Getting Started...i suppose

[Legacy RL]

Sup!
i was looking to Buy a Halo Suit and came across some nice ones but there just missing some of the little things , so i have decided to build my own
reading something i have found all ready it seems that it will take quite awhile ,
i am prepared to put as long as needed into a suit and as much money as it takes to make it perfect,

a few things i will need to know

How much will it cost ?? 500-1000$? 1000-$5000?
i want to make a good quality but it would be sweet to keep the price low as well

How long for a first timer?? 1-2 years? or 5 years? i donno :<

any tips would be sweet ill continue looking around for more ideas and how to start like blue prints so start with

one thing i do want with my suit is that its heavy or maybe that's not the word but.. sturdy also will be making a stand for it after words so i can set it up in a pose
at some stage (im might be getting ahead of myself here ) but i will be making a gun as well not sure which one might be to BR any1 any ideas for that or tips??

anyway i hope im posting this in the right section
any tips will be much appreciated looking at some of your suits you have had alot of practice lol

 

[hellome]

Price varies based on how your going to make it. You can take the cheapest using foam mats (I prefer that method) Or you can take the resin, bondo, fiberglass, sanding method (not in that order). So if you take the foam mats method around 40-75$. if your going with the hardsuit method then that really varies. Maybe over 100?

 

[Legacy RL]

Sweet thats quite cheap

ill go for the hard suit any idea where i can get the best hard suit blueprints ?

 

[CoolC]

Sweet thats quite cheap

ill go for the hard suit any idea where i can get the best hard suit blueprints ?

First of all, welcome to 405th.

Second, you should not start a thread without photos. This is clearly disallowed. See link for other offenses. If you have any questions that cannot be answered through the stickies (very unlikely), you should ask them through the appropriate stickies. DO NOT start a thread just to ask a question.

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/11045-Forum-Infractions-Warnings-and-Offenses

Third, start with this link to know what you need to start making armor.
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/30542-NOOB-reading-list

Fourth, don't mean to burst your bubble. This hobby is not cheap. My experience with armor making cost $300 just supplies alone. It can easily reach $500 depends on how elaborate you want. We don't call them blueprints. They are pepakura files that can be found throughout the forum. Do not ask for the files until you search for them.

Finally, You need to do a lot of reading. Go to the noob forum and read the stickies to start.

 

[Hyokenseisou]

How long for a first timer?? 1-2 years? or 5 years? i donno :<

How much will it cost ?? 500-1000$? 1000-$5000?
i want to make a good quality but it would be sweet to keep the price low as well

Just to give you an idea: I started my suit back in feb-ish this year, stopped working on it for about 2 months, then started work on it hard core just last month; and the plan in it get it done for end of aug for PAX. I'm quite confident I can do it.

THEN AGAIN....
I am NOT new to the costume making world, but am new to THIS method (pepakura) of costume making. So I with my background, I'm able to get things done quite quickly and well.

As far as price goes, it varies. General rule of thumb is the more better/stronger/durable you want your suit to be, you have to be willing to spend more on the materials. You know that saying "You pay for what you get"? Yeah, same principle.
I'm currently building TWO suits for PAX (cause my bf is lazy... The stress is killing me. One suit is fine to more or less make in a month, but two???) and materials/supplies spend so far is roughly 200 ish (mostly in resin. I've used almost 12L of resin on the suits so far), and I'm about 50% of the way done.
But then again, our suits, you'll be able to kick us and probably break your foot. It'll be water proof so I COULD go swimming (but I'll settle for a photoshoot in the rain). And we'll have pretty decent mobility and flexibility (hopefully on this part, you never know).

So yeah.... Does that give you an idea of what to some what expect?

 

[Jake D]

you should not start a thread without photos. This is clearly disallowed. See link for other offenses. DO NOT start a thread just to ask a question.

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/11045-Forum-Infractions-Warnings-and-Offenses

Finally, You need to do a lot of reading. Go to the noob forum and read the stickies to start.

I read through the infractions/warning link, and I don't see anything prohibiting the creation of a thread on his part, it's not a WIP thread so he doesn't have to have a photo. And for the record, I call them Blueprints too =p


$500-$1000 is a really good estimate, especially if you need to buy all your gear (Respirators, Dremels, etc). If you work on it religiously, and you have a desire to make it quick, I bet you could do it in less than a year without too many obligations to the outside world.

Try downloading http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/26285-All-in-One-Halo-Pepakura-Pack?highlight=Files It's a huge pack of just about every file you'll need to start, and if you need something that isn't in there, search the forums because you'll come up with stuff it missed. You'll need Pepakura Designer to view the .pdo files (its the format they all come in) and with Pepakura Designer you can adjust the scale, and change other aspects of the model (with the free version you can't save what your scalings are, be sure to write them down)

The stickies are a good thing to read, with 100 pages per topic it looks daunting, but you'll learn a lot of valuable info by doing it. Also, look at some people's WIP builds, you can learn a lot just from seeing how they do it, and if you can, read http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...MJOLNIR-Armor-WIP/page53?highlight=Longshot-X I learned a lot from his build, he documents it all very well from start to finish and it can give you a good idea of how to do it.

One tip I don't see often in is for the pieces you make, get the lowdef tester models to help dial in your scaling. http://halocostuming.wikia.com/wiki/Pepakura_File_Index has a bunch of them. Its much much MUCH faster, and less aggravating to spend only an hour building a tester model that you find it way too small/big than to spend 6 hours on a high def one. You also have the added bonus of using one of the tester models as a "First pancake" to try various techniques and methods. I did that on a shin I built that was too big and it proved to be a great lesson in how not to apply bondo.


I hope this helps,
~Jake

 

[Legacy RL]

every bit of info i get helps
ill be putting up photos on how im getting on as soon as i make some real progress so soon this will have pics
i did not know about the posting rules and am sorry if i have posted wrong

i have set a budget of $5000 to spend on this looking at the responses ill have enough in that to make a pretty good suit
i dont want the suit fast as i want to do it right i have a good 5 years to make this so time is all good aswell
ty for the tips ill keep looking through all the stickys for more info