Half Life 2 ~ Gordon Freeman Armor

[Risu]

Does the rustoleum work well with krylon primer? It took me a long time to find a primer I like, this stuff goes on super smooth. I've heard sometimes different brands tend to wrinkle when used together though. How about for the metal parts?



Also, I've heard people talk about filler primer, but I've never seen it. I've probably put somewhere around 20 thin coats of glazing putty on my right bicep now and i just can't get it perfectly smooth. I think the filler primer might be the solution. Can anybody recommend a good brand/where to get it?

 

[auraseer]

For those of you who are working on this already, how did you glass the small details?



For instance, on the lower leg piece, the front side has a set of little protrusions that would be very fiddly to get the glass cloth into. Is there a trick to supporting the small details without fiberglass, or do you just cut tiny strips and work carefully?



Also, when that same shin piece is fully assembled, the openings will be too small for my hand to fit inside. I'm thinking I will complete the pep, resin the outside, then cut it in half and do the inside in sections. Then I'll mount magnets in the fiberglass to hold the two pieces together. Is that the right approach or am I missing a better way?



Thanks!

 

[contec]

well I don't actually know if it will work, but I was thinking if i sprayed the paint heavily into a container, I would get surplus paint that could be mixed in to get right shade then could be applied with a brush?



Any feedback from anyone who has tried that would be appreciated.

Here is something i found on the net.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/archive/index.php/t-166622.html

 

[shell bullet 5]

Wow, that is gunna look awesome when it's finished. Can't wait to see the finished product!

 

[Risu]

If you're gonna paint it with a brush, just buy normal paint, you'll get MUCH better selection of colors.



You glass the whole inside of the shin, then bondo the outside, then cut it open and put in the magnets. If you cut it open before the piece is completely finished but unpainted it'll warp and you'll throw it away.



I filled in the front shin details with bondo, but I recommend you use rondo, as it will be considerably harder.

 

[Loess]

Does the rustoleum work well with krylon primer? It took me a long time to find a primer I like, this stuff goes on super smooth. I've heard sometimes different brands tend to wrinkle when used together though. How about for the metal parts?



Also, I've heard people talk about filler primer, but I've never seen it. I've probably put somewhere around 20 thin coats of glazing putty on my right bicep now and i just can't get it perfectly smooth. I think the filler primer might be the solution. Can anybody recommend a good brand/where to get it?

I don't know about Rustoleum over Krylon primer, but going the other way caused some problems for me when I was painting a SCAdian helm. The filler primer I use is from the auto section of walmart, it's plain gray. I believe it's dupli-color, but don't hold me to that. (it's too late and rainy to go out to the garage tonight, I'll check in the morning)



*EDIT*

The filler primer is Dupli-Color.

 

[Datahar]

For those of you who are working on this already, how did you glass the small details?



For instance, on the lower leg piece, the front side has a set of little protrusions that would be very fiddly to get the glass cloth into. Is there a trick to supporting the small details without fiberglass, or do you just cut tiny strips and work carefully?



Also, when that same shin piece is fully assembled, the openings will be too small for my hand to fit inside. I'm thinking I will complete the pep, resin the outside, then cut it in half and do the inside in sections. Then I'll mount magnets in the fiberglass to hold the two pieces together. Is that the right approach or am I missing a better way?



Thanks!

My fibrefill process is definitely recommended. I agree about finishing the piece before cutting it open, get it resined glassed filled smooth, then open it hinge and magnetise it, that way itll stay true to shape and the halves should stay flush.

 

[Risu]

As my shins were only my fourth attempt, I wasn't surprised to find out they were too small, so I threw them away and started over. Again. The new left shin I just pepped looks considerably better. If anything, it's too big, but I won't mind if it is. I'm gonna mudglass it and sand the living crap out of it with a mouse sander until it's smooth and that'll take a bit of the size off. I'm going to throw away my oversized biceps too, as soon as the dump truck comes around and empties the giant bucket of fail that is my trash bin. I'm seeing a pattern. I've accepted that the odds of getting this done by Halloween are slim, and if I can't finish it by then I've got backups. The important thing is Comic-con. Right now I'm just really looking forward to getting enough done to take some pics and show you guys.



Any advice for cutting those camp pads at an angle/molding them? The crotch region of the vest seems to curve inward a bit at the bottom and I can either form it to do that or glue several layers together and cut. Which do you all recommend?



EDIT: Also, my 'boots' came in the mail yesterday, they look pretty darn good, even though they're black. Once I finish everything I'll decide if I need to do anything to them and/or if I need to dye my undersuit darker.

 

[Datahar]

First piece finished!

I left loads of highs in when sanding, then after a chrome undercoat and black finish

went along and sanded around the edges of some of the highs to get some 3d battle damage

now I just need to decide how im going to be attaching it to the under suit

[attachment=12062:13092009177.jpg]

 

[Risu]

Congrats on your first piece! I'm trying to get all of mine really smooth, so I haven't gotten that far yet.



Suggestion for attaching the biceps and thighs to the undersuit: four magnets. One on the inside of the arm/leg, one on the outside (both on the inside wall of the piece, not sure exactly how to word that) and then two sewn into pouches on the corresponding places on the undersuit. The trick is keeping the pieces light so they don't weigh the suit down too much. Your other options would be little slits cut in the undersuit inside the pieces with a strapping system underneath the suit, but that starts to get really complicated.

