Halo 3 UNSC Marine

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Spartan Of Vale

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Just starting to get my feet wet into the realm of Halo Cosplay and wanted to try and get some ideas on how to throw together a really killer Halo 3 Marine. I know I'll have to commission the armour pieces, but as far as the actual BDUs go I'm stuck on what I can go for?

Additionally, if possible I'd like to be able to repurpose it to do a Sgt. Stacker cosplay at some point. Thoughts?
 
After sleeping on it, I had the idea to try and go with Woodland camo military fatigues (if I can find them), some black combat boots, and maybe a tan tactical shirt for the overall regular layer of clothes?

Trying to decide if I should go with tan/olive drab or just keep it like a darker green for the shirt? It's mostly going to be covered by the armor pieces, but I dont want it to look goofy.
 
To go for a really accurate Halo 3 Marine, you are going to want to need a set of Long Sleeved BDUs, on top of which is worn a Black Armor Vest/Mounting system that the abdominal plate, chest and back, and shoulders/biceps are attached to. All Halo 3 Marines are seen with Long Sleeves, however some of them do have them rolled a quarter or half way up. Since most of the Torso is covered by the Armor and Mounting system, if you could find a "Combat" shirt style top in the right color, that would also work very well.

In terms of color, you are going to want to find something in the neighborhood of British Desert DPM. In game the Halo 3 Marine BDU is a custom more two or three tone tan and extremely light green (in some lighting) very angular pattern. Standard US Woodland Camo is going to have more dark greens with more rounded, curved pieces. This image is a good example of the Halo 3 Style camo.


Now, the WETA Halo: Landfall Marines do wear faded Woodland Camo BDUs, but there are also slight differences in their armor set up than the in game Halo 3 Marine. So, if you wanted to do a really "Killer" set, you would want to pick one style and stick with it.
 
To go for a really accurate Halo 3 Marine, you are going to want to need a set of Long Sleeved BDUs, on top of which is worn a Black Armor Vest/Mounting system that the abdominal plate, chest and back, and shoulders/biceps are attached to. All Halo 3 Marines are seen with Long Sleeves, however some of them do have them rolled a quarter or half way up. Since most of the Torso is covered by the Armor and Mounting system, if you could find a "Combat" shirt style top in the right color, that would also work very well.

In terms of color, you are going to want to find something in the neighborhood of British Desert DPM. In game the Halo 3 Marine BDU is a custom more two or three tone tan and extremely light green (in some lighting) very angular pattern. Standard US Woodland Camo is going to have more dark greens with more rounded, curved pieces. This image is a good example of the Halo 3 Style camo.


Now, the WETA Halo: Landfall Marines do wear faded Woodland Camo BDUs, but there are also slight differences in their armor set up than the in game Halo 3 Marine. So, if you wanted to do a really "Killer: set, you would want to pick one style and stick with it.
Thank you so much for the advice! I'll start looking around to try and find some of the pieces! Do you have any recommendations on the armor/mounting system for the armour pieces?
 
Thank you so much for the advice! I'll start looking around to try and find some of the pieces! Do you have any recommendations on the armor/mounting system for the armour pieces?
The Chest and Back armor will connect to each other, and will naturally just rest on your shoulders, and will not really need any additional mounting. You will want to mount the abdominal armor section to the under vest system to keep it in place. This under vest system will need to take the weight of the piece without deforming. In the past some members doing Halo 3 Marines have tried to use a simple T-Shirt, but the weight of the piece, even out of simply Foam, causes it to deform and sag. The Shoulders and Biceps attach to a continuation of the black under vest system that hangs down from the shoulders, but does not necessarily wrap all the way around.

While this project was never finished and the creator hasn't logged in since 2018, this member did a high quality render of the Halo 3 Marine which shows off some of these details.

Here are some references for another Custom Model:

And the in game X Box Version:

And this is the cleanest, most well documented build of a Halo 3 Marine I have ever seen, by Andrew, Spidermonkey60
 
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The Chest and Back armor will connect to each other, and will naturally just rest on your shoulders, and will not really need any additional mounting. You will want to mount the abdominal armor section to the under vest system to keep it in place. This under vest system will need to take the weight of the piece without deforming. In the past some members doing Halo 3 Marines have tried to use a simple T-Shirt, but the weight of the piece, even out of simply Foam, causes it to deform and sag. The Shoulders and Biceps attach to a continuation of the black under vest system that hangs down from the shoulders, but does not necessarily wrap all the way around.

While this project was never finished and the creator hasn't logged in since 2018, this member did a high quality render of the Halo 3 Marine which shows off some of these details.

Here are some references for another Custom Model:

And the in game X Box Version:

And this is the cleanest, most well documented build of a Halo 3 Marine I have ever seen, by Andrew, Spidermonkey60
So I've looked at the various threads you provided and the reference images. Looks like I'll want to try and find something in the neighborhood of Woodland or Jungle DPM for the BDU and Fatigues since most of the marines I've seen in game have those particular camos on. As for the undervest, I'm guessing some type of plate carrier with velcro straps added where needed? Does that sound about right?

Apologies for all the questions, but I really appreciate the insight!
 
A lot of people do tend to go the route of Jungle or Woodland Color schemes, but to my eye the Halo 3 Marine Pattern looks much lighter and more Tan based than either of those patterns. In the Opening Level in the jungle, the ambient light and reflections off all of the foliage might give it some green hue or tint, but in the other levels, on Crow's Nest, Tsavo Highway, and The Ark in more clear lighting conditions, the Desert Pattern seems a better fit.

