Grenadier Spartan III

[tahu505]

A lot got done today. Starting with the boots. I got slip on Aisics and put shoe goo on them, pressing them against the back of the back foam piece. This is when I noticed shoe goo's cure time is 24-72hrs. So instead I used high temp hot glue to get things in place. I also added scraps of foam to the sides for support.


I then added these tabs (also made of scrap) a bit higher up on the boots as an anchor point to attach the front. I started high because these would be hard to reach spots with the front on.

With the front of the boots on, I added more scrap tabs near the bottom.

Then I wedged a large scrap piece of foam in the front (covered in hot glue).

After that came the boot cover plates.

Then to finish it off, I reinforced everything with shoe goo and let them hang by the little tags at the back of the actual shoes. I didn't want them sitting on the table incase they got shoe gooed to the table.

On to weathering...

I finished up the black acrylic today, which will easily be the longest part of my weathering process. I feel like I've kept uo well with the explosion from behind theme and I think it all looks good together so far.

Selfie time

 

[RandomRanger]

Looking real good! Keep it up!

 

[tahu505]

Did a wash of brown yesterday and today then rub n buff today. I still need to do all the weathering on the boots but after all of this, that'll be easy.

 

[NewBrody]

Aw man this is coming along nicely. Great work! Loving the weathering!

 

[N8TEBB]

It's really coming along!

 

[tahu505]

I got sick right after the last post and that had me out for a couple days. It was lingering a bit today but that's not stopping me. I got back to work and did all the weathering for the boots.

 

[tahu505]

Got started on the strapping today with a ton of help from my dad! I can not sew but he can. We were basing the strapping off of this guide on the forums Soft Parts - Strapping Guide: Making, and sizing it. and we got the belt/chedt harness done and both shoulders for the biceps, we only got a pic of one of the shoulders though.

 

[tahu505]

Finished the strapping today! Thank you to my dad again for sewing! Started with the thighs, I used jb weld steel stick to attach buckles with parachute clips sewn to them.

The other end of the parachute clips were sewn to the harness.

Then elastic was sewn to this foam (I forgot what type it is, but it's normally used for the same thing but for prosthetic limbs). This foam was hot glued to the front and back of the bottom of the thighs and front and back of the top of the shins. For the knees I did the same method on the thighs of using jb weld to add buckles but this time to add velcro straps (the straps are also normally used for prosthetic limbs and orthotics). Also sorry I forgot to take pics while doing these and I'm too tired to go back but I'll do it later if requested. You can see how it all comes together from this side angle.

For the belt I wasn't too sure what to do since it was in 8 sections, so I just went for this and it seemed to work. I took one long strap of elastic and hot glued it to the back of each piece, making one stretchy loop.

Then I stepped through the belt.

Pulled the belt up and added velcro point on the inside of the belt and on my harness.

That worked well

Went back and reinforced the belt with shoe goo.

Then I ended the day with printing out a design made in Microsoft Word for the tacpad with a QR code that links to all my social media for others to scan at conventions.

 

[tahu505]

I forgot to make this post last night but I did the padding for the biceps and forearms. Here's a video of me testing out the mobility and stability!

 

[tahu505]

I started this build thread in May 2020, today I've finished my armor!

There's more stuff I'm eventually going to add, but it is now a complete suit and I'm going to take a break for now

 

[DeltaAlphaZulu]

I started this build thread in May 2020, today I've finished my armor!
View attachment 328000View attachment 328001View attachment 328002View attachment 328003

There's more stuff I'm eventually going to add, but it is now a complete suit and I'm going to take a break for now

Your suit looks awesome! You did a fantastic job! I may steal a few of those mounting techniques you used too!

 

[tahu505]

Your suit looks awesome! You did a fantastic job! I may steal a few of those mounting techniques you used too!

Go for it! I tried making this thread as detailed as I could (at least when I wasn't tired) so that others can see a lot of the steps and get resources!

 

[N8TEBB]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

[tahu505]

Here's some pics from lvl up expo yesterday!

There are ONI agents outside my house

had to play some Tetris

 

[tahu505]

More pics, as I'm getting them from friends.

Had to do the RandomRanger pose. My friend got some funny looks taking this pic.

He's literally me

I was able to sit down at the Steve Downes panel.

Getting interviewed for a Steve Downes documentary.

Meme bonus pic

 

[RandomRanger]

Hahaha love it. Looks great!

 

[N8TEBB]

You got to meet STEVE DOWNES!!!!

 

[tahu505]

Me saying I was going to take a break to work on other stuff less than 2 weeks ago, also me getting an undersuit from Rock Lobbster which was originally from ODCA without actually working on anything else yet. (It's been cold outside and I've been playing Halo Infinite, Cyberpunk 2077, and Destiny 2)

 

[Hein B287]

Great looking undersuit. was that made by ODCA?

 

[tahu505]

Great looking undersuit. was that made by ODCA?

Yes! That's one or ODCAs suits