 

[Datahar]

I like the sound of the straps better I think I'd be forever worrying about magnets, I know rare earth are stupidly strong but...

I'm planning on making the other pieces properly smooth with minimul damage. but I thought seeing as the uppers are very non descript I'd give them some depth

 

[Risu]

OK, so I think I've found a revolutionary new way of pepping. It may be common practice, I'm still pretty new to this, but I was making a really small bicep piece to just get an estimate of what would make a good size and didn't want to put a whole lot of effort into making it perfect, so I didn't score or fold any of the parts that would end up being bondoed smoother. the funny thing is, it took less time AND looks a whole lot better. And the best part of all, the outside of the pieces will need almost NO bondo at all to smooth it. So I made one in the perfect size, here it is:

Since I'm going to be mudglassing from now on, the lack of bondo on the outside shouldn't matter one bit. Couple that with the mouse sander I just got my hands on and this suit is practically as good as done. My undersuit will be finished probably the day after tomorrow and then as soon as I get the first couple camp pad pieces cut out I'll post a pic of what I've got so far.

 

[Datahar]

Its's not common practice but it is a popular alternative, you can turn down the fold threshold in pep to get a smoother piece, the only draw back is it make a weaker piece for big things. I'd actually forgotten about this may try it on the new pieces I just printed out, right leg lower and upper, smoothing right arm lower at the moment, then when I have a full limb I can start making my undersuit.

 

[Risu]

I don't see why it would make the pieces weaker, triangulation kind of goes out the window once you cake on a quarter inch of rondo. Since the bicep piece is basically a tube with an elbow it worked out really great, I don't know how well it would work on the lower leg though what with the curve of the calf. The upper leg piece could definitely benefit from it though. I still have a few more of those to make before I get the size right, so I'll get plenty of practice.

 

[Drahkir]

I'm so doing this for my first Armor I love Half-Life and Half-Life 2. I'm still having trouble with scaling I saved all of the files and I know they are for Null's size but I'm trying to size up the belt, because of the padding. Any suggestions? I've used the stickys and found some other info on scaling here.. still a little off some how?



~Drahkir

 

[Risu]

I've been putting off the belt. That and the thighs are giving me so much trouble they make me just want to scrap the whole project. I like your sig though, do you have a template for it so I can make my own?



As for my armor, I pepped the other bicep and another forearm, resined them, and then started mudglassing the forearm. It looked great, but then it warped. I've got a pretty darn good combo so far, I wonder if I'll have one finished piece by the time I hit the two month mark. The one positive thing about having already made pretty much the whole thing unsuccessfully 3 times is that nothing seems that difficult anymore. I found pepping shortcuts, mixing and painting resin is basically effortless, same with mixing bondo, and now mudglassing is even fairly simple.

 

[extrabread]

cool suit, keep working on it. I'd want to see the paint job later.

 

[Drahkir]

I've been putting off the belt. That and the thighs are giving me so much trouble they make me just want to scrap the whole project. I like your sig though, do you have a template for it so I can make my own?



As for my armor, I pepped the other bicep and another forearm, resined them, and then started mudglassing the forearm. It looked great, but then it warped. I've got a pretty darn good combo so far, I wonder if I'll have one finished piece by the time I hit the two month mark. The one positive thing about having already made pretty much the whole thing unsuccessfully 3 times is that nothing seems that difficult anymore. I found pepping shortcuts, mixing and painting resin is basically effortless, same with mixing bondo, and now mudglassing is even fairly simple.

Yeah Risu, I've been watching this post before I signed up! I really need to add all of you as friends on here (still learning this forum!) Glad you like my little Photoshop I through together (used to do Graphic Design.) I'll send you the Template. Do you have Adobe Photoshop CS2 or higher? I can send you the .psd file... I found the other site for the Halo armor sig ("http://www.heavenofanime.org/maker/") but the links are not working??? I don't know why, but it wouldn't load yesterday? Now the page loads, but I can't use the template.?. Oh well for now. I haven't done colors on my template yet, hence my about to start... :lol



It looks like you are having a lot of learning experiences with this.. I really wanted to try and finish it before Halloween, but with what I've read of everyone's endeavors I'm not too sure? Please keep me posted of your progress, I've also been watching Null's page too! Hope to see everyone running around with crowbars soon! LOL

 

[Drahkir]

Thanks. I was kinda debating on changing the back of him to how it was in the beta. You know, when he had a playermodel. /tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> " border="0" alt="tongue.gif" />

[*Edit* Sorry for the double post, but I really would like to find out some info on this, so this is with content!]



I have to ask I never played the beta, so I didn't know he had a model at all??? I love that back piece. Do you have any other screen shots of this, or does anyone know how I can find more pics of this... I'm thinking of in the future possible doing this model! I love the back it's so detailed I prob do just resin molds etc...



~Drahkir

 

[Risu]

I don't know of any other shots of it, I never played the beta either. I actually got into HL2 late, despite having played HL1 when it came out. I started work on this the last week of July and thought I wouldn't have any problem finishing in time for Halloween, but now I think there's a chance I'll get really close, but not quite make it. I do have photoshop CS2, and I don't know how to add as friends either, I started posting and never really looked into the other functions of the forum. Somebody sent me a PM and I was confused when it said they started a conversation with me or something along those lines.