The McFarlane Figures tend to agree, and we know they were provided with extremely accurate files and references to base their work on.
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A lot of people do tend to go the route of Jungle or Woodland Color schemes, but to my eye the Halo 3 Marine Pattern looks much lighter and more Tan based than either of those patterns. In the Opening Level in the jungle, the ambient light and reflections off all of the foliage might give it some green hue or tint, but in the other levels, on Crow's Nest, Tsavo Highway, and The Ark in more clear lighting conditions, the Desert Pattern seems a better fit.

The McFarlane Figures tend to agree, and we know they were provided with extremely accurate files and references to base their work on.
View attachment 309837
Oh wow, you're definitely right. I could never get a really solid view of the fatigues underneath and with the armour itself being green it really threw me for a loop.
 
Also trying to brainstorm a "Casual" look since I probably wont have any of the armour acquired before January for MAG Fest...really having difficulties trying to find Desert fatigues in my size so I may just have to go with some digital camo fatigues I have laying around. But I was also thinking of doing a Tan shirt with the UNSC logo on it or I could wear my Spartan Athletics Program shirt from the Halo Crate with a duty cap and Aviators.

I should have 1 or both the Sniper Rifle and Rocket Launcher before then...fingers crossed
 
My off duty marine is basically just combat boots with green BDUs, I ordered a shirt from Etsy that’s like a duty shirt, with a ship number and outline on front and the unsc eagle on the back. Combine that with a duty cap and you’ve got it
 
My off duty marine is basically just combat boots with green BDUs, I ordered a shirt from Etsy that’s like a duty shirt, with a ship number and outline on front and the unsc eagle on the back. Combine that with a duty cap and you’ve got it
That's what I was thinking, I did manage to find a Desert DPM combat shirt in my size, but it might look weird with Digital camo pants... I was thinking if I cant find one with stencils already on it, then i can just try and find some stencils and put them on myself.
 
That's what I was thinking, I did manage to find a Desert DPM combat shirt in my size, but it might look weird with Digital camo pants... I was thinking if I cant find one with stencils already on it, then i can just try and find some stencils and put them on myself.
I used a matching set of urban camo BDUs and dyed them with a Taupe dye to get closer to the color seen in game. I recommend looking for a pattern with as little black in it as possible
 
I used a matching set of urban camo BDUs and dyed them with a Taupe dye to get closer to the color seen in game. I recommend looking for a pattern with as little black in it as possible
That's some solid advice, I loved the pics of your marine! It was really well put together. What did you use for the under vest again? I was thinking some type of plate carrier...but I have no idea where to go for that.
 
I built a foam harness that sat underneath the chest piece, its more for show though. The ab plate and spine were glued to the undershirt using e6000 and the shoulders were mounted to the sleves using Super77 adhesive spray
 
That's what I was thinking, I did manage to find a Desert DPM combat shirt in my size, but it might look weird with Digital camo pants... I was thinking if I cant find one with stencils already on it, then i can just try and find some stencils and put them on myself.
So, we do not use our Costumes for playing airsoft or Paintball, as we make costumes not protective gear. That said, in addition to Army Surplus stores and sites, Airsoft and Paintball Supply Stores and sites are good sources of inexpensive sources of many of the materials you can use.
Here's a set of DPM Pants and Combat Shirt:
 
So, we do not use our Costumes for playing airsoft or Paintball, as we make costumes not protective gear. That said, in addition to Army Surplus stores and sites, Airsoft and Paintball Supply Stores and sites are good sources of inexpensive sources of many of the materials you can use.
Here's a set of DPM Pants and Combat Shirt:
Those were the ones I looked at and I just decided to pull the trigger on them both. Hopefully they fit nicely and that's one less thing to worry about. I already ordered a set of black Jungle Boots too, so I'll look around for some fingerless gloves now.
 
These were the boots that I decided to go with as they look similar to the image that Cadet provided with the McFarlane toys example. Upon closer inspection, it looks like fingerless gloves are not the way to go...I'd much rather want possibly some black tactical gloves.
 

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Some Halo 3 Marines do wear black fingerless/half finger gloved. The key thing is that they all have some form of Black Tactical glove.

The In Game gloves, both full and half finger, have horizontal padding across the back, very similar to wham the Halo 3 ODSTs have on The Ark (But different from the Glove armor found on the members of Kilo Five in Halo 3:ODST). These gloves look to have a decently accurate padding layout, and for a great price at $17:
 
Some Halo 3 Marines do wear black fingerless/half finger gloved. The key thing is that they all have some form of Black Tactical glove.

The In Game gloves, both full and half finger, have horizontal padding across the back, very similar to wham the Halo 3 ODSTs have on The Ark (But different from the Glove armor found on the members of Kilo Five in Halo 3:ODST). These gloves look to have a decently accurate padding layout, and for a great price at $17:
Boom, that's another piece down. Slowly closing in on just needing the armor. I seriously cant thank you guys enough for all of the advice and help with this! I'm really excited to put this all together and send pics.
 
Found a very lovely shop on Etsy called Go Stencil that are going to make some custom stencils for my "Casual Marine" outfit. I already told them to remove the quotation mark after Vale, but I think they look pretty good to start with! I wanted to put Colonial Regiment under the 405th, but i think I'll hold off for now since I'm not officially attached to the regiment yet.
 

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