[Starkiller4299]

Success!...Kinda.

I'm very pleased to announce that after making a cut in both bottom sides,

and a cut in the left shoulder

I was able to jimmy into the armor piece. Win!

Unfortunately I ran out of time to do much more with it this evening, but I should be able to do some damage come morning .

 

[Starkiller4299]

Weathering completed! I used an 'aluminum' metallic spray paint and an old cheap brush--I really like how it turned out. It kinda reminds me of something I was told years ago--Mediocre artists have mistakes in their work, but do nothing about them. Good artists make mistakes, but hide them. GREAT artists embrace their mistakes. I'm not saying that I'm great, but the weathering does go a long way!

Front:

Front, with lights!

Back:

I still need to make a big 'ol Omen stencil and break out the red spray paint, as well as add some 'decorative' rivets (the ones in there presently are doing something), and maybe add a few little paint details (ie, 'Destroy all Locust'). But the torso is now 98% complete! Not bad for a first time, if I do say so myself .

Oh, and anyone know where you can buy a do rag? Impossibly hard to find for a white boy, apparently...

 

[Redshirt]

Not bad for a first time, if I do say so myself .

Oh, and anyone know where you can buy a do rag? Impossibly hard to find for a white boy, apparently...

Nice work! Did you rejoin the halves permanently with a spacer added?

Use metal thumb tacks for the decorative rivets and avoid the pop rivet look (no hole in the center). Pre drill a tiny hole, press in the tack with superglue on the pin--instant rivet effect. Don't forget to cut the pin off on the inside with a wire cutter after you are done

If you are short on time/don't trust your stencil ability, go to the Office Depot and get sticker sheets. You can print out your logos, cut them out to make peel and stick decals. Not particularly durable, but quick and crisp. Better still are water slide decal sheets, but these are usually mail order. Too close to Halloween. I will use those to do most of the markings on my Splaser.

Finally, your local motorcycle shop should be able to help you solve your do rag dilemma . . . .

Redshirt

 

[Starkiller4299]

Thanks!

I actually didn't need a spacer, as far as waist size goes. It was tight, but I did manage to fit in. I'm considering, for future endeavors, making a small 'overlap' portion that would dress it up. For instance, a big leather strap that could cover the velcro, and match the original design as seen in post 11 of this thread....But that's further down my list. I'd rather put some time into a weapon or leg armor .

I was able to find this stencil and use it. I ended up ripping out a few of the 'bridge' pieces and using masking tape to hold it in place. Ended up working pretty well, and some quick work with a cheap artist brush was able to fill in the remaining bridge sections well.

For the white lettering on Carmine suit, I used white primer, sprayed onto a paper surface. I then used a really cheap artist's brush to scoop up that paint and apply it on the armor. Although the picture doesn't show it well, it looks a LOT like the faded, worn lettering you can see in the picture in post 11. Try playing with it sometime .

Omen stenciled:

With lettering:

And with this, I feel pretty confident that the torso is complete. I may do some stuff to it down the road, but for now I'm pretty happy with it .

Thanks for the advice on the biker shop--I actually have a few to choose from in my area :roll:. Hopefully I can snag a full cosplay shot for you guys tomorrow night, and change this thread from WIP to complete!

 

[skull81]

looks good buddy!!! cant wait to see the finished product!!

P.S. GOW FTW!!! hahahahah

 

[Starkiller4299]

Aaaaaaaaaand drumroll please.........

Phase one is officially complete!